DEC. 30, 1828.] OF DEBATES IN CONGRESS. Occupancy of the Oregon River. [H. OF R. men should urge this Government, with so little notice, to of course, uninhabitable by a people depending upon agri- of the terms of that convention by England, that gentleAlthough tracts of fertile culture for their subsistence. land, considerably extensive, are occasionally to be met take a new stand in relation to the Oregon River. Genwas reason enough for with, yet the scarcity of wood and water, almost uniformly tlemen who called on Congress to take such a step, were prevalent, will prove an insuperable obstacle in the way of surely bound to bring forward some good reason in supsettling the country. This objection rests not only against port of it. In his judgment, the territory in question are now precisely in the same the immediate section under consideration, but applies, voting against such a bill as this, that all things respecting with equal propriety, to a much larger portion of the country. Agreeably to the best intelligence that can be had situation as they have been for twelve years past. If concerning the country, both northward and southward of gentlemen have any new information on the subject, if tee, Mr. G. said he was prepared to give them all the atthe section, and especially from the inferences deducible they can lay new and important facts before this Commitfrom the account given by Lewis and Clarke, of the country situated between the Missouri and the Rocky Moun- tention they deserved. If they went to show that our tains, above the river Platte, the vast region commencing trade in those seas called for new and additional protecnear the sources of the Sabine, Trinity, Brasos, and Colo- tion, he should be willing to accord it; but as now informrado, and extending northwardly to the 49° of north lati-ed, he was inclined to believe that, so far as the mercantile tude, by which the United States' territory is limited in interest in New England was concerned, the people were that direction, is throughout of a similar character. The perfectly satisfied with the existing state of things. It was was well known to whole of this region seems peculiarly adapted as a range impossible they should be so with the project contained in As to the Columbia River itself, for buffaloes, wild goats, and other wild game, incalculable this bill. multitudes of which find ample pasturage and subsistence upon it. This region, however, viewed as a frontier, may be a stream of the most difficult, hazardous, and impracprove of infinite importance to the United States, inasmuch ticable navigation; and the coast at its mouth was a region dread and terror of the mariner. To talk of a fort in as it is calculated to serve as a barrier to prevent too great of storms and tempests-a rocky, iron-bound coast-the an extension of our population westward, and secure us against the machinations or incursions of an enemy such a region, for the protection of our commerce, was at the mouth of Columbia River, its true position was in that might otherwise be disposed to annoy us in that idle. If any fort was to be erected there, instead of being There, there was, indeed, a good quarter." 48° or 49° north, in what was called the Sound, or Straits of St. John de Fuca. the most intelligent navigators he had ever known, and harbor; but, as to Columbia River, he was told by one of who was experimentally acquainted with the navigation of Great difficulty was almost always exgerous entrance. that entire region, that there was no harbor of more danthe been lost in the attempt. So far, therefore, as this fort perienced, either in entering or in leaving it; and vessels had was intended for the protection of our trade by sea, was needed. The committee had witnessed a decided project must fail entirely. For the fur trade, no such fort BATES, of Missouri] to the whole plan. This was enough opposition, in the representative of that interest, [Mr. for him. If the very people who are engaged in this pursuit, and who ought to be the best judges of their own interests, express not only indifference, but actual opposition to the bill, there can surely be no need tha the nation If the object is to give a Government sanction to should take a new attitude with foreign Powers to protect them. the fur trade in that region, all that was necessary would the hunters of Michigan, to trade on the Columbia River. be to pass an act authorizing the Missouri Company, or At any rate, it will be easy to give to some fur company as far, and no farther, than Great Britain has done. This the privilege of the trade; and, in so doing, you will go would meet the case which his honorable colleague, [Mr. EVERETT] with whom he reluctantly differed in opinion, exclude those of the United States, and exercise an exclusupposed to exist, viz.: that the British fur traders do now sive jurisdiction over the country. These remarks apply not only to the valley of the Ore- If these views of the general subject be correct, it is no Mr. GORHAM, of Massachusetts, said, that it had not At the time of the first convention, in 1818, the British forts which they now have. They continued to have the fur companies had the same establishments and the same same when the convention was renewed in 1827. By the convention, Great Britain acknowledges the whole counnations. And will gentlemen say, in the face of such an try as free and open to