The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-08-31
MR.. BLAINE's NEW BOOK.
How First Consul Bonaparte Sold
the Great Mississippi Region TO
the United States to Prevent it's
Seizure by England,

How First Consul Bonaparte Sold
h Great Mississippi Region to
the United States to Prevent Its
Seizure by England.
The following is an extract from the
Introductory chapter of Mr.. Blsine's
forthcoming history, Twenty Years OF
Congress-"
Events beyond the ocean were work
ing more rapidly for the interest of the
United States than any influences the
government could exert. Before Mr.
Munroe reached France, in the spring
of 1903, another war-cloud of portentious
magnitude was hanging over Europe
The treaty of Amiens, which PROVED
only a truce, misconstrued and violated
by both parties, was about to be for
nally broken. Fearing that in the con.
flict to come, England, by her superior
naval force, would deprive him of hi.
newly acquired colonial empire, and
greatly enhance her own prestige by
securing all the American possessions
which France had owned prior to 1868
Bonaparte, by q dash in diplomacy as
quick and jas brilliant as his tactics or
the field of battle, placed Louisiana be.
You'd the reach of the British power
After returning to st. Cloud from the
religious service of Easter Sunday, Apri
10, 1903, he called two of his most trustee
advisers, and in q one of vehemence
and passion said:
~ know the full value of Louisiana,
and have been DESTROYS CT repairing tht
fault of the French negotiators who lost
it in 1853. A few lines of a treaty mus,
have restored it to me, and now ] must
expect to lose It. = . The English
wish to take possession of it and it is
thus they will begin the war. They
have twenty ships of war in the gulf OF
Mexico. " y The conquest of Louis
lana would be easy. l have not a mo.
ment to lose in putting it out of their
reach. = e The English have success
iSely taken from France the Canadas.
Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Nova SEQ.
tia, and the richest portions of Asia. But
they shall not have the Mississippi which
they covet."
The discussion went tar into the
night. The two ministers differed wide
ly in the advice which they gave the
hrst consul. One was in favor of hold
ing Louisiana at all hazards; the other
urged its prudent cession rather than its
inevitable loss by war. The ministers
both remained at st. Cloud for the night.
At ~davbreak the minister who had adj
vised the cession wa summoned bv Bo-
naparte to read dispatches from London
that moment received, and which GER
tainly loresiadowed war; as the English
were making military and naval prepa-
ratlons with extraordinary rapidly. At
ter reading the dispatches the first con-
sui said:
"~lrresoiution and deliberation are no
longer in season. I%renounce Louisiana.
1t is not only New Orleans / will cede;
1t Is the whole colony without any res
eryation. | know the value of what ]
abandon. l it with the great
est regret. To attempt obstinatelv to
retain it would be folly; | direct YOU to
negotiate this affair with the envoys of
the United States. Do not even wait
the arrival of Mr.. Monroe. Have an in
terview this very day with Mr.. Living.
ston. But ! re-
quire a great deal of money for this war.
| will be moderate. 1 want 800, 0OO, 600
for Louisiana"
The minister who was opposed to the
sale interposcd, in a subsequent inter
view, some observations upon what
the Germans call the souls as to whether
they could be the subject of contract
or sale" Bonaparte replied with undis.
gUised sarcasm: ''You are giving me the
idealogy of the law of nature. But | re-
Quire money to make war on the rich
est nation in the world. Send your
maxinls to London. l am sure they will
be greatly admired there"
The First Consul afterward
added: Perhaps it will be objected that
fln A r,art,a no will t,n fo,rl H. ra-ro
ful for Europe in two or three centuries.
but my foresight does not embrace such
remote fears. Besides we may hereafter
expect rivalries among the members of
the Union. The Considerations, which
are called perpetual, only lasts till one
OF the contracting parties finds it to his
interest to break them"
Louis Napoleon embodied the sub
stance of these views in his "Ideas
~Napo}eonnes;" and sixty years after the
First Consul spoke the words quoted,
his nephew believed the time had come:
and the Mexican invasion, based on the
assumed destruction of the American
Union, was undertaken. The destruc-
ton which followed was not ofthe Union,
but of the unhappy Austria Prince
who represented his policy, and later OF
the Emperor himself.
" 40 y Sillo SchNO l i L
Monroe o~pportunely arrived, and on
the Goth of April the treaty ceding Lou
isiana to the United States was formally
signed and sealed. Mr.. Monroe and
MIR. Livingston had no authority to
negotiate tor 80 vast an extent of terri
tory; but the former Was fully possessed
OF President Jeferson's views, and felt
assured that his instructions would have
been ample if the condition of France
had been %foreseen when he sailed from
American. Communication with Wash.
lngton was impossible. Under the most
favorable circumstances an answer could
not be expected IN less than three
months; and by that time British ships
would probably hold the mouths of the
Mississippi and the flag OF st. George
would wave over New Orleans. Messrs.
Monroe and Livingston realized that
hesitation would be fatal; and they
boldly took the responsibility of puIchas-
ing a territory of unknown and almost
unlimited dimensions and of pledging
the credit of the Government for q sum
which, rated by the ability to pay, was
larger than a similar pledge for FIVE
hundred millions of dollars. The price
agreed upon was eleven million two
hundred and fifty Thousand dollars in
= per cent. United States bonds, the in
terest of which was made payable in
London, Amsterdam and Paris,
and the principal at the treasury
in Washington in sums of three millions
per annum, beginning fifteen years af-
ter the bonds were issued.
In a separate treaty made the same
day, the United States agreed to pay
100000 francs additional, to be ap.
piled by France TO the satisfaction Of
certain Claims owed to American citizens.
mus the total cost of Louisiana was So.
Uoo,oo9 OF francs, or, in round numbers,
SIS 900, 900.
1t seemp at this day scarcely creditable
that the acquisition of Louisiana by JEFF
ferson was denounced with a bjtternes.