The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 328
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328
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
Majesty; trtii oli
secretary of the foreign department/ he received
instructions to give no further opposition, as Eng-
land had no claim. The treaty of the 6th October,
1818, does not discover .reservations of any
kind; and no matter what the secret instruc-
tions of the British minister might have been,
they can have no bearing on the subject. It
cannot, therefore, be simposed that England,
with her well earned character for diplomacy,
Would have let this treaty be executed, if, in good faith,
she believed herself entitled to any portion of the
country west of the Rocky mountains, without spe-
cifically setting forth those rights, and guarding
them in the same manner as she did the islands be-
fore spoken of by special reservation. It seems not
only remarkable, but, with her well known acuteness,
impossible, that, if she believed herself entitled fairly
to that country, she would have suffered this treaty
to be perfected without embodying and fully
setting forth therein her claims. While negotiations
were pending in London, between Messrs. Rush
and Gallatin on the part of America, and Messrs.
Goulbourn and Robinson on the part of England,
one of the first difficulties was to settle the northern
boundary; and it was proposed by us to fix it at a
parallel of 49° north latitude, although our right to
settle it at 51° was not then disputed. But how
was this liberal proposition met by England? By the
exorbitant demand of a free navigation of the Mis-
sissippi—a demand which England, when making
it, well knew could not be received, could not be
entertained for a moment. It was strange, the an-
swer received to our more than liberal proposition;
it showed, on the part of England, no disposition
to settle the boundary question; it was to her inter-
est to let it lie as it was, as it is her interest now to
let matters rest as they are.
Mr. B. here entered into a review of the princi-
ple of right of possession by contiguity, and main-
tained mat it was only allowed by the old laws,
when the vacant country so to be taken possession
of was unclaimed by others, and without a popula-
tion to cultivate or bring forth its resources. On
this principle, England, then, could rest no claim.
She cared not how long we remained inactive. The
longer so, the better for her. Her subjects, while
things remained quiescent, enjoyed all the advan-
tages of citizenship. They reaped rich harvests;
and, from the peculiar advantages they enjoyed from
their government, they were enabled to put all com-
petHon at defiance, and leave no chance of fortune
for any without their own pale. During the negoti-
ations, it was hinted by the British that the Colum-
bia river would form an excellent national bound-
ary; but they would agree to nothing that
would not leave the mouth of that river
open in common to both; thus, at that early
day evincing a knowledge of the vast importance of
possession of tliat point. But notwithstanding that
knowledge, and notwithstanding the farther knowl-
edge of the advantages which, from her acknow-
ledged diplomatic skill, she might insure by defining
the boundary to the parallel of 49° north latitude,
which would give her an opportunity to weep
m on the territory of Russia, still she sought the
(ice navigation of Llie Mississippi.
Aftci tins convention, in wlncli no one can per-
ceive the shadow of a claim advanced by Great
Biiiaui, we strengthened our title too tlegiee pn-
forluctly incontrovertible by the treaty with Spain
of 1811), ill winch she ceded to us her rights fully as
•;he possessed them, to all the territory north of 42°.
This, had we no other claim, would be more than
sufficient.
In the message of President Monroe, in
the year 1820, he railed the attention of the legisla-
ture to the subject now under consideration, and
rcconiuiendcd the eiet tion of military posts in the
tciut'iry: he did this when the convention was but
newly entered into, and when its provisions and in-
tentions were fully understood by all; and it is not
'o be supposed that he would have done so if not
firmly convinced not only of the right, but further,
of that right being acknowledged. This shows the
impoitant light m which the subject was viewed
tvvemy-four years back; but it does not show that
tins ieeoinmendation offended the pride or wounded
ihe dignity of Great Britain, or brought on us the
honors ot\i war; all of which it is now pretended
«e will do by giving to her a simple, peaceable, and
l'-viiimale notice.
in 1824, when Mr. Rush was engaged in negotia-
i.ods ill Loildon with Mr. Huskisson and Mr. Strat-
>brd Canning, he was met on the threshold of those
negotiations, by the important portion of President
Monroe's message in 1822, which emphatically de-
clares that no part, of this continent shall ever be
opened to European colonization; and from that day
to this, and forever, Americans are committed to
that avowal; they are bound to the principle, and
cannot depart from it. "No part of this continent
shall ever be opened to European colonization." It
has been brought forward frequently since, and be-
fore the nations of the earth we stand avowed to
support it. It was this that led us to offer to make
common cause with the South American republics,
if they would agree to resist European colonization.
