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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oregon Question, by Albert Gallatin
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: The Oregon Question
-
-Author: Albert Gallatin
-
-Release Date: April 23, 2016 [EBook #51843]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OREGON QUESTION ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
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-
-
-
-
-THE OREGON QUESTION.
-
-BY
-
-ALBERT GALLATIN.
-
-
-NEW YORK:
-BARTLETT & WELFORD, 7 ASTOR HOUSE.
-
-1846.
-
-
-R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER, 112 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK.
-
-
-
-
-THE OREGON QUESTION.
-
-
-
-
-NUMBER I.
-
-
-I had been a pioneer in collecting facts and stating the case. The only
-materials within my reach consisted of the accounts of voyages
-previously published, (including that of Maurelle, in Barrington's
-Miscellanies), of the varied and important information derived from
-Humboldt's New Spain, and of the voyage of the Sutil and Mexicano, the
-introduction to which contains a brief official account of the Spanish
-discoveries. The statement of the case was the best I was able to make
-with the materials on hand, and may be found defective in many respects.
-Since that time manuscript journals of several of the voyages have been
-obtained at Madrid. New facts have thus been added; others have been
-better analyzed, and some errors rectified. Arguments which had been
-only indicated have been enforced, and new views have been suggested.
-The subject, indeed, seems to be exhausted; and it would be difficult to
-add anything to the able correspondence between the two Governments
-which has been lately published.
-
-Ministers charged with diplomatic discussions are not, however, in those
-official papers intended for publication, to be considered as
-philosophers calmly investigating the questions, with no other object
-but to elicit truth. They are always, to a certain extent, advocates,
-who use their best endeavors to urge and even strain the reasons that
-may be alleged in favor of the claims set up by their Governments; and
-in the same manner to repel, if not to deny, all that may be adduced by
-the other party. Such official papers are in fact appeals to public
-opinion, and generally published when there remains no hope to conclude
-for the present an amicable arrangement.
-
-But, though acting in that respect as advocates, diplomatists are
-essentially ministers of peace, whose constant and primary duty is
-mutually to devise conciliatory means for the adjustment of conflicting
-pretensions, for the continuance of friendly relations, for preventing
-war, or for the restoration of peace. It has unfortunately happened that
-on this occasion, both Governments have assumed such absolute and
-exclusive grounds as to have greatly increased, at least for the
-present, the obstacles to an amicable arrangement.
-
-It is morally impossible for the bulk of the people of any country
-thoroughly to investigate a subject so complex as that of the respective
-claims to the Oregon territory; and, for obvious reasons, it is much
-less understood by the great mass of the population in England than in
-the United States. Everywhere, when the question is between the country
-and a foreign nation, the people at large, impelled by natural and
-patriotic feelings, will rally around their Government. For the
-consequences that may ensue, those who are entrusted with the direction
-of the foreign relations are alone responsible. Whatever may be the
-cause, to whomsoever the result may be ascribed, it appears from the
-general style of the periodical press, that, with few exceptions, the
-people, both in Great Britain and in the United States, are imbued with
-the belief that the contested territory belongs exclusively to
-themselves, and that any concession which might be made would be a boon
-to the other party. Such opinions, if sustained by either Government and
-accompanied by corresponding measures, must necessarily lead to
-immediate collisions, and probably to war. Yet, a war so calamitous in
-itself, so fatal to the general interests of both countries, is almost
-universally deprecated, without distinction of parties, by all the
-rational men who are not carried away by the warmth of their feelings.
-
-In the present state of excitement, an immediate amicable arrangement
-is almost hopeless; time is necessary before the two Governments can be
-induced to recede from their extreme pretensions. In the meanwhile,
-nothing, as it seems to me, should for the present be done, which might
-increase the excitement, aggravate the difficulties, or remove the only
-remaining barrier against immediate collision.
-
-The United States claim a right of sovereignty over the whole territory.
-The pretensions of the British Government, so far as they have been
-heretofore exhibited, though not extending to a claim of absolute
-sovereignty over the whole, are yet such as cannot be admitted by the
-United States, and, if persisted in, must lead to a similar result.
-
-If the claim of Great Britain be properly analyzed, it will be found
-that, although she has incidentally discussed other questions, she in
-fact disregards every other claim but that of actual occupancy, and that
-she regards as such the establishment of trading factories by her
-subjects. She accordingly claims a participation in the navigation of
-the river Columbia, and would make that river the boundary between the
-two Powers. This utter disregard of the rights of discovery,
-particularly of that of the mouth, sources, and course of a river, of
-the principle of contiguity, and of every other consideration whatever,
-cannot be admitted by the United States. The offer of a detached
-defenceless territory, with a single port, and the reciprocal offers of
-what are called free ports, cannot be viewed but as derisory. An
-amicable arrangement by way of compromise cannot be effected without a
-due regard to the claims advanced by both parties, and to the expediency
-of the dividing line.[1]
-
-An equitable division must have reference not only to the extent of
-territory, but also to the other peculiar advantages attached to each
-portion respectively.
-
-From and including Fuca Straits, the country extending northwardly
-abounds with convenient sea-ports. From the 42d degree of latitude to
-those Straits, there is but one port of any importance, the mouth of the
-River Columbia; and this is of difficult and dangerous access, and
-cannot admit ships of war of a large size. It is important only as a
-port of exports. As one of common resort for supplies, or asylum, in
-case of need, for the numberless American vessels engaged in the
-fisheries or commerce of the Pacific, it would be almost useless, even
-if in the exclusive possession of the United States. It must also be
-observed that the navigable channel of the river, from its mouth to
-Puget's Island, is, according to Vancouver, close along the northern
-shore. Great Britain proposes that the river should be the boundary, and
-that the United States should be content with the possession of the port
-it offered, in common with herself. It is really unnecessary to dwell on
-the consequences of such an arrangement. It is sufficient to say that,
-in case of war between the two countries, it would leave the United
-States without a single port, and give to Great Britain the indisputable
-and exclusive control over those seas and their commerce.
-
-The first and indispensable step towards an amicable arrangement
-consists in the investigation, not so much of the superiority of one
-claim over the other, as of the question whether there be sufficient
-grounds to sustain the exclusive pretensions of either Government.
-
-If the claim of the United States to the whole of the contested
-territory can be sustained against Great Britain, or if the pretensions
-of this Power can to their full extent be maintained against the United
-States, it must be, by either party assuming that the other has no
-opposite claim of any kind whatever, that there are no doubtful and
-debatable questions pending between the two countries. This, if true and
-maintained, must necessarily lead to war, unless one of the two Powers
-should yield what it considers as its absolute right. But, if there be
-any such debatable questions, the way is still open for negotiations;
-and both powers may recede from their extreme pretensions, without any
-abandonment of positive rights, without disgrace, without impairing
-national honor and dignity.
-
-It has been asserted that the title of the United States to the whole
-Oregon territory was maintained by irrefragable facts and arguments.
-These must be sought for in the correspondence lately published. They
-consist--first, of the assertion of the ancient claim of Spain to the
-absolute sovereignty over the whole north-west coast of America as far
-north as the 61st degree of north latitude. Secondly, of the cumulated
-proofs which sustain the claims of the United States to the various
-portions of the territory (whether in their own right, or as derived
-from the acquisition of Louisiana and the Spanish discoveries), and of
-the refutation of the arguments adduced by the other party. The first
-mentioned position would, if it could be sustained, be sufficient to
-prove, and is, as I think, the only one that could prove, the absolute
-and complete right of the United States to the whole contested
-territory.
-
-It is undoubtedly true that "Spain considered the northwest coast of
-America as exclusively her own;" that this claim "had been asserted by
-her, and maintained with the most vigilant jealousy, ever since the
-discovery of the American continent, or nearly three centuries, as far
-north as her settlements or missions extended." There were two ways of
-examining the soundness of that claim; an investigation of the
-principles on which it was founded, and an appeal to precedents. The
-Secretary of State has abstained from discussing the principle; but he
-has said that the claim of Spain to sovereignty "had never been
-seriously questioned by any European nation: that it had been acquiesced
-in by all European Governments." This appears to me the most vulnerable
-part of his arguments.
-
-The early charters of the British monarchs to the colonies bordering on
-the Atlantic, extended from sea to sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific
-ocean, with the single exception which excluded from the grants the
-places actually occupied by the subjects of any Christian nation. The
-right of prior occupancy was recognized; but the general claim of Spain
-to the sovereignty of the whole coast bordering on the Pacific was
-utterly disregarded. Had that claim been considered as unquestionable,
-had it been acquiesced in, it never could have been supposed that, in
-any case whatever, England could have a right to bestow on her subjects
-a single foot of land bordering on the Pacific.
-
-Coming down to modern times, the only nations which have set up any
-claims or attempted any settlements on the Pacific, north of the
-country actually occupied by the Spaniards, are Russia, Great Britain,
-and the United States. All three have asserted claims to the
-northwestern coasts of America, irreconcilable with the universal
-sovereignty claimed by Spain: Russia and England, from the time when
-their flags first floated along the coast and their subjects landed on
-its shores; the United States from a similar date, or at least from the
-time when they acquired Louisiana.
-
-If the right of Spain was absolute and exclusive to the whole, there was
-no reason why it should not have extended beyond the 61st degree of
-latitude. The right of Russia was founded only on her discoveries and
-the establishment of some trading factories. She respected the right of
-Spain only as far as it did not interfere with her own claim. She has,
-in fact, extended this more than six degrees further south; and to this
-the United States, who had acquired all the rights of Spain, have
-assented by a solemn treaty. Whatever might be the boundary acquiesced
-in by Spain, it was not Russia which recognized the claim of Spain; it
-was Spain which recognized that her claim was not unlimited. And, let it
-be also observed, that, since Spain still claimed as far north as the
-61st degree of north latitude (the southern limit of the Russian
-factories when first visited by Spanish navigators), the United States,
-if they believed the Spanish right absolute and exclusive, ought not to
-have ceded to Russia a country extending more than six degrees of
-latitude along the shores of the Pacific.
-
-Great Britain contested the exclusive claim of Spain from the year 1778,
-the date of Cook's third voyage; and he was the first British navigator
-that had for more than two centuries appeared on those coasts. This
-doctrine she has maintained ever since. She did not resist the exclusive
-claim of Spain by virtue of the Nootka convention, but prior to it. It
-was on that ground that she imperiously demanded indemnity and
-restoration for the property and factory of one of her subjects, which
-had been forcibly taken by the Spanish Government. She even threatened
-war; and the Nootka convention was the result of those transactions.
-Whatever construction may at this time be given to that instrument, it
-is certain at least that Spain by it conceded a portion of the absolute
-and sovereign right she had till then asserted; that she yielded the
-right of trade with the natives on all that part of the coast lying
-north of her actual settlements; and that, by suffering the ultimate
-right of sovereignty to remain in abeyance, she made that pretension
-questionable which she had contended could not be called in question.
-
-With respect to the United States, without recurring to former
-negotiations which were not attended with any result, it is sufficient
-to advert to the convention between them and Great Britain of the year
-1818, concluded prior to the date of the treaty by which they acquired
-the claims of Spain to the territory north of the 42d degree of north
-latitude.
-
-The United States at that time distinctly claimed, in their own right
-and independent of the Spanish claims, that the boundary along the 49th
-parallel, which had been agreed on as that between them and Great
-Britain, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains, should be
-extended to the Pacific. To this division of territory Great Britain
-would not accede; and the provision for a joint occupancy during the
-next ensuing years was substituted. A clause was inserted that the
-agreement should not be taken to affect the claims of any other Power or
-State to any part of the country west of the Stony Mountains. This
-provision clearly referred to the claims of Russia and Spain. The
-northern and southern boundaries of the country, which the two
-contracting parties might claim, were left undefined: Great Britain
-probably thought herself bound by the Nootka convention to respect the
-Spanish claims to the extent provided by that instrument: the United
-States could not but recognize those derived from discovery, with which
-they were at that time but imperfectly acquainted, since their own
-claims were in a great degree derived from a similar source. But the
-convention decisively proves that the United States did not acquiesce in
-the antiquated claim of Spain to the absolute and exclusive sovereignty
-of the whole country; since, if they had recognized that prior claim to
-the whole, they could have had none whatever to any portion of it.
-
-It is therefore undeniable that the assertion of the Spanish claim of
-absolute sovereignty cannot be sustained by a presumed acquiescence on
-the part of the only nations which now claim the country. It may
-perhaps be said that their opposition came too late, and that they
-neglected too long to protest against the Spanish pretension on the
-Pacific. No stress will be laid on Drake's voyage, which had a warlike
-character. But the British charters to their colonies show that those
-pretensions were disregarded at a very early date. There was no occasion
-for opposition or direct denial, with respect to the Pacific, until the
-attention of other nations was directed towards that remote country.
-This was neglected because all the commercial nations were, in their
-attempts to colonize, or to conquer the foreign and till then unexplored
-regions, attracted by countries far more accessible, and were
-exclusively engaged in pursuits much more important. The East Indies and
-the West India Islands offered a vast and lucrative field for commercial
-enterprise and territorial acquisition. With respect to the continent of
-America, France, England, and Holland most naturally planted their
-colonies on the nearest opposite shores of the Atlantic; and they did it
-in opposition to the pretended claim of Spain, which extended to the
-whole of America. Although strenuously engaged in extending those
-colonies westwardly, these, in the year 1754, twenty years only before
-Cook's third voyage, hardly extended beyond the Mississippi. What
-immediate interest could then have impelled either France or England to
-enter a formal protest against the antiquated claim of Spain to a
-country with which they had never attempted even to trade? And what
-opportunity had occurred for doing it prior to Cook's voyage?
-
-But, what is still more conclusive, the country in question was equally
-neglected by Spain herself. Some exploring voyages, few of which are
-authentic, were indeed made by Spanish navigators; and the claims which
-may be derived from their discoveries have now been transferred to the
-United States, so far as discovery alone can give a claim, and no
-further. But, during more than two centuries that Spain had no
-competitor on the Pacific, there was on her part no occupancy, no
-settlement, or attempt to make a settlement. She had some missions on
-the western coast of the peninsula of California: but her missions or
-settlements in Northern or New California are of quite recent date; that
-of the most southern (San Diego) in 1769, and that of the most northern
-(San Francisco) in 1776, two years only before Cook's arrival at Nootka
-Sound.
-
-In point of fact, the contested territory had been utterly neglected by
-Spain. All the energies, such as they were, of her Mexican colonies were
-much more advantageously applied to the improvement of the vast and rich
-countries which they had conquered, principally to the discovery and
-working of the richest and most productive mines of the precious metals
-as yet known.
-
-Anson's expedition was purely military, and confined to southern
-latitudes. But the narrative drew the public attention towards the
-Pacific ocean, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of discovery. Almost
-immediately after the peace of 1763 voyages were undertaken for that
-purpose by the Governments of England and France: the Pacific was
-explored: the Russians on the other hand had, more than thirty years
-before, ascertained the continuity of the American continent from
-Behring's Straits to Mount St. Elias. It was then, and not till then,
-that Spain, or rather the Mexican Government, awakening from its long
-lethargy, extended its missions to New California. In the year 1774,
-Perez, with his pilot, Martinez, sailed as far north as the northern
-extremity of Queen Charlotte's Island, having anchored in Nootka Sound,
-and, as Martinez asserts, perceived the entrance of Fuca's Straits. New
-and important discoveries were made by Quadra and Heceta in the year
-1775. The sequel is well known.
-
-But on what foundation did the claim of Spain rest? If she had indeed an
-absolute right to the whole country bordering on the Pacific, derived
-either from natural or international law, or from usages generally
-recognized, it matters but little, as respects right, whether other
-nations had acquiesced in, or opposed her claim. If there was no
-foundation for that absolute and exclusive right of sovereignty, Spain
-could transfer nothing more to the United States than the legitimate
-claims derived from her discoveries.
-
-The discovery gives an incipient claim not only to the identical spot
-thus discovered, but to a certain distance beyond it. It has been
-admitted that the claim extends generally, though not universally, as
-far inland as the sources of rivers emptying into the sea where the
-discovery has been made. The distance to which the right or claim
-extends along the sea shore may not be precisely defined, and may vary
-according to circumstances. But it never can be unlimited; it has never
-been recognized beyond a reasonable extent. Spain was the first European
-nation which discovered and occupied Florida. A claim on that account to
-the absolute sovereignty over the whole of the Atlantic shores as far as
-Hudson's Bay, or the 60th degree of latitude, would strike every one as
-utterly absurd. A claim on the part of Spain to the sovereignty of all
-the shores of the Pacific, derived from her having established missions
-in California, would be similar in its nature and extent, and equally
-inadmissible. It cannot be sustained as a natural right, nor by the
-principles of international law, nor by any general usage or precedent.
-The claim of Spain rested on no such grounds.
-
-It was derived from the bull of Pope Alexander VI., which the Spanish
-monarchs obtained in the year 1493, immediately after the discovery of
-America by Columbus. By virtue of that bull, combined with another
-previously granted to Portugal, and with modifications respecting the
-division line between the two Powers, the Pope granted to them the
-exclusive sovereignty over all the discoveries made or to be made in all
-the heathen portions of the globe, including, it must be recollected,
-all the countries in America bordering on the Atlantic, as well as those
-on the Pacific ocean. Yet, even at that time, the Catholic Kings of
-England, and France did not recognize the authority of the Pope on such
-subjects; as evidently appears by the voyages of Cabot under the orders
-of Henry VII. of England, and of Cartier under those of the King of
-France, Francis I. Subsequently, the colonies planted by both countries,
-from Florida to Hudson's Bay, were a practical and continued protest and
-denial of the Spanish claim of absolute sovereignty over the whole of
-America: whilst the acquiescence of Spain was tantamount to an
-abandonment of that claim where it was resisted. Ridiculous as a right
-derived from such a source may appear at this time, it was not then thus
-considered by Spain; and the western boundary of Brazil is to this day
-regulated by the division line prescribed by the Pope.
-
-I am not aware of any other principle by which the claim ever was or
-can be sustained, unless it be the idle ceremony of taking possession,
-as it is called. The celebrated Spaniard who first discovered the
-Pacific ocean, "Balboa, advancing up to the middle in the waves, with
-his buckler and sword, took possession of that ocean in the name of the
-King his master, and vowed to defend it, with his arms, against all his
-enemies."--(_Robertson._)
-
-I have dwelt longer on this subject than it may seem to deserve. The
-assertion of the solidity of this ancient exclusive Spanish claim has
-had an apparent effect on public opinion fatal to the prospect of an
-amicable arrangement. I am also fully satisfied that the resort to
-vulnerable arguments, instead of strengthening, has a tendency to lessen
-the weight of the multiplied proofs, by which the superiority of the
-American over the British claim has been so fully established.
-
-FOOTNOTE:
-
-[1] I allude here only to the compromise proposed by Great Britain. Her
-actual claim, as explicitly stated by herself, is to the whole
-territory, limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with other
-States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance.
-
-
-
-
-NUMBER II.
-
-
-It has, it is believed, been conclusively proved that the claim of the
-United States to absolute sovereignty over the whole Oregon territory,
-in virtue of the ancient exclusive Spanish claim, is wholly unfounded.
-The next question is, whether the other facts and arguments adduced by
-either party establish a complete and absolute title of either to the
-whole; for the United States claim it explicitly; and, although the
-British proposal of compromise did yield a part, yet her qualified claim
-extends to the whole. It has been stated by herself in the following
-words: "Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion
-of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any part, but to
-the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with
-other States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance." And,
-again: "The qualified rights which Great Britain now possesses over the
-whole of the territory in question, embrace the right to navigate the
-waters of those countries, the right to settle in and over any part of
-them, and the right freely to trade with the inhabitants and occupiers
-of the same. * * * * * * It is fully admitted that the United States
-possess the same rights; but beyond they possess none."
-
-In the nature of things, it seems almost impossible that a complete and
-absolute right to any portion of America can exist, unless it be by
-prescriptive and undisputed _actual_ possession and settlements, or by
-virtue of a treaty.
-
-At the time when America was discovered, the law of nations was
-altogether unsettled. More than a century elapsed before Grotius
-attempted to lay its foundation on Natural Law and the moral precepts of
-Christianity; and, when sustaining it by precedents, he was compelled to
-recur to Rome and Greece. It was in reality a new case, to which no
-ancient precedents could apply,[2] for which some new rules must be
-adopted. Gradually, some general principles were admitted, never
-universally, in their nature vague and often conflicting. For instance,
-discovery varies, from the simple ascertaining of the continuity of
-land, to a minute exploration of its various harbors, rivers, &c.; and
-the rights derived from it may vary accordingly, and may occasionally be
-claimed to the same district by different nations. There is no precise
-rule for regulating the time after which the neglect to occupy would
-nullify the right of prior discovery; nor for defining the extent of
-coast beyond the spot discovered to which the discoverer may be
-entitled, or how far inland his claim extends. The principle most
-generally admitted was, that, in case of a river, the right extended to
-the whole country drained by that river and its tributaries. Even this
-was not universally conceded. This right might be affected by a
-simultaneous or prior discovery and occupancy of some of the sources of
-such river by another party; or it might conflict with a general claim
-of contiguity. This last claim, when extending beyond the sources of
-rivers discovered and occupied, is vague and undefined: though it would
-seem that it cannot exceed in breadth that of the territory on the coast
-originally discovered and occupied. A few examples will show the
-uncertainty resulting from those various claims, when they conflicted
-with each other.
-
-The old British charters extending from sea to sea have already been
-mentioned. They were founded, beyond the sources of the rivers emptying
-into the Atlantic, on no other principle than that of contiguity or
-continuity. The grant in 1621 of Nova Scotia, by James the First, is
-bounded on the north by the river St. Lawrence, though Cartier had more
-than eighty-five years before discovered the mouth of that river and
-ascended it as high up as the present site of Montreal, and the French
-under Champlain had several years before 1621 been settled at Quebec.
-But there is another case more important, and still more in point.
-
-The few survivors of the disastrous expedition of Narvaez, who, coming
-from Florida, did in a most extraordinary way reach Culiacan on the
-Pacific, were the first Europeans who crossed the Mississippi. Some
-years later, Ferdinand de Soto, coming also from Florida, did in the
-year 1541 reach and cross the Mississippi, at some place between the
-mouth of the Ohio and that of the Arkansas. He explored a portion of the
-river and of the adjacent country; and, after his death, Moscoso, who
-succeeded him in command, did, in the year 1543, build seven brigantines
-or barques, in which, with the residue of his followers, he descended
-the Mississippi, the mouth of which he reached in seventeen days. Thence
-putting to sea with his frail vessels, he was fortunate enough to reach
-the Spanish port of Panuco, on the Mexican coast. The right of discovery
-clearly belonged to Spain; but she had neglected for near one hundred
-and fifty years to make any settlement on the great river or any of its
-tributaries. The French, coming from Canada, reached the Mississippi in
-the year 1680, and ascended it as high up as St. Anthony's Falls; and La
-Salle descended it in 1682 to its mouth. The French Government did, in
-virtue of that second discovery, claim the country, subsequently founded
-New Orleans, and formed several other settlements in the interior, on
-the Mississippi or its waters. Spain almost immediately occupied
-Pensacola and Nacogdoches, in order to check the progress of the French
-eastwardly and westwardly; but she did not attempt to disturb them in
-their settlements on the Mississippi and its tributaries. We have here
-the proof of a prior right of discovery being superseded, when too long
-neglected, by that of actual occupancy and settlement.
-
-The French, by virtue of having thus discovered the mouth of the
-Mississippi, of having ascended it more than fifteen hundred miles, of
-having explored the Ohio, the Wabash, and the Illinois, from their
-respective mouths to their most remote sources, and of having formed
-several settlements as above mentioned, laid claim to the whole country
-drained by the main river and its tributaries. They accordingly built
-forts at Le Boeuf, high up the Alleghany river, and on the site where
-Pittsburgh now stands. On the ground of discovery or settlement, Great
-Britain had not the slightest claim. General, then Colonel Washington,
-was the first who, at the age of twenty-two, and in the year 1754,
-planted the British banner on the Western waters. The British claim was
-founded principally on the ground of contiguity, enforced by other
-considerations. The strongest of these was, that it could not consist
-with natural law, that the British colonies, with a population of near
-two millions, should be confined to the narrow belt of land between the
-Atlantic and the Alleghany Mountains, and that the right derived from
-the discovery of the main river should be carried to such an extent as
-to allow the French colonies, with a population of fifty thousand,
-rightfully to claim the whole valley of the Mississippi. The contest was
-decided by the sword. By the treaty of peace of 1763, the Mississippi,
-with the exception of New Orleans and its immediate vicinity, was made
-the boundary. The French not only lost all that part of the valley which
-lay east of that river, but they were compelled to cede Canada to Great
-Britain.
-
-It may, however, happen that all the various claims from which a title
-may be derived, instead of pertaining to several Powers, and giving rise
-to conflicting pretensions, are united and rightfully belong to one
-nation alone. This union, if entire, may justly be considered as giving
-a complete and exclusive title to the sovereignty of that part of the
-country embraced by such united claims.
-
-The position assumed by the British Government, that those various
-claims exclude each other, and that the assertion of one forbids an
-appeal to the others, is obviously untenable. All that can be said in
-that respect is, that if any one claim is alone sufficient to establish
-a complete and indisputable title, an appeal to others is superfluous.
-Thus far, and no farther, can the objection be maintained. The argument
-on the part of the United States in reality was, that the Government
-considered the title derived from the ancient exclusive Spanish claim as
-indisputable; but that, if this was denied, all the other just claims of
-the United States taken together constituted a complete title, or at
-least far superior to any that could be adduced on the part of Great
-Britain.
-
-It is not intended to enter into the merits of the question, which has
-been completely discussed, since the object of this paper is only to
-show that there remain on both sides certain debatable questions; and
-that therefore both Governments may, if so disposed, recede from some
-of their pretensions, without any abandonment of positive rights, and
-without impairing national honor and dignity.
-
-Although Great Britain seems, in this discussion, to have relied almost
-exclusively on the right derived from actual occupancy and settlement,
-she cannot reject absolutely those derived from other sources. She must
-admit that, both in theory and practice, the claims derived from prior
-discovery, from contiguity, from the principle which gives to the first
-discoverer of the mouth of a river and of its course a claim to the
-whole country drained by such river, have all been recognized to a
-certain, though not well-defined extent, by all the European nations
-claiming various portions of America. And she cannot deny the facts,
-that (as Mr. Greenhow justly concludes) the seashore had been generally
-examined from the 42d, and minutely from the 45th to the 48th degree of
-latitude, Nootka Sound discovered, and the general direction of the
-coast from the 48th to the 58th degree of latitude ascertained, by the
-Spanish expeditions, in the years 1774 and 1775, of Perez, Heceta, and
-Bodego y Quadra; that the American Captain Gray was the first who, in
-1792, entered into and ascertained the existence of the River Columbia,
-and the place where it empties into the sea; that, prior to that
-discovery, the Spaniard Heceta was the first who had been within the
-bay, called Deception Bay by Meares, into which the river does empty;
-that, of the four navigators who had been in that bay prior to Gray's
-final discovery, the Spaniard Heceta and the American Gray were the only
-ones who had asserted that a great river emptied itself into that bay,
-Heceta having even given a name to the river (St. Roc), and the entrance
-having been designated by his own name (Ensennada de Heceta), whilst the
-two English navigators, Meares and Vancouver, had both concluded that no
-large river had its mouth there; that, in the year 1805, Lewis and
-Clarke were the first who descended the river Columbia, from one of its
-principal western sources to its mouth; that the first actual occupancy
-in that quarter was by Mr. Astor's company, on the 24th of March, 1811,
-though Mr. Thompson, the astronomer of the British Northwest Company,
-who arrived at Astoria on the 15th of July, may have wintered on or near
-some northern source of the river in 52 degrees north latitude; that
-amongst the factories established by that American company one was
-situated at the confluence of the Okanagan with the Columbia, in about
-49 degrees of latitude; that the 42d degree is the boundary, west of the
-Stony Mountains, established by treaty between Spain, now Mexico, and
-the United States; that the 49th degree is likewise the boundary, from
-the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains, established by treaty
-between Great Britain and the United States; and that therefore the
-right of the United States, which may be derived from the principle of
-contiguity or continuity, embraces the territory west of the Stony
-Mountains contained between the 42d and 49th degrees of latitude.
-
-Omitting other considerations which apply principally to the territory
-north of Fuca Straits, where the claims of both parties are almost
-exclusively derived from their respective discoveries, including those
-of Spain, it may be rationally inferred from the preceding enumeration
-that there remain various questions which must be considered by Great
-Britain as being still doubtful and debatable, and that she may
-therefore, without any abandonment of positive rights, recede from the
-extreme pretensions which she has advanced in the discussion respecting
-a division of the territory. But, although conjectures may be formed,
-and the course pursued by the Government of the United States may have
-an influence on that which Great Britain will adopt, it does not belong
-to me to discuss what that Government may or will do. This paper is
-intended for the American, and not for the English public; and my
-attention has been principally directed to those points which may be
-considered by the United States as doubtful and debatable.
-
-It was expressly stipulated that nothing contained in the conventions of
-1818 and 1827 should be construed to impair, _or in any manner affect_,
-the claims which either of the contracting parties may have to any part
-of the country westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains. After the most
-cool and impartial investigation of which I am capable, I have not been
-able to perceive any claim on the part of Great Britain, or debatable
-question, respecting the territory south of Fuca's Straits, but the
-species of occupancy by the British Fur companies between the year 1813
-and October 20th, 1818; and this must be considered in connection with
-the restoration of "all territory, places, and possessions whatsoever,
-taken by either party from the other during the war," provided for by
-the treaty of Ghent. To this branch of the subject belongs also the
-question whether the establishment of trading factories with Indians may
-eventually give a right to sovereignty. My opinion was expressed in the
-American counter-statement of the case, dated 19th December, 1826: "It
-is believed that mere factories, established solely for the purpose of
-trafficking with the natives, and without any view to cultivation and
-permanent settlement, cannot, of themselves, and unsupported by any
-other consideration, give any better title to dominion and absolute
-sovereignty than similar establishments made in a civilized country."
-However true this may be as an abstract proposition, it must be admitted
-that, practically, the modest British factory at Calcutta has gradually
-grown up into absolute and undisputed sovereignty over a population of
-eighty millions of people.
-
-The questions which, as it appears to me, may be allowed by the United
-States to be debatable, and therefore to make it questionable whether
-they have a complete right to the whole Oregon territory, are:
-
-1st. The Nootka convention, which applies to the whole, and which,
-though not of primary importance, is nevertheless a fact, and the
-inferences drawn from it a matter of argument.
-
-2dly. The discovery of the Straits of Fuca.