the subjects and citizens of both which she before held, is assuming to herself the exclusive acknowledgment, that the mere possession of the forts indeed, these forts had been erected by the British since possession and jurisdiction of the Oregon country? If, the convention, then it might, with some show of argument, be said that they were pursuing a new course of policy, which required countervailing measures on our part, but no such thing can be maintained while she only holds the same forts (and these not national forts, but trading posts merely) she has held there for these twelve years past; and, by a solemn public instrument, acknowledges that she derives no title from them to the jurisdiction of the country. [DEC. 30, 1828. est, much more than any paper constitution, holds them together. These are the great elements of the Union; but these have no place in relation to a country at such a distance as Oregon; and as the ultimate measure is impracticable, the incipient steps which naturally lead to it, I think, are unwise. The But some gentlemen seem alarmed at the extension of the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada over this region, by the British act of Parliament of 1821. Sir, the British negotiator expressly disavowed to Mr. Gallatin, in the negotiation of 1827, all intention by their Government, in extending the jurisdiction of their courts, to exercise it in any way whatever over our citizens in that territory. She has many subjects there, among whom it is necessary to preserve some responsibility to legal control. Murders have been committed there by British subjects on each other-nay, the disputes between the Fur Companies of Lord Selkirk and the Northwest Company, have been pushed into open war, in which men have fallen on both sides. Great Britian has been, therefore, in a manner, compelled to extend the jurisdiction of her courts over her own subjects in such circumstances, for the punishment of crimes like these; but she disclaims all other jurisdiction. The mere bringing of her own sub-fidence in the correctness of the judgment I had formed. jects to account for their offences, involves no claim to the country, and forms no just cause for the alarm, and for the great sensitiveness which has been expressed. We can exercise a similar jurisdiction for our own courts, and Great Britain will not complain. Nothing will be easier than to extend the criminal jurisdiction of the courts of Michigan over our own citizens on the Oregon, in the same manner as Great Britain has done. Where is the difficulty of such an arrangement? As to matters of contract, they may be tried any where. Mr. G. said, he could perceive no difficulty in the way of such a plan. But forts without jurisdiction, would never defend our citizens. Before we set up a territorial government in Oregon, we should do well to look at the sixth article of the Florida treaty. We claim under Spain all the Northwest Coast north of 42°, from Arkansas to the Pacific Ocean. We make this Spanish treaty the strong and prominent ground of our claim. For, as to Gray's discovery of the mouth of the river in 1792, they have an answer ready for us; and so they have as to our argument from the bounds of Louisiana: what we mainly rest upon is the Florida treaty. Now, in that treaty, there is an express stipulation, that the inhabitants of the ceded territory are entitled to become citizens of the United States, and may, when sufficiently numerous, be admitted into the Union, on a footing of equality. Now, if we extend our settlements into Oregon, as a part of that ceded territory, then we are bound by this stipulation to give the inhabitants some form of civil government, and ultimately admit them a State. You have undertaken to ensure to them the rights of citizens of the United States. Suppose it to grow, by the progress of time, into a territory, and at length to increase its numbers to the requisite amount, then you cannot refuse its admission into the Union as a State. Is there any man in this House willing to proclaim such a purpose as this? We are certainly in no position now to do so. Accident has given to the existing States some natural bonds of Union, with each other. The different characters of labor, together with the different descriptions of geographical advantages, cause the various interests of the States to meet and harmonize. The physical position of the entire valley of the Mississippi renders a naval force of primary importance to its inhabitants; and owing to the peculiar character of their labor and industry, the same thing holds good of all the Southern States. Now, they are furnished with this navy by the inhabitants of a poorer country, essentially commercial, finding in the carrying of the rich produce of the South and West, a principal support of their maritime commerce. This mutual relation of inter Mr. RICHARDSON said, it was always with reluctance that he occupied a moment of the time of the House; but having been a member of the Committee who reported the bill under consideration, he deemed it his duty to state his reasons for assenting to it. To settle, in my own judgment, the question of right to occupy, as proposed, the Oregon river and territory, I examined with care the correspondence between the Government of the United States and that of Great Britain, relating to that question. evidence in the case led me to the