What has prevented Great Britain from taking pos-
session of the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, which
it is admitted she could have done long ere this?
Nothing but the moral force of this declaration. As
long, then, as we hold valuable our honor—as long
as we hold dear our integrity and character as a na-
tion—so long will we stand firmly by it—so long
will we oppose European colonization on any part of
our continent. This declaration was met then by
Mr. Huskisson and Mr. Canning by a counter dec-
laration that they were wholly unprepared to admit
the doctrine of President Monroe, as there were por-
tions of this continent now as open to colonization as
they were at any other timeinthehistory ofthe world.
Mr. B. went on to show that England, all through
those negotiations, never attempted to set forth any
positiye or specific claim, as she would undoubtedly
have done had she the right; but on the contrary,
avoided alluding tt> any such, preferring remaining
quietly in possession to opening any inquiry, which
she knew would result in leaving her without the
vestige of a title to the occupancy of even a fraction-
al part of the territory. If a proposal had been then
made to end the agreement which we now seek to
put an end to, it would not have been received as a
declaration of war; and why should it be so now?
After describing the treaty which sprung up from
our new relations with Russia in 1824, by which
we ceded to that country all our rights north of
54° 40' north latitude. Mr. B. proceeded to pay a
high tribute to the eminent abilities and untiring in-
dustry shown by Mr. Gallatin in the execution of
the high and honorable trusts reposed in him pend-
ing the various negotiations in which he was en-
gaged as"the representative of his country.
It could not be shown, in this discussion, that
Great Britain, while those treaties were under con-
sideration, ever objected to the erection of military
posts; nor further, that she objected to the formation
by us, under our own laws, of a territorial govern-
ment; for when reminded by Mr. Gallatin, that the
act of Parliament of 1821, so often referred to in
this discussion, as going farther with jurisdiction
than we could by our constitutional laws, she
made no objection to our framing and acting oil
such code as to us might seem good. But the
real object of Great Britain leaked out when a bill
was proposed to Congress to establish, in addition to
our military posts, a custom-house at the mouth of
the Columbia. This was the sore spot—this was the
real, but concealed ground of objection. No; lVcc-
trade England could not consent to the imposition
of duties by an American custom-house at the
mouth of the Columbia: and why not5 Was it
from ;i spirit of philanthropy was it to encourage?
or belter the situation of the hardy settlers, without
* discrimination, in a young and barren country? No;
her views weie widely different. By keeping the
river open to the admission of all articles, the North-
western and Hudson Bay Companies received all
they required for the carrying on their operations
from England tree of duty; and by this they were
enabled to defy competition on the part of oui citi-
zens who enjoyed no such advantages. But here the
matter did not rest; competitors thus driven away,
the country was left in quiet possession of those
English companies, and the giand object was at-
tained of holding the tcuitoiy without going to the
trouble or expense of doing so by military tenure.
There weie no bills now before the Senate to es-
tablish either military posts or a custom-house; and
he felt a confidence,iif such bills were under consid-
aration, England would not offer any objection to
their becoming laws,
Mr. BUCHANAN, (from his seat.) England
has already upbraided us for not doing so.
Mr. BREESE. And will continue justly to up-
braid us, until we do so. We are told Great Brit-
ain never intended to colonize the territory; and, as
a proof of her intentions, we are referred toa despatch
of Mr. Gallatin, in which he expresses his opinion
that Great Britain had then no immediate intention
of colonizing; but he goes no "farther in words, but
leaves his opinion as to the future intentions of
England, to lie guessed at, by inserting some six or
seven stars.