-
-3dly. North of those straits; along the sea shores, the discoveries of
-the British contrasted with those of the American and Spanish
-navigators; in the interior, the question whether the discovery of the
-mouth and the navigation of one of its principal branches, from its
-source to the mouth of the river, implies without exception a complete
-right to the whole country drained by all the tributaries of such river;
-and also the British claim to the whole territory drained by Frazer's
-river--its sources having been discovered in 1792 by Sir Alexander
-Mackenzie, factories having been established upon it by the British as
-early as the year 1806, and the whole river thence to its mouth having
-been for a number of years exclusively navigated by British subjects.
-
-It appears to me sufficient generally to suggest the controverted
-points. That which relates to Fuca's Straits is the most important, and
-deserves particular consideration.
-
-If Fuca's voyage in 1592 could be proved to be an authentic document,
-this would settle at once the question in favor of the United States;
-but the voyage was denied in the introduction to the voyage of the Sutil
-and Mexicano. This was an official document, published under the
-auspices of the Spanish Government, and intended to vindicate Spain
-against the charges, that she had contributed nothing to the advancement
-of geography in those quarters. This negative evidence was confirmed by
-Humboldt, who says that no trace of such voyage can be found in the
-archives of Mexico. Unwilling to adduce any doubtful fact, I abstained
-from alluding to it in the statement of the American case in 1826. Later
-researches show that, although recorded evidences remain of the voyages
-of Gali from Macao to Acapulco in 1584, of the Santa Anna (on board of
-which was, as he says, Fuca himself) from Manilla to the coast of
-California, where she was captured in 1587 by Cavendish, and of Vizcaino
-in 1602-1603, and even of Maldonado's fictitious voyage in 1588, yet no
-trace has been found in Spain or Mexico of Fuca's, or any other similar
-voyage, in 1692, or thereabout.
-
-On reading with attention the brief account published by Purchas, I will
-say that the voyage itself has much internal evidence of its truth, but
-that the inference or conclusion throws much discredit on the whole. The
-only known account of the voyage is that given verbally at Venice in
-1596, by Fuca, a Greek pilot, to Mr. Lock, a respectable English
-merchant, who transmitted it to Purchas.
-
-Fuca says that he had been sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to discover the
-straits of Anian and the passage thereof into the sea, which they called
-the North Sea, which is _our Northwest Sea_; that between 47 and 48
-degrees of latitude he entered into a broad inlet, through which he
-sailed more than twenty days; and, being then come into the North Sea
-already, and not being sufficiently armed, he returned again to
-Acapulco. He offered then to Mr. Lock to go into England and serve her
-Majesty in a voyage for the discovery perfectly of the Northwest passage
-into the South Sea. If it be granted that the inlet through which he
-had sailed was really the same as the straits which now bear his name,
-that sea into which he emerged, and which he asserts to be _our
-Northwest Sea_, must have been that which is now called Queen
-Charlotte's Sound, north of Quadra and Vancouver's Island, in about 51
-degrees of latitude. _Our Northwest Sea_ was that which washes the
-shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, then universally known as far north
-as the vicinity of the 60th degree of latitude. Hudson's Straits had not
-yet been discovered, and the discovery of Davis's Straits might not be
-known to Fuca. But no navigator at that time, who, like he, had sailed
-across both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, could be ignorant that
-the northern extremity of Newfoundland, which lies nearly in the same
-latitude as the northern entrance of Fuca's Straits, is situated sixty
-or seventy degrees of longitude east of that entrance. The only way to
-reconcile the account with itself is, to suppose that Fuca believed that
-the continent of America did not, on the side of the Atlantic, extend
-further north than about the 60th degree, and was bounded northwardly by
-an open sea, which extended as far west as the northern extremity of the
-inlet through which he had sailed. It is true nevertheless that, between
-the years 1774 and 1792, there was a prevailing opinion amongst the
-navigators that Fuca had actually discovered an inlet leading towards
-the Atlantic. Prior to the year 1787 they were engaged in seeking for
-it, and the Spaniards had for that purpose explored in vain the sea
-coast lying south of the 48th degree; for it is well known that Fuca's
-entrance lies between the 48th and 49th, and not between the 47th and
-48th degrees of latitude, as he had announced.
-
-The modern discovery of that inlet is due to Captain Barclay, an
-Englishman, commanding the Imperial Eagle, a vessel owned by British
-merchants, but which was equipped at, and took its departure from
-Ostend, and which sailed under the flag of the Austrian East India
-Company. The British Government, which has objected to the American
-claim derived from Captain Gray's discovery of the mouth of the river
-Columbia, on the ground that he was a private individual, and that his
-vessel was not a public ship, cannot certainly claim anything in virtue
-of a discovery by a private Englishman, sailing under Austrian colors.
-In that case, and rejecting Fuca's voyage, neither the United States nor
-England can lay any claim on account of the discovery of the straits.
-
-Subsequently, the Englishman, Meares, sailing under the Portuguese flag,
-penetrated, in 1768, about ten miles into the inlet, and the American,
-Gray, in 1789, about fifty miles. The pretended voyage of the sloop
-Washington throughout the straits, under the command of either Gray or
-Kendrick, has no other foundation than an assertion of Meares, on which
-no reliance can be placed.
-
-In the year 1790 (1791 according to Vancouver) the Spaniards, Elisa and
-Quimper, explored the straits more than one hundred miles, discovering
-the Port Discovery, the entrance of Admiralty Inlet, the Deception
-Passage, and the Canal de Haro. In 1792 Vancouver explored and surveyed
-the straits throughout, together with their various bays and harbors.
-Even there he had been preceded in part by the Sutil and Mexicano; and
-he expresses his regret that they had advanced before him as far as the
-Canal del Rosario.
-
-Under all the circumstances of the case, it cannot be doubted that the
-United States must admit that the discovery of the straits, and the
-various inferences which may be drawn from it, are doubtful and
-debatable questions.
-
-That which relates to a presumed agreement of Commissioners appointed
-under the treaty of Utrecht, by which the northern boundary of Canada
-was, from a certain point north of Lake Superior, declared to extend
-westwardly along the 49th parallel of latitude, does not appear to me
-definitively settled. As this had been assumed many years before, as a
-positive fact, and had never been contradicted, I also assumed it as
-such and did not thoroughly investigate the subject. Yet I had before me
-at least one map (name of publisher not recollected), of which I have a
-vivid recollection, on which the dividing lines were distinctly marked
-and expressly designated, as being in conformity with the agreement of
-the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. The evidence against the
-fact, though in some respects strong, is purely negative. The line,
-according to the map, extended from a certain point near the source of
-the river Saguenay, in a westerly direction, to another designated
-point on another river emptying either into the St Lawrence or James's
-Bay; and there were, in that way, four or five lines following each
-other, all tending westwardly, but with different inclinations
-northwardly or southwardly, and all extending, from some apparently
-known point on a designated river, to another similar point on another
-river; the rivers themselves emptying themselves, some into the river
-St. Lawrence and others into James's Bay or Hudson's Bay, until, from a
-certain point lying north of Lake Superior, the line was declared to
-extend along the 49th degree of latitude, as above stated. It was with
-that map before me that the following paragraph was inserted in the
-American statement of December, 1826:
-
-
-     "The limits between the possessions of Great Britain in North
-     America, and those of France in the same quarter, namely, Canada
-     and Louisiana, were determined by Commissioners appointed in
-     pursuance of the treaty of Utrecht. From the coast of Labrador to a
-     certain point North of Lake Superior, those limits were fixed
-     according to certain metes and bounds; and from that point the line
-     of demarcation was agreed to extend indefinitely due west, along
-     the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude. It was in conformity
-     with that arrangement that the United States did claim that
-     parallel as the northern boundary of Louisiana. It has been
-     accordingly thus settled, as far as the Stony Mountains, by the
-     convention of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain; and
-     no adequate reason can be given why the same boundary should not be
-     continued as far as the claims of the United States do extend, that
-     is to say, as far as the Pacific ocean."
-
-
-It appears very extraordinary that any geographer or map-maker should
-have invented a dividing line, with such specific details, without
-having sufficient grounds for believing that it had been thus determined
-by the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. It is also believed
-that Douglass' Summary (not at this moment within my reach) adverts to
-the portion of the line from the coast of Labrador to the Saguenay.
-Finally, the allusion to the 49th parallel, as a boundary fixed in
-consequence of the treaty of Utrecht, had been repeatedly made in the
-course of preceding negotiations, as well as in the conferences of that
-of the year 1826; and there is no apparent motive, if the assertion was
-known by the British negotiators not to be founded in fact, why they
-should not have at once denied it. It may be, however, that the
-question having ceased to be of any interest to Great Britain since the
-acquisition of Canada, they had not investigated the subject. It is of
-some importance, because, if authenticated, the discussion would be
-converted from questions respecting undefined claims, into one
-concerning the construction of a positive treaty or convention.
-
-It is sufficiently clear that, under all the circumstances of the case,
-an amicable division of the territory, if at all practicable, must be
-founded in a great degree on expediency. This of course must be left to
-the wisdom of the two Governments. The only natural, equitable, and
-practicable line which has occurred to me, is one which, running through
-the middle of Fuca Straits, from its entrance to a point on the main,
-situated south of the mouth of Frazer's river, should leave to the
-United States all the shores and harbors lying south, and to Great
-Britain all those north of that line, including the whole of Quadra and
-Vancouver's Island. It would be through Fuca's Straits a nearly easterly
-line, along the parallel of about 48½ degrees, leaving to England the
-most valuable and permanent portion of the fur trade, dividing the
-sea-coast as nearly as possible into two equal parts, and the ports in
-the most equitable manner. To leave Admiralty Inlet and its Sounds to
-Great Britain, would give her a possession in the heart of the American
-portion of the territory. Whether from the point where the line would
-strike the main, it should be continued along the same parallel, or run
-along the 49th, is a matter of secondary importance.
-
-If such division should take place, the right of the inhabitants of the
-country situated on the upper waters of the Columbia to the navigation
-of that river to its mouth, is founded on natural law; and the principle
-has almost been recognized as the public law of Europe. Limited to
-commercial purposes, it might be admitted, but on the express condition
-that the citizens of the United States should in the same manner, and to
-the same extent, have the right to navigate the river St. Lawrence.
-
-But I must say that, whatever may be the ultimate destinies of the
-Oregon territory, I would feel great regret in seeing it in any way
-divided. An amicable division appears to me without comparison
-preferable to a war for that object between the two countries. In every
-other view of the subject it is highly exceptionable. Without adverting
-for the present to considerations of a higher nature, it may be
-sufficient here to observe, that the conversion of the northern part of
-the territory into a British colony would in its effects make the
-arrangement very unequal. The United States are forbidden by their
-Constitution to give a preference to the ports of one State over those
-of another. The ports within the portion of territory allotted to the
-United States would of course remain open to British vessels; whilst
-American vessels would be excluded from the ports of the British colony,
-unless occasionally admitted by special acts depending on the will of
-Great Britain.
-
-FOOTNOTE:
-
-[2] Grotius, however, sustains the right of occupation by a maxim of the
-Civil Roman Code.
-
-
-
-
-NUMBER III.
-
-
-Beyond the naked assertion of an absolute right to the whole territory,
-so little in the shape of argument has been adduced, and so much warmth
-has been exhibited in the discussion of the subject, that it cannot be
-doubted that the question has now become, on both sides, one of feeling
-rather than of right. This, in America, grows out of the fact that, in
-this contest with a European nation, the contested territory is in
-America and not in Europe. It is identical with the premature official
-annunciation, that the United States could not acquiesce in the
-establishment of any new colony in North America by any European nation.
-This sentiment was already general at the time when it was first
-publicly declared; and now that it has been almost universally avowed,
-there can be no impropriety in any private citizen to say, as I now do,
-that I share in that feeling to its full extent. For the Americans,
-Oregon is or will be home: for England, it is but an outpost, which may
-afford means of annoyance, rather than be a source of real power. In
-America all have the same ultimate object in view; we differ only with
-respect to the means by which it may be attained.
-
-Two circumstances have had a tendency to nourish and excite these
-feelings. The British fur companies, from their position, from their
-monopolizing character, from their natural influence upon the Indians,
-and from that, much greater than might have been expected, which they
-have constantly had upon the British Government in its negotiations with
-the United States, have for sixty years been a perpetual source of
-annoyance and collisions. The vested interests of the Hudson Bay Company
-are at this moment the greatest obstacle to an amicable arrangement. It
-is at the same time due to justice to say that, as far as is known, that
-company has acted in Oregon in conformity with the terms of the
-convention, and that its officers have uniformly treated the Americans,
-whether visitors or emigrants, not only courteously, but with great
-kindness.
-
-If the British colonies on the continent of America were an independent
-country, or were they placed in their commercial relations, at least
-with the United States, on the same footing as the British possessions
-in Europe, these relations would be regulated by the reciprocal
-interests and wants of the parties immediately concerned. Great Britain
-has an undoubted right to persist in her colonial policy; but the result
-has been extremely vexatious, and to the United States injurious. All
-this is true. But feelings do not confer a right, and the indulgence of
-excited feelings is neither virtue nor wisdom.
-
-The Western States have no greater apparent immediate interest in the
-acquisition of Oregon than the States bordering on the Atlantic. These
-stand in greater need of an outlet for their surplus emigrating
-population, and to them exclusively, will for the present, the benefit
-accrue of ports on the Pacific, for the protection of the numerous
-American ships employed in the fisheries and commerce of that ocean. It
-is true that in case of war the inhabitants of the Western States will
-not, if a naval superiority shall be obtained on the Upper Lakes, feel
-those immediate calamities of war to which the country along the
-seashore is necessarily exposed; but no section of the United States
-will be more deeply affected, by the impossibility of finding during the
-war a market for the immense surplus of its agricultural products. It
-must also be remembered that a direct tax has heretofore been found as
-productive as the aggregate of all the other internal taxes levied by
-the General Government; that, in case of war, it must necessarily be
-imposed; and that, as it must, in conformity with the Constitution, be
-levied in proportion to the respective population of the several States,
-it will be much more oppressive on those which have not yet accumulated
-a large amount of circulating or personal capital. The greater degree of
-excitement which prevails in the West is due to other and more powerful
-causes than a regard for self-interest.
-
-Bordering through the whole of their northern frontier on the British
-possessions, the Western people have always been personally exposed to
-the annoyances and collisions already alluded to; and it may be that the
-hope of getting rid of these by the conquest of Canada has some
-influence upon their conduct. Independent of this, the indomitable
-energy of this nation has been and is nowhere displayed so forcibly as
-in the new States and settlements. It was necessarily directed towards
-the acquisition of land and the cultivation of the soil. In that respect
-it has performed prodigies. Three millions of cultivators of the soil
-are now found between the Lakes and the Ohio, where, little more than
-fifty years before, save only three or four half Indian French
-settlements, there was not a single white inhabitant. Nothing now seems
-impossible to those men; they have not even been sobered by fresh
-experience. Attempting to do at once, and without an adequate capital,
-that which should have been delayed five-and-twenty years, and might
-have then been successfully accomplished, some of those States have had
-the mortification to find themselves unable to pay the interest on the
-debt they had contracted, and obliged to try to compound with their
-creditors. Nevertheless, undiminished activity and locomotion are still
-the ruling principles: the Western people leap over time and distance;
-ahead they must go; it is their mission. May God speed them, and may
-they thus quietly take possession of the entire contested territory!
-
-All this was as well known to the British Government as to ourselves. A
-public and official declaration by the President of the United States
-was unnecessary and at least premature. Mr. Rush's correspondence of
-1824 bears witness of its unfortunate effect on the negotiations of that
-year. These feelings had gradually subsided. But, whatever may be the
-cause, the fact that an extraordinary excitement on this subject has
-manifested itself, and does now exist on both sides, cannot be denied.
-Time is absolutely necessary in order that this should subside. Any
-precipitate step now taken by either Government would be attended with
-the most fatal consequences. That which, if done some years ago, might
-have been harmless, would now be highly dangerous, and should at least
-be postponed for the present.
-
-The first incipient step recommended by the Executive is, to give the
-notice that the convention of 1827 shall expire at the end of one year.
-This measure at this time, and connected with the avowed intention of
-assuming exclusive sovereignty over the whole territory, becomes a
-question of peace or war.
-
-The conventions of 1818 and 1827, whilst reserving the rights of both
-parties, allowed the freedom of trade and navigation throughout the
-whole territory to remain common to both; and the citizens or subjects
-of both powers were permitted to occupy any part of it. The
-inconveniences of that temporary arrangement were well understood at the
-time. The British fur companies had established factories on the banks,
-and even south of the river Columbia, within the limits of that portion
-of the country which the United States had, whenever the subject was
-discussed, claimed as belonging exclusively to them. The conditions of
-the agreement were nominally reciprocal; but, though they did not give,
-yet they did in fact leave the British company in the exclusive
-possession of the fur trade. This could not be prevented otherwise than
-by resorting to actual force: the United States were not then either
-ready or disposed to run the risks of a war for that object; and it was
-thought more eligible, that the British traders should remain on the
-territory of the United States, by virtue of a compact and with their
-consent, than in defiance of their authority. It is but very lately that
-the Americans have begun to migrate to that remote country: a greater
-number will certainly follow; and they have under the convention a
-perfect right to occupy and make settlements in any part of the
-territory they may think proper, with the sole exception of the spots
-actually occupied by the British company.
-
-What is then the object in view, in giving the notice at this time? This
-has been declared without reserve by the President: "At the end of the
-year's notice, should Congress think it proper to make provision for
-giving that notice, we shall have reached a period when the national
-rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly maintained. That
-they cannot be abandoned without a sacrifice of both national honor and
-interests, is too clear to admit of doubt." And it must be recollected
-that this candid avowal has been accompanied by the declaration that
-"our title to the whole Oregon territory had been asserted and, as was
-believed, maintained by irrefragable facts and arguments." Nothing can
-be more plain and explicit. The exclusive right of the United States to
-absolute sovereignty over the whole territory must be asserted and
-maintained.
-
-It may not be necessary for that purpose to drive away the British fur
-company, nor to prevent the migration into Oregon of British emigrants
-coming from the British dominions. The company may, if deemed expedient,
-be permitted to trade as heretofore with the Indians. British emigrants
-may be treated in the same manner as the other sixty or eighty thousand
-who already arrive yearly in the United States. They may at their option
-be naturalized, or remain on the same footing as foreigners in other
-parts of the Union. In this case they will enjoy no political rights;
-they will not be permitted to own American vessels and to sail under the
-American flag; the permission to own real property seems, so long as
-Oregon remains a territory, to depend on the will of Congress. Thus far
-collision may be avoided.
-
-But no foreign jurisdiction can be permitted, from the moment when the
-sovereignty of the United States over the whole territory shall be
-asserted and maintained. To this, all those who reside in the territory
-must submit. After having taken the decisive step of giving the notice,
-the United States cannot, as the President justly states, abandon the
-right of sovereignty without a sacrifice of national honor.
-
-It had been expressly agreed by the convention that nothing contained in
-it should affect the claims of either party to the territory. The
-all-important question of sovereignty remained therefore in abeyance.
-Negotiations for a division of the territory have failed: the question
-of sovereignty remains undecided, as it was prior to the convention. If
-the United States exercise the reserved right to put an end to the
-convention, and if, from the time when it shall have expired, they
-peremptorily assume the right of sovereignty over the whole, it cannot
-be doubted that Great Britain will at once resist. She will adhere to
-the principle she had asserted prior to the Nootka convention, and has
-ever since maintained, that actual occupancy can alone give a right to
-the country. She will not permit the jurisdiction of the United States
-to be extended over her subjects: she will oppose the removal, arrest,
-or exercise of any other legal process, against her justices of the
-peace, against any other officers who directly or indirectly act under
-her authority, against any of her subjects; and she will continue to
-exercise her jurisdiction over all of them throughout the whole
-territory. Whatever either Power asserts must be maintained: military
-occupation and war must necessarily ensue.
-
-A portion of the people, both in the West and elsewhere, see clearly
-that such must be the consequence of giving the notice. Such men openly
-avow their opinions, prefer war to a longer continuation of the present
-state of things, are ready to meet all the dangers and calamities of the
-impending conflict, and to adopt at once all the measures which may
-ensure success. With them, the discussion brings at once the question to
-its true issue: Is war necessary for the object they have in view? Or
-may it not be attained by peaceable means? It is a question of war or
-peace, and it is fairly laid before the nation.
-
-But many respectable men appear to entertain hopes that peace may still
-be preserved after the United States shall have assumed, or attempted to
-assume, exclusive sovereignty. The reverse appears to me so clear, so
-obvious, so inevitable, that I really cannot understand on what grounds
-these hopes are founded.
-
-Is it thought that the President will not, after the assent of Congress
-has been obtained (and whether immediately or at the end of this
-session, is quite immaterial), give the notice which he has asked
-Congress to authorize? Or is it supposed that a change in the form
-which, in order to avoid responsibility, would give him a discretionary
-power, could lead to a different result, or be anything else but a
-transfer by Congress to the Executive of the power to declare war?
-
-Can it be presumed that when, after the expiration of the term of
-notice, the convention shall have been abrogated, the President will not
-assert and maintain the sovereignty claimed by the United States? I have
-not the honor of a personal acquaintance with him; I respect in him the
-First Magistrate of the Nation; and he is universally represented as of
-irreproachable character, sincere, and patriotic. Every citizen has a
-right to differ with him in opinion: no one has that of supposing that
-he says one thing and means another. I feel an intimate conviction of
-his entire sincerity.
-
-Is it possible that any one, who does not labor under a singular
-illusion, can believe that England will yield to threats and defiance
-that which she has refused to concede to our arguments? Reverse the
-case: Suppose for a moment that Great Britain was the aggressor, and had
-given the notice; declaring, at the same time, that, at the expiration
-of the year, she would assume exclusive sovereignty over the whole
-country, and oppose the exercise of any whatever by the United States:
-is there any American, even amongst those who set the least value on the
-Oregon territory, and are most sincerely desirous of preserving peace,
-who would not at once declare that such pretension on the part of Great
-Britain was outrageous and must be resisted?
-
-It is not certainly the interest of Great Britain to wage war against
-the United States, and it may be fairly presumed that the British
-Government has no such wish. But England is, as well as the United
-States, a great, powerful, sensitive, and proud nation. Every effusion
-of the British press which displays hostility to the United States,
-produces an analogous sentiment, and adds new fuel to excitement in
-America. A moment's reflection will enable us to judge of the inevitable
-effect of an offensive and threatening act, emanating from our
-Government; an act which throws, in the face of the world, the gauntlet
-of defiance to Great Britain. Her claims and views, as laid down in her
-statement of December, 1826, remove every doubt respecting the steps she
-will take. "Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any
-portion of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any
-part, but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy in
-common with other States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in
-abeyance. * * * * The pretensions of Great Britain tend to the mere
-maintenance of her own rights, _in resistance to the exclusive
-character_ of the pretensions of the United States. * * * * These rights
-embrace the right to navigate the waters of those countries, _the right
-to settle in and over any part of them_, and the right freely to trade
-with the inhabitants and occupiers of the same. It is fully _admitted_
-that the _United States possess the same rights_. But beyond these
-rights, they possess none. To the interests and establishments which
-British industry and enterprise have created Great Britain owes
-protection. _That protection will be given_, both as regards settlement
-and freedom of trade and navigation, with every attention not to
-infringe the co-ordinate rights of the United States."
-
-Thus, the United States declare that they give notice of the abrogation
-of the convention, with the avowed determination of asserting their
-assumed right of absolute and _exclusive sovereignty_ over the whole
-territory of Oregon. And Great Britain has explicitly declared that her
-pretensions were, _in resistance_ to the _exclusive_ character of those
-of the United States; and that protection will be given both as regards
-settlement and freedom of trade and navigation to the interests and
-establishments which British industry and enterprise have created.
-
-How war can be avoided, if both Powers persist in their conflicting
-determinations, is incomprehensible. Under such circumstances
-negotiation is morally impossible during the year following the notice.
-To give that notice, with the avowed determination to assume exclusive
-sovereignty at the end of the year, is a decisive, most probably an
-irretrievable, step. "After that period the United States cannot abandon
-their right of sovereignty without a sacrifice of national honor."
-
-The question of sovereignty has never been decided. Simply to give
-notice of the abrogation of the convention, would leave the question in
-the same situation: it would remain in abeyance. But when the President
-has recommended that the notice should be given with the avowed object
-of assuming exclusive sovereignty, an Act of Congress, in compliance
-with his recommendation, necessarily implies an approbation of the
-object for which it is given. If the notice should be given, the only
-way to avoid that implication and its fatal consequences, is to insert
-in it, an explicit declaration, that the sovereignty shall not be
-assumed. But then why give the notice at all? A postponement is far
-preferable, unless some other advantage shall be obtained by the
-abrogation of the convention. This must be examined, and it is necessary
-to inquire whether any and what measures may be adopted, without any
-violation of the convention, that will preserve the rights and
-strengthen the position of the United States.
-
-
-
-
-NUMBER IV.
-
-
-The acts which the government of the United States may do, in conformity
-with the convention, embrace two objects: the measures applicable to the
-territory within their acknowledged limits which may facilitate and
-promote migration; and those which are necessary for the protection of
-their citizens residing in the Oregon territory.
-
-It is a remarkable fact that, although the convention has now been in
-force twenty-seven years, Congress has actually done nothing with
-respect to either of those objects. Enterprising individuals have,
-without any aid or encouragement by Government, opened a wagon-road
-eighteen hundred miles in length, through an arid or mountainous region,
-and made settlements on or near the shores of the Pacific, without any
-guaranty for the possession of the land improved by their labors. Even
-the attempt to carry on an inland trade with the Indians of Oregon has
-been defeated, by the refusal to allow a drawback of the high duties
-imposed on the importation of foreign goods absolutely necessary for
-that commerce. Thus the fur trade has remained engrossed by the Hudson
-Bay Company; missionaries were, till very lately, almost the only
-citizens of the United States to be found in Oregon; the United States,
-during the whole of that period, have derived no other advantage from
-the convention than the reservation of their rights, and the express
-provision that these should in no way be affected by the continuance of
-the British factories in the territory. And, now that the tide of
-migration has turned in their favor, they are suddenly invited to assume
-a hostile position, to endure the calamities and to run the chances and
-consequences of war, in order to gain an object which natural and
-irresistible causes, if permitted to operate, cannot fail ultimately to
-attain.
-
-The measures applicable to the territory within the acknowledged limits
-of the U. States have generally been recommended by the President. A
-very moderate appropriation will be sufficient to improve the most
-difficult portions of the road: and block-houses or other temporary
-works, erected in proper places and at convenient distances, and
-garrisoned by a portion of the intended additional force, will protect
-and facilitate the progress of the emigrants. However uninviting may be
-the vast extent of prairies, destitute of timber, which intervene
-between the western boundary of the State of Missouri and the country
-bordering on the Stony Mountains, it seems impossible that there should
-not be found some more favored spots where settlements may be formed. If
-these were selected for military posts, and donations of land were made
-to actual settlers in their vicinity, a series of villages, though
-probably not a continuity of settlements, would soon arise through the
-whole length of the road. The most important place, that which is most
-wanted, either as a place of rest for the emigrants, or for military
-purposes, is one in the immediate vicinity of the Stony Mountains.
-Reports speak favorably of the fertility of the soil in some of the
-valleys of the upper waters, within our limits--of Bear's river, of the
-Rio Colorado, and of some of the northern branches of the river Platte.
-There, also, the seat of justice might be placed of the new territory,
-whose courts should have superior jurisdiction over Oregon.
-
-The measures which the United States have a right to carry into effect
-within the territory of Oregon must now be considered.
-
-The only positive condition of the convention is, that the territory in
-question shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the
-navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open to vessels,
-citizens, and subjects of the two Powers.
-
-For the construction put on this article by Great Britain, it is
-necessary to recur again to the statement of her claim, as given by
-herself, and to her own acts subsequent to the convention.
-
-The acts of England, subsequent to the convention of 1818, are to be
-found in the various charters of the Hudson Bay Company (observing that
-some of their most important provisions, though of a much earlier date,
-stand unrepealed), and in the act of Parliament of the year 1821, which
-confirms and extends a prior one of the year 1803. It must also be
-recollected that, by grants or acts subsequent to the convention, the
-ancient Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company of Montreal have
-been united together, preserving the name of Hudson Bay Company.
-
-This Company was and remains a body corporate and politic, with
-provisions for the election of a Governor and other officers, who direct
-its business; and amongst other powers, the Company is empowered to
-build fortifications for the defence of its possessions, as well as to
-make war or peace with all nations or people, not Christian, inhabiting
-their territories, which now embrace the entire Oregon. By the act of
-Parliament of 1821, the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada is
-extended, in all civil and criminal cases, to the Oregon territory;
-provision is made for the appointment of justices of the peace within
-the said territory, with a limited jurisdiction, and power to act as
-Commissioners in certain cases, and to convey offenders to Upper Canada.
-
-It must also be observed that, although the Company is forbidden to
-claim any exclusive trade with the Indians, to the prejudice or
-exclusion of any citizen of the United States who may be engaged in the
-same trade, yet the jurisdiction above mentioned is, by the letter of
-the act, extended to any persons whatsoever residing or being within the
-said territory. The British Plenipotentiaries did, however, explicitly
-declare, in the course of the negotiations of 1826-1827, that the act
-had no other object but the maintenance of order amongst British
-subjects, and had never been intended to apply to citizens of the United
-States.
-
-It is perfectly clear that, since it has been fully admitted that the
-United States possess the same rights over the territory as Great
-Britain, they are fully authorized, under the convention, to enjoy all
-the rights which Great Britain claims for herself, and to exercise that
-jurisdiction which she has assumed as being consistent with the
-convention.
-
-The citizens of the United States have, therefore, at this time a full
-and acknowledged right to navigate the waters of the Oregon territory,
-_to settle in and over any part of it_, and freely to trade with the
-inhabitants and occupiers of the same. And the Government of the United
-States is likewise fully authorized to incorporate any company or
-association of men for the purpose of trading or of occupying and
-settling the country; to extend the jurisdiction of the courts of any of
-its territories lying within its acknowledged limits, in all civil and
-criminal cases, to the territory aforesaid; to appoint within the same
-justices of the peace and such other officers as may be necessary for
-carrying the jurisdiction into effect; and also to make war and peace
-with the Indian inhabitants of the territory, including the incidental
-power to appoint agents for that purpose.
-
-On the other hand, it seems to be understood that, so long as the
-convention remains in force, neither Government shall lay duties in the
-Territory on tonnage, merchandise, or commerce; nor exercise exclusive
-jurisdiction over any portion of it; and that the citizens and subjects
-of the two Powers, residing in or removing to the territory, shall be
-amenable only to the jurisdiction of their own country respectively.
