214 VERNE BLUE
reports and bills, three distinct projects are suggested or proposed: (1) Revival of claims to Texas and expansion southwestward ; (2) a radical reorganization of the sys- tem of Indian administration; and (3) the occupation of the Oregon country. Floyd could be as truly charged with motives of personal, i. e., selfish ambitions in regard to any one of these as another. In fact it is not beyond possibility to accuse him of designs on the presidency of the Transcontinental Steamboat System, that was pro- posed on the floor of the House.
From a study of such documents as are obtainable (the ones quoted at various times in this study), the motives which it seems safe to suggest are these: The desire to prevent Great Britain (whom Floyd detested) and Russia from overreaching the United States, com- bined with an ardent patriotic ambition stimulated psychically by the traditional pioneer spirit.
Floyd's final efforts of 1828-29 round out his work of a decade, but they have little that is new to offer. Some familiar names are missing Baylies is no longer there and others have come to take their stand on one side or the other. Before surveying the subject briefly a list of objections to the proposition will be given. They fur- nish a summary of the negative position, for the new opposition adds nothing greatly but amplification and reiteration to the arguments of old. The course of his- tory has decided their validity.
(1) Expense.
(2) Anxiety over destruction of the Indian tribes.
(3) Impossibility of agriculture.
(4) Danger of dismemberment of Union. (Baylies' answer to this, Ann. Cong. XL, 416, is thorough- ly worth reading.)
(5) Unsuitable climate and forbidding geography.
(6) Offense given to Czar of Russia.
(7) Military occupation would violate treaty obli- gations with England, on the other hand.
(8) Civil settlement would be wholly impracticable.
(9) Any colonizing plan is bad policy for the nation.