Having now given his views, brief and imperfect
as they might be, of treaties subsequent to that of
Ghent in 1814, he would proceed to the more im-
mediate question. It was, to him, incomprehensible
how England could take offence at our giving a
simple notice, expressly provided for in the joint
agreement entered into by both nations—a notice
which, if it came from her, as it would be her right
to give it, we certainly would feel no offence at.
There was no dispute about our right to give this
notice. Why, then, the opposition to itf Why,
forsooth, lest by exercising our acknowledged right,
we offend Great Britain. ■
The question, in his opinion, resolved itself sim-
ply into this—whether it was better to negotiate on
the grounds of sole occupancy, to which all allowed
we were entitled, or on the ground oi joint occu-
pancy, throwing to the winds our claims arising
from discovery in 1792, the cession of Louisiana
in 1803, our exploring and prior possession of the
country, the rights ceded to us by the treaty of
Spain, and all others susceptible of maintaining a
title to which Great Britain has not, and never had,
pretensions. The title of joint occupancy, as
things now existed, was a misnomer. It was
true, a solitary American trapper or hunter
might be found, here and there, through the
territory; but no American citizens could set-
tle down and compete with the favored Eng-
lish companies. It was said, in giving this no-
tice, we give offence to Great Britain; but for his
part, he thought the contrary: he had a
higher opinion of that nation than to suppose her to
be so far behind the civilized world as to take of-
fence at a simple action on our part, expressly pro-
vided for in a treaty, to which she was an acting
party. He did not think her gigantic powers, of
which the Senate heard so much, would be called
into action without something more of a cause than
could be picked out of serving her with a simple
and legal notice. He, for one, would not give of-
fencc to her, or any other power; nor would he
recklessly advise, under any circumstances,
a war with any nation with which we could
be considered either an under or over match;
but in speaking of Great Britain, it became us to
show and reject with proper spirit, any unjust de-
mand or attempt on her part to place wrong inter-
pretation on any act of ours. The senator from
Massachusetts confined his argument to two points,
whether it was'better to negotiate, if required, part
of the territory for an equivalent, or to leave things
as they are. He argued that, by pursuing the lat-
ter course, the country from the immense flow of
emigration across the Rocky mountains would, in a
few years, become ours without a struggle; our em-
igrants would drive the hardy trappers of other na-
tions farther north, until they would be lost m the
frozen region; and then the country would be ours.
This might happen, and no doubt will; but it is not
the question. The principal question dwelt on by
the senator from Massachusetts was, had we not
better negotiate, and, if callcd on to transfer a part
of our possessions, rcceive therefor an ample equiv-
alent3 He did not state what that equivalent was to
be, but left his auditors to guess. He (Mr. B.)
knew nothing that Great Britain could offer as an
equivalent which America could, ill honor, accept.
Money could not be meant; for money could never
justify an American Senate in sacrificing the blood
and muscle of her citizens; and that would be done
if money was received as an equivalent for any por-
tion of our- dominions. Tiansferrmg any pa"t of
the country, would be transferring to Great Britain
the American blood and muscle that would be
found within it; and that was ail outrage that
American legislators never would be guilty of.
But if money was not meant, perhaps a key
might be found to open and show forth the real
meaning of tire Senator from Massachusetts,
(who, he considered it necessary to say, informed
him yesterday that he would not be in lus
seat to-day, in consequence of an engagement in the
Supreme Court,) when speaking of an equivalent,
by referring to a proposition made so far back as the
year 1816, by a then distinguished member of Con-
gress from Rhode Island, to offer to England all our
claims on territory west of the Rocky mountains,
provided England would, in return, cede to us Up.
fer Canada, together with the district of Montreal.
'his proposition of the then member from Rhode
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 1: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2367/m1/352/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.