-
-It has been contended by the British Government that the establishment
-of any military post, or the introduction of any regular force under a
-national flag, by either Power, would be an act of exclusive
-sovereignty, which could not be permitted to either whilst the
-sovereignty remained in abeyance. Under existing circumstances, it is
-believed that such an act would be highly dangerous, and prove
-unfavorable to the United States.
-
-But the establishment by the United States of a Territorial Government
-over Oregon is also objected to on the same principle. The want of such
-government appears to be the only serious inconvenience attending a
-continuance of the convention, and requires special consideration.
-
-The United States have the same right as Great Britain, and are equally
-bound, to protect their citizens residing in the Oregon territory, in
-the exercise of all the rights secured to them by the convention. It has
-been fully admitted that these rights embrace the right to settle in and
-over any part of the territory, and that they are to be, in all cases
-whatever, amenable only to the jurisdiction of their own country. The
-subjects of Great Britain, who are not in the employ of the Hudson Bay
-Company, are forbidden to trade with the natives; and the company does
-in fact control and govern all the British subjects residing in the
-territory. This gives a strong guaranty against the violation, by rash
-individuals, of the rights of the citizens of the United States. Should
-any of them, however, be disturbed in the exercise of their legitimate
-rights, and the company should be unable or unwilling to relieve and
-indemnify them, the United States would be justly entitled to appeal to
-the British Government for the redress of a violation of rights secured
-by the convention; for the British Government has preserved a control
-over the Hudson Bay Company, and does in fact, through it, govern the
-British subjects who reside in the territory.
-
-The United States are placed, in that respect, in a very different
-situation. It is not believed that the General Government is authorized
-to incorporate, as a political body, a commercial company, with such
-powers as would give it an efficient control over the private citizens
-residing in the territory. Such delegation of powers, either by any of
-the States or by Congress, is wholly inconsistent with our institutions.
-The United States may indeed give to their citizens in Oregon a regular
-and complete judiciary system; and they may also extend to them, as the
-British Government has done on its part, the laws of an adjacent
-territory. But an executive local power is wanted in this case, as it is
-everywhere else, under any form of government whatever, to cause the
-laws to be executed, and to have that general control which is now
-exercised, through the Hudson Bay Company, by the British Government.
-There are, besides, various acts of a public though local nature, such
-as opening roads, making bridges, erecting block-houses for protection
-against the natives, providing for the destitute, &c., all which are
-performed by the Hudson Bay Company, and cannot be accomplished by
-insulated individuals, bound by no legal association or government.
-
-Whether any measures may be devised, other than a territorial
-government, that will be sufficient for the purpose intended; whether
-all the American citizens residing in Oregon might not be incorporated
-and made a body politic, with powers equivalent to those vested in the
-Hudson Bay Company, and with the reservation by the General Government
-of a check or control analogous to that reserved by the Government of
-Great Britain, are questions worthy of serious consideration. But Great
-Britain has the same interest as the United States to prevent collision
-during the continuance of the convention; and it is believed that, if
-negotiations should be renewed, with an equal and sincere desire on both
-sides to preserve friendly relations, there would be no difficulty at
-this time in coming to an understanding on the subject. It would seem
-sufficient that this should be accompanied with provisions, preventing
-the possibility of the powers exercised by the United States being ever
-applied to British subjects, and with an explicit declaration that these
-powers should never be construed as an admission by Great Britain of any
-claim of the United States to exclusive sovereignty.
-
-There is another important subject which has not, it is believed, ever
-been discussed by the two Powers. This is the claim to the ownership of
-the places settled and improved under the convention. It seems to me
-that, on the principles of both natural and international law, these
-rights, to a defined extent, should be respected by each Power
-respectively, whose sovereignty over the portion of the territory in
-which such improved settlements may be situated will ultimately be
-recognized. It appears also that the United States may, in conformity
-with the convention, and without affecting in any shape the claims
-advanced by Great Britain, pass a law declaring that they abandon or
-grant without warranty, to such of their citizens as shall have made
-actual and bonâ fide settlements in any part of Oregon, under the
-convention, all the rights of and claims to the ownership of the soil,
-on which such settlements shall have been made, which the United States
-may now or hereafter claim or acquire: limiting and defining the extent
-of the grant in the same manner as would be done if such grant was
-absolute; and promising that the title should be confirmed, in case and
-whenever the sovereignty of the United States was recognized or asserted
-and maintained.
-
-The prolongation, in 1827, of the convention of 1818, was evidently
-intended as a temporary measure, since it was made revocable at the will
-of either party. The plenipotentiaries of the two Powers had been unable
-to agree on the terms of a definitive arrangement, or even in defining
-with precision the conditions on which the convention of 1818 might be
-continued for a determinate period. It will be seen, by reference to the
-protocols and correspondence, that, although it was generally admitted
-that neither party ought during such continuance to exercise any
-exclusive sovereignty over the territory, the American Plenipotentiary
-declined to agree to any convention containing an express provision to
-that effect, or accompanied by the insertion in the protocol of a
-declaration for the same purpose by the British Plenipotentiaries. The
-reason was not only because an exclusive right over Astoria and its
-dependencies was claimed by the United States, but principally because
-it was anticipated that, in order to have in fact an authority equal to
-that exercised by the Hudson Bay Company, it would become necessary for
-the United States to perform acts which the British Government might
-contend to be forbidden by such express provision or declaration. The
-consequence was, that the convention recognizes some certain rights, and
-imposes no positive restrictions but only such, as may be supposed to be
-implied in the clause which declares, that nothing contained in it
-should be construed to impair or affect the claims of either party. The
-probability that it might become necessary for the United States to
-establish a territory or some sort of government over their own citizens
-was explicitly avowed; the deficiencies of the renewed convention of
-1827, and the inconveniences which might ensue, were fully understood;
-and the continuance of that of 1818, made revokable at will, was agreed
-on, with the hope that the two Powers would embrace an early
-opportunity, if not to make a definitive arrangement, at least to
-substitute for the convention another, defining with precision the acts
-which both parties should be allowed or forbidden to perform so long as
-the sovereignty remained in abeyance.
-
-The inconveniences alluded to have been fairly stated in this paper, and
-some of the means by which they may be avoided have been suggested. It
-is not, therefore, on account of the intrinsic value of the convention
-that its abrogation is objectionable and dangerous. It is because
-nothing is substituted in its place; it is because, if the two Powers
-are not yet prepared to make a definitive agreement, it becomes the duty
-of both Governments, instead of breaking the only barrier which still
-preserves peace, to substitute for the existing convention one adapted
-to the present state of things, and which shall prevent collisions until
-the question of sovereignty shall have been settled. The inconveniences
-which were only anticipated have become tangible, from the time when
-American citizens, whom the United States are bound to protect, began to
-make settlements in the territory of Oregon. The sudden transition, from
-an agreement however defective to a promiscuous occupancy, without any
-provisions whatever that may prevent collisions, is highly dangerous.
-When this is accompanied by an avowed determination on the part of the
-United States to assume that exclusive sovereignty which Great Britain
-has positively declared she would resist, War becomes inevitable.
-
-
-
-
-NUMBER V.
-
-
-It may not be possible to calculate, with any degree of certainty, the
-number of citizens of the United States who, aided by these various
-measures, will, within any given period, remove to the territory beyond
-the Stony Mountains. It is certain that this number will annually
-increase, and keep pace with the rapid increase of the population of the
-Western States. It cannot be doubted that ultimately, and at no very
-distant time, they will have possession of all that is worth being
-occupied in the territory. On what principle, then, will the right of
-sovereignty be decided?
-
-It may, however, be asked whether, if this be the inevitable consequence
-of the continuance of the convention, England will not herself give
-notice that it shall be abrogated. It might be sufficient to answer that
-we must wait till that notice shall have been given, and the subsequent
-measures which England means to adopt shall have been made known to us,
-before we assume rashly a hostile position. The United States may govern
-themselves; although they may irritate Great Britain, they cannot
-control the acts of her Government. The British Government will do
-whatever it may think proper; but for the consequences that may ensue it
-will be alone responsible. Should the abrogation of the convention on
-her part be followed by aggressive measures; should she assume exclusive
-possession over Oregon or any part of it, as it is now proposed that the
-United States should do, America will then be placed in a defensive
-position; the war, if any should ensue, will be one unprovoked by her, a
-war purely of defence, which will be not only sustained, but approved
-by the unanimous voice of the nation. We may, however, be permitted to
-examine what motive could impel England, what interest she might have,
-either in annulling the convention or in adopting aggressive measures.
-
-When it is recommended that the United States should give notice of the
-abrogation of the convention, it is with the avowed object of adopting
-measures forbidden by the convention, and which Great Britain has
-uniformly declared she would resist. But, according to the view of the
-subject uniformly taken by her, from the first time she asserted the
-rights she claims to this day, the simple abrogation of her convention
-with the United States will produce no effect whatever on the rights,
-relations, and position of the two Powers. Great Britain, from the date
-at least of Cook's third voyage, and prior to the Nootka convention, did
-deny the exclusive claim of Spain, and assert that her subjects had, in
-common with those of other States, the right freely to trade with the
-natives, and to settle in any part of the Northwestern coast of America,
-not already occupied by the subjects of Spain. The Nootka convention was
-nothing more than the acquiescence, on the part of Spain, in the claims
-thus asserted by Great Britain, leaving the sovereignty in abeyance. And
-the convention between the United States and Great Britain is nothing
-more nor less than a temporary recognition of the same principle, so far
-as the two parties were concerned. England had, prior to that
-convention, fully admitted that the United States possessed the same
-rights as were claimed by her. The abrogation of the convention by her
-will leave those rights precisely in the same situation as they now
-stand, and as they stood prior to the convention. It cannot therefore be
-perceived what possible benefit could accrue to Great Britain from her
-abrogation of that instrument; unless, discarding all her former
-declarations, denying all that she has asserted for more than sixty
-years, retracting her admission of the equal rights of the United States
-to trade, to occupy, and to make settlements in any part of the country,
-she should, without cause or pretext, assume, as is now threatened on
-the part of the United States, exclusive sovereignty over the whole or
-part of the territory. It may be permitted to believe that the British
-Government entertains no such intention.
-
-It may also be observed that England has heretofore evinced no
-disposition whatever to colonize the territory in question. She has,
-indeed, declared most explicitly her determination to protect the
-British interests that had been created by British enterprise and
-capital in that quarter. But, by giving a monopoly of the fur trade to
-the Hudson Bay Company, she has virtually arrested private efforts on
-the part of British subjects. Her Government has been in every other
-respect altogether inactive, and apparently careless about the ultimate
-fate of Oregon. The country has been open to her enterprise at least
-fifty years; and there are no other British settlements or interests
-within its limits than those vested in, or connected with the Hudson Bay
-Company. Whether the British Government will hereafter make any effort
-towards that object cannot be known; but as long as this right to
-colonize Oregon shall remain common to both Powers, the United States
-have nothing to apprehend from the competition.
-
-The negotiations on that subject between the two Governments have been
-carried on, on both sides, with perfect candor. The views and intentions
-of both parties were mutually communicated without reserve. The
-conviction on the part of America that the country must ultimately be
-occupied and settled by her agricultural emigrants, was used as an
-argument why, in case of a division of the territory, the greater share
-should be allotted to the United States. The following quotation, from
-the American statement of the case of December, 1826, proves that this
-expectation was fairly avowed at the time:
-
-
-     "If the present state of occupancy is urged on the part of Great
-     Britain, the probability of the manner in which the territory west
-     of the Rocky Mountains must be settled belongs also essentially to
-     the subject. Under whatever nominal sovereignty that country may be
-     placed, and whatever its ultimate destinies may be, it is nearly
-     reduced to a certainty that it will be almost exclusively peopled
-     by the surplus population of the United States. The distance from
-     Great Britain, and the expense incident to emigration, forbid the
-     expectation of any being practicable from that quarter but on a
-     comparatively small scale. Allowing the rate of increase to be the
-     same in the United States and in the North American British
-     possessions, the difference in the actual population of both is
-     such that the progressive rate which would, within forty years, add
-     three millions to these, would within the same time give a positive
-     increase of more than twenty millions to the United States. And if
-     circumstances, arising from localities and habits, have given
-     superior facilities to British subjects of extending their commerce
-     with the natives, and to that expansion which has the appearance,
-     and the appearance only, of occupancy, the slower but sure progress
-     and extension of an agricultural population will be regulated by
-     distance, by natural obstacles, and by its own amount."
-
-
-There was no exaggeration in that comparative view; the superiority of
-the progressive increase of population in the United States was, on the
-contrary, underrated. The essential difference is, that migration from
-the United States to Oregon is the result of purely natural causes,
-whilst England, in order to colonize that country, must resort to
-artificial means. The number of American emigrants may not, during the
-first next ensuing years, be as great as seems to be anticipated. It
-will at first be limited by the amount of provisions with which the
-earlier settlers can supply them during the first year, and till they
-can raise a crop themselves; and the rapidity with which a new country
-may be settled is also lessened where maize cannot be profitably
-cultivated.
-
-Whether more or less prompt, the result is nevertheless indubitable. The
-snowball sooner or later becomes an avalanche: where the cultivator of
-the soil has once made a permanent establishment game and hunters
-disappear; within a few years the fur trade will have died its natural
-death, and no vestige shall remain, at least south of Fuca's Straits, of
-that temporary occupancy, of those vested British interests, which the
-British Government is now bound to protect. When the whole territory
-shall have thus fallen in the possession of an agricultural industrious
-population, the question recurs, by what principle will then the right
-of sovereignty, all along kept in abeyance, be determined?
-
-The answer is obvious. In conformity with natural law, with that right
-of occupancy for which Great Britain has always contended, the occupiers
-of the land, the inhabitants of the country, from whatever quarter they
-may have come, will be of right as well as in fact the sole legitimate
-sovereigns of Oregon. Whenever sufficiently numerous, they will decide
-whether it suits them best to be an independent nation or an integral
-part of our great Republic. There cannot be the slightest apprehension
-that they will choose to become a dependent colony; for they will be the
-most powerful nation bordering on the American shores of the Pacific,
-and will not stand in need of protection against either their Russian or
-Mexican neighbors. Viewed as an abstract proposition, Mr. Jefferson's
-opinion appears correct, that it will be best for both the Atlantic and
-the Pacific American nations, whilst entertaining the most friendly
-relations, to remain independent rather than to be united under the same
-Government. But this conclusion is premature; and the decision must be
-left to posterity.
-
-It has been attempted in these papers to prove--
-
-1. That neither of the two Powers has an absolute and indisputable right
-to the whole contested territory; that each may recede from its extreme
-pretensions without impairing national honor or wounding national pride;
-and that the way is therefore still open for a renewal of negotiations.
-
-2. That the avowed object of the United States, in giving notice of the
-abrogation of the convention, is the determination to assert and
-maintain their assumed right of absolute and exclusive sovereignty over
-the whole territory; that Great Britain is fully committed on that
-point, and has constantly and explicitly declared that such an attempt
-would be resisted, and the British interests in that quarter be
-protected; and that war is therefore the unavoidable consequence of such
-a decisive step--a war not only necessarily calamitous and expensive,
-but in its character aggressive, not justifiable by the magnitude and
-importance of its object, and of which the chances are uncertain.
-
-3. That the inconveniences of the present state of things may in a great
-degree be avoided; that, if no war should ensue, they will be the same,
-if not greater, without than under a convention; that not a single
-object can be gained by giving the notice at this time, unless it be to
-do something not permitted by the present convention, and therefore
-provoking resistance and productive of war. If a single other advantage
-can be gained by giving the notice, let it be stated.
-
-4th. That it has been fully admitted by Great Britain that, whether
-under or without a convention, the United States have the same rights as
-herself, to trade, to navigate, and to occupy and make settlements in
-and over every part of the territory; and that, if this state of things
-be not disturbed, natural causes must necessarily give the whole
-territory to the United States.
-
-Under these circumstances, it is only asked, that the subject may be
-postponed for the present; that Government should not commit itself by
-any premature act or declaration; that, instead of increasing the
-irritation and excitement which exist on both sides, time be given for
-mutual reflection, and for the subdual or subsidence of angry and
-violent feelings. Then, and then only, can the deliberate opinion of the
-American people on this momentous question be truly ascertained. It is
-not perceived how the postponement for the present and for a time can,
-in any shape or in the slightest degree, injure the United States.
-
-It is certainly true that England is very powerful, and has often abused
-her power, in no case in a more outrageous manner than by the
-impressment of seamen, whether American, English, or other foreigners,
-sailing under and protected by the American flag. I am not aware that
-there has ever been any powerful nation, even in modern times, and
-professing Christianity, which has not occasionally abused its power.
-The United States, who always appealed to justice during their early
-youth, seem, as their strength and power increase, to give symptoms of a
-similar disposition. Instead of useless and dangerous recriminations,
-might not the two nations, by their united efforts, promote a great
-object, and worthy of their elevated situation?
-
-With the single exception of the territory of Oregon, which extends from
-42 to 54° 40´ north latitude, all the American shores of the Pacific
-Ocean, from Cape Horn to Behring's Straits, are occupied, on the north
-by the factories of the Russian Fur Company, southwardly by
-semi-civilized States, a mixture of Europeans of Spanish descent and of
-native Indians, who, notwithstanding the efforts of enlightened,
-intelligent, and liberal men, have heretofore failed in the attempt to
-establish governments founded on law, that might ensure liberty,
-preserve order, and protect persons and property. It is in Oregon alone
-that we may hope to see a portion of the western shores of America
-occupied and inhabited by an active and enlightened nation, which may
-exercise a moral influence over her less favored neighbors, and extend
-to them the benefits of a more advanced civilisation. It is on that
-account that the wish has been expressed that the Oregon territory may
-not be divided. The United States and England are the only Powers who
-lay any claim to that country, the only nations which may and must
-inhabit it. It is not, fortunately, in the power of either Government to
-prevent this taking place; but it depends upon them, whether they shall
-unite in promoting the object, or whether they shall bring on both
-countries the calamities of an useless war, which may retard but not
-prevent the ultimate result. It matters but little whether the
-inhabitants shall come from England or from the United States. It would
-seem that more importance might be attached to the fact that, within a
-period of fifteen years, near one million of souls are now added to the
-population of the United States by migrations from the dominions of
-Great Britain; yet, since permitted by both Powers, they may be presumed
-to be beneficial to both. The emigrants to Oregon, whether Americans or
-English, will be united together by the community of language and
-literature, of the principles of law, and of all the fundamental
-elements of a similar civilisation.
-
-The establishment of a kindred and friendly Power on the North-west
-Coast of America is all that England can expect, all perhaps that the
-United States ought to desire. It seems almost incredible that, whilst
-that object may be attained by simply not impeding the effect of natural
-causes, two kindred nations, having such powerful motives to remain at
-peace, and standing at the head of European and American civilisation,
-should, in this enlightened age, give to the world the scandalous
-spectacle, perhaps not unwelcome to some of the beholders, of an
-unnatural and an unnecessary war; that they should apply all their
-faculties and exhaust their resources in inflicting, each on the other,
-every injury in their power, and for what purpose? The certain
-consequence, independent of all the direct calamities and miseries of
-war, will be a mutual increase of debt and taxation, and the ultimate
-fate of Oregon will be the same as if the war had not taken place.
-
-
-
-
-APPENDIX.
-
-
-WAR EXPENSES.
-
-Those expenses may be arranged under three heads: 1st. Such as are of a
-permanent nature, and should be considered as belonging to the Peace
-establishment of the country. 2dly. Those which should be adopted when
-there is an impending danger of war. 3dly. Those which actual war
-renders necessary.
-
-To the first class belong all those, which provide for objects that
-require considerable time to be executed, and cannot, without great
-difficulty, be accomplished pending a war. Such are fortifications,
-building ships of war including steamers, accumulating materials for the
-same purpose, Navy Yards, providing a sufficient artillery, and other
-important objects of the ordnance department. It may be taken for
-granted, that Government has done, or will do all that is necessary and
-practicable in that respect.
-
-The preparatory measures which should be adopted, when there is danger
-of war, are those respecting which the greatest variety of opinions must
-be expected. It has been repeatedly asserted, that such is the structure
-of our Government, that it never will or can prepare for war, till after
-it has actually commenced; that is to say, that, because Congress was
-dilatory in making effectual provision for carrying on the last war
-against Great Britain, and because the Administration, at the time when
-it was declared, was inefficient and not well calculated for conducting
-it, the United States are bound for ever to incur, at the commencement
-of every war, the disasters of one or two years, before they can be
-induced to put on their armor. The past is irrevocable and of no other
-use, than as far as it may teach us to avoid the faults that were
-formerly committed. When our Government relies on the people for being
-sustained in making war, its confidence must be entire. They must be
-told the whole truth; and if they are really in favor of war, they will
-cheerfully sustain Government in all the measures necessary to carry it
-into effect. The frank annunciation of the necessity of such measures is
-called, "creating a panic." It is not the first time that under similar
-circumstances the same language has been held. If there be no danger or
-intention of making war, those create a panic, who proclaim a
-determination to assert the exclusive sovereignty of the United States
-over the whole contested territory, with the full knowledge that Great
-Britain has uniformly and explicitly declared, that she would resist any
-such attempt. If instead of telling the people the whole truth, the
-attempt to conceal from them the necessity of the measures requisite for
-carrying on the war should be successful, a reaction in the public
-sentiment will most certainly take place, whenever it will have become
-impossible to delay any longer the heavy burden of taxation, for which
-the Nation had not been prepared.
-
-I will not dwell on the necessary preparations of a military character,
-otherwise than by referring to some notorious facts.
-
-The primary causes of the disastrous results of the campaign of 1812,
-were the want of a naval force on the Lakes, and that of a sufficient
-regular force. Government had obtained a correct statement of the
-regular force of the British in Canada, with the exception of the
-garrison of Quebec. This last was estimated at about three thousand men,
-and could not be lessened without great inconvenience and some danger.
-The regular force at Montreal, St. John's, and Three Rivers, amounted to
-1130 men; that in the whole of Upper Canada, to 720. The act to raise an
-additional military force of 25,000 men was passed on the 11th of
-January, 1812. The selection of the officers was not completed before
-the termination of that year; the recruiting service was not organized
-in time; the enlistments for the regular army fell short of the most
-moderate calculation; and the total number recruited was so small, as to
-render it impossible to strike a decisive blow on any one of the most
-important points from Montreal upwards, insignificant as was the force
-by which they were defended. The volunteer act was also extremely
-unproductive. At that time the treasury was amply supplied; and the want
-was not that of money, but of a regular force.
-
-Such force cannot be raised without money; and yet it will be admitted
-that it would be extremely difficult to induce Congress to lay internal
-taxes or duties before war was declared or certain. In order to provide
-means for having an additional regular force ready to act as soon as
-actual war takes place, a loan and Treasury notes must be resorted to.
-But it is deemed absolutely necessary, that the internal taxes should be
-imposed simultaneously with the declaration of war, and that provision
-should be made for their immediate collection. With the exception of the
-act for doubling the duties on importations, Congress did not pass any
-law for imposing any new taxes or duties, till more than one year after
-the declaration of the last war; nor did it even lay a second direct tax
-in the year 1814. It was not till after public credit was ruined, after
-Treasury notes which were had due remained unpaid, and after Mr. Dallas
-had been placed at the head of the Treasury, that at last the laws for
-imposing a double direct tax, for increasing the rate of the existing
-internal duties, and for laying new ones, were enacted. The peace was
-ratified immediately after; and in point of fact, no more than 3,877,000
-dollars were paid in the Treasury before the end of the war, on account
-of the direct tax and all other internal taxes or duties. There were
-received from the same sources 20,654,000 dollars in the years 1815,
-1816 and 1817.
-
-The preparatory measures necessary, in order to insure an immediate
-collection of internal taxes, whenever the laws imposing such taxes
-shall have been passed, are those on which I may speak with confidence.
-These consist simply in a previous organization of the machinery
-necessary for the collection of every species of internal taxes, and the
-assessment of a direct tax. The proper selection of the numerous
-officers necessary for the collection always consumes several months. A
-previous selection and appointment of those officers would obviate that
-difficulty, and would cost nothing, as though appointed they should
-receive no pay till called into actual service; this would be the
-natural consequence of the manner in which collectors are paid, this
-being a per centage on the money collected. The only other necessary
-measure in that respect, is that the Secretary of the Treasury should,
-at the time of their appointment, supply the collectors with all the
-necessary forms of keeping and rendering their accounts.
-
-The assessment in each State of the taxable property of every individual
-who possesses such property, is the only operation which requires
-considerable time and causes a proportionate delay. This cannot be
-otherwise obviated than by making that assessment a preparatory measure,
-to be completed before actual war takes place.
-
-In order to facilitate and hasten the process of assessment, I
-undertook, in the year 1812, to apportion the direct tax on the several
-Counties and State Districts in each State; and the Act of 2d August,
-1813, which laid a direct tax of three millions of dollars, was passed
-in conformity with that apportionment The process was easy for every
-State in which there was a direct State tax; but though derived from the
-best data that could be collected, it was defective and partly arbitrary
-for the States in which there was no State tax. As there is at present
-hardly any (if any) State which has not laid a direct State tax, this
-mode may be adopted for the proposed preparatory assessment. This will
-reduce the duty of the assessors to the assessment of the quota of each
-County or District, on the several individuals liable to the tax, and
-the total expense of the assessment to a sum not exceeding probably two
-hundred thousand dollars. A more regular and correct assessment will, of
-course, be provided for, with respect to the direct taxes which may be
-laid after the first year of the war.
-
-The only objection is that of the expense, which would prove useless if
-the tax should not be laid, or in other words, if war should not take
-place; but certainly this is too small an item to deserve consideration.
-
-This organization, easy and cheap as it is, is all that is necessary in
-order to secure an immediate collection of a direct and other internal
-taxes and duties, from the moment when they shall have been imposed by
-Congress.
-
-The probable annual expenses which must be incurred in a war with
-England, and the resources for defraying them, are the next objects of
-inquiry.
-
-It is extremely difficult to draw any correct inference from the
-expenses of the last war with England: the amount of the arrearages due
-on account of the military services at the time when the peace was
-ratified, is not stated with precision in any of the public documents
-which I have seen. Although the laws show the number of men voted, that
-of those actually raised has never to my knowledge been officially
-stated. There can be no doubt that the want of a proper organization
-increased the amount of expenditure much beyond that which would have
-been sufficient under a regular and efficient system. This has
-undoubtedly been much improved; yet the expenses incurred in the
-Seminole war, compared with the number of men employed and that of the
-hostile Indians, show that either there are still some defects in the
-organization, or that there were great abuses in the execution.
-
-The payments from the Treasury for the military department, embracing
-only those for the army proper, militia and volunteers, and exclusive of
-those for fortifications and the Indian department, amounted for the
-year 1813 to 18,936,000 dollars, and for the year 1814 to 20,508,000
-dollars. The disbursements for the navy are stated at 6,446,000 and
-7,311,000 dollars for these two years respectively. By comparing the
-reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury of December 1815, 1816, 1817,
-it would appear that the arrearages due on 1st January, 1815, exceeded
-ten millions of dollars: and it seems certain that the actual war
-expenses of 1814 could not have fallen short of 35 to 40 millions of
-dollars. It has been asserted that the regular force during that year
-amounted to 35,000 men.
-
-The population of the United States has nearly trebled during the
-thirty-four years which have elapsed since that in which the last war
-against England was declared. Their wealth and resources have increased
-in the same ratio; and that, in case of war, these should be brought
-into action as promptly as possible, admits of no doubt. Once engaged in
-the conflict, to make the war as efficient as possible will shorten its
-duration, and can alone secure honorable terms of peace. I have not the
-documents necessary for making an approximate estimate of the annual
-expenses of a war with Great Britain; and if I had, I could not at this
-time perform that amount of labor which is absolutely necessary in order
-to draw correct inferences. Taking only a general view of the subject,
-and considering the great difference of expense in keeping a navy in
-active service, between one of eight frigates and one of ten ships of
-the line, fourteen frigates and a competent number of steamers; that
-Texas and Oregon are additional objects of defence; that the extensive
-system of fortifications which has been adopted will require about
-fifteen thousand additional men; and that, in order to carry a
-successful and decisive war against the most vulnerable portion of the
-British dominions, a great disposable regular force is absolutely
-necessary; I am very sure that I fall below the mark in saying that,
-after the first year of the war, and when the resources of the country
-shall be fully brought into action, the annual military and naval
-expenses will amount to sixty or seventy millions of dollars. To this
-must be added the expenses for all other objects, which, for the year
-ending on the 30th of June, 1845, amounted to near fifteen millions, but
-which the Secretary of the Treasury hopes may be reduced to eleven
-millions and a half. The gross annual expenses for all objects will be
-estimated at seventy-seven millions; to be increased annually by the
-annual interest on each successive loan.
-
-In order to ascertain the amount of new revenue and loans required to
-defray that expense, the first question which arises, is the diminution
-of the revenue derived from customs, which will be the necessary
-consequence of the war.
-
-The actual receipts into the Treasury, arising from that source of
-revenue, were in round numbers for the years 1812, 1813, 1814,
-respectively 8,960,000, 13,225,000, and 6,000,000 of dollars; and the
-nett revenue which accrued during those three years respectively
-amounted to 13,142,000, 6,708,000, and 4,250,000 dollars. From the 1st
-of July, 1812, the rate of duties on importations was doubled; and in
-order to compare these receipts with those collected in peace time, they
-must be reduced for those three years respectively, to 7,470,000,[3]
-6,600,000 and 3,000,000; or, if the revenue accrued be compared (which
-is the correct mode), to 9,850,000,[3] 3,354,000, and 2,125,000 dollars.
-At that time the duties accrued were, on account of the credit allowed,
-collected on an average only six or eight months later; and the
-unexpected importations in the latter half of the year 1812 in American
-vessels which arrived with British licenses, subsequent to the
-declaration of war and to the act which doubled the rate of duties,
-swelled considerably the receipts of the year 1813. It was only in 1814
-that the full effect of the war on the revenue derived from that source
-was felt.
-
-The diminution in the amount of American and foreign tonnage employed in
-the foreign trade of the United States is strongly exhibited by the
-following statement:
-
-
-Tonnage in foreign trade, U. S.   American ves.   Foreign ves.   Total.
-
-      Year 1811                     948,207          33,203      981,450
-       "   1812                     667,999          47,099      715,098
-       "   1813                     237,348         113,827      351,175
-       "   1814                      59,626          48,302      107,928
-
-
-And it must be recollected that during the last nine months of 1814,
-Great Britain was at peace with all the other Powers of Europe, and that
-these were therefore neutrals. Yet they hardly ventured to trade with
-us.