conclusion, that the right of the United States to those possessions was perfect. After availing myself of all the accounts given of the river and territory by navigators and travellers of the most respectable character, I could not doubt the expediency of the proposed occupation. But the descriptions given yesterday, by gentlemen on the opposite side, of the Oregon river and territory, have almost shaken my conThey have described the territory as a region of desolation, the river unnavigable, the whole claim as worse than worthless, and as it would seem, even reproachful to its author. How are these contradictory statements to be accounted for? Those who have navigated the river and traversed the region from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, have represented the country as luxuriant and beautiful. Sir, I am old enough to remember having read the speeches in Congress on the question of the acquisition of Louisiana, when that question was pending The most horrible pictures of that country were drawn in Congress, and spread before the Union, to deter the Government from the acquisition. And, sir, I have read accounts published by foreign travellers, and which were spread through Europe, describing the whole of the United States as a country fit to be inhabited by none but wild beasts and savages. Of such accounts there were latent causes, which time has unfolded. Before the face of the world, events have contradicted those accounts. Surely the statements of gentlemen on all sides, of what they have not seen, are to be received with caution. The facts and arguments which induce me to support the bill, I will give in as few words as practicable. The evidence on which this Government rests its claim to the Oregon river and territory, demands the first attention. This bill proposes to occupy a territory bounded by the United States in an extent of more than twelve degrees of latitude, and spreading, in the same extent, westward, to the Pacific Ocean, embracing about sixteen degrees of longitude. The contiguity, situation, extent, and resources, of that territory, render it necessarily an object of great interest to the United States. The right of the United States to the Oregon river and territory having been strenuously controverted by the British Government, and they being now in the actual occupation of that Government, the measure proposed by this bill requires sound deliberation and a patient examination of facts. The claim set up by this bill will expose this Government to a controversy with no other than that of Great Britain. France, Spain, and Russia, have, by treaty, expressly relinquished their claims in favor of the United States, and a claim the Spanish Government had vesting an incontestable right. This Government is, then, required to establish its right to that river and territory against any claims set up by Great Britain. It will be my purpose to prove the right of this Government to that river and territory against the claim of Great Britain. If I understand the correspondence between the American and British ministers, relating to this subject, the latter rests the claim of their Government DEC. 30, 1828.] OF DEBATES IN CONGRESS. Occupancy of the Oregon River. on no other ground than that of a supposed first discovery and exploration by their navigators. Admitting British navigators as witnesses, the evidence of first discovery is in favor of the United States. It is proved by Captain Vancouver, who was employed by the British Government on a voyage of discovery, and who visited the Northwest Coast in 1792, that Captain Gray, of Boston, a citizen of the United States, bearing the flag of his country, first discovered the mouth of the Oregon or Columbia River. In his journal, Captain Vancouver recorded, on the 27th of April, 1792, that, south of 48° of north latitude, there was no large river, but only small creeks. The next day he met, at sea, Captain Gray, then commanding the American ship Columbia, who informed him of the mouth of the river, which, for several days, Captain Gray had then, On the 11th of May without success, attempted to enter. next following, Captain Gray succeeded in entering the Captain river which commonly bears the name of his ship, and which he ascended upwards of twenty miles Vancouver acknowledges that he received from Captain Gray a rough chart of the river, and a communication of With these, one of Captain Vancouver's his discoveries. officers was sent to take a survey of Gray's harbor, and of the Columbia river, which he ascended somewhat farther than Captain Gray. Let it be remarked, that Captain Vancouver mentions, in his journal," Gray's Harbor," a place which Gray had previously visited and named. On the same occasion, we find Captain Vancouver expressing his desire, in these words, that he might "particularly examine a river and a harbor discovered by Mr. Gray, in the Columbia, between the 46th and 47th degrees of north lativol. 1, p. 415. tude."