Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/350

332 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE whereupon Archer, still chairman of the Committee on For- eign Relations, said that he was amazed at such a motion ; had not the gentleman read the message of the President in rela- tion to the negotiations, which were in favorable progress? By this time they would have been completed in all probability had not the American plenipotentiary fallen sick, for there was no disposition on the part of the British minister to retard them. Others expressed their surprise that such a motion could be made, and only Allen, of Ohio, who had been one of the most ardent Oregon men of the last session, could be found coming to the support of Senator Atchison. Allen said that friends of the measure had long been anxious to act but they had been held back against their wills; day after day they had implored that something be done to have time enough to give proper consideration to the measure. The tone of Allen's remarks was such as to call from; Crittenden an inquiry whether he "was charging gentlemen on this side of the house" with obstructive tactics to avoid the subject. But the Senate refused to act, and the Oregon bill died with the Congress. There is no doubt that Calhoun's presence in the Cabinet had a restraining influence upon members of his own party in the Senate, especially on those from the South. Daniel E. Huger, who took Calhoun's place in the Senate in 1843-5, indi- cates this in a letter to Calhoim in March, 1845. 37 "The course pursued by General McDuf fie and myself on the Oregon ques- tion excited at first, unpleasant feelings, but before we parted, I think, even the gentlemen of oar party had ceased to indulge even disapprobation of our course." The restraining influence of Calhoun appears from another angle. Early in the session Allen had introduced a resolution calling upon the President for information about the negotia- tion, whereupon Archer informed the Senate that he had con- versed with the Secretary of State who told him that prejudice to the public service would follow such a call. Mr. Allen said he did not care for informal information from the Secretary of State; he wanted official word from the President so that it might form a part of the archives of the country; further- 37 Correspondence of Calhoun (24 March)), 1028.