-
-The amount of receipts into the Treasury derived from customs, as well
-as that of the revenue accrued, exceeded, during the eleven years 1801
-to 1811, 132,700,000 dollars, being an annual average of about
-12,000,000 dollars. During the same eleven years the average amount of
-tonnage employed in the foreign trade of the United States was 943,670
-tons, of which 844,170 were in American, and 99,500 foreign vessels.
-
-Thus in the year 1814, the revenue derived from customs had been
-reduced to one fourth part (to nearly one sixth part, if compared
-according to the revenue accrued, or amount of importations), the
-tonnage employed in the foreign trade of the United States to nearly one
-ninth; and that of the American vessels employed in that trade, to one
-fourteenth part of their respective average amount during the eleven
-years of peace.
-
-The small American navy did during the last war with England all and
-more than could have been expected. The fact was established to the
-satisfaction of the world and of Great Britain herself, that the navy of
-the United States, with a parity of force, was at least equal to that of
-England. But the prodigious numerical superiority of the British navy
-rendered it impossible for a few frigates to protect the commerce of the
-United States, which was accordingly almost annihilated. We have now ten
-ships of the line, and a proportionate number of frigates and smaller
-vessels. The great numerical superiority of the British navy still
-continues; and it cannot be doubted that, in case of war, every exertion
-will be made by the British Government to maintain its superiority in
-our seas and on our coasts. Still it is but a portion of her force that
-can be employed in that way, and, taking every circumstance into
-consideration, it may be confidently hoped that our commerce, though
-much lessened, will be partially protected by our navy. Although the
-actual diminution which will be experienced is altogether conjectural, I
-think that no great error is to be apprehended in estimating the revenue
-from customs, after the first year of the war, at about one half of its
-present amount; and the whole revenue from that source, from the sale of
-lands and all the branches of the existing income, at fourteen millions
-of dollars; leaving to be provided for sixty to sixty-five millions,
-besides the interest on loans, which, for a war of three years, may be
-estimated at about six millions of dollars on an average. However
-energetic and efficient Congress and the Executive may be, the resources
-and strength of the nation can be but gradually brought forth: the
-expenses will therefore be less during the first year, after which the
-whole amount will be required and will be annually wanted. In reference
-therefore to the second year of the war--
-
-
-     Assuming the total war expenses at                  $65,000,000
-     All the others at                                    12,000,000
-                                                        ------------
-                          In all,                        $77,000,000
-     From which deduct for existing revenue,              14,000,000
-                                                        ------------
-     To be provided for by taxes and loans,              $63,000,000
-     On the principle that the amount of annual taxes
-       should be at least equal to the expenses of
-       the peace establishment and the interest on
-       the war loans, annual peace expenses at            27,000,000
-     And for interest on the loans of 1st and 2d years,
-       viz. 1st year 25, and 2d year 45 millions at
-       7 per cent.                                         5,000,000
-                                                        ------------
-                          Together,                      $32,000,000
-     From which deduct existing revenue,                  14,000,000
-                                                        ------------
-     Leaves to be provided for by new taxes, at least    $18,000,000
-     And by loans,                                        45,000,000
-                                                        ------------
-                                                         $63,000,000
-
-
-The estimate of 5,000,000 dollars for the interest of the loans the
-second year after the war, is founded on the supposition that the direct
-and other internal taxes or duties laid for the first year, together
-with the existing revenue, and twenty-five millions borrowed by loans or
-Treasury notes, will be sufficient to defray the expense incurred prior
-to and during the first year of the war. The deficiency in the regular
-force for that year must be supplied by large drafts of militia, which
-will be as expensive at least as the regular soldiers whose place they
-will supply.
-
-But it appears very doubtful whether such a large sum as forty-five
-millions can be raised annually by loans and Treasury notes. It is
-necessary in the first place to correct some erroneous opinions
-respecting the extent to which these notes may be kept in circulation,
-and the legitimate objects to which they may be applied.
-
-The Treasury notes were first introduced on my suggestion, which was no
-new discovery, since they are a mere transcript of the Exchequer Bills
-of Great Britain. As these have been resorted to for more than a
-century, and have never become there a portion of the ordinary currency,
-the extent to which they may be used for other purposes is well
-ascertained, and bears always a certain ratio to the wealth of the
-country and to the revenue of the State. Whether issued to the bank as
-an anticipation of the revenue, or used by capitalists for short
-investments, the gross amount has rarely exceeded twenty millions
-sterling. Judging from past experience, the amount which may, in time of
-war, be kept in circulation at par in the United States falls far short
-of a proportionate sum.
-
-
-     The amount of Treasury Notes issued during the years 1812
-         and 1813 amounted to                        $8,930 000
-     Of which there had been paid including interest $4,240 000
-
-
-The amount in actual circulation was less than five millions, and thus
-far they had been kept at par.
-
-All the demands from the other departments had been met by the Treasury,
-and there were but few, if any, outstanding arrears. Nothing had as yet
-been collected on account of the direct tax and of the internal duties.
-Besides the five millions of Treasury Notes, there had been paid into
-the Treasury in the years 1812 and 1813, $28,740,000 on account of war
-loans, and $22,283,000 from the customs. The balance in the Treasury
-amounted to $5,196,542 on the 31st December, 1813.
-
-The amount of Treasury Notes issued during the year 1814 amounted to
-near eight millions, and there had been paid off during the same year,
-including interest, $2,700,000; making an addition of about five
-millions and a half, and the total amount outstanding about ten millions
-and a half. The receipts during that year, on account of the direct tax
-and internal duties, amounted to $3,877,000, from war loans to
-$15,080,000, and from customs to only six millions. Before the end of
-the year, Government was unable to pay the notes which had become due.
-It is perfectly clear that, if new notes could not be issued in lieu of
-those which had become due, it was because they had fallen below par,
-and therefore that the amount outstanding was greater than the demand
-for them. There was but one remedy, and it was very simple. A reduction
-in that amount must be made, by funding at their market price a quantity
-sufficient to re-establish the equilibrium. But all the banks west of
-New England had in the meanwhile suspended their specie payments. A
-period of anarchy in the currency of the country was the consequence,
-and lasted till those payments were resumed in the year 1817.
-
-The result of the suspension of specie payments in England was, that the
-notes of the Bank of England became in fact a legal tender and the
-standard of the currency. All the other banks were obliged to keep their
-own notes on a par with those of that bank; and all that was necessary
-in order to prevent a depreciation, was to regulate the issues of the
-Bank of England, so as to keep them at par with gold and silver.
-Nevertheless, the clamor for more currency prevailed; the bank found it
-very convenient and profitable to issue notes which it was not obliged
-to pay, and these finally depreciated twenty-five per cent. But in the
-United States the banks were under no other control than that of the
-several States respectively. The consequence was, that we had fifty and
-more species of local currencies, varying in value in the different
-States or districts of country, and from time to time in the same
-district. The banks might with facility have resumed specie payments
-during the first year of peace. The efforts of the Secretary of the
-Treasury to induce them to resume proved unsuccessful; and the
-resumption did not take place till after a new Bank of the United States
-had been organized.
-
-We have had two general suspensions of specie payments, the last at a
-time of profound peace. I was then behind the scenes, had some agency in
-restoring specie payments, and may speak on that subject with knowledge
-and confidence. The obstacles came partly from the Banks, principally
-from the Debtor interest, which excites sympathy and preponderates
-throughout the United States. The mis-named Bank of the United States,
-and the banks under its influence, were, it is true, a formidable
-impediment; and this obstacle is now fortunately removed. Still the
-continuance of specie payments stands, whenever a crisis occurs, on a
-most precarious basis; and if any important place, especially New York,
-happened to break, all the banks through the United States would
-instantaneously follow the example. This is the most imminent danger to
-which the Treasury of the United States will be exposed in time of war;
-and what effect the Sub-Treasury system may produce in that respect
-remains to be tested by experience.
-
-It is impossible to draw any inference respecting Treasury Notes, from
-what took place in the United States during the confused state of the
-currency in the years 1815 and 1816. The taxes were paid everywhere with
-the cheapest local currency, in Treasury Notes only in the places where
-specie payments had been continued, or where bank notes were nearly at
-par. The depreciation of the Treasury Notes was arrested by the fact,
-that they might at all times be converted into a six or seven per cent.
-stock; but in that case they became assimilated to a direct loan. They
-never can become a general currency, on account of their varying value,
-so long as they bear an interest and are made payable at some future
-day. In order to give them that character, they should assume that of
-bank notes, bearing no interest and payable on demand. It does not
-require the gift of prophecy to be able to assert that, as the wants of
-Government increased, such notes would degenerate into paper money to
-the utter ruin of the public credit.
-
-They may, however, be made a special currency for the purpose of paying
-taxes as gold and silver, and to the exclusion of any other species of
-paper currency. The amount which might be thus kept in circulation, in
-addition to that wanted for short investments, would be limited by the
-gross amount of the annual revenue, and bear but a small proportion to
-it; since one thousand dollars, in silver or in any paper currency, are
-sufficient to effect in one year fifty payments of the same amount.
-
-Although the amount kept in circulation may fluctuate according to
-circumstances, the fundamental principle is, that the issue of such
-notes is an anticipation of the revenue, which, after it has reached the
-maximum that may be kept in circulation without being depreciated, never
-can be increased. Be the amount ten or twenty millions, the anticipation
-may be continued, but not renewed; it is not an annual resource, but
-one, the whole amount of which never can exceed that which may be kept
-in circulation. The operation consists in re-issuing annually the
-amount which is paid off in the year. Whenever, owing to incidental
-fluctuations, the amount to be redeemed by the Treasury exceeds that
-which may be re-issued, the difference must be immediately funded at the
-market price of the notes, so as to keep them always at par or a little
-above par.
-
-It is evident, that if the direct tax and internal duties laid in
-August, 1813, had been imposed in July, 1812; and if the acts of
-January, 1815, which increased both, had been enacted in August, 1813;
-there would have been an addition of at least eight millions to the
-revenue of the years 1812 and 1813; the Treasury Notes which had become
-due would have been paid, public credit would have been maintained, and
-the amount of war loans lessened.
-
-The principal causes of the fall of public stocks during a war, and of
-the consequent necessity of borrowing on dearer terms, are a want of
-confidence in Government, and the large amount of stocks thrown in the
-market beyond the natural demand for them. The effect of this last cause
-is remarkably illustrated by the fluctuations in the price of the stocks
-of Great Britain, where it does not appear that there ever was a want of
-confidence in the ability and fidelity of Government in fulfilling its
-engagements. The British three per cents. are now, and were before the
-war of American Independence, and before those which had their origin in
-the French revolution, near par or at par. They fell gradually during
-the war of independence, and were as low as fifty-four in February,
-1782. The long war with France was attended with the same result, and
-the three per cents. had fallen to fifty-five in July, 1812.
-Notwithstanding the deranged state of the finances of the United States
-in 1814, the American stocks had not fallen in the same proportion. Such
-great depreciation is the result of the long continuance of a war. No
-one can say what would have been its progress, had the last war with
-England continued much longer.
-
-There was not, however, at that time, at least in America, any want of
-confidence in the Government: no one doubted that it would ultimately
-faithfully discharge all its engagements. Although the General
-Government is in no way responsible for the errors of any of the
-individual States, it is nevertheless certain, that the credit of the
-Union has been injured abroad by the failure of several of the States to
-fulfil their engagements, and that no expectation can be entertained of
-being able to borrow money in Europe. It is not less true that the
-Administration will cease to enjoy the confidence of American
-capitalists, if the measures it has recommended should be adopted and
-productive of war. No one can doubt that, if that event should take
-place, the Americans will fight in defence of their country, and none
-with greater zeal and bravery than the people of the Western States.
-During the last war, their militia and volunteers flocked either to the
-Lakes, to New Orleans, or wherever there was danger; nor did they refuse
-to take part in offensive operations, and to serve without the limits of
-the United States. But men cannot, either there or elsewhere, afford to
-render gratuitous services. Whether regulars, volunteers, or militia,
-they must be fed, clothed, transported, supplied with arms and
-artillery, and paid. There is as yet but very little active circulating
-capital in the new States: they cannot lend; they, on the contrary, want
-to borrow money. This can be obtained in the shape of loans only from
-the capitalists of the Atlantic States. A recurrence to public documents
-will show that all the loans of the last war were obtained in that
-quarter.
-
-Men of property are perhaps generally more timid than others, and
-certainly all the quiet people, amongst whom the public stocks are
-ultimately distributed, are remarkably cautious. Prudent capitalists,
-who do not speculate, and consider public stocks only as convenient and
-safe investments, will not advance money to Government so long as it is
-controlled by men whom they consider as reckless, and as entertaining
-rather lax opinions respecting public credit. Yet money will be
-obtained, but on much dearer terms than if public confidence was
-unimpaired. There will always be found bold speculators, who will
-advance it at a premium--enhanced by the want of competition, and
-proportionate to the risks they may be supposed to incur. Independent of
-this, it is most certain that the rate of interest at which loans may be
-obtained, will always be increased in proportion to their magnitude. The
-only ways by which these difficulties may be obviated, or at least
-lessened, are perfect fidelity in fulfilling the engagements of
-Government; an economical, that is to say, a skilful application of the
-public moneys to the most important objects, postponing all those which
-are not immediately wanted, or are of inferior real utility; and an
-increase of the amount of revenue derived from taxation. This has the
-double advantage of diminishing the amount to be borrowed, and of
-inspiring confidence to the money-lenders. In all cases, direct loans
-will be preferable to, and prove a cheaper mode of raising money than
-the over issues of Treasury Notes.
-
-The Act of July, 1812, which doubled the duties on importations,
-afforded a resource which, on account of the high rate at this time of
-those duties, cannot now be resorted to. Duties may, however, be levied
-on the importation of Tea and Coffee, and perhaps some other articles
-now duty free. Other modifications may be found useful, but it may be
-difficult to ascertain, even without any regard to protection, what are
-the rates of duties which should be imposed in time of war on the
-various imported articles, in order to render the revenue derived from
-that source as productive as possible.
-
-It must also be observed that if, on account of the credit then allowed
-for the payment of duties on importations, the Treasury had, when the
-war of 1812 commenced, a resource in the revenue previously accrued but
-not yet collected, which does not now exist; on the other hand the
-United States were still encumbered with a considerable portion of the
-Revolutionary debt, and the payments on account of its principal and
-interest amounted during the years 1812, 1813, 1814, to about
-$11,000,000, whilst the annual interest on the now existing debt is less
-than one million.
-
-The direct tax of the year 1815 amounted to $6,000,000, and the revenue
-which accrued during the same year, on the aggregate of internal duties,
-as increased or imposed at the same time, amounted to about the same
-sum. That year is also the most proper for a comparative view of the
-revenue derived from each object. In the subsequent years the revival of
-business increased the amount derived from the duties connected with the
-commerce of the country, much beyond that which could be collected in
-time of war; whilst, on the other hand, the excise on spirits was much
-less productive. The nett revenue derived from internal duties, which
-accrued during that year was in round numbers, about
-
-
-     Excise on spirits             $2,750,000
-     Licences to retailers            880,000
-     Sales at auction                 780,000
-     Stamp duties                     420,000
-     Tax on carriages                 150,000
-     Refined sugar                     80,000
-     Several manufactured articles    840,000
-     Household furniture               20,000
-     Watches worn by individuals       80,000
-                                   ----------
-     Total                         $6,000,000
-
-
-The three last items were those added on Mr. Dallas's recommendation to
-the first items laid in 1813, but the rate of which was increased, also
-on his recommendation. The manufactured articles not before taxed on
-which the new duties were laid were, pig and bar iron, nails; wax and
-tallow candles; hats, caps and umbrellas; paper and playing cards;
-leather, saddles, bridles, boots and shoes; beer, ale and porter; snuff,
-cigars and manufactured tobacco. This was the boldest measure proposed
-by the Secretary, for these duties were from their nature intrinsically
-obnoxious. Yet no voice was raised against them; and so far from
-becoming unpopular, Mr. Dallas, by his courage and frankness, acquired a
-well-earned popularity. No stronger proof can be adduced of the
-propriety of telling the whole truth and placing an entire confidence in
-the people.
-
-The only important measure omitted at that time, was an Act of Congress
-ordering that all the Treasury notes actually due and not paid should be
-immediately funded at their nominal value; that is to say, that for
-every one hundred dollars in Treasury notes, the same amount of funded
-stock should be issued as it was necessary to give for one hundred
-dollars in gold or silver. It was impossible to obtain a regular loan in
-time, and on reasonable terms, for the purpose of defraying the war
-expenses of the first six months of the year 1815. There was an absolute
-necessity for recurring to Treasury notes for that purpose, and the
-attention of the Treasury was forcibly directed to that object. But the
-first and fundamental element of public credit is the faithful and
-punctual fulfilment of the public engagements; and the payment of the
-Treasury notes, when becoming due, was as necessary as that of the
-interest of the funded debt, which never was suspended during the war.
-As an immediate and considerable issue of Treasury notes was absolutely
-necessary, it was not sufficient that they might be convertible into a
-funded stock, which was already much below par, since that would be in
-fact an issue of depreciated paper. The Act should, therefore, have
-pledged the public faith, that if the Treasury notes were not discharged
-in specie when they became due, they should be funded at their nominal
-value on the same terms as above stated. Mr. Dallas to great energy
-united pre-eminent talents, he wanted only experience; and I have no
-doubt that, had the war continued, he would within six months have
-adopted that course. If I have alluded here to this subject, it is on
-account of the primary importance, if placed hereafter in a similar
-difficult position, of adhering rigorously to those principles
-respecting the legitimate use of Treasury notes and the punctual
-discharge of every public engagement, which are absolutely necessary for
-the maintenance of public credit.
-
-Since a direct tax of six millions could be raised thirty years ago,
-there can be no difficulty in raising one of nine millions at the very
-beginning of the war: this must be gradually increased, but would be
-most heavily felt if beyond eighteen millions. Should an equal sum be
-raised by internal duties, the annual loans wanted after the first year
-of the war would be lessened in the same proportion. The following
-estimate may assist in forming a correct opinion on that subject:--
-
-
-     The stamp duties, those on sales at auction, the
-       licences of retailers, and the carriage tax,
-       which accrued in the year 1815, amounted
-       together to $2,230,000, and may be now estimated
-       at twice as much                                    $4,460,000
-
-     The aggregate annual value of leather, boots,
-       shoes, and other manufactures of leather; of
-       hats, caps and bonnets; snuff and cigars;
-       paper and playing cards, manufactured in the
-       United States, are estimated by the last census
-       at fifty-three millions, a tax on which of ten
-       per cent would give                                  5,300,000
-
-     On the same authority, three millions pounds of
-       spermaceti and wax candles would yield, at
-       five cents per pound,                                  150,000
-
-     Three millions two hundred and fifty thousand
-       pounds of refined sugar, at the same rate              160,000
-
-     Five hundred tons of pig and bar iron, nails and
-       brads, at two dollars per ton                        1,000,000
-
-     The gross amount of spirits and beer manufactured
-       in the United States, is stated in the
-       census at sixty-five millions of gallons; but
-       the happy influence of the Temperance cause
-       has probably reduced this amount to less than
-       fifty millions, a tax on which of ten cents per
-       gallon                                               5,000,000
-                                                           ----------
-                                                          $16,070,000
-
-
-I have inserted only such articles as were heretofore taxed, and have no
-means of indicating such other as might be added or preferred; nor must
-I be understood as recommending any specially, or in reference to the
-rates of duties to be imposed on any one.
-
-It has been very generally asserted that men of property were averse to
-the war because the losses and burthens which it must occasion fall
-exclusively upon them; and that poor men were generally in favor of war,
-because they had nothing to lose.
-
-It is true that the first great loss, caused by the war, will fall
-immediately on those interested in the maritime commerce of the United
-States, either as owners, insurers, or in any way employed in it.
-Considering the imminent danger to which is exposed the immense amount
-of American property afloat on every sea, and the certain annihilation,
-during the war, of the fisheries, of the commerce with Great Britain,
-and of that with all the countries beyond Cape Horn and the Cape of Good
-Hope, the American merchants may be alarmed at the prospect of a war,
-the necessity of which they do not perceive. But if the apprehension of
-immediate danger is more vividly felt, the calamitous effects of the war
-on the agricultural interests are not less certain. The price of all the
-products, of which large quantities are exported, must necessarily fall
-so low that all the farmers must lessen the amount and with it their
-income, whilst they must pay dearer for all the articles which they are
-obliged to purchase. The distinction between rich and poor is vague. The
-most numerous class in the United States is that of the men who are at
-the same time owners and cultivators of the soil, and who have but
-small properties and a very moderate income. Every diminution of this,
-whether from the want of a market or from any additional tax, is in that
-and the corresponding class of mechanics, attended with the privation of
-the necessaries or comforts of life. The really rich, the capitalists
-who have independent incomes, and are not obliged to engage in any of
-the active pursuits of life, may, in any calamitous season, accumulate
-less, or at most, must retrench only some luxuries. Thus the unavoidable
-losses and burthens which are the consequences of a war, fall with the
-greatest weight on those who derive their means of existence from the
-pursuits of industry, and whose industry alone contributes to the
-increase of the general wealth of the country.
-
-But this is not all. Exclusive of those who, either as contractors, or
-in some other way, are concerned with the large supplies wanted for the
-support of the army and navy, there is a class of capitalists who are
-enriched by the war. These are the money lenders, who shall have been
-bold enough to take up the public loans: unless indeed it should be
-intended to break public faith, and, on the return of peace, to question
-the obligation to pay them, upon the pretence of their enormous profits.
-What these profits are may be again illustrated by the example of Great
-Britain.
-
-It has already been seen that, whenever a war is one of long
-continuance, the British Government may at first borrow at par, and ends
-by being compelled to sell its stock at the rate of fifty per cent of
-its nominal value; which gives for the whole of the war loans an average
-of about 75 per cent. In point of fact that Government received in the
-year 1812 less than 55 per cent; for the money actually received
-consisted of bank notes, which had then depreciated twenty per cent; so
-that the money lenders gave only that which was equivalent to forty-four
-per cent, in gold or silver, of the nominal value of the stock which
-they received. Besides receiving the interest on the nominal amount of
-the stock till the principal shall have been paid, they might shortly
-after the peace, and may now, receive from ninety-seven per cent to par,
-in gold or silver, for that same stock for which they gave but
-forty-four. Thus, assuming the public debt of Great Britain at eight
-hundred thousand pounds sterling; not only was the whole of that
-capital destroyed by the wars; not only are the British people subject
-now, and it would seem for ever, to a burthen of taxes sufficient to pay
-the interest on that debt; but of the eight hundred millions thus
-consumed, only six hundred were received by the public, and the other
-two hundred millions made the rich capitalists, who had advanced the
-money, still richer.
-
-There is another class of men who may occasionally derive wealth from a
-war. Privateering consists in robbing of their property unarmed and
-unresisting men, engaged in pursuits not only legitimate but highly
-useful. It is nothing more nor less than legalized Piracy. For this the
-United States are not responsible; and it must be admitted, that the
-practice of all nations justifies them in resorting to those means, in
-order to make the enemy feel the calamities of war. But the necessity of
-resorting to means immoral in themselves affords an irrefragable
-argument against precipitating the country into war for slight causes,
-indeed against any war which is not purely in self defence.
-
-It is equally untrue to assert that the poorer class of people, by which
-must be meant all the laborers, or generally those who live on their
-wages, have nothing to lose by the war.
-
-In this, and other large cities, for every thousand merchants, or men of
-capital who may be injured or thrown out of business, there are ten
-thousand men living on wages, whose employment depends directly or
-indirectly on the commerce of those cities. The number of common
-laborers is proportionately less in the purely agricultural districts.
-But it is evident that in both, a considerable number must be thrown out
-of employment either by the destruction of commerce, or in consequence
-of the lessened value and quantity of the agricultural products. And it
-seems impossible that this should take place without affecting the rate
-of wages, than which a more afflicting evil could not fall on the
-community. There is no man of pure and elevated feelings who does not
-ardently wish, that means could be devised to ameliorate the state of
-society in that respect, so as that those who live by manual labor
-should receive a more just portion of the profits, which are now very
-unequally divided between them and their employers.
-
-But even if the rate of wages was not materially affected, yet when it
-is said that the poor have nothing to lose by war, it must be because
-their lives are counted for nothing. Whether militia, regulars, or
-sailors, the privates, the men who actually fight the battles, are
-exclusively taken from amongst the poorer classes of society. Officers
-are uniformly selected from the class which has some property or
-influence. They indeed risk gallantly their lives, but with the hopes of
-promotion and of acquiring renown and consideration. According to the
-present system, at least of the regular army, it is extremely rare,
-almost impossible that a private soldier should ever rise to the rank of
-an officer. In the course of a war thousands are killed, more die of
-diseases, and the residue, when disbanded, return home with habits
-unfavorable to the pursuits of industry. And yet it is asserted that
-they are predisposed for war, because they have nothing to lose.
-
-As yet, however, we have had recourse only to voluntary enlistments for
-raising a regular force; the pay or bounties must be increased in order
-to obtain a sufficient number; and thus far to become a private soldier
-has been a voluntary act. The calling of militia into actual service is
-a modified species of conscription, and it has also been deemed a
-sufficient burthen to limit the time of that service to six months.
-Another plan is now contemplated by those who are so eager to plunge the
-country into a war. Fearing that the sufficient number of men may not be
-voluntarily raised, they propose that the militia should be divided into
-two portions; those belonging to the first class shall, if called into
-actual service, be bound to serve twelve months instead of six; and the
-other portion shall be liable to furnish a number of recruits for the
-army, not exceeding one tenth part of their total number. This last
-provision seems to be borrowed from the Russian military code. The
-Emperor of Russia requires each village to supply him with a certain
-number of men, in proportion to that of the male population. In time of
-war he requires, at the rate of three men for each hundred males, which
-answers nearly to that of ten for every one hundred men enrolled in the
-militia; and he also grants to the serfs the same privilege intended to
-be allowed to a portion of the militia by the new project, that of
-selecting the recruits amongst themselves.
-
-If it be any consolation, it is certain that, although we may not
-invade England, the evils arising from the war will be as sensibly and
-more permanently felt by Great Britain than by the United States. Her
-efforts must be commensurate with those of the United States, much
-greater by sea in order to be efficient, in every respect more expensive
-on account of her distance from the seat of war. Such is the rapidly
-progressive state of America, that the industry of the people will, in a
-few years of peace, have repaired the evils caused by the errors of
-Government. England will remain burthened with additional debt and
-taxation.
-
-An aged man, who has for the last thirty years been detached from party
-politics, and who has now nothing whatever to hope or to fear from the
-world, has no merit in seeking only the truth and acting an independent
-part. But I know too well, and have felt too much the influence of party
-feeling, not to be fully aware that those men will be entitled to the
-highest praise, who, being really desirous of preserving peace, shall on
-this momentous occasion dare to act for themselves, notwithstanding the
-powerful sympathies of party. Yet no sacrifice of principles is
-required: men may remain firmly attached to those on which their party
-was founded and which they conscientiously adopted. There is no
-connexion between the principles or doctrines on which each party
-respectively was founded, and the question of war or peace with a
-foreign nation which is now agitated. The practice which has lately
-prevailed to convert every subject, from the most frivolous to the most
-important, into a pure party question, destroys altogether personal
-independence, and strikes at the very roots of our institutions. These
-usages of party, as they are called, make every man a slave, and
-transfer the legitimate authority of the majority of the nation to the
-majority of a party, and, consequently, to a minority of the sovereign
-people. If it were permitted to appeal to former times, I would say
-that, during the six years that I had the honor of a seat in Congress,
-there were but two of those party meetings, called for the purpose of
-deliberating upon the measures proper to be adopted. The first was after
-the House had asserted its abstract right to decide on the propriety of
-making appropriations necessary to carry a treaty into effect, whether
-such appropriations should be made with respect to the treaty with
-England of 1794. The other was in the year 1798, respecting the course
-proper to be pursued after the hostile and scandalous conduct of the
-French Directory. On both occasions we were divided; and on both the
-members of the minority of each meeting were left at full liberty to
-vote as they pleased, without being on that account proscribed or
-considered as having abandoned the principles of the party. This, too,
-took place at a time when, unfortunately, each party most erroneously
-suspected the other of an improper attachment to one or the other of the
-great belligerent foreign nations. I must say that I never knew a man
-belonging to the same party as myself, and I have no reason to believe
-that there was any in the opposite party, who would have sacrificed the
-interests of the country to those of any foreign power. I am confident
-that no such person is to be found now in our councils or amongst our
-citizens; nor am I apt to suspect personal views, or apprehensive of the
-effect these might produce. My only fear is that which I have expressed,
-the difficulty for honorable men to disenthral themselves from those
-party sympathies and habits, laudable and useful in their origin, but
-which carried to excess become a tyranny, and may leave the most
-important measures to be decided in the National Councils by an
-enthusiastic and inflamed minority.
-
-FOOTNOTE:
-
-[3] Estimated for 1812.
-
-
-
-
-
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Oregon Question, by Albert Gallatin
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: The Oregon Question
-
-Author: Albert Gallatin
-
-Release Date: April 23, 2016 [EBook #51843]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OREGON QUESTION ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
-
-<h1>THE<br />OREGON QUESTION.</h1>
-
-<p class="bold space-above">BY</p>
-
-<p class="bold2 space-above">ALBERT GALLATIN.</p>
-
-<hr class="smler" />
-
-<p class="bold space-above">NEW YORK:<br />BARTLETT &amp; WELFORD, 7 ASTOR HOUSE.</p>
-
-<p class="bold">1846.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
-
-<hr class="smler" />
-
-<p class="center">R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER, 112 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="bold2">THE OREGON QUESTION.</p>
-
-<h2>NUMBER I.</h2>
-
-<p>I had been a pioneer in collecting facts and stating the case. The only
-materials within my reach consisted of the accounts of voyages
-previously published, (including that of Maurelle, in Barrington's
-Miscellanies), of the varied and important information derived from
-Humboldt's New Spain, and of the voyage of the Sutil and Mexicano, the
-introduction to which contains a brief official account of the Spanish
-discoveries. The statement of the case was the best I was able to make
-with the materials on hand, and may be found defective in many respects.
-Since that time manuscript journals of several of the voyages have been
-obtained at Madrid. New facts have thus been added; others have been
-better analyzed, and some errors rectified. Arguments which had been
-only indicated have been enforced, and new views have been suggested.
