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Mr. Barbour, recurring to the pretensions of the European nations to portions of this territory, said, Spain, under whom we claimed, had unquestionably the undivided credit of first discovery, and so far the best title; to which she superadded the grant of the head of the Christian world, in the person of the Pope and however ridiculous the latter might now seem, it was at that time respected by the civilized world. But this respect had yielded eventually to cupidity; and the other nations of Europe had proceeded to appropriate such portions as accident or circumstances enabled them to do, in opposition to the claims and the protests of Spain.

In favor of the proposed establishment, Mr. B. mentioned its obvious advantage to our navigating interest in time of peace. It would furnish a friendly asylum for our vessels in an otherwise strange, distant, and perhaps hostile region. It would also be valuable as a dépôt for internal commerce, and highly advantageous in the event of war.

With reference to the apprehended dangers of an undue extension of our empire, Mr. Barbour said: "Fifty years ago, and the valley of the Mississippi was like the present condition of the country of the Oregon. It is now teeming with a mighty population-a free and happy people. Their march onward to the country of the setting sun, is irresistible. I will not disguise, that I look with the deepest anxiety on this vast exten. sion of our empire, and to its possible effects on our political institutions. Whatever they may be, however, our forefathers decided the experiment should be made. * Our advance in political science has already cancelled the dogmas of theory. We have already ascertained, by the happy combination of a national and state governments, but above all, by a wise arrangement of the representative system, that republics are not necessarily limited to a small territory; and that a government, thus arranged, produces not only more happiness, but more stability and more energy, than those the most arbitrary. Whether it is capable of indefinite extent, must be left to posterity to decide. But in the most unfavorable result, a division, by necessity, from its unwieldy extent—an event, I would devoutly hope, afar off-we even then can console ourselves with the reflection, that all the parts of the great whole will have been peopled by our kindred, carrying with them the same language, habits, and unextinguishable devotion to liberty and republican institutions."

Mr. Dickerson, in opposition to the bill, said, that our having acquired this territory, and the march of population being toward that region, imposed upon congress no obligation to provide for its occupation or population, unless the interests of the United States should require it. As yet, we had extended our laws to territories only that were to become

The treaty

states of the union, Oregon could never become one of the United States.

The bill was opposed also as being inconsistent with our treaty with Great Britain, by which any portion of the country claimed by either party, should, with its harbors and other navigable waters, be free and open to the vessels and citizens of the two powers. Although we thought our claim incontestible to the 49th degree, Great Britain had already extended her settlements to the Columbia river, and had set up a pretense of claim to the territory north of the Columbia to its mouth. It was not for congress to ascertain or limit the extent of the claim. recognized a claim to some undefined part of the territory; and until after its expiration in 1828, it would be improper to take possession of this territory by military force, or to establish a port of entry, as was proposed by the bill.

The president--so the bill provided-was to cause a fort to be erected on either the left or the right bank of the river, as he should deem expedient, and to cause the Indian title to be extinguished to a tract of land thirty miles square, or 900 square miles, including the fort. This tract ought to include both banks of the river, and a considerable portion of territory claimed by the British government. As yet, that government had done nothing to contravene the provisions of the treaty; but would they quietly see us take possession of the country, erect fortifications, purchase the Indian title to a large tract of land, and establish ports of entry? The joint occupation was intended to prevent disputes; but the measure proposed would lead to immediate collisions. If we were entitled to the whole of the territory, let all peaceable means be employed to obtain our rights, before we attempted to enforce them by military occupation. If the two governments would make a perpetual treaty, to take no farther possession of that territory than might be necessary for trading with Indians, they would do more for the cause of humanity than had been done in the present age.

Nor did he, (Mr. D.,) think the measure was required at this time for the protection of our shipping and our commerce.

He contended that neither as a colony nor as a state, could that country be of any

essential benefit to the union; he therefore thought it inexpedient to adopt any measure for its occupation and settlement. He repeated the declaration, that Oregon would never become a member of the union; and he undertook to show the difficulty if not the impossibility of obtaining from it a representation in congress.

Estimating the distance from the mouth of the Columbia river to Washington at 4,650 miles, a member of congress from the state of Ore. gon must travel, going to and returning from the seat of government,

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9,300 miles. Supposing him to travel at the rate of 30 miles per day, and allowing for Sundays, 350 days of the year would be required to go and return. This would allow him a fortnight to rest himself at Washington before commencing his journey home. As a considerable part of the way was over rugged mountains, covered the greater portion of the year with a great depth of snow, he thought traveling at the rate of 30 miles per day a hard duty. Yet a young, able-bodied senator might travel from Oregon to Washington and back, once a year; but he could do nothing else. He might come more expeditiously, however, by water round Cape Horn, or through Behring's Strait, round the north coast of this continent to Baffin's Bay, thence through Davis's Strait to the Atlantic, and so on to Washington. It was true, he said, this passage had not yet been discovered, except on our maps; but it would be as soon as Oregon would be a state.

Mr. Dickerson concluded by moving that the bill be laid on the table; and the motion was carried : ayes, 19; noes, 17.

