, 1860-05-03
Tnr SAN jUAS ISLAND ouESrlov.

II tie Editor eI tie PVse, Sound Herald
As tie public mind IS cnrs.jorahy exercised
AID agi;ated with rcsai to thc Northwrs! water
boundary between the Ca;ted States AMI Great
Britain, and especially in reference to the occur
reaoCs which tcok pace abOu, the IslaGJ of San
Juan, in July ami Augas; ultim', propose to
give you succinct statement Of the case, with n
summary rpviO~ Of its present aspects.
It viii be unnecessary to trace up the origin Of
our titles through the variOus treaties, from Feb
ruAry, 1863, to June, 1876, by which our perfect
right 10 all the domain in North America west Of
the Lake Of the Woods, between the parallels Of
42o and 4oo north latitude, has been inconteStiby
established. It may be sufficient to say that We
get none Of these titles from Grcat Britain, but
mcrely On acknowledgment on her part Of their
Justice and consonance with known principles Of
public law.
II Is source Of regret, that at the date Of this
latter treaty. 1876, our Government did not pos
scss thorough knowledge, hydrOgraphically, Of
our Northwestern terminus for then we would
have bad also the "Saturna" group. It
was seen, however, from . simple inspec-
ton Of an ordinary map, that the line Of 4so
would bisect the great island Of Vancouver very
uDequally. giving to Us south Of that line about
ouelif,h and, Of course, iour-ffths Of it to Great
Britain. This section, though right and proper
in ITSELF was yielded BY US, partly because Of the
inequality Of the division, but more particularly
on account Of large HudsOu's Bay Company
establishment at and near Victoria, on this pOr-
ton Of the Island, which justly appertained to
the United States. ''s'' % &c.. ...-
Amer this display Of our national amiability,
itwas thought that an cause for disagreement in
Tits direction mustierminate and that there could
be no dilaculty in fixing the line Of demarcatiOn
under he Tst article Of this treaty. It was con-
sidercd that, in % faf o. we had for exceptional
reasons, resigned portion Of territory south Of
49o. the original Iinc Of boundary must be de-
aeetd % fr, and only 90 far, as TO exclude this
specified portion and this deaectcd line b truly
cbtained. answering an the requirements Of the
treaty. By running through the Strait Of Haro.
By the terms Of the treaty, the line Of boundary
sdhaIl be continued westward along the said
lcsty-nInsA parallel Of north latitude TO the middle
Of DE channel which separates the continent from
vancouyers Island. and thence southerly through
Tie middle Of the sid channel, and Of Faea's
Straits 10 the Pacific ocean" '9'g.. 5i'. ---iai1
Here We have two simple requirements: hrst,a
disfines ssparsfiea from vancouyer's Island;
second, channel communication sOutherly with
ne Pacific ocean. The word channel 3 not quail.
ned; Il i not called the main channel nor alp
channel. but simply the channel" Or good navi-
gable tVact Of water; thus purposely preeluding
IN prospective embarrassment IN The decision Of
which should Be deemed The main orslip channel
4 Il should b found upon examination, that there
: more than one channel equally or nearly equally
good. The1e conditions are perfectly laliIled BY
De adoption Oft line through The Strait Or
Canal Dc Haro Il Is he most natural. the most
conspicuous line Of sParaiibn, and. u point oi
ct Il h he largest the best and The most direct
channel to the Pacific ocean. The conclusion is
therefore inevitable, dat an TIE isels TO the cast
ward Of dat Strait nppestaIn Of right 70 The
continent No pubIicist, q confirmed authority,
could hesitate upon .his point. That such Was
Tie colemponneou1 exposition Of this treaty, we
have abhndaht proof The debates in he Senate
q he United States the archives q our State
Department and tie corrapondenco upon the
snbjsci. viii ON Ministers al the Court Of ST.
james. furnish unsqhivocal evidence o. this posi-.
ton; and We can confidently assert that i this
ins Of dsmnrcafion had been run and established
immediately afsr The ratification Of The treaty,
lhe Canal d Hafo would have been fxed upon at
onre, and q . matter Of coarse, about which
nciihw party could eonseisuiiously disagree. aoa
Why, then. dos Great Britain nos object 10
lhli inleEpielniions 10 dis very proper and
natural inquiy, circumstances render itinexpedicnt
At present 70 give FUN and minute answer. for
We hope We are not to be among TIE number Of
thoie vho apply % that great nation ne language
q Napolspl iha Fnt, when rpierring 70 tie tfenty
q Amiens, nor are We willing to earni1ha . jnst
cauls By The dse q yitupefaiiou, but The minds
d EnglIlh siatesh6d DO ce(tiinly regard he
NorihwWieFn limits q our territory q Of ihr more
Importance than Il was deemed % poses some
llleen yonn ego. The opening d direct trade
viii Japan and China by . railroad over their
portion q DE American continent eleven hun
Did miles of which are now finished and IN spc-
rlnEI eompoiiiion with our own foads ior carry
ing - eun psodues. b worthy o. that prsSeieht
political vhlom . frequently exhibited By them,
and % seldom m1alftied By Us. In this connec.
ton, the speech IN Parliament Of Sir E. B. Lvtton.
Secretary of STATE fhr ne cloui.s ,vkan n asva