The national Republican., 1867-05-14
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS ON THE
PACIFIC.

PACIFIC.
Since IT, organization Of the Govern
ment vast domains have been added to the
country by purchase and by conquest.
Every acquisition has encountered oppo-
sition, always determined and sometimes
violent. 1t has happened, however, in
every instance that the sober second
thought" Of the people has approved the
acquisition and sanctioned the policy Of
the Government in that regard.
And so it will always be. The greater
the country and the more pawerful the
Government the stronger will IL be in the
hearts Of the people. Power always COM
mands respect and veneration, and the
time has passed when the extension of our
boundaries will create any alarm for the
unity Of the States and perpetuity Of our
Government.
The recent treaty with Russia by which
she has ceded 10 the United States her
possessions on the north Pacific coast was
surprise to the country. Until the treaty
was sent to the Senate not q whisper Of
the negotiations had transpired. For once
the omnipresent letter-writers and agents
Of the press were cheated OF an item, and
their astonishment was great when they
found that SEWARD had been too reticent
for them. The people smiled at their
discomteiture and enjoyed the joke. But
"Walrusia," as GREELEY persists in calling
II, will encounter the traditional opposi.
tion OF the dissatisfied, fault-inding and
ruin-predicting portion Of the community
They already denounce il as n useles &c.
QUESTION involving a great waste of public
treasure and securing nothing more valua-
BILE than ice, desolation and inaccessible
mountains.
A radical Senate has, however, confirmed
the treaty, two members only dissenting.
What facts and arguments were presented
10 that body to secure such unanimity the
public are anxious to learn. We must
concede that for Russia her American DOS
sessions were quite useless. or territory
in the high latitudes she has more than
enough in Europe and Asia, and of any.
thing which America could furnish she had |
an abundance nearer home.
To the people Of the eastern and central
States the value of this ACQUISITION Is in. |
appreciable. Neither the ice, timber, fish |
cries, or furs Of that far-distant region will |
enrich them But for the Americans of
the faclhc slope, ii must be apparent to
every one who considers the subject that
the acquision of Russian America ia of i'm
mense importance. The great want of the
racine states Is timber. For ship-build.
ing they have almost none, and for other
purposes very little on the coast Coal.
too' Is scarce, and ofpoor quality. Timber
lnmoer OF all sorts, and coal are to them
OF great value and prime necessity; and
OF these the Islands, as well as the main
land oil Russian America, afford inexbaust
ipie quantities, and of the finest quality.
AS result of this acquisition. the neo-
pie OF the Pacific States behold in tbe rr
ture vast increase in their coastwise nav
lgation. The fisheries and the furs or
russian America will be to them mines orI
wealth more productive than those of the
precious metals which they now possess
Not many years will elapse before those
horthern seas will be white with Inc sails
d an active and profitable commerce
- 'SHg nee's equal to those of Labrador
..iu the Banks, will be familiar sights along n
hat coast, for no finer or more valuable h
isheries are to be found on the globe.
The people Of New England can well
appreciate the value of this purchase to
heir western brethren. The New England
states are destitute Of coal, and with the
exception of Maine, almost destitute of good y
lumber.
The high cost of those articles, conse.
luent upon heavy duties, if imported and
'he expense Of transportation If proeu,ed %
other States, is great drawback upon
her prosperity. In the fishing business
Sew England has a large capital EN-.
parked. Fees for license to fish in British i
Vaters' vexatious regulations, disputes
bout lines from headland to headland, y
ND the right to cure fish on shore, have d
discouraged many and lessened the profits
u all engaged in that business, Annex W
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to the Ia
Union, securing the uninterrupted right to
ish in all the waters of the north ATIo'
md giving to New England cool .otic
md timber in vast amount ovn,nm |
cry doors, and she o,most NJ her
ession more tn .uI5 noI-o .La .oa
,eo,T an she would all the mines
u territory of Mexico. To the
RE Of the Pacific States the territory
between them and Bherings Straits has
the same relation and value as the British
possessions on the north Atlantic coast
have to the people Of New England.
Another consideration doubtless had
weight not only with the President and
his Cabinet in negotiating the treaty, but
with the Senate in confirming it.
Russia, it is manifest, had no use for the
territory and wanted to dispose Of it.
That the United States or Great Britain
would have it was certain. The latter
Power would gladly have secured it to
keep 1t from the former and protect her
own possessions and TO monIpolize the
fisheries, the fur trade, the timber, and the