On the 1st of February, 1827, a resolution was offered by Mr. Saunders, of North Carolina, calling upon the secretary of state for a list of the newspapers in which the laws were directed to be published during the years 1825, 1826, and 1827, designating the changes which had been made, and stating the reasons for each change. This resolution gave rise to a debate, marked no less distinctly by its party character, than by the acrimoniqus feeling of members. It was intended as an animadversion upon the conduct of the secretary of state, who, it was alleged, had, from personal and political motives, made certain changes in newspapers selected to publish the laws and public advertisements.

This exercise of the power of patronage was broadly reprobated by the advocates of the resolution. It was calculated to control the free. dom of the press, and to enlist that powerful instrument in the service of the administration. In the distribution of the public printing, the rule should be to retain an individual as printer of the laws, when his employment was desired by upright men of republican principles, and when there were no other reasons than those of a personal or political nature for taking it from him. So to apply the patronage of the government as to harmonize eighty-two presses in praising every act of the administration, and to punish them with the loss of patronage if they dared censure its measures, was to form a government press, which was more alarming to the liberties of the people, than the organization of the whole of our standing army formed into a guard of the palace.

The resolution was opposed as useless, so far as regarded the papers employed in 1825 and 1826; information for these years and for 1824 having been communicated to the house last year. A call for the reasons which influenced a public officer in the discharge of a duty assigned him by law, was believed to be without precedent in the annals of legislation. The act of 1820 required the secretary to cause laws and treaties to be published in newspapers, not exceeding three in each state and territory, and one in the District of Columbia, leaving it to his discretion to employ one paper to-day and another to-morrow. The power, if abused, could be taken from the secretary, and bestowed upon some other person or persons. But the call for his motives was improper and unjust. With equal propriety might the president, or all the heads of departments, be called on for the tauses or reasons for their acts, or the mover of the resolution for the reasons which prompted him to offer it.

It was held to be proper for the secretary to employ his friends rather than his enemies. Mr. Jefferson had acted on this principle. He had removed faithful public officers on purely political grounds; and, as in the case of the collector of the port of New Haven, against the wishes of a large majority of the people of the district, as expressed in a memorial to the president. The present administration had not carried the principle so far as had been done by Mr. Jefferson. Of the eighty or more papers, only sixteen had been changed. Of these changes, a number were known to have been made from geographical considerations; and in four instances, the persons displaced and those appointed were of the same political party. And there might be other changes which had been made from necessity.

The debate on this subject was continued until the 26th of February, when it was abruptly terminated; a few days only of the session remaining, and the press of business not permitting a farther discussion of the resolution. If the reader will bear in mind the sentiments of the parties to this discussion, he will soon see how easily the opinions of men and parties are changed by a reverse of circumstances.

CHAPTER XXIX.

WEST INDIA TRADE.-NAVIGATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE,

Tie illiberal commercial policy of Great Britain established by her numerous navigation acts, has been the subject of remark in preceding chapters. Although by the conventions (treaties) of 1815 and 1818, reciprocity of commerce had been established between the United States

and the territories of Great Britain in Europe, for a period of ten years from the last mentioned date, the exclusion of our vessels from her colonies was continued. Hence an act was passed by congress in April, 1818, closing our ports against British vessels arriving from any port or place in any British territory to which our vessels were not admitted.

But as the ports of those American colonies which had occasionally, from interest or necessity, been opened to our vessels, were not considered as included in the act of 1818, an act was passed in May, 1820, extending the interdiction to all her American colonies.

This measure was not without effect. The West India colonies had been supplied with our products through the British North American colonies, into which they were admitted, and thence carried in British vessels. But the closing of this channel of trade, through which the West India col. onies had obtained supplies of lumber and provisions, operated with severity upon these colonies. Memorials were addressed to parliament respecting their distress; and Great Britain was induced to relax her rigorous policy.

On being informed that parliament was about to open the colonial ports to our vessels, congress passed an act the 6th of May, 1822, in anticipation; authorizing the president, on satisfactory evidence being given him that those ports had been thus opened, to proclaim the ports of the United States opened to British vessels employed in this trade, under such reciprocal rules and regulations as he might, by such proclamation, make and publish. In June, the anticipated act of parliament was passed, by which certain enumerated ports were opened to vessels of the United States; and, in conformity to the act of the 6th of May, the president, on the 24th of August, issued his proclamation, declaring the ports of the United States open to British vessels coming from those ports in the British West India and North American colonies, with the productions of these colonies.

As that provision of the act of May, 1822, which gave the president authority to issue his proclamation, was to continue in force only till the expiration of the next session of congress, an act was passed the 1st of March, 1823, continuing the discriminating duties on imposts and tonnage, but authorizing the president, by proclamation, to remove them on satisfactory proof being given him, that no higher duties were imposed on our vessels and merchandise than on those coming from other places. The proof required by the act not having been communicated to the president, no proclamation was issued. The tonnage upon British vessels was one dollar per ton; upon American vessels, six cents, making the discrimination in favor of the latter, ninety-four cents. Great Britain then, by an order in council, issued June 17, 1823, imposed a

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