Message from the President of the United States, in answer to a resolution of the Senate relative to the British establishments on the Columbia, and the state of the fur trade &c.

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... [ 39 ] 14 clecrree of advantage, hath public and private, under the privilege of their ch~rter. By en joying the privilege of the company's chart~r,. though but for a limited per iod, then~ arc advc!.1turers who would be '_Yillmg, as t~ey arc able, to cnga~e in and carry on the propo~ed commcrct~l undertakmg, as \vell as to give the most complete and satisfactory secunty to Govern­ment for the fu lfilment of its contract with the company . It would, at the -same time, be equally necessary to add a similar privilege of trade on the Columbia river, and its tributary \Vaters.'' "Dy t he waters that discharge themselves int~ I-Iudson's bay at fort: Nelson, it is proposed to carry on the trade to the1r sour?e at the ~cad o[ the Saskatchcwine river, which rises in the Rocky mountams, not e1ght dc­o- rces of longitude from the Pacific ocean. The Columbia flows also from the same mountains, and discharge~ itself in the Pacific, in latitude 46° 20~. Both of them arc capable of receiving ships at their 1nouths, anJ are navi-gable throughout for boats." · c' But, whatever course may be taken from the Atlantic, the Columbia is the Jine of communication from the Pacific ocean pointed out by nature, as it is the only navi<rable river in the whole extent of Vancouver's m1nntc survey of that roa. t. l b banks, also, form the first level country in all the southern extcn1 of continPntal coast from Cook's entry, ancl~ consequently, the most northern situation fit for colonization, and suitable for the residence of a c ivil ized people. By opening this intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific oce ~1 r.1'> aiJcl forming regulaJ' establishments through the interior, -anJ at both ex .. rcmes, as well as along the coasts ~wd islands, the entire com­n1and of the fur trade of North America might be obtained from ]atilude 48° north to the pole, except that portion of it which the Russians have jn the Pacific. To this may be added the fishing in both seas, and the markets of the four quarters of the globe. Such would he the field for commercial enterprise; and incalculable would be the produce of it, when supported by the operations of that cred it and capital which Great Britain so pre-emi­nently possesses. Then would this country begin to be remunerated for the expenses it h e~s sustaii1cd in discovering and surveying the coast of the Pa­cific ocean, which is at present left to American adventurers, who, without regularity or capital, or the desire of co!1ciliating future confidence, look at ­together to the interest of t.he moment. Such adventurers-and many of them, as I have been informed, have been very successful-would instantly disappear before a \Vell regulated trade." "l\1auy political reasons, which it is not necessary to enumerate here, must present themselves to the mind of every man acquainted with the en- 1arg;ed s.ystem and capacit~es of British commerce, in snpport of the Jnea­sure whtch I have very br1efly suggested, as promising the most important advantages to the trade of the United IGngdoms." Vol. 2, pages 388-92. All the recommendations, suggestions, and predictions, contained in thi:; quotation, have been fulfilled. ~ 1. The H~dson's Bay and Northwest Company have been united, and are now t.radmg under the name and charter of the former. 2. The trade ~as bee.n extended t.o the Co1umb.ia riv:e r. 3. A colony of civilized people 1s formt~g on that nver.. 4. A lme of forts and posts is ct.;tabl ishcd across the contment.. 5. The mot~th of the Columbia is occupied, ships enter it, hoats ascend 1t; the mounta1ns are crossed, and the communication is recru­la. r from the Pacific to the A tlantic. 