Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/438

410 Documents. west coast of the Pacific, from forty-two to fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, we are but performing a duty to ourselves, to the Republic, to the commercial nations of the world, to posterity, and to the people of Great Britain and Ireland, not, as we believe, to be benefitted by the further extension of her empire. Duty to ourselves requires that we should urge the immediate occupa- tion of Oregon, not only for the increase and extension of the West, but for the security of our peace and safety, perpetually threatened by the savage tribes of the Northwest. That this duty is required of us as due to the whole Republic, all parts of which may not appreciate, as they seem not to have appreciated, the value of the Territory in question, and its political importance to the honor, prosperity, and power of the Union, to say nothing of our commercial interests and naval predominance, threatened as they are with injury or diminution, should the northeast coast of that ocean pass into the possession of a great neval power. That, as an independent member of the great family of Nations, it is due from us to the whole commercial world, that the ports of both coasts of this continent should be held by a liberal Government, able and willing to extend and facilitate that social and commercial intercourse which an all- wise Providence has made necessary for the intellectual improvement, the social happiness, and the moral culture of the human race. That we owe the entire and absolute occupation of the Oregon to that posterity which, without such occupation by the citizens and free institu- tions of our great Republic, could not perfect or make available to them- selves or to the world the important consideration above set forth. That, however indignant at the avarice, pride, and ambition of Great Britain, so frequently, lawlessly, and so lately evinced, we yet believe that is for the benefit of all civilized nations that she should fulfil a legitimate destiny, but that she should be checked in her career of aggression with impunity, and dominion without right. That for the independence and neutrality of the western coasts of the American continents, and the island of the Pacific ocean, it is important that she should be restrained in the further extension of her power on these coasts, and in the middle and eastern portions of that ocean. That, so far as regards our rights to the Territory in question, we are assured of their perfect integrity, based as they are on discovery and ex- ploration by our own citizens and Government, and on purchase and cession from those powers having the pretence of right to the same. That beyond these rights so perfectly established, we would feel com- pelled to retain the whole Territory, in accordance with Mr. Monroe's universally approved declaration of 1823, that the American continents were not thenceforth to be considered subjects for future colonization by any foreign powers. Influenced by these reasons and considerations, so important to us and the whole Republic, to liberty and justice, and to free Governments, we do subscribe our names to this declaration, with the firm, just, and matured determination never to cease our exertions till its intentions and principles are perfected, and the North American Republic, whose citizens we are, shall have established its laws, its arms, and its free institutions, from the shores of the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, throughout the limits above specified. And we do hereby protest, as we shall continue to protest, against any act or negotiation, past, in process, or hereafter to be perfected, which shall yield possession of any portion of the same to any foreign power ;