-Vancouver, To that time Cape Disappointment had been unknown to Captain Vancouver; and, using his own words, he mentions" Cape Disappointment, which forms the north point of entrance into Columbia River, so named by Mr. Gray." -ib. p. 418, 419. That distinguished navigator was too honest and ingenuous to deny to Captain Gray the honor and the right of first discovery of the Columbia River. If, previous to Captain Vancouver's visiting the coast, Thus, the direct testimony of Captain Vancouver, a [H. OF R. doubt that he would have availed himself of such facts? After examining all the sources of evidence to which I could find access, I am satisfied of the right of this Government to the extent of territory claimed by the bill. to be established, this question next presses upon the atAdmitting the right of sovereignty, as claimed by the bill, tention of the Committee: Is it expedient now to pass this bill? To settle this question, a comparison of the value of the possession claimed, with the cost of the enterprise, ought to be made. The territory of Oregon is nearly eight hundred miles square; or, in other words, its area contains not less than six hundred and forty thousand square miles. Captains Lewis and Clarke describe the branches of the Oregon as passing through extensive basins of land, resembling the table lands in South America. The great basin of the Oregon proper is nearly nine hunWhat is the testimony of the dred miles in length, and four hundred miles in mean on this floor, of no value? breadth. Is that country, as has been repeatedly asserted most impartial witnesses, who, with their own eyes, have seen the country, and in circumstances by no means flat tering? The different navigators and travellers, of highest respectability, who have visited the Northwest coast, concur in their descriptions of the climate, soil, and productions, of that fine country. Mr. Prevost, an agent of the United States, in a communication, in April, 1822, addressed to this Government, gives the following account: 66 It has been observed, by those exploring this coast, that the climate, to the southward of 53 degrees assumes a mildness unknown in the same latitude on the eastern side of the continent. Without digressing to speculate upon the cause, I will merely state, that such is particularly the fact in 46 deg. 16 min., the site of Fort George. The mercury, during the winter, seldom descends below the freezing point; when it does so, it is rarely stationary for any number of days; and the severity of the season is more determined by the quantity of water than by its congelation. The rains usually commence with November, and continue to fall partially until the latter end of March, or the beginning of April. A benign spring succeeds, and when the summer heats obtain, they are so tempered with showers, as seldom to suspend vegetation. I found it luxuriant on my arrival, October 1, 1818, and, during a fortnight's stay, experienced no change of weather to retard its course." Mr. Vancouver gives this description of the country, in the latitude of 48 deg. 7 minutes: "The soil for the most part, is a light sandy loam, in several places of very considerable depth, and abundantly mixed with decayed vegetables. The vigor and luxuriance of its productions prove it to be a rich fertile mould. This country, regarded in an agricultural view, I should conceive, is capable of high improvement." Major A. S Brooks, an intelligent officer of the United States, who repeatedly visited the coast, gives this animating description of the vicinity of a place called "Pitts Cove" within the limits of the proposed occupation: "The Cove is a large commodious harbor for a fleet; the shores most beautiful; soil (where the bears had turned it up in search of roots) ready to melt in its own richness; game in absolute profusion." [DEC. 30, 1828. heavy expense. The appropriation in the bill, I think, is The China trade has depended, in a great measure, in years past, upon the trade in furs, ginseng, and other ar ticles from the Nothwest Coast. It Besides, it is not improbable, that, in a comparatively few years, the public lands of Oregon may add to the National Treasury another rich source of revenue. may be reasonably calculated, that, under the fostering care of this Government, multitudes of Europeans may emigrate to that country, to cultivate the lands and augment your revenue. It will require by no means a great population in that territory, to derive from it a revenue sufficient to defray the expense of its Government. If the annual revenue accruing from duties paid at the custom houses in the United States amounts to twenty-seven millions of dollars, then, on an average, each forty thousand inhabitants pays annually, into the Treasury of the United States, the sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand That country is sufficiently inviting to an enterprising dollars. A territory, situated as is the Oregon, may be population. That country opens a great mart for the encalculated upon to contribute more than a proportion of terprise of commerce and navigation. In past years, a revenue, according to its civilized population. A valuable lucrative trade has been carried on by citizens of the trade with numerous tribes of Indians will add to the reUnited States with different parts of that coast. Various venue. The British Government has not been inattentive articles of manufacture are there exchanged for furs. From to the value of that trade. A second objection to the prothe Northwest Coast the voyage is pursued to the Sand- posed occupation is, that it will expose the United States wich Islands, where the ships complete their loading with to a war with Great Britain. That power being now in sandal wood, and thence proceed to China. There they possession of important ports