6. American adventurers have alm~st cltsappeared, and the British have the command of the fur trade north of 4.0 15 [ 39 ] d?grcss, and the chief enjoyment of it for some degrees south. " T/ze p oli­tzcal advan!c~ges'~ of all these ?ve~ts are consider;J.blc in time of p~ac ., and must become Infinitely more so m ttmc of war, "vhen the con.maud of all the northern I~dians may harass ~he ~~ttlcmcnt~ on the U ppcr !\tlissis ipp~; and the possesswn ?f ? naval and n.1Jlrtary stati?n. an~ a :olony on the estuary of the ColumbJa nver, n1ay lead to the ann1lulatwn ot our ships and com­merce on the P acific ocean. .2. AS TO 'l'HE RECIPROCITY OF TilE TREATY Oli' 18 ] 8. The third article; of this convcnli?n Rpplies to tbe joint occupation of the coun.try west of the Rocky moun tams by 1 he Br itish and l i.mcr ic:H1s, and ·was 1ntende<.: to grant reciprocal priv ileo-es; bllt the reciprocity is in words only; the Br:ti:rh get all the ad vantages. b The worcis o{ the convention arc, "That an.y cou!ttry that rna.lJ h~ claimed by either party o: t ile no·rthwest ~oast of ,/hnerzca , westward of the Stony rnountains, shall, together with zts harbors, bays, and creel~:~, and the '1Ut1'igahon of all rivers within the same, befJ·ee and opcnfo'l·thc .te'rnt oj' t e,~ ;t;ears ji·ont Lhe date of tile sig­nature o.f the p;:esent conve.ntwn, to the v~sscls, cili::ens, and sul{jec/s of the two powcJ·s, <}·c. By th1s phraseology, 1t would be under~lood that both par~ics 'verc pos~t:ssed o! territory west of the Rocl~y mountain .. , whjch \Vas dramcd by nayrgabJe nvers, a.nc.l supplied with harbors, creeks, and bays; when the fact 1s, that the tern tory owned by the United State~ was ~lone so drained anc~ furnis~ed-thc ~olumb ia and 1ts estuary fonn1I1p; the only harbor and nav1gable nver to whtch the treaty was applicable. The B ritish the:efore, got the joint use of this river and its harbor, and the peopl£' of th~ U mted States got. nothing from the British; and, from the mauner in which they arc establishing themselves, it ·would seem that what was intended to be a.Joint ,.a,nd te'fl'!P_OTary use will become a penna uent and exclusive pos­sesswn. I he pnv1lege of a temporary use excludes the idea of forts and cstablishm~nts of a permanent char~cter; and it is for the proper authority to detern1me whether such an cstabltshment as fort Vancouver comes with­in the privilc~e granted by the convention of 1818. T rue, that convention is continu~d, but it is .not enlarged; and its determination depends upon a. year's notLCe to be gtven by either party; but this continuance was. not known when that fort was buil t ; and every thing suificiently announced that there was no design of quitting the possession, even if the convent ion had not l>een 1:encwcd. Th~ clause "any counlr!J,'' ~·c. is eq ~..aJ~y fallacious and deceptive as that \Vh1ch applies to bays and r ivers. Nommaily, it lays open. the ~ountry claimed by each power to the traners and hu nters of eac.h; but, 1n pomt of fact, the couutry belonging to the United States is alone laid ope.n to the OJ?erations of the British. They have sprcaJ over the whole reg10n w~st of the Rocky mountains, quite to the l\lexican territory, while n? Amencan has gone north of 49 degrees, nor even north of the Golum­l> ta, nor ofte~ to it. As a trader, he could not pos. ibly go any ' vhcre, much less upon their own ground to contend with the B,·iti~b, because tht; Ame­rican pays h1gh d~ttie,s on every thin~ used in the trade-as hi~h as sixty pee cent., all charges 1ncwded, on the blankets and stro1tds and other wooliens · whil? the 1!riti~h, importing all these by the mouth of the Columbia, pa; not~·11ng. 1 he wterest of the American citizenr., :1.nd, peradventure, tile sc­CL~ nty of the United States' title to the Columbia river and its valley, de­pen~ l upon t~rminating this delusive convention, ~md conf1Ptin~ cnch p~rty to hts o'vn s tde <'f lat'tudc 1P.