-The subject, indeed, seems to be exhausted; and it would be difficult to
-add anything to the able correspondence between the two Governments
-which has been lately published.</p>
-
-<p>Ministers charged with diplomatic discussions are not, however, in those
-official papers intended for publication, to be considered as
-philosophers calmly investigating the questions, with no other object
-but to elicit truth. They are always, to a certain extent, advocates,
-who use their best endeavors to urge and even strain the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> reasons that
-may be alleged in favor of the claims set up by their Governments; and
-in the same manner to repel, if not to deny, all that may be adduced by
-the other party. Such official papers are in fact appeals to public
-opinion, and generally published when there remains no hope to conclude
-for the present an amicable arrangement.</p>
-
-<p>But, though acting in that respect as advocates, diplomatists are
-essentially ministers of peace, whose constant and primary duty is
-mutually to devise conciliatory means for the adjustment of conflicting
-pretensions, for the continuance of friendly relations, for preventing
-war, or for the restoration of peace. It has unfortunately happened that
-on this occasion, both Governments have assumed such absolute and
-exclusive grounds as to have greatly increased, at least for the
-present, the obstacles to an amicable arrangement.</p>
-
-<p>It is morally impossible for the bulk of the people of any country
-thoroughly to investigate a subject so complex as that of the respective
-claims to the Oregon territory; and, for obvious reasons, it is much
-less understood by the great mass of the population in England than in
-the United States. Everywhere, when the question is between the country
-and a foreign nation, the people at large, impelled by natural and
-patriotic feelings, will rally around their Government. For the
-consequences that may ensue, those who are entrusted with the direction
-of the foreign relations are alone responsible. Whatever may be the
-cause, to whomsoever the result may be ascribed, it appears from the
-general style of the periodical press, that, with few exceptions, the
-people, both in Great Britain and in the United States, are imbued with
-the belief that the contested territory belongs exclusively to
-themselves, and that any concession which might be made would be a boon
-to the other party. Such opinions, if sustained by either Government and
-accompanied by corresponding measures, must necessarily lead to
-immediate collisions, and probably to war. Yet, a war so calamitous in
-itself, so fatal to the general interests of both countries, is almost
-universally deprecated, without distinction of parties, by all the
-rational men who are not carried away by the warmth of their feelings.</p>
-
-<p>In the present state of excitement, an immediate amicable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>arrangement
-is almost hopeless; time is necessary before the two Governments can be
-induced to recede from their extreme pretensions. In the meanwhile,
-nothing, as it seems to me, should for the present be done, which might
-increase the excitement, aggravate the difficulties, or remove the only
-remaining barrier against immediate collision.</p>
-
-<p>The United States claim a right of sovereignty over the whole territory.
-The pretensions of the British Government, so far as they have been
-heretofore exhibited, though not extending to a claim of absolute
-sovereignty over the whole, are yet such as cannot be admitted by the
-United States, and, if persisted in, must lead to a similar result.</p>
-
-<p>If the claim of Great Britain be properly analyzed, it will be found
-that, although she has incidentally discussed other questions, she in
-fact disregards every other claim but that of actual occupancy, and that
-she regards as such the establishment of trading factories by her
-subjects. She accordingly claims a participation in the navigation of
-the river Columbia, and would make that river the boundary between the
-two Powers. This utter disregard of the rights of discovery,
-particularly of that of the mouth, sources, and course of a river, of
-the principle of contiguity, and of every other consideration whatever,
-cannot be admitted by the United States. The offer of a detached
-defenceless territory, with a single port, and the reciprocal offers of
-what are called free ports, cannot be viewed but as derisory. An
-amicable arrangement by way of compromise cannot be effected without a
-due regard to the claims advanced by both parties, and to the expediency
-of the dividing line.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
-
-<p>An equitable division must have reference not only to the extent of
-territory, but also to the other peculiar advantages attached to each
-portion respectively.</p>
-
-<p>From and including Fuca Straits, the country extending northwardly
-abounds with convenient sea-ports. From the 42d degree<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of latitude to
-those Straits, there is but one port of any importance, the mouth of the
-River Columbia; and this is of difficult and dangerous access, and
-cannot admit ships of war of a large size. It is important only as a
-port of exports. As one of common resort for supplies, or asylum, in
-case of need, for the numberless American vessels engaged in the
-fisheries or commerce of the Pacific, it would be almost useless, even
-if in the exclusive possession of the United States. It must also be
-observed that the navigable channel of the river, from its mouth to
-Puget's Island, is, according to Vancouver, close along the northern
-shore. Great Britain proposes that the river should be the boundary, and
-that the United States should be content with the possession of the port
-it offered, in common with herself. It is really unnecessary to dwell on
-the consequences of such an arrangement. It is sufficient to say that,
-in case of war between the two countries, it would leave the United
-States without a single port, and give to Great Britain the indisputable
-and exclusive control over those seas and their commerce.</p>
-
-<p>The first and indispensable step towards an amicable arrangement
-consists in the investigation, not so much of the superiority of one
-claim over the other, as of the question whether there be sufficient
-grounds to sustain the exclusive pretensions of either Government.</p>
-
-<p>If the claim of the United States to the whole of the contested
-territory can be sustained against Great Britain, or if the pretensions
-of this Power can to their full extent be maintained against the United
-States, it must be, by either party assuming that the other has no
-opposite claim of any kind whatever, that there are no doubtful and
-debatable questions pending between the two countries. This, if true and
-maintained, must necessarily lead to war, unless one of the two Powers
-should yield what it considers as its absolute right. But, if there be
-any such debatable questions, the way is still open for negotiations;
-and both powers may recede from their extreme pretensions, without any
-abandonment of positive rights, without disgrace, without impairing
-national honor and dignity.</p>
-
-<p>It has been asserted that the title of the United States to the whole
-Oregon territory was maintained by irrefragable facts and arguments.
-These must be sought for in the correspondence lately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> published. They
-consist&mdash;first, of the assertion of the ancient claim of Spain to the
-absolute sovereignty over the whole north-west coast of America as far
-north as the 61st degree of north latitude. Secondly, of the cumulated
-proofs which sustain the claims of the United States to the various
-portions of the territory (whether in their own right, or as derived
-from the acquisition of Louisiana and the Spanish discoveries), and of
-the refutation of the arguments adduced by the other party. The first
-mentioned position would, if it could be sustained, be sufficient to
-prove, and is, as I think, the only one that could prove, the absolute
-and complete right of the United States to the whole contested
-territory.</p>
-
-<p>It is undoubtedly true that "Spain considered the northwest coast of
-America as exclusively her own;" that this claim "had been asserted by
-her, and maintained with the most vigilant jealousy, ever since the
-discovery of the American continent, or nearly three centuries, as far
-north as her settlements or missions extended." There were two ways of
-examining the soundness of that claim; an investigation of the
-principles on which it was founded, and an appeal to precedents. The
-Secretary of State has abstained from discussing the principle; but he
-has said that the claim of Spain to sovereignty "had never been
-seriously questioned by any European nation: that it had been acquiesced
-in by all European Governments." This appears to me the most vulnerable
-part of his arguments.</p>
-
-<p>The early charters of the British monarchs to the colonies bordering on
-the Atlantic, extended from sea to sea, from the Atlantic to the Pacific
-ocean, with the single exception which excluded from the grants the
-places actually occupied by the subjects of any Christian nation. The
-right of prior occupancy was recognized; but the general claim of Spain
-to the sovereignty of the whole coast bordering on the Pacific was
-utterly disregarded. Had that claim been considered as unquestionable,
-had it been acquiesced in, it never could have been supposed that, in
-any case whatever, England could have a right to bestow on her subjects
-a single foot of land bordering on the Pacific.</p>
-
-<p>Coming down to modern times, the only nations which have set up any
-claims or attempted any settlements on the Pacific, north of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> the
-country actually occupied by the Spaniards, are Russia, Great Britain,
-and the United States. All three have asserted claims to the
-northwestern coasts of America, irreconcilable with the universal
-sovereignty claimed by Spain: Russia and England, from the time when
-their flags first floated along the coast and their subjects landed on
-its shores; the United States from a similar date, or at least from the
-time when they acquired Louisiana.</p>
-
-<p>If the right of Spain was absolute and exclusive to the whole, there was
-no reason why it should not have extended beyond the 61st degree of
-latitude. The right of Russia was founded only on her discoveries and
-the establishment of some trading factories. She respected the right of
-Spain only as far as it did not interfere with her own claim. She has,
-in fact, extended this more than six degrees further south; and to this
-the United States, who had acquired all the rights of Spain, have
-assented by a solemn treaty. Whatever might be the boundary acquiesced
-in by Spain, it was not Russia which recognized the claim of Spain; it
-was Spain which recognized that her claim was not unlimited. And, let it
-be also observed, that, since Spain still claimed as far north as the
-61st degree of north latitude (the southern limit of the Russian
-factories when first visited by Spanish navigators), the United States,
-if they believed the Spanish right absolute and exclusive, ought not to
-have ceded to Russia a country extending more than six degrees of
-latitude along the shores of the Pacific.</p>
-
-<p>Great Britain contested the exclusive claim of Spain from the year 1778,
-the date of Cook's third voyage; and he was the first British navigator
-that had for more than two centuries appeared on those coasts. This
-doctrine she has maintained ever since. She did not resist the exclusive
-claim of Spain by virtue of the Nootka convention, but prior to it. It
-was on that ground that she imperiously demanded indemnity and
-restoration for the property and factory of one of her subjects, which
-had been forcibly taken by the Spanish Government. She even threatened
-war; and the Nootka convention was the result of those transactions.
-Whatever construction may at this time be given to that instrument, it
-is certain at least that Spain by it conceded a portion of the absolute
-and sovereign right she had till then asserted; that she yielded the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
-right of trade with the natives on all that part of the coast lying
-north of her actual settlements; and that, by suffering the ultimate
-right of sovereignty to remain in abeyance, she made that pretension
-questionable which she had contended could not be called in question.</p>
-
-<p>With respect to the United States, without recurring to former
-negotiations which were not attended with any result, it is sufficient
-to advert to the convention between them and Great Britain of the year
-1818, concluded prior to the date of the treaty by which they acquired
-the claims of Spain to the territory north of the 42d degree of north
-latitude.</p>
-
-<p>The United States at that time distinctly claimed, in their own right
-and independent of the Spanish claims, that the boundary along the 49th
-parallel, which had been agreed on as that between them and Great
-Britain, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains, should be
-extended to the Pacific. To this division of territory Great Britain
-would not accede; and the provision for a joint occupancy during the
-next ensuing years was substituted. A clause was inserted that the
-agreement should not be taken to affect the claims of any other Power or
-State to any part of the country west of the Stony Mountains. This
-provision clearly referred to the claims of Russia and Spain. The
-northern and southern boundaries of the country, which the two
-contracting parties might claim, were left undefined: Great Britain
-probably thought herself bound by the Nootka convention to respect the
-Spanish claims to the extent provided by that instrument: the United
-States could not but recognize those derived from discovery, with which
-they were at that time but imperfectly acquainted, since their own
-claims were in a great degree derived from a similar source. But the
-convention decisively proves that the United States did not acquiesce in
-the antiquated claim of Spain to the absolute and exclusive sovereignty
-of the whole country; since, if they had recognized that prior claim to
-the whole, they could have had none whatever to any portion of it.</p>
-
-<p>It is therefore undeniable that the assertion of the Spanish claim of
-absolute sovereignty cannot be sustained by a presumed acquiescence on
-the part of the only nations which now claim the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> country. It may
-perhaps be said that their opposition came too late, and that they
-neglected too long to protest against the Spanish pretension on the
-Pacific. No stress will be laid on Drake's voyage, which had a warlike
-character. But the British charters to their colonies show that those
-pretensions were disregarded at a very early date. There was no occasion
-for opposition or direct denial, with respect to the Pacific, until the
-attention of other nations was directed towards that remote country.
-This was neglected because all the commercial nations were, in their
-attempts to colonize, or to conquer the foreign and till then unexplored
-regions, attracted by countries far more accessible, and were
-exclusively engaged in pursuits much more important. The East Indies and
-the West India Islands offered a vast and lucrative field for commercial
-enterprise and territorial acquisition. With respect to the continent of
-America, France, England, and Holland most naturally planted their
-colonies on the nearest opposite shores of the Atlantic; and they did it
-in opposition to the pretended claim of Spain, which extended to the
-whole of America. Although strenuously engaged in extending those
-colonies westwardly, these, in the year 1754, twenty years only before
-Cook's third voyage, hardly extended beyond the Mississippi. What
-immediate interest could then have impelled either France or England to
-enter a formal protest against the antiquated claim of Spain to a
-country with which they had never attempted even to trade? And what
-opportunity had occurred for doing it prior to Cook's voyage?</p>
-
-<p>But, what is still more conclusive, the country in question was equally
-neglected by Spain herself. Some exploring voyages, few of which are
-authentic, were indeed made by Spanish navigators; and the claims which
-may be derived from their discoveries have now been transferred to the
-United States, so far as discovery alone can give a claim, and no
-further. But, during more than two centuries that Spain had no
-competitor on the Pacific, there was on her part no occupancy, no
-settlement, or attempt to make a settlement. She had some missions on
-the western coast of the peninsula of California: but her missions or
-settlements in Northern or New California are of quite recent date; that
-of the most southern (San Diego) in 1769, and that of the most northern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
-(San Francisco) in 1776, two years only before Cook's arrival at Nootka
-Sound.</p>
-
-<p>In point of fact, the contested territory had been utterly neglected by
-Spain. All the energies, such as they were, of her Mexican colonies were
-much more advantageously applied to the improvement of the vast and rich
-countries which they had conquered, principally to the discovery and
-working of the richest and most productive mines of the precious metals
-as yet known.</p>
-
-<p>Anson's expedition was purely military, and confined to southern
-latitudes. But the narrative drew the public attention towards the
-Pacific ocean, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of discovery. Almost
-immediately after the peace of 1763 voyages were undertaken for that
-purpose by the Governments of England and France: the Pacific was
-explored: the Russians on the other hand had, more than thirty years
-before, ascertained the continuity of the American continent from
-Behring's Straits to Mount St. Elias. It was then, and not till then,
-that Spain, or rather the Mexican Government, awakening from its long
-lethargy, extended its missions to New California. In the year 1774,
-Perez, with his pilot, Martinez, sailed as far north as the northern
-extremity of Queen Charlotte's Island, having anchored in Nootka Sound,
-and, as Martinez asserts, perceived the entrance of Fuca's Straits. New
-and important discoveries were made by Quadra and Heceta in the year
-1775. The sequel is well known.</p>
-
-<p>But on what foundation did the claim of Spain rest? If she had indeed an
-absolute right to the whole country bordering on the Pacific, derived
-either from natural or international law, or from usages generally
-recognized, it matters but little, as respects right, whether other
-nations had acquiesced in, or opposed her claim. If there was no
-foundation for that absolute and exclusive right of sovereignty, Spain
-could transfer nothing more to the United States than the legitimate
-claims derived from her discoveries.</p>
-
-<p>The discovery gives an incipient claim not only to the identical spot
-thus discovered, but to a certain distance beyond it. It has been
-admitted that the claim extends generally, though not universally, as
-far inland as the sources of rivers emptying into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> sea where the
-discovery has been made. The distance to which the right or claim
-extends along the sea shore may not be precisely defined, and may vary
-according to circumstances. But it never can be unlimited; it has never
-been recognized beyond a reasonable extent. Spain was the first European
-nation which discovered and occupied Florida. A claim on that account to
-the absolute sovereignty over the whole of the Atlantic shores as far as
-Hudson's Bay, or the 60th degree of latitude, would strike every one as
-utterly absurd. A claim on the part of Spain to the sovereignty of all
-the shores of the Pacific, derived from her having established missions
-in California, would be similar in its nature and extent, and equally
-inadmissible. It cannot be sustained as a natural right, nor by the
-principles of international law, nor by any general usage or precedent.
-The claim of Spain rested on no such grounds.</p>
-
-<p>It was derived from the bull of Pope Alexander VI., which the Spanish
-monarchs obtained in the year 1493, immediately after the discovery of
-America by Columbus. By virtue of that bull, combined with another
-previously granted to Portugal, and with modifications respecting the
-division line between the two Powers, the Pope granted to them the
-exclusive sovereignty over all the discoveries made or to be made in all
-the heathen portions of the globe, including, it must be recollected,
-all the countries in America bordering on the Atlantic, as well as those
-on the Pacific ocean. Yet, even at that time, the Catholic Kings of
-England, and France did not recognize the authority of the Pope on such
-subjects; as evidently appears by the voyages of Cabot under the orders
-of Henry VII. of England, and of Cartier under those of the King of
-France, Francis I. Subsequently, the colonies planted by both countries,
-from Florida to Hudson's Bay, were a practical and continued protest and
-denial of the Spanish claim of absolute sovereignty over the whole of
-America: whilst the acquiescence of Spain was tantamount to an
-abandonment of that claim where it was resisted. Ridiculous as a right
-derived from such a source may appear at this time, it was not then thus
-considered by Spain; and the western boundary of Brazil is to this day
-regulated by the division line prescribed by the Pope.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p><p>I am not aware of any other principle by which the claim ever was or
-can be sustained, unless it be the idle ceremony of taking possession,
-as it is called. The celebrated Spaniard who first discovered the
-Pacific ocean, "Balboa, advancing up to the middle in the waves, with
-his buckler and sword, took possession of that ocean in the name of the
-King his master, and vowed to defend it, with his arms, against all his
-enemies."&mdash;(<i>Robertson.</i>)</p>
-
-<p>I have dwelt longer on this subject than it may seem to deserve. The
-assertion of the solidity of this ancient exclusive Spanish claim has
-had an apparent effect on public opinion fatal to the prospect of an
-amicable arrangement. I am also fully satisfied that the resort to
-vulnerable arguments, instead of strengthening, has a tendency to lessen
-the weight of the multiplied proofs, by which the superiority of the
-American over the British claim has been so fully established.</p>
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I allude here only to the compromise proposed by Great
-Britain. Her actual claim, as explicitly stated by herself, is to the
-whole territory, limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with
-other States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance.</p></div></div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>NUMBER II.</h2>
-
-<p>It has, it is believed, been conclusively proved that the claim of the
-United States to absolute sovereignty over the whole Oregon territory,
-in virtue of the ancient exclusive Spanish claim, is wholly unfounded.
-The next question is, whether the other facts and arguments adduced by
-either party establish a complete and absolute title of either to the
-whole; for the United States claim it explicitly; and, although the
-British proposal of compromise did yield a part, yet her qualified claim
-extends to the whole. It has been stated by herself in the following
-words: "Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion
-of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any part, but to
-the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with
-other States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance." And,
-again: "The qualified rights which Great Britain now possesses over the
-whole of the territory in question, embrace the right to navigate the
-waters of those countries, the right to settle in and over any part of
-them, and the right freely to trade with the inhabitants and occupiers
-of the same. * * * * * * It is fully admitted that the United States
-possess the same rights; but beyond they possess none."</p>
-
-<p>In the nature of things, it seems almost impossible that a complete and
-absolute right to any portion of America can exist, unless it be by
-prescriptive and undisputed <i>actual</i> possession and settlements, or by
-virtue of a treaty.</p>
-
-<p>At the time when America was discovered, the law of nations was
-altogether unsettled. More than a century elapsed before Grotius
-attempted to lay its foundation on Natural Law and the moral precepts of
-Christianity; and, when sustaining it by precedents, he was compelled to
-recur to Rome and Greece. It was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> reality a new case, to which no
-ancient precedents could apply,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> for which some new rules must be
-adopted. Gradually, some general principles were admitted, never
-universally, in their nature vague and often conflicting. For instance,
-discovery varies, from the simple ascertaining of the continuity of
-land, to a minute exploration of its various harbors, rivers, &amp;c.; and
-the rights derived from it may vary accordingly, and may occasionally be
-claimed to the same district by different nations. There is no precise
-rule for regulating the time after which the neglect to occupy would
-nullify the right of prior discovery; nor for defining the extent of
-coast beyond the spot discovered to which the discoverer may be
-entitled, or how far inland his claim extends. The principle most
-generally admitted was, that, in case of a river, the right extended to
-the whole country drained by that river and its tributaries. Even this
-was not universally conceded. This right might be affected by a
-simultaneous or prior discovery and occupancy of some of the sources of
-such river by another party; or it might conflict with a general claim
-of contiguity. This last claim, when extending beyond the sources of
-rivers discovered and occupied, is vague and undefined: though it would
-seem that it cannot exceed in breadth that of the territory on the coast
-originally discovered and occupied. A few examples will show the
-uncertainty resulting from those various claims, when they conflicted
-with each other.</p>
-
-<p>The old British charters extending from sea to sea have already been
-mentioned. They were founded, beyond the sources of the rivers emptying
-into the Atlantic, on no other principle than that of contiguity or
-continuity. The grant in 1621 of Nova Scotia, by James the First, is
-bounded on the north by the river St. Lawrence, though Cartier had more
-than eighty-five years before discovered the mouth of that river and
-ascended it as high up as the present site of Montreal, and the French
-under Champlain had several years before 1621 been settled at Quebec.
-But there is another case more important, and still more in point.</p>
-
-<p>The few survivors of the disastrous expedition of Narvaez, who, coming
-from Florida, did in a most extraordinary way reach <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>Culiacan on the
-Pacific, were the first Europeans who crossed the Mississippi. Some
-years later, Ferdinand de Soto, coming also from Florida, did in the
-year 1541 reach and cross the Mississippi, at some place between the
-mouth of the Ohio and that of the Arkansas. He explored a portion of the
-river and of the adjacent country; and, after his death, Moscoso, who
-succeeded him in command, did, in the year 1543, build seven brigantines
-or barques, in which, with the residue of his followers, he descended
-the Mississippi, the mouth of which he reached in seventeen days. Thence
-putting to sea with his frail vessels, he was fortunate enough to reach
-the Spanish port of Panuco, on the Mexican coast. The right of discovery
-clearly belonged to Spain; but she had neglected for near one hundred
-and fifty years to make any settlement on the great river or any of its
-tributaries. The French, coming from Canada, reached the Mississippi in
-the year 1680, and ascended it as high up as St. Anthony's Falls; and La
-Salle descended it in 1682 to its mouth. The French Government did, in
-virtue of that second discovery, claim the country, subsequently founded
-New Orleans, and formed several other settlements in the interior, on
-the Mississippi or its waters. Spain almost immediately occupied
-Pensacola and Nacogdoches, in order to check the progress of the French
-eastwardly and westwardly; but she did not attempt to disturb them in
-their settlements on the Mississippi and its tributaries. We have here
-the proof of a prior right of discovery being superseded, when too long
-neglected, by that of actual occupancy and settlement.</p>
-
-<p>The French, by virtue of having thus discovered the mouth of the
-Mississippi, of having ascended it more than fifteen hundred miles, of
-having explored the Ohio, the Wabash, and the Illinois, from their
-respective mouths to their most remote sources, and of having formed
-several settlements as above mentioned, laid claim to the whole country
-drained by the main river and its tributaries. They accordingly built
-forts at Le B&oelig;uf, high up the Alleghany river, and on the site where
-Pittsburgh now stands. On the ground of discovery or settlement, Great
-Britain had not the slightest claim. General, then Colonel Washington,
-was the first who, at the age of twenty-two, and in the year 1754,
-planted the British banner on the Western waters. The British claim was
-founded principally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> on the ground of contiguity, enforced by other
-considerations. The strongest of these was, that it could not consist
-with natural law, that the British colonies, with a population of near
-two millions, should be confined to the narrow belt of land between the
-Atlantic and the Alleghany Mountains, and that the right derived from
-the discovery of the main river should be carried to such an extent as
-to allow the French colonies, with a population of fifty thousand,
-rightfully to claim the whole valley of the Mississippi. The contest was
-decided by the sword. By the treaty of peace of 1763, the Mississippi,
-with the exception of New Orleans and its immediate vicinity, was made
-the boundary. The French not only lost all that part of the valley which
-lay east of that river, but they were compelled to cede Canada to Great
-Britain.</p>
-
-<p>It may, however, happen that all the various claims from which a title
-may be derived, instead of pertaining to several Powers, and giving rise
-to conflicting pretensions, are united and rightfully belong to one
-nation alone. This union, if entire, may justly be considered as giving
-a complete and exclusive title to the sovereignty of that part of the
-country embraced by such united claims.</p>
-
-<p>The position assumed by the British Government, that those various
-claims exclude each other, and that the assertion of one forbids an
-appeal to the others, is obviously untenable. All that can be said in
-that respect is, that if any one claim is alone sufficient to establish
-a complete and indisputable title, an appeal to others is superfluous.
-Thus far, and no farther, can the objection be maintained. The argument
-on the part of the United States in reality was, that the Government
-considered the title derived from the ancient exclusive Spanish claim as
-indisputable; but that, if this was denied, all the other just claims of
-the United States taken together constituted a complete title, or at
-least far superior to any that could be adduced on the part of Great
-Britain.</p>
-
-<p>It is not intended to enter into the merits of the question, which has
-been completely discussed, since the object of this paper is only to
-show that there remain on both sides certain debatable questions; and
-that therefore both Governments may, if so disposed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> recede from some
-of their pretensions, without any abandonment of positive rights, and
-without impairing national honor and dignity.</p>
-
-<p>Although Great Britain seems, in this discussion, to have relied almost
-exclusively on the right derived from actual occupancy and settlement,
-she cannot reject absolutely those derived from other sources. She must
-admit that, both in theory and practice, the claims derived from prior
-discovery, from contiguity, from the principle which gives to the first
-discoverer of the mouth of a river and of its course a claim to the
-whole country drained by such river, have all been recognized to a
-certain, though not well-defined extent, by all the European nations
-claiming various portions of America. And she cannot deny the facts,
-that (as Mr. Greenhow justly concludes) the seashore had been generally
-examined from the 42d, and minutely from the 45th to the 48th degree of
-latitude, Nootka Sound discovered, and the general direction of the
-coast from the 48th to the 58th degree of latitude ascertained, by the
-Spanish expeditions, in the years 1774 and 1775, of Perez, Heceta, and
-Bodego y Quadra; that the American Captain Gray was the first who, in
-1792, entered into and ascertained the existence of the River Columbia,
-and the place where it empties into the sea; that, prior to that
-discovery, the Spaniard Heceta was the first who had been within the
-bay, called Deception Bay by Meares, into which the river does empty;
-that, of the four navigators who had been in that bay prior to Gray's
-final discovery, the Spaniard Heceta and the American Gray were the only
-ones who had asserted that a great river emptied itself into that bay,
-Heceta having even given a name to the river (St. Roc), and the entrance
-having been designated by his own name (Ensennada de Heceta), whilst the
-two English navigators, Meares and Vancouver, had both concluded that no
-large river had its mouth there; that, in the year 1805, Lewis and
-Clarke were the first who descended the river Columbia, from one of its
-principal western sources to its mouth; that the first actual occupancy
-in that quarter was by Mr. Astor's company, on the 24th of March, 1811,
-though Mr. Thompson, the astronomer of the British Northwest Company,
-who arrived at Astoria on the 15th of July, may have wintered on or near
-some northern source of the river in 52 degrees north latitude; that
-amongst the factories<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> established by that American company one was
-situated at the confluence of the Okanagan with the Columbia, in about
-49 degrees of latitude; that the 42d degree is the boundary, west of the
-Stony Mountains, established by treaty between Spain, now Mexico, and
-the United States; that the 49th degree is likewise the boundary, from
-the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains, established by treaty
-between Great Britain and the United States; and that therefore the
-right of the United States, which may be derived from the principle of
-contiguity or continuity, embraces the territory west of the Stony
-Mountains contained between the 42d and 49th degrees of latitude.</p>
-
-<p>Omitting other considerations which apply principally to the territory
-north of Fuca Straits, where the claims of both parties are almost
-exclusively derived from their respective discoveries, including those
-of Spain, it may be rationally inferred from the preceding enumeration
-that there remain various questions which must be considered by Great
-Britain as being still doubtful and debatable, and that she may
-therefore, without any abandonment of positive rights, recede from the
-extreme pretensions which she has advanced in the discussion respecting
-a division of the territory. But, although conjectures may be formed,
-and the course pursued by the Government of the United States may have
-an influence on that which Great Britain will adopt, it does not belong
-to me to discuss what that Government may or will do. This paper is
-intended for the American, and not for the English public; and my
-attention has been principally directed to those points which may be
-considered by the United States as doubtful and debatable.</p>
-
-<p>It was expressly stipulated that nothing contained in the conventions of
-1818 and 1827 should be construed to impair, <i>or in any manner affect</i>,
-the claims which either of the contracting parties may have to any part
-of the country westward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains. After the most
-cool and impartial investigation of which I am capable, I have not been
-able to perceive any claim on the part of Great Britain, or debatable
-question, respecting the territory south of Fuca's Straits, but the
-species of occupancy by the British Fur companies between the year 1813
-and October 20th, 1818; and this must be considered in connection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> with
-the restoration of "all territory, places, and possessions whatsoever,
-taken by either party from the other during the war," provided for by
-the treaty of Ghent. To this branch of the subject belongs also the
-question whether the establishment of trading factories with Indians may
-eventually give a right to sovereignty. My opinion was expressed in the
-American counter-statement of the case, dated 19th December, 1826: "It
-is believed that mere factories, established solely for the purpose of
-trafficking with the natives, and without any view to cultivation and
-permanent settlement, cannot, of themselves, and unsupported by any
-other consideration, give any better title to dominion and absolute
-sovereignty than similar establishments made in a civilized country."
