, 1859-10-07

/ Columbia river, the navigation of the sale
branch shall be free and open to the Hud
sons Bay Company and to all British sub
jects trading with the same, to the poin
where the said branch meets the mali
stream to the ocean, with free access into
and through the said river or rivers i
being understood that all the usual port
ages along the line thus described shall il
like manner be free and open. In naviga
ting the said river or rivers, British sub
jects, with their goods aud produce, shal
be treated on the same footing as citizen
of the United States; it being, however
understood that nothing in this article shal
be construed as preventing, or Intended tC
prevent, the Government of the United
States from making any regulations res
pecting the navigation of the said river OIL
rivers not inconsistent with the present
treaty.
| BY the terms of this article, the privi
sege of navigation is confined to the Hudson
Bay Company and to the British subject:
trading with them; and they are to be sub
ject to the laws and regulations which ap
lply to our own citizens. Now, there hap
pens to be two Hudson Bay Companies
and those who do not attend to that little
fact may fall into great error. The first
company has perpetual charter, from
Charles the SCcpGd, to trade with the Indi.
ans on all the waters emptying into the
Bay of Hudson. This company has no
rights, under the charter, beyond the
Rocky mountains The second company is
OF recent date, and is formed of the Hudson
Bay and the old Northwest Company uni
ted, and exists under license of q years,
granted by the Crown, under an act of Par.
lament 1t bears the name of Hudson
Bay Company; but it is so entirely distinct
from the chartered company of King
Charles, that it can carry on no trade on
the waters of the Pacific ocean. This
licensed company was first created in 1921
and continued by new license for sec.
ond term Of 2l years in the year IS42. 1t
is, therefore, now in the fourth year of its
present existence, and has seventeen years
to live. 1t is Of this second, or licensed
company, that the treaty speaks; and, Of
course, all the privileges granted by the
treaty refer to it. The treaty stipulates
for the company, as it is, nnder its present
license; not as it may not be, under new
license. 1t stipulates for ac6mpany whose
existence is to terminate in 1868 4; and, oi
course, that is the limit, in point Of dura-
tlon, of this privilege of navigation which
is becoming so large an object in the eyes
of some gentlemen. Certainly it must be
admitted to be very different thing from
the perpetual navigation offered in 1926,
and the sorereighiy Of the right bauk Of the
river demanded by the British since so
many years. The year 1868 is the lmita-
ton Of the navigation now granted and
those who do not yield to the reading of
the treaty, as it now stands, will only have
to wait till 1868, VIXEN time will bring an
argument which no one can misunder-
stands
Limited as to time, the next limitation is
as to the number Of persons who are to en-
joy this navigation. This is restricted to
the Hudson Bay Company and the British
subjects trading with them. The company
can only consist of few hundred persons,
and, as for British subjects trading with
them, | know Of no trade which any such
subjects now have, or ever can have, with
the company. The Iudian trade is the
only trade; and Of that the company has
the monopoly, importing its own goods and
exporting its own furS. If there is any ex-
ception, it must be the Puget Sound Agri-
cultural Company, from whom provisions
may be purchased; but this would amount
to nothing, as that company may be re-
moved on any day that the United States
please to take their possessions at valua-
tion. The few hundred persons who COM
pose the company, their servants, and Gu
gagees, are then the only persons who can
enjoy this navigation-very different from
the twenty-five millions of European and
American British subjects, Ito say nothing
OF the hundred and fifty millions Asatic
quasi subjects), who could have enjoyed
this same navigation under the offer made
during Mr.. Adams administration, and re-
peated since The number Of these naviga-
tors is thus reduced to handful and to
enjoy their privilege, this handful, in every
instance Of its use, must justify their right
10 it. If Of the company, they must prove
themselves to be British subjects, and ira.
ding with the company. And, Of all this
proof, our own officers, under the regula.
tions we shall promulgate, will be the
judges. Small is the chance for the abuse
of the privilege, or the annoyance of oul
own citizens under such restrictions.
The kind Of commerce which the com.
pany carries on is another and further
limitation upon the use of this privilege
1t is commerce in furs and goods. The
goods are carried up the river in 4he spring
aud the furs are brought down in the fall
and thus two voyages per annum will bt
about the maximum Of this formidable
navigation.
Tue kind Of vessels which are to be uset
in this navigation is a further restriction
*[Snce this was spoken, the letter Of Mr.. Buchanan
to Mr. Mcl.ane before the ratification Of the treaty
has been published, in which Secretary inform,
Mr. Mcl.ane that he had given notice to Mr. Packen
ham that the Senate had advised the acceptance o
the British PROPOSITION in this limited sense and in