LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE
64
was not hampered as Allen was by being chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations; he could, therefore, express more of the true western spirit than his colleague from Ohio. His resolutions declared that the country from 42 to 54 50' was the property and part and parcel of the United States; that no power existed in "this Government to transfer its soil, and the allegiance of its citizens, to the dominion, authority, control, and subjection of any foreign prince or sovereignty"; that an abandonment or surrender of any portion would be an "abandonment of the honor, the character, and the best interests of the American people." This challenge of the West was answered by Calhoun in resolutions which stated that the President, by renewing the offer of 49, did not abandon the honor of the country nor exceed his constitutional powers. 11 Thus, at the end of December, the division in the Senate and in the Democratic party on the question of Oregon was clearly stated. Polk, who desired that each house should pass an unqualified resolution at the earliest possible moment, had foreseen that Calhoun would not support the Message. 12 His conviction on this point was strengthened when he was informed by Congressman Turney of Tennessee that Calhoun and Benton were acting together "whenever they thought it safe to break ground against the Administration." 13 While Benton's position, Turner thought, would mean only one vote, many southern members were opposed to war and would follow Calhoun, while at the sarnie time some of the members from the West were almost mad on the subject of Oregon. He felt that the President would find himself between two fires and whatever he did would not satisfy one wing of the The two opposing resolutions, Calhoun's and Hanneparty. gan's, were the war cries of the opposing factions, and the question of their consideration provoked a preliminary skirmish. Hannegan's demand for immediate discussion brought
a protest from 11 Ibid.,
i
Haywood
ox.
12 Polk, Diary, 13 Ibid., 140.
I,
iji.
of North Carolina that the resolutions