in the territory, it may be exmake an exchange for articles of great demand in Ameri-pected that they will be relinquished with some reluctance. can and European markets. These, brought to our markets, yield into our National Treasury revenue to a large amount. By this circuitous trade, in which the industry and enterprise of many of our citizens are engaged, hundreds accumulate into thousands, and thousands into millions. It is like "the miser's glass, Which turns all its sands to gold." The third article of the convention of 1818, between the United States and Great Britain, places the two Governments on fair ground. With wise precaution it guards against the claim of right, by this temporary occupation by the British. This article stand thus: "It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the Northwest Coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with its harThe timber of that country ought not to be unnoticed. bors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers Humboldt remarks, "that the banks of the Columbia inwithin the same, be free and open, for the term of ten vite Europeans to found a fine colony there, for its banks years, from the date of the signature of the present conafford fertile land in abundance, covered with superb tim-vention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two ber." Clark and Lewis state, that "the whole neighborhood of the coast is supplied with great quantities of excellent timber." They mention a species of fir tree measuring six feet above the earth's surface, twenty-seven feet in circumference, and rising to the height of two hundred and thirty feet, and one hundred and twenty of that height without a limb. These are sufficient proofs of the strength and exuberance of the soil, and of a climate most friendly to vegetation. But a bill of so much importance demands great consideration. There are, I admit, objections to the proposed occupation, which are entitled to serious regard. The first that is urged is, that it will incur a Powers; it being well understood, that this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other power or State to any part of the said country."*-Dip. Code, p. 264 *The term of ten years for mutual occupation by the citizens and subjects of the two powers, as provided by the Convention, expired in October, 1829. By the articles of a Convention between the two Fowers, published since this bill was reported, it is provided that neither Power shall take definitive measures of exclusive sovereignity over that country, without giving to the other Power one year's previous notice. For such contingency the bill makes provision. DEC. 30, 1828.] Occupancy of the Oregon River. H. OF R. This provision leaves the question of right as it stood to an extensive and valuable country to Great Britain, or before the occupation by the British. Thus stands the any other power, I should not know how to answer it to question of right to this moment. It may then be fairly my country or to myself, as a faithful public servant. It presumed that Great Britain will not, in the face of these ac- would be a proof of degeneracy from that spirit of my knowledged facts, of first discovery and settlement, and ancestors in which I glory. The proposed occupation, it of the law of nations, readily wage war with the United is true, may, perhaps, be attended with expense to this States to make conquest of that country. It would be a Government for a few years. A post must be establishnaval war-a war attended with too great risk to her repu-ed, and a government supported. But a country of natation, her commerce, and all her great interests. If the Ore-tural resources, so rich and abundant, will soon repay the gon River and territory should continue in the possession of expenditures. Under the fostering care of this Governthe British, it may be expected to become, at some future ment, territories soon become States, providing for themperiod, a theatre of war between the two nations. The same selves and augmenting the resources of the Union. policy which led to the acquisition of Louisiana and the This country, sir, is evidently, to my mind, destined to Floridas points to the occupation of the Oregon. This be an asylum for the surplus population of some parts of measure is pointed out by, I may say, parental affection the Eastern continent. Multitudes of Europeans are and prudence, due on the part of this Government, toward stretching their view towards America, as presenting the our successors, the children of the old States, destined by only prospect of their recovery to the freedom and hapProvidence to carry westward, to the utmost bounds, the piness which God and nature designed for man. Although blessings of civilization and of liberty. A third objection I would not invite emigration to this country as a philanto the proposed occupation has some plausibility It is throphist, as a Christian I could not oppose it. Besides, an old objection. It is, that the safety of this Union will there is a sort of hereditary propensity in a considerable be endangered by its extension-by its becoming un- part of the population of the old States to emigrate to wieldy. new countries. The fact was mentioned some days since by my highly respected colleague [Mr. EVERETT], that a company of three thousand persons, in Boston and its vicinity, have already associated, and had petitioned