I think it right to state these facts, in order to obviate any misapprehension which might possibly hereafter be raised on the construction of the second Article of the Oregon Treaty. I am, &c., ABERDEEN. P. S. July 1.-Since writing this dispatch I have held a conversation with Mr. MacLane, in which he has freely and fully confirmed all that I have stated above with reference to his own understanding of the intent of the second Article of the Oregon Treaty. A. Two subsequent dispatches of Mr. Pakenham to Viscount Palmerston (who had succeeded Lord Aberdeen as Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) are as follows: No. 100.] WASHINGTON, July 29, 1846. MY LORD: Owing to one of those irregularities which are not unfrequently witnessed in this country, the President's Message to the Senate, submitting, for the advice and opinion of that body, the proposition lately made by Her Majesty's Government for the settlement of the Oregon Question, and various other papers connected with that transaction, have found their way into the public papers, notwithstanding that the injunction of secrecy has not yet been removed. Amongst other papers thus published, the collection of which I have the honor to inclose, will be found a dispatch from Mr. MacLane to his Government, reporting what had passed between the Earl of Aberdeen and himself with relation to the proposition which Lord Aberdeen was about to make to this Government, for the partition of the Oregon Territory. It would appear from this dispatch that Mr. MacLane had no expectation that the terms proposed by Her Majesty's Government would be accepted here; that he discouraged any such expectation on the part of Her Majesty's Government, considering as "erroneous ་་ an impression, which he found had been produced in England, "that the Senate would accept the proposition now offered, at least without any material modification, and that the President would not take the responsibility of rejecting it without consulting the Senate;" and, finally, that he gave it as his opinion to the American Government that the offer then made was not submitted as an "ultimatum," nor intended as such; in short, that some modification of its terms would, without much difficulty, be acceded to by England. [xxi] *It is most providential, my Lord, that Mr. MacLane's suggestions did not succeed, either in England, in deterring Lord Aberdeen from making his offer, according to his original intention, or here, in inducing the American Government to stand out for some modification of that offer when it was made; for, in either case, all would have been spoiled. The President's Message, transmitting the proposition of Her Majesty's Government for the consideration of the Senate, is very guarded-upon the whole, rather deprecating than encouraging the acceptance of the offer; but in this course the President ran no risk and incurred no responsibility whatever, for every one in Washington, at all acquainted with the disposition of the Senate, knew that such a proposition would be accepted by that body, by a large majority. I have, &c., No. 106.] R. PAKENHAM. WASHINGTON, August 13, 1846. MY LORD: The injunction of secrecy having been removed by a resolution of the Senate, I have the honor herewith to transmit three numbers of the Union, official newspaper, containing, in an authentic form, (Union of 7th August,) the papers relative to the conclusion of the Oregon negotiation which I had the honor to transmit in an unauthorized form with my dispatch No. 100, and also (Unions of 8th and 10th August) two Messages from the President to the Senate, the first communicating for approval the Treaty signed here on the 15th of June, the second communicating documents not before communicated to the Senate relative to the Oregon Territory, in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 17th June last. Among the papers thus made public, the one which I should most particularly recommend to your Lordship's attention, is a dispatch from Mr. Buchanan to Mr. MacLane, dated the 12th of July, 1845, (Union of 8th August,) setting forth the terms on which the President was willing, at that time, to settle the Oregon question, but evidently with little or no expectation that those terms would be accepted by Great Britain, I might almost say with an expectation scarcely concealed that they would be rejected, There was inclosed in the dispatch a copy of the Baltimore Sun pewspaper of 23d July, 1846. when, to use Mr. Buchanan's own words, the President would "be relieved from the embarrassment in which he has been involved by the acts, offers, and declarations of his predecessors," and be justified in going to war for the whole territory. The remarkable thing in this dispatch is the confidence which it betrays that, in the course which the President had made up his mind to follow with reference to the Oregon question, he would receive the countenance and support of the Senate and the country, even to the extremity of a war with England. The result has shown that, in this expectation, he did not do justice either to the wisdom and integrity of the Senate, or to the intelligence and good sense of the American people. Within a few days after the opening of the late session of Congress it became evident that Mr. Polk's policy respecting Oregon was viewed with no favor by a large majority of the Senate, nor was the war cry raised by the more ardent partisans of the Administration responded to in any part of the country. In process of time this conclusion forced itself on the mind of the President and his advisers, and hence your Lordship will find in the ulterior dispatches of Mr. Buchanan to Mr. MacLane a far more moderate and subdued tone, until at last they exhibit a positive and conciliatory desire to settle the question by compromise, the title of the United States to "the whole of Oregon" having apparently been forgotten. If further proof were wanted of the anxiety of this Government to be extricated from the mistaken position in which they had placed themselves, it would be found in the alacrity in which the terms last proposed by Her Majesty's Government for the settlement of the controversy were accepted. Sufficient time has now elapsed since the promulgation of the Treaty to enable us to judge of the light in which the transaction has been viewed throughout the country, and it is gratifying to say that it has been everywhere received with satisfaction and applause. No evidence whatever of a contrary feeling has come within my observation, except it be among the disappointed advocates of a war policy, who had staked their political fortune upon the adoption of extreme measures, and even in these quarters, I am bound in truth to say that the irritation is rather against the President and his ministers for having, as they say, deceived and betrayed them, than from any express condemnation of the Treaty itself. I have, &c., R. PAKENHAM. [xxiii] *Chronological List, showing the Names and Dates of Appointment of the various Principal Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs in Great Britain, and British Ministers at Washington, and of the various Presidents and Secretaries of State of the United States, and United States Ministers at London, from 1818 to 1872.1 GREAT BRITAIN. British Foreign Secretaries of State Period of Office. March 4, 1812, to September 16, 1822. February 26, 1858, to June 18, 1859 December 9, 1868, to July 6, 1870 Referred to in the Statement, page 2, note *. March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837 M. Van Buren John M. Clayton.. H. Fish 1Chargé d'Affaires. March 8, 1825, to March 6, 1829 March 6, 1829, to 1831 SJ. Q. Adams. R. Rush.. R. Rush... R. King. W. B. Lawrence1. J. Barbour..... A. Stevenson 1 E. Everett March 5, 1841, to May 9, 1843. March 4, 1869 L. MacLane. 2 With vacancy from May, 1856, to January, 1857. December 22, 1817, to April, 1825. August, 1825, to June, 1826. July, 1828, to September, 1829. Sept. 21, 1829, to June 9, 1831. November, 1841, to August 4, 1845. August 5, 1845, to Aug. 15, 1846. October 10, 1849, to Sept. 25, 1852. October 4, 1852, to Aug. 20, 1853. May 14, 1861, to May 9, 1868. |