-However true this may be as an abstract proposition, it must be admitted
-that, practically, the modest British factory at Calcutta has gradually
-grown up into absolute and undisputed sovereignty over a population of
-eighty millions of people.</p>
-
-<p>The questions which, as it appears to me, may be allowed by the United
-States to be debatable, and therefore to make it questionable whether
-they have a complete right to the whole Oregon territory, are:</p>
-
-<p>1st. The Nootka convention, which applies to the whole, and which,
-though not of primary importance, is nevertheless a fact, and the
-inferences drawn from it a matter of argument.</p>
-
-<p>2dly. The discovery of the Straits of Fuca.</p>
-
-<p>3dly. North of those straits; along the sea shores, the discoveries of
-the British contrasted with those of the American and Spanish
-navigators; in the interior, the question whether the discovery of the
-mouth and the navigation of one of its principal branches, from its
-source to the mouth of the river, implies without exception a complete
-right to the whole country drained by all the tributaries of such river;
-and also the British claim to the whole territory drained by Frazer's
-river&mdash;its sources having been discovered in 1792 by Sir Alexander
-Mackenzie, factories having been established upon it by the British as
-early as the year 1806, and the whole river thence to its mouth having
-been for a number of years exclusively navigated by British subjects.</p>
-
-<p>It appears to me sufficient generally to suggest the controverted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
-points. That which relates to Fuca's Straits is the most important, and
-deserves particular consideration.</p>
-
-<p>If Fuca's voyage in 1592 could be proved to be an authentic document,
-this would settle at once the question in favor of the United States;
-but the voyage was denied in the introduction to the voyage of the Sutil
-and Mexicano. This was an official document, published under the
-auspices of the Spanish Government, and intended to vindicate Spain
-against the charges, that she had contributed nothing to the advancement
-of geography in those quarters. This negative evidence was confirmed by
-Humboldt, who says that no trace of such voyage can be found in the
-archives of Mexico. Unwilling to adduce any doubtful fact, I abstained
-from alluding to it in the statement of the American case in 1826. Later
-researches show that, although recorded evidences remain of the voyages
-of Gali from Macao to Acapulco in 1584, of the Santa Anna (on board of
-which was, as he says, Fuca himself) from Manilla to the coast of
-California, where she was captured in 1587 by Cavendish, and of Vizcaino
-in 1602-1603, and even of Maldonado's fictitious voyage in 1588, yet no
-trace has been found in Spain or Mexico of Fuca's, or any other similar
-voyage, in 1692, or thereabout.</p>
-
-<p>On reading with attention the brief account published by Purchas, I will
-say that the voyage itself has much internal evidence of its truth, but
-that the inference or conclusion throws much discredit on the whole. The
-only known account of the voyage is that given verbally at Venice in
-1596, by Fuca, a Greek pilot, to Mr. Lock, a respectable English
-merchant, who transmitted it to Purchas.</p>
-
-<p>Fuca says that he had been sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to discover the
-straits of Anian and the passage thereof into the sea, which they called
-the North Sea, which is <i>our Northwest Sea</i>; that between 47 and 48
-degrees of latitude he entered into a broad inlet, through which he
-sailed more than twenty days; and, being then come into the North Sea
-already, and not being sufficiently armed, he returned again to
-Acapulco. He offered then to Mr. Lock to go into England and serve her
-Majesty in a voyage for the discovery perfectly of the Northwest passage
-into the South<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> Sea. If it be granted that the inlet through which he
-had sailed was really the same as the straits which now bear his name,
-that sea into which he emerged, and which he asserts to be <i>our
-Northwest Sea</i>, must have been that which is now called Queen
-Charlotte's Sound, north of Quadra and Vancouver's Island, in about 51
-degrees of latitude. <i>Our Northwest Sea</i> was that which washes the
-shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, then universally known as far north
-as the vicinity of the 60th degree of latitude. Hudson's Straits had not
-yet been discovered, and the discovery of Davis's Straits might not be
-known to Fuca. But no navigator at that time, who, like he, had sailed
-across both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, could be ignorant that
-the northern extremity of Newfoundland, which lies nearly in the same
-latitude as the northern entrance of Fuca's Straits, is situated sixty
-or seventy degrees of longitude east of that entrance. The only way to
-reconcile the account with itself is, to suppose that Fuca believed that
-the continent of America did not, on the side of the Atlantic, extend
-further north than about the 60th degree, and was bounded northwardly by
-an open sea, which extended as far west as the northern extremity of the
-inlet through which he had sailed. It is true nevertheless that, between
-the years 1774 and 1792, there was a prevailing opinion amongst the
-navigators that Fuca had actually discovered an inlet leading towards
-the Atlantic. Prior to the year 1787 they were engaged in seeking for
-it, and the Spaniards had for that purpose explored in vain the sea
-coast lying south of the 48th degree; for it is well known that Fuca's
-entrance lies between the 48th and 49th, and not between the 47th and
-48th degrees of latitude, as he had announced.</p>
-
-<p>The modern discovery of that inlet is due to Captain Barclay, an
-Englishman, commanding the Imperial Eagle, a vessel owned by British
-merchants, but which was equipped at, and took its departure from
-Ostend, and which sailed under the flag of the Austrian East India
-Company. The British Government, which has objected to the American
-claim derived from Captain Gray's discovery of the mouth of the river
-Columbia, on the ground that he was a private individual, and that his
-vessel was not a public ship, cannot certainly claim anything in virtue
-of a discovery by a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> private Englishman, sailing under Austrian colors.
-In that case, and rejecting Fuca's voyage, neither the United States nor
-England can lay any claim on account of the discovery of the straits.</p>
-
-<p>Subsequently, the Englishman, Meares, sailing under the Portuguese flag,
-penetrated, in 1768, about ten miles into the inlet, and the American,
-Gray, in 1789, about fifty miles. The pretended voyage of the sloop
-Washington throughout the straits, under the command of either Gray or
-Kendrick, has no other foundation than an assertion of Meares, on which
-no reliance can be placed.</p>
-
-<p>In the year 1790 (1791 according to Vancouver) the Spaniards, Elisa and
-Quimper, explored the straits more than one hundred miles, discovering
-the Port Discovery, the entrance of Admiralty Inlet, the Deception
-Passage, and the Canal de Haro. In 1792 Vancouver explored and surveyed
-the straits throughout, together with their various bays and harbors.
-Even there he had been preceded in part by the Sutil and Mexicano; and
-he expresses his regret that they had advanced before him as far as the
-Canal del Rosario.</p>
-
-<p>Under all the circumstances of the case, it cannot be doubted that the
-United States must admit that the discovery of the straits, and the
-various inferences which may be drawn from it, are doubtful and
-debatable questions.</p>
-
-<p>That which relates to a presumed agreement of Commissioners appointed
-under the treaty of Utrecht, by which the northern boundary of Canada
-was, from a certain point north of Lake Superior, declared to extend
-westwardly along the 49th parallel of latitude, does not appear to me
-definitively settled. As this had been assumed many years before, as a
-positive fact, and had never been contradicted, I also assumed it as
-such and did not thoroughly investigate the subject. Yet I had before me
-at least one map (name of publisher not recollected), of which I have a
-vivid recollection, on which the dividing lines were distinctly marked
-and expressly designated, as being in conformity with the agreement of
-the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. The evidence against the
-fact, though in some respects strong, is purely negative. The line,
-according to the map, extended from a certain point near the source of
-the river Saguenay, in a westerly direction, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> another designated
-point on another river emptying either into the St Lawrence or James's
-Bay; and there were, in that way, four or five lines following each
-other, all tending westwardly, but with different inclinations
-northwardly or southwardly, and all extending, from some apparently
-known point on a designated river, to another similar point on another
-river; the rivers themselves emptying themselves, some into the river
-St. Lawrence and others into James's Bay or Hudson's Bay, until, from a
-certain point lying north of Lake Superior, the line was declared to
-extend along the 49th degree of latitude, as above stated. It was with
-that map before me that the following paragraph was inserted in the
-American statement of December, 1826:</p>
-
-<blockquote><p>"The limits between the possessions of Great Britain in North
-America, and those of France in the same quarter, namely, Canada
-and Louisiana, were determined by Commissioners appointed in
-pursuance of the treaty of Utrecht. From the coast of Labrador to a
-certain point North of Lake Superior, those limits were fixed
-according to certain metes and bounds; and from that point the line
-of demarcation was agreed to extend indefinitely due west, along
-the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude. It was in conformity
-with that arrangement that the United States did claim that
-parallel as the northern boundary of Louisiana. It has been
-accordingly thus settled, as far as the Stony Mountains, by the
-convention of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain; and
-no adequate reason can be given why the same boundary should not be
-continued as far as the claims of the United States do extend, that
-is to say, as far as the Pacific ocean."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>It appears very extraordinary that any geographer or map-maker should
-have invented a dividing line, with such specific details, without
-having sufficient grounds for believing that it had been thus determined
-by the Commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. It is also believed
-that Douglass' Summary (not at this moment within my reach) adverts to
-the portion of the line from the coast of Labrador to the Saguenay.
-Finally, the allusion to the 49th parallel, as a boundary fixed in
-consequence of the treaty of Utrecht, had been repeatedly made in the
-course of preceding negotiations, as well as in the conferences of that
-of the year 1826; and there is no apparent motive, if the assertion was
-known by the British negotiators not to be founded in fact, why they
-should not have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> at once denied it. It may be, however, that the
-question having ceased to be of any interest to Great Britain since the
-acquisition of Canada, they had not investigated the subject. It is of
-some importance, because, if authenticated, the discussion would be
-converted from questions respecting undefined claims, into one
-concerning the construction of a positive treaty or convention.</p>
-
-<p>It is sufficiently clear that, under all the circumstances of the case,
-an amicable division of the territory, if at all practicable, must be
-founded in a great degree on expediency. This of course must be left to
-the wisdom of the two Governments. The only natural, equitable, and
-practicable line which has occurred to me, is one which, running through
-the middle of Fuca Straits, from its entrance to a point on the main,
-situated south of the mouth of Frazer's river, should leave to the
-United States all the shores and harbors lying south, and to Great
-Britain all those north of that line, including the whole of Quadra and
-Vancouver's Island. It would be through Fuca's Straits a nearly easterly
-line, along the parallel of about 48&frac12; degrees, leaving to England the
-most valuable and permanent portion of the fur trade, dividing the
-sea-coast as nearly as possible into two equal parts, and the ports in
-the most equitable manner. To leave Admiralty Inlet and its Sounds to
-Great Britain, would give her a possession in the heart of the American
-portion of the territory. Whether from the point where the line would
-strike the main, it should be continued along the same parallel, or run
-along the 49th, is a matter of secondary importance.</p>
-
-<p>If such division should take place, the right of the inhabitants of the
-country situated on the upper waters of the Columbia to the navigation
-of that river to its mouth, is founded on natural law; and the principle
-has almost been recognized as the public law of Europe. Limited to
-commercial purposes, it might be admitted, but on the express condition
-that the citizens of the United States should in the same manner, and to
-the same extent, have the right to navigate the river St. Lawrence.</p>
-
-<p>But I must say that, whatever may be the ultimate destinies of the
-Oregon territory, I would feel great regret in seeing it in any way
-divided. An amicable division appears to me without comparison
-preferable to a war for that object between the two countries. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> every
-other view of the subject it is highly exceptionable. Without adverting
-for the present to considerations of a higher nature, it may be
-sufficient here to observe, that the conversion of the northern part of
-the territory into a British colony would in its effects make the
-arrangement very unequal. The United States are forbidden by their
-Constitution to give a preference to the ports of one State over those
-of another. The ports within the portion of territory allotted to the
-United States would of course remain open to British vessels; whilst
-American vessels would be excluded from the ports of the British colony,
-unless occasionally admitted by special acts depending on the will of
-Great Britain.</p>
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Grotius, however, sustains the right of occupation by a
-maxim of the Civil Roman Code.</p></div></div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>NUMBER III.</h2>
-
-<p>Beyond the naked assertion of an absolute right to the whole territory,
-so little in the shape of argument has been adduced, and so much warmth
-has been exhibited in the discussion of the subject, that it cannot be
-doubted that the question has now become, on both sides, one of feeling
-rather than of right. This, in America, grows out of the fact that, in
-this contest with a European nation, the contested territory is in
-America and not in Europe. It is identical with the premature official
-annunciation, that the United States could not acquiesce in the
-establishment of any new colony in North America by any European nation.
-This sentiment was already general at the time when it was first
-publicly declared; and now that it has been almost universally avowed,
-there can be no impropriety in any private citizen to say, as I now do,
-that I share in that feeling to its full extent. For the Americans,
-Oregon is or will be home: for England, it is but an outpost, which may
-afford means of annoyance, rather than be a source of real power. In
-America all have the same ultimate object in view; we differ only with
-respect to the means by which it may be attained.</p>
-
-<p>Two circumstances have had a tendency to nourish and excite these
-feelings. The British fur companies, from their position, from their
-monopolizing character, from their natural influence upon the Indians,
-and from that, much greater than might have been expected, which they
-have constantly had upon the British Government in its negotiations with
-the United States, have for sixty years been a perpetual source of
-annoyance and collisions. The vested interests of the Hudson Bay Company
-are at this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>moment the greatest obstacle to an amicable arrangement. It
-is at the same time due to justice to say that, as far as is known, that
-company has acted in Oregon in conformity with the terms of the
-convention, and that its officers have uniformly treated the Americans,
-whether visitors or emigrants, not only courteously, but with great
-kindness.</p>
-
-<p>If the British colonies on the continent of America were an independent
-country, or were they placed in their commercial relations, at least
-with the United States, on the same footing as the British possessions
-in Europe, these relations would be regulated by the reciprocal
-interests and wants of the parties immediately concerned. Great Britain
-has an undoubted right to persist in her colonial policy; but the result
-has been extremely vexatious, and to the United States injurious. All
-this is true. But feelings do not confer a right, and the indulgence of
-excited feelings is neither virtue nor wisdom.</p>
-
-<p>The Western States have no greater apparent immediate interest in the
-acquisition of Oregon than the States bordering on the Atlantic. These
-stand in greater need of an outlet for their surplus emigrating
-population, and to them exclusively, will for the present, the benefit
-accrue of ports on the Pacific, for the protection of the numerous
-American ships employed in the fisheries and commerce of that ocean. It
-is true that in case of war the inhabitants of the Western States will
-not, if a naval superiority shall be obtained on the Upper Lakes, feel
-those immediate calamities of war to which the country along the
-seashore is necessarily exposed; but no section of the United States
-will be more deeply affected, by the impossibility of finding during the
-war a market for the immense surplus of its agricultural products. It
-must also be remembered that a direct tax has heretofore been found as
-productive as the aggregate of all the other internal taxes levied by
-the General Government; that, in case of war, it must necessarily be
-imposed; and that, as it must, in conformity with the Constitution, be
-levied in proportion to the respective population of the several States,
-it will be much more oppressive on those which have not yet accumulated
-a large amount of circulating or personal capital. The greater degree of
-excitement which prevails in the West is due to other and more powerful
-causes than a regard for self-interest.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p><p>Bordering through the whole of their northern frontier on the British
-possessions, the Western people have always been personally exposed to
-the annoyances and collisions already alluded to; and it may be that the
-hope of getting rid of these by the conquest of Canada has some
-influence upon their conduct. Independent of this, the indomitable
-energy of this nation has been and is nowhere displayed so forcibly as
-in the new States and settlements. It was necessarily directed towards
-the acquisition of land and the cultivation of the soil. In that respect
-it has performed prodigies. Three millions of cultivators of the soil
-are now found between the Lakes and the Ohio, where, little more than
-fifty years before, save only three or four half Indian French
-settlements, there was not a single white inhabitant. Nothing now seems
-impossible to those men; they have not even been sobered by fresh
-experience. Attempting to do at once, and without an adequate capital,
-that which should have been delayed five-and-twenty years, and might
-have then been successfully accomplished, some of those States have had
-the mortification to find themselves unable to pay the interest on the
-debt they had contracted, and obliged to try to compound with their
-creditors. Nevertheless, undiminished activity and locomotion are still
-the ruling principles: the Western people leap over time and distance;
-ahead they must go; it is their mission. May God speed them, and may
-they thus quietly take possession of the entire contested territory!</p>
-
-<p>All this was as well known to the British Government as to ourselves. A
-public and official declaration by the President of the United States
-was unnecessary and at least premature. Mr. Rush's correspondence of
-1824 bears witness of its unfortunate effect on the negotiations of that
-year. These feelings had gradually subsided. But, whatever may be the
-cause, the fact that an extraordinary excitement on this subject has
-manifested itself, and does now exist on both sides, cannot be denied.
-Time is absolutely necessary in order that this should subside. Any
-precipitate step now taken by either Government would be attended with
-the most fatal consequences. That which, if done some years ago, might
-have been harmless, would now be highly dangerous, and should at least
-be postponed for the present.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p><p>The first incipient step recommended by the Executive is, to give the
-notice that the convention of 1827 shall expire at the end of one year.
-This measure at this time, and connected with the avowed intention of
-assuming exclusive sovereignty over the whole territory, becomes a
-question of peace or war.</p>
-
-<p>The conventions of 1818 and 1827, whilst reserving the rights of both
-parties, allowed the freedom of trade and navigation throughout the
-whole territory to remain common to both; and the citizens or subjects
-of both powers were permitted to occupy any part of it. The
-inconveniences of that temporary arrangement were well understood at the
-time. The British fur companies had established factories on the banks,
-and even south of the river Columbia, within the limits of that portion
-of the country which the United States had, whenever the subject was
-discussed, claimed as belonging exclusively to them. The conditions of
-the agreement were nominally reciprocal; but, though they did not give,
-yet they did in fact leave the British company in the exclusive
-possession of the fur trade. This could not be prevented otherwise than
-by resorting to actual force: the United States were not then either
-ready or disposed to run the risks of a war for that object; and it was
-thought more eligible, that the British traders should remain on the
-territory of the United States, by virtue of a compact and with their
-consent, than in defiance of their authority. It is but very lately that
-the Americans have begun to migrate to that remote country: a greater
-number will certainly follow; and they have under the convention a
-perfect right to occupy and make settlements in any part of the
-territory they may think proper, with the sole exception of the spots
-actually occupied by the British company.</p>
-
-<p>What is then the object in view, in giving the notice at this time? This
-has been declared without reserve by the President: "At the end of the
-year's notice, should Congress think it proper to make provision for
-giving that notice, we shall have reached a period when the national
-rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly maintained. That
-they cannot be abandoned without a sacrifice of both national honor and
-interests, is too clear to admit of doubt." And it must be recollected
-that this candid avowal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> has been accompanied by the declaration that
-"our title to the whole Oregon territory had been asserted and, as was
-believed, maintained by irrefragable facts and arguments." Nothing can
-be more plain and explicit. The exclusive right of the United States to
-absolute sovereignty over the whole territory must be asserted and
-maintained.</p>
-
-<p>It may not be necessary for that purpose to drive away the British fur
-company, nor to prevent the migration into Oregon of British emigrants
-coming from the British dominions. The company may, if deemed expedient,
-be permitted to trade as heretofore with the Indians. British emigrants
-may be treated in the same manner as the other sixty or eighty thousand
-who already arrive yearly in the United States. They may at their option
-be naturalized, or remain on the same footing as foreigners in other
-parts of the Union. In this case they will enjoy no political rights;
-they will not be permitted to own American vessels and to sail under the
-American flag; the permission to own real property seems, so long as
-Oregon remains a territory, to depend on the will of Congress. Thus far
-collision may be avoided.</p>
-
-<p>But no foreign jurisdiction can be permitted, from the moment when the
-sovereignty of the United States over the whole territory shall be
-asserted and maintained. To this, all those who reside in the territory
-must submit. After having taken the decisive step of giving the notice,
-the United States cannot, as the President justly states, abandon the
-right of sovereignty without a sacrifice of national honor.</p>
-
-<p>It had been expressly agreed by the convention that nothing contained in
-it should affect the claims of either party to the territory. The
-all-important question of sovereignty remained therefore in abeyance.
-Negotiations for a division of the territory have failed: the question
-of sovereignty remains undecided, as it was prior to the convention. If
-the United States exercise the reserved right to put an end to the
-convention, and if, from the time when it shall have expired, they
-peremptorily assume the right of sovereignty over the whole, it cannot
-be doubted that Great Britain will at once resist. She will adhere to
-the principle she had asserted prior to the Nootka convention, and has
-ever since <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>maintained, that actual occupancy can alone give a right to
-the country. She will not permit the jurisdiction of the United States
-to be extended over her subjects: she will oppose the removal, arrest,
-or exercise of any other legal process, against her justices of the
-peace, against any other officers who directly or indirectly act under
-her authority, against any of her subjects; and she will continue to
-exercise her jurisdiction over all of them throughout the whole
-territory. Whatever either Power asserts must be maintained: military
-occupation and war must necessarily ensue.</p>
-
-<p>A portion of the people, both in the West and elsewhere, see clearly
-that such must be the consequence of giving the notice. Such men openly
-avow their opinions, prefer war to a longer continuation of the present
-state of things, are ready to meet all the dangers and calamities of the
-impending conflict, and to adopt at once all the measures which may
-ensure success. With them, the discussion brings at once the question to
-its true issue: Is war necessary for the object they have in view? Or
-may it not be attained by peaceable means? It is a question of war or
-peace, and it is fairly laid before the nation.</p>
-
-<p>But many respectable men appear to entertain hopes that peace may still
-be preserved after the United States shall have assumed, or attempted to
-assume, exclusive sovereignty. The reverse appears to me so clear, so
-obvious, so inevitable, that I really cannot understand on what grounds
-these hopes are founded.</p>
-
-<p>Is it thought that the President will not, after the assent of Congress
-has been obtained (and whether immediately or at the end of this
-session, is quite immaterial), give the notice which he has asked
-Congress to authorize? Or is it supposed that a change in the form
-which, in order to avoid responsibility, would give him a discretionary
-power, could lead to a different result, or be anything else but a
-transfer by Congress to the Executive of the power to declare war?</p>
-
-<p>Can it be presumed that when, after the expiration of the term of
-notice, the convention shall have been abrogated, the President will not
-assert and maintain the sovereignty claimed by the United States? I have
-not the honor of a personal acquaintance with him; I respect in him the
-First Magistrate of the Nation; and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> is universally represented as of
-irreproachable character, sincere, and patriotic. Every citizen has a
-right to differ with him in opinion: no one has that of supposing that
-he says one thing and means another. I feel an intimate conviction of
-his entire sincerity.</p>
-
-<p>Is it possible that any one, who does not labor under a singular
-illusion, can believe that England will yield to threats and defiance
-that which she has refused to concede to our arguments? Reverse the
-case: Suppose for a moment that Great Britain was the aggressor, and had
-given the notice; declaring, at the same time, that, at the expiration
-of the year, she would assume exclusive sovereignty over the whole
-country, and oppose the exercise of any whatever by the United States:
-is there any American, even amongst those who set the least value on the
-Oregon territory, and are most sincerely desirous of preserving peace,
-who would not at once declare that such pretension on the part of Great
-Britain was outrageous and must be resisted?</p>
-
-<p>It is not certainly the interest of Great Britain to wage war against
-the United States, and it may be fairly presumed that the British
-Government has no such wish. But England is, as well as the United
-States, a great, powerful, sensitive, and proud nation. Every effusion
-of the British press which displays hostility to the United States,
-produces an analogous sentiment, and adds new fuel to excitement in
-America. A moment's reflection will enable us to judge of the inevitable
-effect of an offensive and threatening act, emanating from our
-Government; an act which throws, in the face of the world, the gauntlet
-of defiance to Great Britain. Her claims and views, as laid down in her
-statement of December, 1826, remove every doubt respecting the steps she
-will take. "Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any
-portion of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any
-part, but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy in
-common with other States, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in
-abeyance. * * * * The pretensions of Great Britain tend to the mere
-maintenance of her own rights, <i>in resistance to the exclusive
-character</i> of the pretensions of the United States. * * * * These rights
-embrace the right to navigate the waters of those countries,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> <i>the right
-to settle in and over any part of them</i>, and the right freely to trade
-with the inhabitants and occupiers of the same. It is fully <i>admitted</i>
-that the <i>United States possess the same rights</i>. But beyond these
-rights, they possess none. To the interests and establishments which
-British industry and enterprise have created Great Britain owes
-protection. <i>That protection will be given</i>, both as regards settlement
-and freedom of trade and navigation, with every attention not to
-infringe the co-ordinate rights of the United States."</p>
-
-<p>Thus, the United States declare that they give notice of the abrogation
-of the convention, with the avowed determination of asserting their
-assumed right of absolute and <i>exclusive sovereignty</i> over the whole
-territory of Oregon. And Great Britain has explicitly declared that her
-pretensions were, <i>in resistance</i> to the <i>exclusive</i> character of those
-of the United States; and that protection will be given both as regards
-settlement and freedom of trade and navigation to the interests and
-establishments which British industry and enterprise have created.</p>
-
-<p>How war can be avoided, if both Powers persist in their conflicting
-determinations, is incomprehensible. Under such circumstances
-negotiation is morally impossible during the year following the notice.
-To give that notice, with the avowed determination to assume exclusive
-sovereignty at the end of the year, is a decisive, most probably an
-irretrievable, step. "After that period the United States cannot abandon
-their right of sovereignty without a sacrifice of national honor."</p>
-
-<p>The question of sovereignty has never been decided. Simply to give
-notice of the abrogation of the convention, would leave the question in
-the same situation: it would remain in abeyance. But when the President
-has recommended that the notice should be given with the avowed object
-of assuming exclusive sovereignty, an Act of Congress, in compliance
-with his recommendation, necessarily implies an approbation of the
-object for which it is given. If the notice should be given, the only
-way to avoid that implication and its fatal consequences, is to insert
-in it, an explicit declaration, that the sovereignty shall not be
-assumed. But then why give the notice at all? A postponement is far
-preferable, unless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> some other advantage shall be obtained by the
-abrogation of the convention. This must be examined, and it is necessary
-to inquire whether any and what measures may be adopted, without any
-violation of the convention, that will preserve the rights and
-strengthen the position of the United States.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>NUMBER IV.</h2>
-
-<p>The acts which the government of the United States may do, in conformity
-with the convention, embrace two objects: the measures applicable to the
-territory within their acknowledged limits which may facilitate and
-promote migration; and those which are necessary for the protection of
-their citizens residing in the Oregon territory.</p>
-
-<p>It is a remarkable fact that, although the convention has now been in
-force twenty-seven years, Congress has actually done nothing with
-respect to either of those objects. Enterprising individuals have,
-without any aid or encouragement by Government, opened a wagon-road
-eighteen hundred miles in length, through an arid or mountainous region,
-and made settlements on or near the shores of the Pacific, without any
-guaranty for the possession of the land improved by their labors. Even
-the attempt to carry on an inland trade with the Indians of Oregon has
-been defeated, by the refusal to allow a drawback of the high duties
-imposed on the importation of foreign goods absolutely necessary for
-that commerce. Thus the fur trade has remained engrossed by the Hudson
-Bay Company; missionaries were, till very lately, almost the only
-citizens of the United States to be found in Oregon; the United States,
-during the whole of that period, have derived no other advantage from
-the convention than the reservation of their rights, and the express
-provision that these should in no way be affected by the continuance of
-the British factories in the territory. And, now that the tide of
-migration has turned in their favor, they are suddenly invited to assume
-a hostile position, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> endure the calamities and to run the chances and
-consequences of war, in order to gain an object which natural and
-irresistible causes, if permitted to operate, cannot fail ultimately to
-attain.</p>
-
-<p>The measures applicable to the territory within the acknowledged limits
-of the U. States have generally been recommended by the President. A
-very moderate appropriation will be sufficient to improve the most
-difficult portions of the road: and block-houses or other temporary
-works, erected in proper places and at convenient distances, and
-garrisoned by a portion of the intended additional force, will protect
-and facilitate the progress of the emigrants. However uninviting may be
-the vast extent of prairies, destitute of timber, which intervene
-between the western boundary of the State of Missouri and the country
-bordering on the Stony Mountains, it seems impossible that there should
-not be found some more favored spots where settlements may be formed. If
-these were selected for military posts, and donations of land were made
-to actual settlers in their vicinity, a series of villages, though
-probably not a continuity of settlements, would soon arise through the
-whole length of the road. The most important place, that which is most
-wanted, either as a place of rest for the emigrants, or for military
-purposes, is one in the immediate vicinity of the Stony Mountains.
-Reports speak favorably of the fertility of the soil in some of the
-valleys of the upper waters, within our limits&mdash;of Bear's river, of the
-Rio Colorado, and of some of the northern branches of the river Platte.
-There, also, the seat of justice might be placed of the new territory,
-whose courts should have superior jurisdiction over Oregon.</p>
-
-<p>The measures which the United States have a right to carry into effect
-within the territory of Oregon must now be considered.</p>
-
-<p>The only positive condition of the convention is, that the territory in
-question shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the
-navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open to vessels,
-citizens, and subjects of the two Powers.</p>
-
-<p>For the construction put on this article by Great Britain, it is
-necessary to recur again to the statement of her claim, as given by
-herself, and to her own acts subsequent to the convention.</p>
-
-<p>The acts of England, subsequent to the convention of 1818, are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> to be
-found in the various charters of the Hudson Bay Company (observing that
-some of their most important provisions, though of a much earlier date,
-stand unrepealed), and in the act of Parliament of the year 1821, which
-confirms and extends a prior one of the year 1803. It must also be
-recollected that, by grants or acts subsequent to the convention, the
-ancient Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company of Montreal have
-been united together, preserving the name of Hudson Bay Company.</p>
-
-<p>This Company was and remains a body corporate and politic, with
-provisions for the election of a Governor and other officers, who direct
-its business; and amongst other powers, the Company is empowered to
-build fortifications for the defence of its possessions, as well as to
-make war or peace with all nations or people, not Christian, inhabiting
-their territories, which now embrace the entire Oregon. By the act of
-Parliament of 1821, the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada is
-extended, in all civil and criminal cases, to the Oregon territory;
-provision is made for the appointment of justices of the peace within
-the said territory, with a limited jurisdiction, and power to act as
-Commissioners in certain cases, and to convey offenders to Upper Canada.</p>
-
-<p>It must also be observed that, although the Company is forbidden to
-claim any exclusive trade with the Indians, to the prejudice or
-exclusion of any citizen of the United States who may be engaged in the
-same trade, yet the jurisdiction above mentioned is, by the letter of
-the act, extended to any persons whatsoever residing or being within the
-said territory. The British Plenipotentiaries did, however, explicitly
-declare, in the course of the negotiations of 1826-1827, that the act
-had no other object but the maintenance of order amongst British
-subjects, and had never been intended to apply to citizens of the United
-States.</p>
-
-<p>It is perfectly clear that, since it has been fully admitted that the
-United States possess the same rights over the territory as Great
-Britain, they are fully authorized, under the convention, to enjoy all
-the rights which Great Britain claims for herself, and to exercise that
-jurisdiction which she has assumed as being consistent with the
-convention.</p>
-
-<p>The citizens of the United States have, therefore, at this time a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> full
-and acknowledged right to navigate the waters of the Oregon territory,
-<i>to settle in and over any part of it</i>, and freely to trade with the
-inhabitants and occupiers of the same. And the Government of the United
-States is likewise fully authorized to incorporate any company or
-association of men for the purpose of trading or of occupying and
-settling the country; to extend the jurisdiction of the courts of any of
-its territories lying within its acknowledged limits, in all civil and
-criminal cases, to the territory aforesaid; to appoint within the same
-justices of the peace and such other officers as may be necessary for
-carrying the jurisdiction into effect; and also to make war and peace
-with the Indian inhabitants of the territory, including the incidental
-power to appoint agents for that purpose.</p>
-
-<p>On the other hand, it seems to be understood that, so long as the
-convention remains in force, neither Government shall lay duties in the
-Territory on tonnage, merchandise, or commerce; nor exercise exclusive
-jurisdiction over any portion of it; and that the citizens and subjects
-of the two Powers, residing in or removing to the territory, shall be
-amenable only to the jurisdiction of their own country respectively.</p>
-
-<p>It has been contended by the British Government that the establishment
-of any military post, or the introduction of any regular force under a
-national flag, by either Power, would be an act of exclusive
-sovereignty, which could not be permitted to either whilst the
-sovereignty remained in abeyance. Under existing circumstances, it is
-believed that such an act would be highly dangerous, and prove
-unfavorable to the United States.</p>
-
-<p>But the establishment by the United States of a Territorial Government
-over Oregon is also objected to on the same principle. The want of such
-government appears to be the only serious inconvenience attending a
-continuance of the convention, and requires special consideration.</p>
-
-<p>The United States have the same right as Great Britain, and are equally
-bound, to protect their citizens residing in the Oregon territory, in
-the exercise of all the rights secured to them by the convention. It has
-been fully admitted that these rights embrace the right to settle in and
-over any part of the territory, and that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> are to be, in all cases
-whatever, amenable only to the jurisdiction of their own country. The
-subjects of Great Britain, who are not in the employ of the Hudson Bay
-Company, are forbidden to trade with the natives; and the company does
-in fact control and govern all the British subjects residing in the
-territory. This gives a strong guaranty against the violation, by rash
-individuals, of the rights of the citizens of the United States. Should
-any of them, however, be disturbed in the exercise of their legitimate
-rights, and the company should be unable or unwilling to relieve and
-indemnify them, the United States would be justly entitled to appeal to
-the British Government for the redress of a violation of rights secured
-by the convention; for the British Government has preserved a control
-over the Hudson Bay Company, and does in fact, through it, govern the
-British subjects who reside in the territory.</p>
-
-<p>The United States are placed, in that respect, in a very different
-situation. It is not believed that the General Government is authorized
-to incorporate, as a political body, a commercial company, with such
-powers as would give it an efficient control over the private citizens
-residing in the territory. Such delegation of powers, either by any of
-the States or by Congress, is wholly inconsistent with our institutions.