for the permission and aid of this Government to enable them to emigrate to the territory which this bill proposes to occupy. The gentleman corrects me, and says he did not intend to represent that company as belonging wholly to Boston and its viciniiy. Another, and yet another company are asking similar aid and protection. For these reasons I am in favor of the object of the bill. It proposes the exercise of a just and perfect right, and the fulfilment of a trust. It proposes, as I believe, a measure of sound and good policy, with reference both to economy and to the preservation of our future peace with other nations. It proposes an extension of the blessings of civilization, of freedom, and happiness, to the human race. Sir, I shall deem it a high satisfaction if my very humble efforts may aid a measure that proposes objects so worthy of the countenance of this Government, and so congenial with the spirit of generous and successful enterprise that planted, within so brief a period, the standard of free government on the shores of North America. The forebodings which were opposed to the acquisition of Louisiana, have been, as I conceive, happily answered by experience. Had not Louisiana been in the possession of the United States, there is great probability, that, ere this time, powerful rival States would have existed there, to vex this Union with the vicissitudes of war and revolution, and with all the troubles that ambitious and turbulent neighbors have power to cause. A glance of thought on the course of events cannot but awaken feelings of veneration for the name of that great statesman to whose wisdom this Union is so much indebted for results so happy as have been realized, in our own time, from the acquisition of that country. Sir, I do not believe that a wise system of government-a system well balanced and adjusted-loses strength by being extended. The principles of self-government are capable of universality. They are in concert with the laws of the moral universe, and are applicable to communities on the broadest scale. True, indeed, the territory proposed to be occupied will be a great distance from the seat of the General Government. Will this be a disadvantage? Why may not Missouri or Maine derive as much real benefit from the General Government as Maryland, or even the District of Columbia ? Do they not actually derive as much? In my heart I believe they do. Improvements of this age have greatly increased the facilities for travelling and intercourse. By the aid of these, the traveller goes on his way, day and night, at the rate of twelve miles an hour. He is transported from clime to clime as by magic art. Admitting that the distance from this meridian to the mouth of the Oregon, by the branches of the rivers between these two points, be three times as great as the direct distance, the journey may be performed in the time which, a few years since, was required to travel from several parts of the Union to the seat of Government. The relation between the General and Territorial or State Governments is not essentially affected by distance. For the most important purposes it makes, as I apprehend, little difference whether a State or Territory be on the east or west side of the Rocky Mountains. This, sir, I consider as the most favorable time for Congress to authorize the measure proposed. If the term of ten years, as limited by treaty for the mutual occupation of the river and territory, by the citizens of the United States and of Great Britain, should have long expired, without measures on the part of this government to claim its right, the fact will naturally be considered as an abandonment of our claim. For myself, I am unwilling to take the responsibility of such a course as that. Should I consent to a tame surrender of a rightful claim Mr. DRAYTON said that, although he concurred with the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. FLOYD] in the general principle of the bill which he had reported, he differed from him in some of its details. The bill assumed that the territory described in it, within 42° and 54° and 40' of north iatitude, belonged to the United States. This was in dispute. Our government has offered, by way of compromise, to relinquish that portion of it which lies beyond the 49th parallel of latitude. Their offer was not accepted; Great Britain denying our right to any part of the country on the Northwest Coast of America westward of the Stony Mountains. I presume [said Mr. D.] that our Government can establish its claim to the whole of it; but as the question has not been decided, and as, in the third article of our convention with Great Britain, of 20th October, 1818, it is stipulated that the whole country should remain free and open for ten years, [which term, in 1827, was extended to a further term of 10 years) were the United States to erect it into a territory, to be regulated by their laws, they would, manifestly, commit a breach of their treaty. Congress has no authority to ascertain and define the boundaries of territory in dispute between the United States and a foreign kingdom; this must be effected by diplomatic negociation and by treaty ; until then, no exclusive legislation can be exercised; either by America or by Great Britain. Whilst I object to our converting a country in dispute into one of our territories, I do not agree with the gentlemen from Tennesee and |