-The United States may indeed give to their citizens in Oregon a regular
-and complete judiciary system; and they may also extend to them, as the
-British Government has done on its part, the laws of an adjacent
-territory. But an executive local power is wanted in this case, as it is
-everywhere else, under any form of government whatever, to cause the
-laws to be executed, and to have that general control which is now
-exercised, through the Hudson Bay Company, by the British Government.
-There are, besides, various acts of a public though local nature, such
-as opening roads, making bridges, erecting block-houses for protection
-against the natives, providing for the destitute, &amp;c., all which are
-performed by the Hudson Bay Company, and cannot be accomplished by
-insulated individuals, bound by no legal association or government.</p>
-
-<p>Whether any measures may be devised, other than a territorial
-government, that will be sufficient for the purpose intended;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> whether
-all the American citizens residing in Oregon might not be incorporated
-and made a body politic, with powers equivalent to those vested in the
-Hudson Bay Company, and with the reservation by the General Government
-of a check or control analogous to that reserved by the Government of
-Great Britain, are questions worthy of serious consideration. But Great
-Britain has the same interest as the United States to prevent collision
-during the continuance of the convention; and it is believed that, if
-negotiations should be renewed, with an equal and sincere desire on both
-sides to preserve friendly relations, there would be no difficulty at
-this time in coming to an understanding on the subject. It would seem
-sufficient that this should be accompanied with provisions, preventing
-the possibility of the powers exercised by the United States being ever
-applied to British subjects, and with an explicit declaration that these
-powers should never be construed as an admission by Great Britain of any
-claim of the United States to exclusive sovereignty.</p>
-
-<p>There is another important subject which has not, it is believed, ever
-been discussed by the two Powers. This is the claim to the ownership of
-the places settled and improved under the convention. It seems to me
-that, on the principles of both natural and international law, these
-rights, to a defined extent, should be respected by each Power
-respectively, whose sovereignty over the portion of the territory in
-which such improved settlements may be situated will ultimately be
-recognized. It appears also that the United States may, in conformity
-with the convention, and without affecting in any shape the claims
-advanced by Great Britain, pass a law declaring that they abandon or
-grant without warranty, to such of their citizens as shall have made
-actual and bon&acirc; fide settlements in any part of Oregon, under the
-convention, all the rights of and claims to the ownership of the soil,
-on which such settlements shall have been made, which the United States
-may now or hereafter claim or acquire: limiting and defining the extent
-of the grant in the same manner as would be done if such grant was
-absolute; and promising that the title should be confirmed, in case and
-whenever the sovereignty of the United States was recognized or asserted
-and maintained.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>The prolongation, in 1827, of the convention of 1818, was evidently
-intended as a temporary measure, since it was made revocable at the will
-of either party. The plenipotentiaries of the two Powers had been unable
-to agree on the terms of a definitive arrangement, or even in defining
-with precision the conditions on which the convention of 1818 might be
-continued for a determinate period. It will be seen, by reference to the
-protocols and correspondence, that, although it was generally admitted
-that neither party ought during such continuance to exercise any
-exclusive sovereignty over the territory, the American Plenipotentiary
-declined to agree to any convention containing an express provision to
-that effect, or accompanied by the insertion in the protocol of a
-declaration for the same purpose by the British Plenipotentiaries. The
-reason was not only because an exclusive right over Astoria and its
-dependencies was claimed by the United States, but principally because
-it was anticipated that, in order to have in fact an authority equal to
-that exercised by the Hudson Bay Company, it would become necessary for
-the United States to perform acts which the British Government might
-contend to be forbidden by such express provision or declaration. The
-consequence was, that the convention recognizes some certain rights, and
-imposes no positive restrictions but only such, as may be supposed to be
-implied in the clause which declares, that nothing contained in it
-should be construed to impair or affect the claims of either party. The
-probability that it might become necessary for the United States to
-establish a territory or some sort of government over their own citizens
-was explicitly avowed; the deficiencies of the renewed convention of
-1827, and the inconveniences which might ensue, were fully understood;
-and the continuance of that of 1818, made revokable at will, was agreed
-on, with the hope that the two Powers would embrace an early
-opportunity, if not to make a definitive arrangement, at least to
-substitute for the convention another, defining with precision the acts
-which both parties should be allowed or forbidden to perform so long as
-the sovereignty remained in abeyance.</p>
-
-<p>The inconveniences alluded to have been fairly stated in this paper, and
-some of the means by which they may be avoided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> have been suggested. It
-is not, therefore, on account of the intrinsic value of the convention
-that its abrogation is objectionable and dangerous. It is because
-nothing is substituted in its place; it is because, if the two Powers
-are not yet prepared to make a definitive agreement, it becomes the duty
-of both Governments, instead of breaking the only barrier which still
-preserves peace, to substitute for the existing convention one adapted
-to the present state of things, and which shall prevent collisions until
-the question of sovereignty shall have been settled. The inconveniences
-which were only anticipated have become tangible, from the time when
-American citizens, whom the United States are bound to protect, began to
-make settlements in the territory of Oregon. The sudden transition, from
-an agreement however defective to a promiscuous occupancy, without any
-provisions whatever that may prevent collisions, is highly dangerous.
-When this is accompanied by an avowed determination on the part of the
-United States to assume that exclusive sovereignty which Great Britain
-has positively declared she would resist, War becomes inevitable.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>NUMBER V.</h2>
-
-<p>It may not be possible to calculate, with any degree of certainty, the
-number of citizens of the United States who, aided by these various
-measures, will, within any given period, remove to the territory beyond
-the Stony Mountains. It is certain that this number will annually
-increase, and keep pace with the rapid increase of the population of the
-Western States. It cannot be doubted that ultimately, and at no very
-distant time, they will have possession of all that is worth being
-occupied in the territory. On what principle, then, will the right of
-sovereignty be decided?</p>
-
-<p>It may, however, be asked whether, if this be the inevitable consequence
-of the continuance of the convention, England will not herself give
-notice that it shall be abrogated. It might be sufficient to answer that
-we must wait till that notice shall have been given, and the subsequent
-measures which England means to adopt shall have been made known to us,
-before we assume rashly a hostile position. The United States may govern
-themselves; although they may irritate Great Britain, they cannot
-control the acts of her Government. The British Government will do
-whatever it may think proper; but for the consequences that may ensue it
-will be alone responsible. Should the abrogation of the convention on
-her part be followed by aggressive measures; should she assume exclusive
-possession over Oregon or any part of it, as it is now proposed that the
-United States should do, America will then be placed in a defensive
-position; the war, if any should ensue, will be one unprovoked by her, a
-war purely of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> defence, which will be not only sustained, but approved
-by the unanimous voice of the nation. We may, however, be permitted to
-examine what motive could impel England, what interest she might have,
-either in annulling the convention or in adopting aggressive measures.</p>
-
-<p>When it is recommended that the United States should give notice of the
-abrogation of the convention, it is with the avowed object of adopting
-measures forbidden by the convention, and which Great Britain has
-uniformly declared she would resist. But, according to the view of the
-subject uniformly taken by her, from the first time she asserted the
-rights she claims to this day, the simple abrogation of her convention
-with the United States will produce no effect whatever on the rights,
-relations, and position of the two Powers. Great Britain, from the date
-at least of Cook's third voyage, and prior to the Nootka convention, did
-deny the exclusive claim of Spain, and assert that her subjects had, in
-common with those of other States, the right freely to trade with the
-natives, and to settle in any part of the Northwestern coast of America,
-not already occupied by the subjects of Spain. The Nootka convention was
-nothing more than the acquiescence, on the part of Spain, in the claims
-thus asserted by Great Britain, leaving the sovereignty in abeyance. And
-the convention between the United States and Great Britain is nothing
-more nor less than a temporary recognition of the same principle, so far
-as the two parties were concerned. England had, prior to that
-convention, fully admitted that the United States possessed the same
-rights as were claimed by her. The abrogation of the convention by her
-will leave those rights precisely in the same situation as they now
-stand, and as they stood prior to the convention. It cannot therefore be
-perceived what possible benefit could accrue to Great Britain from her
-abrogation of that instrument; unless, discarding all her former
-declarations, denying all that she has asserted for more than sixty
-years, retracting her admission of the equal rights of the United States
-to trade, to occupy, and to make settlements in any part of the country,
-she should, without cause or pretext, assume, as is now threatened on
-the part of the United States, exclusive sovereignty over the whole or
-part of the territory. It may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> be permitted to believe that the British
-Government entertains no such intention.</p>
-
-<p>It may also be observed that England has heretofore evinced no
-disposition whatever to colonize the territory in question. She has,
-indeed, declared most explicitly her determination to protect the
-British interests that had been created by British enterprise and
-capital in that quarter. But, by giving a monopoly of the fur trade to
-the Hudson Bay Company, she has virtually arrested private efforts on
-the part of British subjects. Her Government has been in every other
-respect altogether inactive, and apparently careless about the ultimate
-fate of Oregon. The country has been open to her enterprise at least
-fifty years; and there are no other British settlements or interests
-within its limits than those vested in, or connected with the Hudson Bay
-Company. Whether the British Government will hereafter make any effort
-towards that object cannot be known; but as long as this right to
-colonize Oregon shall remain common to both Powers, the United States
-have nothing to apprehend from the competition.</p>
-
-<p>The negotiations on that subject between the two Governments have been
-carried on, on both sides, with perfect candor. The views and intentions
-of both parties were mutually communicated without reserve. The
-conviction on the part of America that the country must ultimately be
-occupied and settled by her agricultural emigrants, was used as an
-argument why, in case of a division of the territory, the greater share
-should be allotted to the United States. The following quotation, from
-the American statement of the case of December, 1826, proves that this
-expectation was fairly avowed at the time:</p>
-
-<blockquote><p>"If the present state of occupancy is urged on the part of Great
-Britain, the probability of the manner in which the territory west
-of the Rocky Mountains must be settled belongs also essentially to
-the subject. Under whatever nominal sovereignty that country may be
-placed, and whatever its ultimate destinies may be, it is nearly
-reduced to a certainty that it will be almost exclusively peopled
-by the surplus population of the United States. The distance from
-Great Britain, and the expense incident to emigration, forbid the
-expectation of any being practicable from that quarter but on a
-comparatively small scale. Allowing the rate of increase to be the
-same in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> the United States and in the North American British
-possessions, the difference in the actual population of both is
-such that the progressive rate which would, within forty years, add
-three millions to these, would within the same time give a positive
-increase of more than twenty millions to the United States. And if
-circumstances, arising from localities and habits, have given
-superior facilities to British subjects of extending their commerce
-with the natives, and to that expansion which has the appearance,
-and the appearance only, of occupancy, the slower but sure progress
-and extension of an agricultural population will be regulated by
-distance, by natural obstacles, and by its own amount."</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>There was no exaggeration in that comparative view; the superiority of
-the progressive increase of population in the United States was, on the
-contrary, underrated. The essential difference is, that migration from
-the United States to Oregon is the result of purely natural causes,
-whilst England, in order to colonize that country, must resort to
-artificial means. The number of American emigrants may not, during the
-first next ensuing years, be as great as seems to be anticipated. It
-will at first be limited by the amount of provisions with which the
-earlier settlers can supply them during the first year, and till they
-can raise a crop themselves; and the rapidity with which a new country
-may be settled is also lessened where maize cannot be profitably
-cultivated.</p>
-
-<p>Whether more or less prompt, the result is nevertheless indubitable. The
-snowball sooner or later becomes an avalanche: where the cultivator of
-the soil has once made a permanent establishment game and hunters
-disappear; within a few years the fur trade will have died its natural
-death, and no vestige shall remain, at least south of Fuca's Straits, of
-that temporary occupancy, of those vested British interests, which the
-British Government is now bound to protect. When the whole territory
-shall have thus fallen in the possession of an agricultural industrious
-population, the question recurs, by what principle will then the right
-of sovereignty, all along kept in abeyance, be determined?</p>
-
-<p>The answer is obvious. In conformity with natural law, with that right
-of occupancy for which Great Britain has always contended, the occupiers
-of the land, the inhabitants of the country, from whatever quarter they
-may have come, will be of right as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> well as in fact the sole legitimate
-sovereigns of Oregon. Whenever sufficiently numerous, they will decide
-whether it suits them best to be an independent nation or an integral
-part of our great Republic. There cannot be the slightest apprehension
-that they will choose to become a dependent colony; for they will be the
-most powerful nation bordering on the American shores of the Pacific,
-and will not stand in need of protection against either their Russian or
-Mexican neighbors. Viewed as an abstract proposition, Mr. Jefferson's
-opinion appears correct, that it will be best for both the Atlantic and
-the Pacific American nations, whilst entertaining the most friendly
-relations, to remain independent rather than to be united under the same
-Government. But this conclusion is premature; and the decision must be
-left to posterity.</p>
-
-<p>It has been attempted in these papers to prove&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>1. That neither of the two Powers has an absolute and indisputable right
-to the whole contested territory; that each may recede from its extreme
-pretensions without impairing national honor or wounding national pride;
-and that the way is therefore still open for a renewal of negotiations.</p>
-
-<p>2. That the avowed object of the United States, in giving notice of the
-abrogation of the convention, is the determination to assert and
-maintain their assumed right of absolute and exclusive sovereignty over
-the whole territory; that Great Britain is fully committed on that
-point, and has constantly and explicitly declared that such an attempt
-would be resisted, and the British interests in that quarter be
-protected; and that war is therefore the unavoidable consequence of such
-a decisive step&mdash;a war not only necessarily calamitous and expensive,
-but in its character aggressive, not justifiable by the magnitude and
-importance of its object, and of which the chances are uncertain.</p>
-
-<p>3. That the inconveniences of the present state of things may in a great
-degree be avoided; that, if no war should ensue, they will be the same,
-if not greater, without than under a convention; that not a single
-object can be gained by giving the notice at this time, unless it be to
-do something not permitted by the present convention, and therefore
-provoking resistance and productive of war. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> a single other advantage
-can be gained by giving the notice, let it be stated.</p>
-
-<p>4th. That it has been fully admitted by Great Britain that, whether
-under or without a convention, the United States have the same rights as
-herself, to trade, to navigate, and to occupy and make settlements in
-and over every part of the territory; and that, if this state of things
-be not disturbed, natural causes must necessarily give the whole
-territory to the United States.</p>
-
-<p>Under these circumstances, it is only asked, that the subject may be
-postponed for the present; that Government should not commit itself by
-any premature act or declaration; that, instead of increasing the
-irritation and excitement which exist on both sides, time be given for
-mutual reflection, and for the subdual or subsidence of angry and
-violent feelings. Then, and then only, can the deliberate opinion of the
-American people on this momentous question be truly ascertained. It is
-not perceived how the postponement for the present and for a time can,
-in any shape or in the slightest degree, injure the United States.</p>
-
-<p>It is certainly true that England is very powerful, and has often abused
-her power, in no case in a more outrageous manner than by the
-impressment of seamen, whether American, English, or other foreigners,
-sailing under and protected by the American flag. I am not aware that
-there has ever been any powerful nation, even in modern times, and
-professing Christianity, which has not occasionally abused its power.
-The United States, who always appealed to justice during their early
-youth, seem, as their strength and power increase, to give symptoms of a
-similar disposition. Instead of useless and dangerous recriminations,
-might not the two nations, by their united efforts, promote a great
-object, and worthy of their elevated situation?</p>
-
-<p>With the single exception of the territory of Oregon, which extends from
-42 to 54&deg; 40&acute; north latitude, all the American shores of the Pacific
-Ocean, from Cape Horn to Behring's Straits, are occupied, on the north
-by the factories of the Russian Fur Company, southwardly by
-semi-civilized States, a mixture of Europeans of Spanish descent and of
-native Indians, who, notwithstanding the efforts of enlightened,
-intelligent, and liberal men, have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> heretofore failed in the attempt to
-establish governments founded on law, that might ensure liberty,
-preserve order, and protect persons and property. It is in Oregon alone
-that we may hope to see a portion of the western shores of America
-occupied and inhabited by an active and enlightened nation, which may
-exercise a moral influence over her less favored neighbors, and extend
-to them the benefits of a more advanced civilisation. It is on that
-account that the wish has been expressed that the Oregon territory may
-not be divided. The United States and England are the only Powers who
-lay any claim to that country, the only nations which may and must
-inhabit it. It is not, fortunately, in the power of either Government to
-prevent this taking place; but it depends upon them, whether they shall
-unite in promoting the object, or whether they shall bring on both
-countries the calamities of an useless war, which may retard but not
-prevent the ultimate result. It matters but little whether the
-inhabitants shall come from England or from the United States. It would
-seem that more importance might be attached to the fact that, within a
-period of fifteen years, near one million of souls are now added to the
-population of the United States by migrations from the dominions of
-Great Britain; yet, since permitted by both Powers, they may be presumed
-to be beneficial to both. The emigrants to Oregon, whether Americans or
-English, will be united together by the community of language and
-literature, of the principles of law, and of all the fundamental
-elements of a similar civilisation.</p>
-
-<p>The establishment of a kindred and friendly Power on the North-west
-Coast of America is all that England can expect, all perhaps that the
-United States ought to desire. It seems almost incredible that, whilst
-that object may be attained by simply not impeding the effect of natural
-causes, two kindred nations, having such powerful motives to remain at
-peace, and standing at the head of European and American civilisation,
-should, in this enlightened age, give to the world the scandalous
-spectacle, perhaps not unwelcome to some of the beholders, of an
-unnatural and an unnecessary war; that they should apply all their
-faculties and exhaust their resources in inflicting, each on the other,
-every injury in their power, and for what purpose? The certain
-consequence, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>independent of all the direct calamities and miseries of
-war, will be a mutual increase of debt and taxation, and the ultimate
-fate of Oregon will be the same as if the war had not taken place.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2>APPENDIX.</h2>
-
-<p class="bold">WAR EXPENSES.</p>
-
-<p>Those expenses may be arranged under three heads: 1st. Such as are of a
-permanent nature, and should be considered as belonging to the Peace
-establishment of the country. 2dly. Those which should be adopted when
-there is an impending danger of war. 3dly. Those which actual war
-renders necessary.</p>
-
-<p>To the first class belong all those, which provide for objects that
-require considerable time to be executed, and cannot, without great
-difficulty, be accomplished pending a war. Such are fortifications,
-building ships of war including steamers, accumulating materials for the
-same purpose, Navy Yards, providing a sufficient artillery, and other
-important objects of the ordnance department. It may be taken for
-granted, that Government has done, or will do all that is necessary and
-practicable in that respect.</p>
-
-<p>The preparatory measures which should be adopted, when there is danger
-of war, are those respecting which the greatest variety of opinions must
-be expected. It has been repeatedly asserted, that such is the structure
-of our Government, that it never will or can prepare for war, till after
-it has actually commenced; that is to say, that, because Congress was
-dilatory in making effectual provision for carrying on the last war
-against Great Britain, and because the Administration, at the time when
-it was declared, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> inefficient and not well calculated for conducting
-it, the United States are bound for ever to incur, at the commencement
-of every war, the disasters of one or two years, before they can be
-induced to put on their armor. The past is irrevocable and of no other
-use, than as far as it may teach us to avoid the faults that were
-formerly committed. When our Government relies on the people for being
-sustained in making war, its confidence must be entire. They must be
-told the whole truth; and if they are really in favor of war, they will
-cheerfully sustain Government in all the measures necessary to carry it
-into effect. The frank annunciation of the necessity of such measures is
-called, "creating a panic." It is not the first time that under similar
-circumstances the same language has been held. If there be no danger or
-intention of making war, those create a panic, who proclaim a
-determination to assert the exclusive sovereignty of the United States
-over the whole contested territory, with the full knowledge that Great
-Britain has uniformly and explicitly declared, that she would resist any
-such attempt. If instead of telling the people the whole truth, the
-attempt to conceal from them the necessity of the measures requisite for
-carrying on the war should be successful, a reaction in the public
-sentiment will most certainly take place, whenever it will have become
-impossible to delay any longer the heavy burden of taxation, for which
-the Nation had not been prepared.</p>
-
-<p>I will not dwell on the necessary preparations of a military character,
-otherwise than by referring to some notorious facts.</p>
-
-<p>The primary causes of the disastrous results of the campaign of 1812,
-were the want of a naval force on the Lakes, and that of a sufficient
-regular force. Government had obtained a correct statement of the
-regular force of the British in Canada, with the exception of the
-garrison of Quebec. This last was estimated at about three thousand men,
-and could not be lessened without great inconvenience and some danger.
-The regular force at Montreal, St. John's, and Three Rivers, amounted to
-1130 men; that in the whole of Upper Canada, to 720. The act to raise an
-additional military force of 25,000 men was passed on the 11th of
-January, 1812. The selection of the officers was not completed before
-the termination of that year; the recruiting service was not organized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
-in time; the enlistments for the regular army fell short of the most
-moderate calculation; and the total number recruited was so small, as to
-render it impossible to strike a decisive blow on any one of the most
-important points from Montreal upwards, insignificant as was the force
-by which they were defended. The volunteer act was also extremely
-unproductive. At that time the treasury was amply supplied; and the want
-was not that of money, but of a regular force.</p>
-
-<p>Such force cannot be raised without money; and yet it will be admitted
-that it would be extremely difficult to induce Congress to lay internal
-taxes or duties before war was declared or certain. In order to provide
-means for having an additional regular force ready to act as soon as
-actual war takes place, a loan and Treasury notes must be resorted to.
-But it is deemed absolutely necessary, that the internal taxes should be
-imposed simultaneously with the declaration of war, and that provision
-should be made for their immediate collection. With the exception of the
-act for doubling the duties on importations, Congress did not pass any
-law for imposing any new taxes or duties, till more than one year after
-the declaration of the last war; nor did it even lay a second direct tax
-in the year 1814. It was not till after public credit was ruined, after
-Treasury notes which were had due remained unpaid, and after Mr. Dallas
-had been placed at the head of the Treasury, that at last the laws for
-imposing a double direct tax, for increasing the rate of the existing
-internal duties, and for laying new ones, were enacted. The peace was
-ratified immediately after; and in point of fact, no more than 3,877,000
-dollars were paid in the Treasury before the end of the war, on account
-of the direct tax and all other internal taxes or duties. There were
-received from the same sources 20,654,000 dollars in the years 1815,
-1816 and 1817.</p>
-
-<p>The preparatory measures necessary, in order to insure an immediate
-collection of internal taxes, whenever the laws imposing such taxes
-shall have been passed, are those on which I may speak with confidence.
-These consist simply in a previous organization of the machinery
-necessary for the collection of every species of internal taxes, and the
-assessment of a direct tax.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> The proper selection of the numerous
-officers necessary for the collection always consumes several months. A
-previous selection and appointment of those officers would obviate that
-difficulty, and would cost nothing, as though appointed they should
-receive no pay till called into actual service; this would be the
-natural consequence of the manner in which collectors are paid, this
-being a per centage on the money collected. The only other necessary
-measure in that respect, is that the Secretary of the Treasury should,
-at the time of their appointment, supply the collectors with all the
-necessary forms of keeping and rendering their accounts.</p>
-
-<p>The assessment in each State of the taxable property of every individual
-who possesses such property, is the only operation which requires
-considerable time and causes a proportionate delay. This cannot be
-otherwise obviated than by making that assessment a preparatory measure,
-to be completed before actual war takes place.</p>
-
-<p>In order to facilitate and hasten the process of assessment, I
-undertook, in the year 1812, to apportion the direct tax on the several
-Counties and State Districts in each State; and the Act of 2d August,
-1813, which laid a direct tax of three millions of dollars, was passed
-in conformity with that apportionment The process was easy for every
-State in which there was a direct State tax; but though derived from the
-best data that could be collected, it was defective and partly arbitrary
-for the States in which there was no State tax. As there is at present
-hardly any (if any) State which has not laid a direct State tax, this
-mode may be adopted for the proposed preparatory assessment. This will
-reduce the duty of the assessors to the assessment of the quota of each
-County or District, on the several individuals liable to the tax, and
-the total expense of the assessment to a sum not exceeding probably two
-hundred thousand dollars. A more regular and correct assessment will, of
-course, be provided for, with respect to the direct taxes which may be
-laid after the first year of the war.</p>
-
-<p>The only objection is that of the expense, which would prove useless if
-the tax should not be laid, or in other words, if war should not take
-place; but certainly this is too small an item to deserve consideration.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>This organization, easy and cheap as it is, is all that is necessary in
-order to secure an immediate collection of a direct and other internal
-taxes and duties, from the moment when they shall have been imposed by
-Congress.</p>
-
-<p>The probable annual expenses which must be incurred in a war with
-England, and the resources for defraying them, are the next objects of
-inquiry.</p>
-
-<p>It is extremely difficult to draw any correct inference from the
-expenses of the last war with England: the amount of the arrearages due
-on account of the military services at the time when the peace was
-ratified, is not stated with precision in any of the public documents
-which I have seen. Although the laws show the number of men voted, that
-of those actually raised has never to my knowledge been officially
-stated. There can be no doubt that the want of a proper organization
-increased the amount of expenditure much beyond that which would have
-been sufficient under a regular and efficient system. This has
-undoubtedly been much improved; yet the expenses incurred in the
-Seminole war, compared with the number of men employed and that of the
-hostile Indians, show that either there are still some defects in the
-organization, or that there were great abuses in the execution.</p>
-
-<p>The payments from the Treasury for the military department, embracing
-only those for the army proper, militia and volunteers, and exclusive of
-those for fortifications and the Indian department, amounted for the
-year 1813 to 18,936,000 dollars, and for the year 1814 to 20,508,000
-dollars. The disbursements for the navy are stated at 6,446,000 and
-7,311,000 dollars for these two years respectively. By comparing the
-reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury of December 1815, 1816, 1817,
-it would appear that the arrearages due on 1st January, 1815, exceeded
-ten millions of dollars: and it seems certain that the actual war
-expenses of 1814 could not have fallen short of 35 to 40 millions of
-dollars. It has been asserted that the regular force during that year
-amounted to 35,000 men.</p>
-
-<p>The population of the United States has nearly trebled during the
-thirty-four years which have elapsed since that in which the last war
-against England was declared. Their wealth and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> resources have increased
-in the same ratio; and that, in case of war, these should be brought
-into action as promptly as possible, admits of no doubt. Once engaged in
-the conflict, to make the war as efficient as possible will shorten its
-duration, and can alone secure honorable terms of peace. I have not the
-documents necessary for making an approximate estimate of the annual
-expenses of a war with Great Britain; and if I had, I could not at this
-time perform that amount of labor which is absolutely necessary in order
-to draw correct inferences. Taking only a general view of the subject,
-and considering the great difference of expense in keeping a navy in
-active service, between one of eight frigates and one of ten ships of
-the line, fourteen frigates and a competent number of steamers; that
-Texas and Oregon are additional objects of defence; that the extensive
-system of fortifications which has been adopted will require about
-fifteen thousand additional men; and that, in order to carry a
-successful and decisive war against the most vulnerable portion of the
-British dominions, a great disposable regular force is absolutely
-necessary; I am very sure that I fall below the mark in saying that,
-after the first year of the war, and when the resources of the country
-shall be fully brought into action, the annual military and naval
-expenses will amount to sixty or seventy millions of dollars. To this
-must be added the expenses for all other objects, which, for the year
-ending on the 30th of June, 1845, amounted to near fifteen millions, but
-which the Secretary of the Treasury hopes may be reduced to eleven
-millions and a half. The gross annual expenses for all objects will be
-estimated at seventy-seven millions; to be increased annually by the
-annual interest on each successive loan.</p>
-
-<p>In order to ascertain the amount of new revenue and loans required to
-defray that expense, the first question which arises, is the diminution
-of the revenue derived from customs, which will be the necessary
-consequence of the war.</p>
-
-<p>The actual receipts into the Treasury, arising from that source of
-revenue, were in round numbers for the years 1812, 1813, 1814,
-respectively 8,960,000, 13,225,000, and 6,000,000 of dollars; and the
-nett revenue which accrued during those three years <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>respectively
-amounted to 13,142,000, 6,708,000, and 4,250,000 dollars. From the 1st
-of July, 1812, the rate of duties on importations was doubled; and in
-order to compare these receipts with those collected in peace time, they
-must be reduced for those three years respectively, to 7,470,000,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>
-6,600,000 and 3,000,000; or, if the revenue accrued be compared (which
-is the correct mode), to 9,850,000,<a name="FNanchor_3a_3a" id="FNanchor_3a_3a"></a><a href="#Footnote_3a_3a" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> 3,354,000, and 2,125,000 dollars.
-At that time the duties accrued were, on account of the credit allowed,
-collected on an average only six or eight months later; and the
-unexpected importations in the latter half of the year 1812 in American
-vessels which arrived with British licenses, subsequent to the
-declaration of war and to the act which doubled the rate of duties,
-swelled considerably the receipts of the year 1813. It was only in 1814
-that the full effect of the war on the revenue derived from that source
-was felt.</p>
-
-<p>The diminution in the amount of American and foreign tonnage employed in
-the foreign trade of the United States is strongly exhibited by the
-following statement:</p>
-
-<table summary="American and foreign tonnage">
-  <tr>
-    <td class="center">Tonnage in foreign trade, U. S.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp; &nbsp;American ves.</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp; &nbsp;Foreign ves.</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp; &nbsp;Total.</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class="center">Year 1811</td>
-    <td class="center">948,207</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;33,203</td>
-    <td class="center">981,450</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;  &nbsp;1812</td>
-    <td class="center">667,999</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;47,099</td>
-    <td class="center">715,098</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;  &nbsp;1813</td>
-    <td class="center">237,348</td>
-    <td class="center">113,827</td>
-    <td class="center">351,175</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;  &nbsp;1814</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;59,626</td>
-    <td class="center">&nbsp;48,302</td>
-    <td class="center">107,928</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>And it must be recollected that during the last nine months of 1814,
-Great Britain was at peace with all the other Powers of Europe, and that
-these were therefore neutrals. Yet they hardly ventured to trade with us.</p>
-
-<p>The amount of receipts into the Treasury derived from customs, as well
-as that of the revenue accrued, exceeded, during the eleven years 1801
-to 1811, 132,700,000 dollars, being an annual average of about
-12,000,000 dollars. During the same eleven years the average amount of
-tonnage employed in the foreign trade of the United States was 943,670
-tons, of which 844,170 were in American, and 99,500 foreign vessels.</p>
-
-<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p><p>Thus in the year 1814, the revenue derived from customs had been
-reduced to one fourth part (to nearly one sixth part, if compared
-according to the revenue accrued, or amount of importations), the
-tonnage employed in the foreign trade of the United States to nearly one
-ninth; and that of the American vessels employed in that trade, to one
-fourteenth part of their respective average amount during the eleven
-years of peace.</p>
-
-<p>The small American navy did during the last war with England all and
-more than could have been expected. The fact was established to the
-satisfaction of the world and of Great Britain herself, that the navy of
-the United States, with a parity of force, was at least equal to that of
-England. But the prodigious numerical superiority of the British navy
-rendered it impossible for a few frigates to protect the commerce of the
-United States, which was accordingly almost annihilated. We have now ten
-ships of the line, and a proportionate number of frigates and smaller
-vessels. The great numerical superiority of the British navy still
-continues; and it cannot be doubted that, in case of war, every exertion
-will be made by the British Government to maintain its superiority in
-our seas and on our coasts. Still it is but a portion of her force that
-can be employed in that way, and, taking every circumstance into
-consideration, it may be confidently hoped that our commerce, though
-much lessened, will be partially protected by our navy. Although the
-actual diminution which will be experienced is altogether conjectural, I
-think that no great error is to be apprehended in estimating the revenue
-from customs, after the first year of the war, at about one half of its
-present amount; and the whole revenue from that source, from the sale of
-lands and all the branches of the existing income, at fourteen millions
-of dollars; leaving to be provided for sixty to sixty-five millions,
-besides the interest on loans, which, for a war of three years, may be
-estimated at about six millions of dollars on an average. However
-energetic and efficient Congress and the Executive may be, the resources
-and strength of the nation can be but gradually brought forth: the
-expenses will therefore be less during the first year, after which the
-whole amount will be required and will be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>annually wanted. In reference
-therefore to the second year of the war&mdash;</p>
-
-<table summary="expenses">
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">Assuming the total war expenses at</td>
-    <td>$65,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">All the others at</td>
-    <td>12,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class="left">In all,</td>
-    <td class="center">$77,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">From which deduct for existing revenue,</td>
-    <td>14,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">To be provided for by taxes and loans,</td>
-    <td>$63,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">On the principle that the amount of annual taxes</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">should be at least equal to the expenses of</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">the peace establishment and the interest on</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">the war loans, annual peace expenses at</td>
-   <td>27,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">And for interest on the loans of 1st and 2d years,</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">viz. 1st year 25, and 2d year 45 millions at</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">7 per cent.</td>
-   <td>5,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td></td>
-    <td></td>
-    <td class="left">Together,</td>
-    <td class="center">$32,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">From which deduct for existing revenue,</td>
-    <td>14,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">Leaves to be provided for by new taxes, at least</td>
-    <td>$18,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">And by loans,</td>
-    <td>45,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3"></td>
-    <td>$63,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>The estimate of 5,000,000 dollars for the interest of the loans the
-second year after the war, is founded on the supposition that the direct
-and other internal taxes or duties laid for the first year, together
-with the existing revenue, and twenty-five millions borrowed by loans or
-Treasury notes, will be sufficient to defray the expense incurred prior
-to and during the first year of the war. The deficiency in the regular
-force for that year must be supplied by large drafts of militia, which
-will be as expensive at least as the regular soldiers whose place they
-will supply.</p>
-
-<p>But it appears very doubtful whether such a large sum as forty-five
-millions can be raised annually by loans and Treasury notes. It is
-necessary in the first place to correct some erroneous opinions
-respecting the extent to which these notes may be kept in circulation,
-and the legitimate objects to which they may be applied.</p>
-
-<p>The Treasury notes were first introduced on my suggestion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> which was no
-new discovery, since they are a mere transcript of the Exchequer Bills
-of Great Britain. As these have been resorted to for more than a
-century, and have never become there a portion of the ordinary currency,
-the extent to which they may be used for other purposes is well
-ascertained, and bears always a certain ratio to the wealth of the
-country and to the revenue of the State. Whether issued to the bank as
-an anticipation of the revenue, or used by capitalists for short
-investments, the gross amount has rarely exceeded twenty millions
-sterling. Judging from past experience, the amount which may, in time of
-war, be kept in circulation at par in the United States falls far short
-of a proportionate sum.</p>
-
-<table summary="Treasury Notes issued">
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">The amount of Treasury Notes issued during</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class="left">the years 1812 and 1813 amounted to</td>
-   <td>$8,930 000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Of which there had been paid including interest&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td>$4,240 000</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>The amount in actual circulation was less than five millions, and thus
-far they had been kept at par.</p>
-
-<p>All the demands from the other departments had been met by the Treasury,
-and there were but few, if any, outstanding arrears. Nothing had as yet
-been collected on account of the direct tax and of the internal duties.
-Besides the five millions of Treasury Notes, there had been paid into
-the Treasury in the years 1812 and 1813, $28,740,000 on account of war
-loans, and $22,283,000 from the customs. The balance in the Treasury
-amounted to $5,196,542 on the 31st December, 1813.</p>
-
-<p>The amount of Treasury Notes issued during the year 1814 amounted to
-near eight millions, and there had been paid off during the same year,
-including interest, $2,700,000; making an addition of about five
-millions and a half, and the total amount outstanding about ten millions
-and a half. The receipts during that year, on account of the direct tax
-and internal duties, amounted to $3,877,000, from war loans to
-$15,080,000, and from customs to only six millions. Before the end of
-the year, Government was unable to pay the notes which had become due.
-It is perfectly clear that, if new notes could not be issued in lieu of
-those which had become due, it was because they had fallen below par,
-and therefore that the amount outstanding was greater than the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> demand
-for them. There was but one remedy, and it was very simple. A reduction
-in that amount must be made, by funding at their market price a quantity
-sufficient to re-establish the equilibrium. But all the banks west of
-New England had in the meanwhile suspended their specie payments. A
-period of anarchy in the currency of the country was the consequence,
-and lasted till those payments were resumed in the year 1817.</p>
-
-<p>The result of the suspension of specie payments in England was, that the
-notes of the Bank of England became in fact a legal tender and the
-standard of the currency. All the other banks were obliged to keep their
-own notes on a par with those of that bank; and all that was necessary
-in order to prevent a depreciation, was to regulate the issues of the
-Bank of England, so as to keep them at par with gold and silver.
-Nevertheless, the clamor for more currency prevailed; the bank found it
-very convenient and profitable to issue notes which it was not obliged
-to pay, and these finally depreciated twenty-five per cent. But in the
-United States the banks were under no other control than that of the
-several States respectively. The consequence was, that we had fifty and
-more species of local currencies, varying in value in the different
-States or districts of country, and from time to time in the same
-district. The banks might with facility have resumed specie payments
-during the first year of peace. The efforts of the Secretary of the
-Treasury to induce them to resume proved unsuccessful; and the
-resumption did not take place till after a new Bank of the United States
-had been organized.</p>
-
-<p>We have had two general suspensions of specie payments, the last at a
-time of profound peace. I was then behind the scenes, had some agency in
-restoring specie payments, and may speak on that subject with knowledge
-and confidence. The obstacles came partly from the Banks, principally
-from the Debtor interest, which excites sympathy and preponderates
-throughout the United States. The mis-named Bank of the United States,
-and the banks under its influence, were, it is true, a formidable
-impediment; and this obstacle is now fortunately removed. Still the
-continuance of specie payments stands, whenever a crisis occurs, on a
-most precarious basis; and if any important place, especially New York,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
-happened to break, all the banks through the United States would
-instantaneously follow the example. This is the most imminent danger to
-which the Treasury of the United States will be exposed in time of war;
-and what effect the Sub-Treasury system may produce in that respect
-remains to be tested by experience.</p>
-
-<p>It is impossible to draw any inference respecting Treasury Notes, from
-what took place in the United States during the confused state of the
-currency in the years 1815 and 1816. The taxes were paid everywhere with
-the cheapest local currency, in Treasury Notes only in the places where
-specie payments had been continued, or where bank notes were nearly at
-par. The depreciation of the Treasury Notes was arrested by the fact,
-that they might at all times be converted into a six or seven per cent.
-stock; but in that case they became assimilated to a direct loan. They
-never can become a general currency, on account of their varying value,
-so long as they bear an interest and are made payable at some future
-day. In order to give them that character, they should assume that of
-bank notes, bearing no interest and payable on demand. It does not
-require the gift of prophecy to be able to assert that, as the wants of
-Government increased, such notes would degenerate into paper money to
-the utter ruin of the public credit.</p>
-
-<p>They may, however, be made a special currency for the purpose of paying
-taxes as gold and silver, and to the exclusion of any other species of
-paper currency. The amount which might be thus kept in circulation, in
-addition to that wanted for short investments, would be limited by the
-gross amount of the annual revenue, and bear but a small proportion to
-it; since one thousand dollars, in silver or in any paper currency, are
-sufficient to effect in one year fifty payments of the same amount.</p>
-
-<p>Although the amount kept in circulation may fluctuate according to
-circumstances, the fundamental principle is, that the issue of such
-notes is an anticipation of the revenue, which, after it has reached the
-maximum that may be kept in circulation without being depreciated, never
-can be increased. Be the amount ten or twenty millions, the anticipation
-may be continued, but not renewed; it is not an annual resource, but
-one, the whole amount of which never can exceed that which may be kept
-in circulation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> The operation consists in re-issuing annually the
-amount which is paid off in the year. Whenever, owing to incidental
-fluctuations, the amount to be redeemed by the Treasury exceeds that
-which may be re-issued, the difference must be immediately funded at the
-market price of the notes, so as to keep them always at par or a little
-above par.</p>
-
-<p>It is evident, that if the direct tax and internal duties laid in
-August, 1813, had been imposed in July, 1812; and if the acts of
-January, 1815, which increased both, had been enacted in August, 1813;
-there would have been an addition of at least eight millions to the
-revenue of the years 1812 and 1813; the Treasury Notes which had become
-due would have been paid, public credit would have been maintained, and
-the amount of war loans lessened.</p>
-
-<p>The principal causes of the fall of public stocks during a war, and of
-the consequent necessity of borrowing on dearer terms, are a want of
-confidence in Government, and the large amount of stocks thrown in the
-market beyond the natural demand for them. The effect of this last cause
-is remarkably illustrated by the fluctuations in the price of the stocks
-of Great Britain, where it does not appear that there ever was a want of
-confidence in the ability and fidelity of Government in fulfilling its
-engagements. The British three per cents. are now, and were before the
-war of American Independence, and before those which had their origin in
-the French revolution, near par or at par. They fell gradually during
-the war of independence, and were as low as fifty-four in February,
-1782. The long war with France was attended with the same result, and
-the three per cents. had fallen to fifty-five in July, 1812.
-Notwithstanding the deranged state of the finances of the United States
-in 1814, the American stocks had not fallen in the same proportion. Such
-great depreciation is the result of the long continuance of a war. No
-one can say what would have been its progress, had the last war with
-England continued much longer.</p>
-
-<p>There was not, however, at that time, at least in America, any want of
-confidence in the Government: no one doubted that it would ultimately
-faithfully discharge all its engagements. Although the General
-Government is in no way responsible for the errors of any of the
-individual States, it is nevertheless certain, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the credit of the
-Union has been injured abroad by the failure of several of the States to
-fulfil their engagements, and that no expectation can be entertained of
-being able to borrow money in Europe. It is not less true that the
-Administration will cease to enjoy the confidence of American
-capitalists, if the measures it has recommended should be adopted and
-productive of war. No one can doubt that, if that event should take
-place, the Americans will fight in defence of their country, and none
-with greater zeal and bravery than the people of the Western States.
-During the last war, their militia and volunteers flocked either to the
-Lakes, to New Orleans, or wherever there was danger; nor did they refuse
-to take part in offensive operations, and to serve without the limits of
-the United States. But men cannot, either there or elsewhere, afford to
-render gratuitous services. Whether regulars, volunteers, or militia,
-they must be fed, clothed, transported, supplied with arms and
-artillery, and paid. There is as yet but very little active circulating
-capital in the new States: they cannot lend; they, on the contrary, want
-to borrow money. This can be obtained in the shape of loans only from
-the capitalists of the Atlantic States. A recurrence to public documents
-will show that all the loans of the last war were obtained in that
-quarter.</p>
-
-<p>Men of property are perhaps generally more timid than others, and
-certainly all the quiet people, amongst whom the public stocks are
-ultimately distributed, are remarkably cautious. Prudent capitalists,
-who do not speculate, and consider public stocks only as convenient and
-safe investments, will not advance money to Government so long as it is
-controlled by men whom they consider as reckless, and as entertaining
-rather lax opinions respecting public credit. Yet money will be
-obtained, but on much dearer terms than if public confidence was
-unimpaired. There will always be found bold speculators, who will
-advance it at a premium&mdash;enhanced by the want of competition, and
-proportionate to the risks they may be supposed to incur. Independent of
-this, it is most certain that the rate of interest at which loans may be
-obtained, will always be increased in proportion to their magnitude. The
-only ways by which these difficulties may be obviated, or at least
-lessened, are perfect fidelity in fulfilling the engagements of
-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>Government; an economical, that is to say, a skilful application of the
-public moneys to the most important objects, postponing all those which
-are not immediately wanted, or are of inferior real utility; and an
-increase of the amount of revenue derived from taxation. This has the
-double advantage of diminishing the amount to be borrowed, and of
-inspiring confidence to the money-lenders. In all cases, direct loans
-will be preferable to, and prove a cheaper mode of raising money than
-the over issues of Treasury Notes.</p>
-
-<p>The Act of July, 1812, which doubled the duties on importations,
-afforded a resource which, on account of the high rate at this time of
-those duties, cannot now be resorted to. Duties may, however, be levied
-on the importation of Tea and Coffee, and perhaps some other articles
-now duty free. Other modifications may be found useful, but it may be
-difficult to ascertain, even without any regard to protection, what are
-the rates of duties which should be imposed in time of war on the
-various imported articles, in order to render the revenue derived from
-that source as productive as possible.</p>
-
-<p>It must also be observed that if, on account of the credit then allowed
-for the payment of duties on importations, the Treasury had, when the
-war of 1812 commenced, a resource in the revenue previously accrued but
-not yet collected, which does not now exist; on the other hand the
-United States were still encumbered with a considerable portion of the
-Revolutionary debt, and the payments on account of its principal and
-interest amounted during the years 1812, 1813, 1814, to about
-$11,000,000, whilst the annual interest on the now existing debt is less
-than one million.</p>
-
-<p>The direct tax of the year 1815 amounted to $6,000,000, and the revenue
-which accrued during the same year, on the aggregate of internal duties,
-as increased or imposed at the same time, amounted to about the same
-sum. That year is also the most proper for a comparative view of the
-revenue derived from each object. In the subsequent years the revival of
-business increased the amount derived from the duties connected with the
-commerce of the country, much beyond that which could be collected in
-time of war; whilst, on the other hand, the excise on spirits was much
-less productive. The nett revenue derived from internal duties, which
-accrued during that year was in round numbers, about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p>
-
-<table summary="nett revenue derived from internal duties">
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Excise on spirits</td>
-    <td>$2,750,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Licences to retailers</td>
-    <td>880,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Sales at auction</td>
-    <td>780,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Stamp duties</td>
-    <td>420,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Tax on carriages</td>
-    <td>150,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Refined sugar</td>
-    <td>80,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Several manufactured articles</td>
-    <td>840,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Household furniture</td>
-    <td>20,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">Watches worn by individuals</td>
-    <td>80,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td></td>
-    <td>Total&nbsp; &nbsp; </td>
-   <td>$6,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>The three last items were those added on Mr. Dallas's recommendation to
-the first items laid in 1813, but the rate of which was increased, also
-on his recommendation. The manufactured articles not before taxed on
-which the new duties were laid were, pig and bar iron, nails; wax and
-tallow candles; hats, caps and umbrellas; paper and playing cards;
-leather, saddles, bridles, boots and shoes; beer, ale and porter; snuff,
-cigars and manufactured tobacco. This was the boldest measure proposed
-by the Secretary, for these duties were from their nature intrinsically
-obnoxious. Yet no voice was raised against them; and so far from
-becoming unpopular, Mr. Dallas, by his courage and frankness, acquired a
-well-earned popularity. No stronger proof can be adduced of the
-propriety of telling the whole truth and placing an entire confidence in
-the people.</p>
-
-<p>The only important measure omitted at that time, was an Act of Congress
-ordering that all the Treasury notes actually due and not paid should be
-immediately funded at their nominal value; that is to say, that for
-every one hundred dollars in Treasury notes, the same amount of funded
-stock should be issued as it was necessary to give for one hundred
-dollars in gold or silver. It was impossible to obtain a regular loan in
-time, and on reasonable terms, for the purpose of defraying the war
-expenses of the first six months of the year 1815. There was an absolute
-necessity for recurring to Treasury notes for that purpose, and the
-attention of the Treasury was forcibly directed to that object. But the
-first and fundamental element of public credit is the faithful and
-punctual fulfilment of the public engagements; and the payment of the
-Treasury notes, when becoming due, was as necessary as that of the
-interest of the funded debt, which never was suspended during the war.
-As an immediate and considerable issue of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>Treasury notes was absolutely
-necessary, it was not sufficient that they might be convertible into a
-funded stock, which was already much below par, since that would be in
-fact an issue of depreciated paper. The Act should, therefore, have
-pledged the public faith, that if the Treasury notes were not discharged
-in specie when they became due, they should be funded at their nominal
-value on the same terms as above stated. Mr. Dallas to great energy
-united pre-eminent talents, he wanted only experience; and I have no
-doubt that, had the war continued, he would within six months have
-adopted that course. If I have alluded here to this subject, it is on
-account of the primary importance, if placed hereafter in a similar
-difficult position, of adhering rigorously to those principles
-respecting the legitimate use of Treasury notes and the punctual
-discharge of every public engagement, which are absolutely necessary for
-the maintenance of public credit.</p>
-
-<p>Since a direct tax of six millions could be raised thirty years ago,
-there can be no difficulty in raising one of nine millions at the very
-beginning of the war: this must be gradually increased, but would be
-most heavily felt if beyond eighteen millions. Should an equal sum be
-raised by internal duties, the annual loans wanted after the first year
-of the war would be lessened in the same proportion. The following
-estimate may assist in forming a correct opinion on that subject:&mdash;</p>
-
-<table summary="annual loans wanted">
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">The stamp duties, those on sales at auction, the</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">licences of retailers, and the carriage tax,</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">which accrued in the year 1815, amounted</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">together to $2,230,000, and may be now</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">estimated at twice as much</td>
-   <td>$4,460,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">The aggregate annual value of leather, boots,</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">shoes, and other manufactures of leather; of</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">hats, caps and bonnets; snuff and cigars;</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">paper and playing cards, manufactured in the</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">United States, are estimated by the last census</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">at fifty-three millions, a tax on which of ten</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">per cent would give</td>
-    <td>5,300,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">On the same authority, three millions pounds of</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">spermaceti and wax candles would yield, at</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">five cents per pound,</td>
-   <td>150,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>Three millions two hundred and fifty thousand</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">pounds of refined sugar, at the same rate</td>
-   <td>160,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">Five hundred tons of pig and bar iron, nails and</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">brads, at two dollars per ton</td>
-   <td>1,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="3" class="left">The gross amount of spirits and beer manufactured</td>
-    <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">in the United States, is stated in the</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">census at sixty-five millions of gallons; but</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">the happy influence of the Temperance cause</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">has probably reduced this amount to less than</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">fifty millions, a tax on which of ten cents per</td>
-   <td></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
-    <td colspan="2" class="left">gallon</td>
-   <td>5,000,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td colspan="4">$16,070,000</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>I have inserted only such articles as were heretofore taxed, and have no
-means of indicating such other as might be added or preferred; nor must
-I be understood as recommending any specially, or in reference to the
-rates of duties to be imposed on any one.</p>
-
-<p>It has been very generally asserted that men of property were averse to
-the war because the losses and burthens which it must occasion fall
-exclusively upon them; and that poor men were generally in favor of war,
-because they had nothing to lose.</p>
-
-<p>It is true that the first great loss, caused by the war, will fall
-immediately on those interested in the maritime commerce of the United
-States, either as owners, insurers, or in any way employed in it.
-Considering the imminent danger to which is exposed the immense amount
-of American property afloat on every sea, and the certain annihilation,
-during the war, of the fisheries, of the commerce with Great Britain,
-and of that with all the countries beyond Cape Horn and the Cape of Good
-Hope, the American merchants may be alarmed at the prospect of a war,
-the necessity of which they do not perceive. But if the apprehension of
-immediate danger is more vividly felt, the calamitous effects of the war
-on the agricultural interests are not less certain. The price of all the
-products, of which large quantities are exported, must necessarily fall
-so low that all the farmers must lessen the amount and with it their
-income, whilst they must pay dearer for all the articles which they are
-obliged to purchase. The distinction between rich and poor is vague. The
-most numerous class in the United States is that of the men who are at
-the same time owners and cultivators of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> soil, and who have but
-small properties and a very moderate income. Every diminution of this,
-whether from the want of a market or from any additional tax, is in that
-and the corresponding class of mechanics, attended with the privation of
-the necessaries or comforts of life. The really rich, the capitalists
-who have independent incomes, and are not obliged to engage in any of
-the active pursuits of life, may, in any calamitous season, accumulate
-less, or at most, must retrench only some luxuries. Thus the unavoidable
-losses and burthens which are the consequences of a war, fall with the
-greatest weight on those who derive their means of existence from the
-pursuits of industry, and whose industry alone contributes to the
-increase of the general wealth of the country.</p>
-
-<p>But this is not all. Exclusive of those who, either as contractors, or
-in some other way, are concerned with the large supplies wanted for the
-support of the army and navy, there is a class of capitalists who are
-enriched by the war. These are the money lenders, who shall have been
-bold enough to take up the public loans: unless indeed it should be
-intended to break public faith, and, on the return of peace, to question
-the obligation to pay them, upon the pretence of their enormous profits.
-What these profits are may be again illustrated by the example of Great
-Britain.</p>
-
-<p>It has already been seen that, whenever a war is one of long
-continuance, the British Government may at first borrow at par, and ends
-by being compelled to sell its stock at the rate of fifty per cent of
-its nominal value; which gives for the whole of the war loans an average
-of about 75 per cent. In point of fact that Government received in the
-year 1812 less than 55 per cent; for the money actually received
-consisted of bank notes, which had then depreciated twenty per cent; so
-that the money lenders gave only that which was equivalent to forty-four
-per cent, in gold or silver, of the nominal value of the stock which
-they received. Besides receiving the interest on the nominal amount of
-the stock till the principal shall have been paid, they might shortly
-after the peace, and may now, receive from ninety-seven per cent to par,
-in gold or silver, for that same stock for which they gave but
-forty-four. Thus, assuming the public debt of Great Britain at eight
-hundred thousand pounds sterling; not only was the whole of that
-capital<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> destroyed by the wars; not only are the British people subject
-now, and it would seem for ever, to a burthen of taxes sufficient to pay
-the interest on that debt; but of the eight hundred millions thus
-consumed, only six hundred were received by the public, and the other
-two hundred millions made the rich capitalists, who had advanced the
-money, still richer.</p>
-
-<p>There is another class of men who may occasionally derive wealth from a
-war. Privateering consists in robbing of their property unarmed and
-unresisting men, engaged in pursuits not only legitimate but highly
-useful. It is nothing more nor less than legalized Piracy. For this the
-United States are not responsible; and it must be admitted, that the
-practice of all nations justifies them in resorting to those means, in
-order to make the enemy feel the calamities of war. But the necessity of
-resorting to means immoral in themselves affords an irrefragable
-argument against precipitating the country into war for slight causes,
-indeed against any war which is not purely in self defence.</p>
-
-<p>It is equally untrue to assert that the poorer class of people, by which
-must be meant all the laborers, or generally those who live on their
-wages, have nothing to lose by the war.</p>
-
-<p>In this, and other large cities, for every thousand merchants, or men of
-capital who may be injured or thrown out of business, there are ten
-thousand men living on wages, whose employment depends directly or
-indirectly on the commerce of those cities. The number of common
-laborers is proportionately less in the purely agricultural districts.
-But it is evident that in both, a considerable number must be thrown out
-of employment either by the destruction of commerce, or in consequence
-of the lessened value and quantity of the agricultural products. And it
-seems impossible that this should take place without affecting the rate
-of wages, than which a more afflicting evil could not fall on the
-community. There is no man of pure and elevated feelings who does not
-ardently wish, that means could be devised to ameliorate the state of
-society in that respect, so as that those who live by manual labor
-should receive a more just portion of the profits, which are now very
-unequally divided between them and their employers.</p>
-
-<p>But even if the rate of wages was not materially affected, yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> when it
-is said that the poor have nothing to lose by war, it must be because
-their lives are counted for nothing. Whether militia, regulars, or
-sailors, the privates, the men who actually fight the battles, are
-exclusively taken from amongst the poorer classes of society. Officers
-are uniformly selected from the class which has some property or
-influence. They indeed risk gallantly their lives, but with the hopes of
-promotion and of acquiring renown and consideration. According to the
-present system, at least of the regular army, it is extremely rare,
-almost impossible that a private soldier should ever rise to the rank of
-an officer. In the course of a war thousands are killed, more die of
-diseases, and the residue, when disbanded, return home with habits
-unfavorable to the pursuits of industry. And yet it is asserted that
-they are predisposed for war, because they have nothing to lose.</p>
-
-<p>As yet, however, we have had recourse only to voluntary enlistments for
-raising a regular force; the pay or bounties must be increased in order
-to obtain a sufficient number; and thus far to become a private soldier
-has been a voluntary act. The calling of militia into actual service is
-a modified species of conscription, and it has also been deemed a
-sufficient burthen to limit the time of that service to six months.
-Another plan is now contemplated by those who are so eager to plunge the
-country into a war. Fearing that the sufficient number of men may not be
-voluntarily raised, they propose that the militia should be divided into
-two portions; those belonging to the first class shall, if called into
-actual service, be bound to serve twelve months instead of six; and the
-other portion shall be liable to furnish a number of recruits for the
-army, not exceeding one tenth part of their total number. This last
-provision seems to be borrowed from the Russian military code. The
-Emperor of Russia requires each village to supply him with a certain
-number of men, in proportion to that of the male population. In time of
-war he requires, at the rate of three men for each hundred males, which
-answers nearly to that of ten for every one hundred men enrolled in the
-militia; and he also grants to the serfs the same privilege intended to
-be allowed to a portion of the militia by the new project, that of
-selecting the recruits amongst themselves.</p>
-
-<p>If it be any consolation, it is certain that, although we may not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
-invade England, the evils arising from the war will be as sensibly and
-more permanently felt by Great Britain than by the United States. Her
-efforts must be commensurate with those of the United States, much
-greater by sea in order to be efficient, in every respect more expensive
-on account of her distance from the seat of war. Such is the rapidly
-progressive state of America, that the industry of the people will, in a
-few years of peace, have repaired the evils caused by the errors of
-Government. England will remain burthened with additional debt and
-taxation.</p>
-
-<p>An aged man, who has for the last thirty years been detached from party
-politics, and who has now nothing whatever to hope or to fear from the
-world, has no merit in seeking only the truth and acting an independent
-part. But I know too well, and have felt too much the influence of party
-feeling, not to be fully aware that those men will be entitled to the
-highest praise, who, being really desirous of preserving peace, shall on
-this momentous occasion dare to act for themselves, notwithstanding the
-powerful sympathies of party. Yet no sacrifice of principles is
-required: men may remain firmly attached to those on which their party
-was founded and which they conscientiously adopted. There is no
-connexion between the principles or doctrines on which each party
-respectively was founded, and the question of war or peace with a
-foreign nation which is now agitated. The practice which has lately
-prevailed to convert every subject, from the most frivolous to the most
-important, into a pure party question, destroys altogether personal
-independence, and strikes at the very roots of our institutions. These
-usages of party, as they are called, make every man a slave, and
-transfer the legitimate authority of the majority of the nation to the
-majority of a party, and, consequently, to a minority of the sovereign
-people. If it were permitted to appeal to former times, I would say
-that, during the six years that I had the honor of a seat in Congress,
-there were but two of those party meetings, called for the purpose of
-deliberating upon the measures proper to be adopted. The first was after
-the House had asserted its abstract right to decide on the propriety of
-making appropriations necessary to carry a treaty into effect, whether
-such appropriations should be made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> with respect to the treaty with
-England of 1794. The other was in the year 1798, respecting the course
-proper to be pursued after the hostile and scandalous conduct of the
-French Directory. On both occasions we were divided; and on both the
-members of the minority of each meeting were left at full liberty to
-vote as they pleased, without being on that account proscribed or
-considered as having abandoned the principles of the party. This, too,
-took place at a time when, unfortunately, each party most erroneously
-suspected the other of an improper attachment to one or the other of the
-great belligerent foreign nations. I must say that I never knew a man
-belonging to the same party as myself, and I have no reason to believe
-that there was any in the opposite party, who would have sacrificed the
-interests of the country to those of any foreign power. I am confident
-that no such person is to be found now in our councils or amongst our
-citizens; nor am I apt to suspect personal views, or apprehensive of the
-effect these might produce. My only fear is that which I have expressed,
-the difficulty for honorable men to disenthral themselves from those
-party sympathies and habits, laudable and useful in their origin, but
-which carried to excess become a tyranny, and may leave the most
-important measures to be decided in the National Councils by an
-enthusiastic and inflamed minority.</p>
-
-<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
-
-<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3a_3a" id="Footnote_3a_3a"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3a_3a"></a><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Estimated for 1812.</p></div></div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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