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THE COURIER.
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OUR FIRST EXPANSION. It was "e of the strongest grounds far as vital, survived a new annexa- borne of the Mississippi territory, took
of objection to the proviso for state- Hon and became the law of an Eng- possession of Louisiana by the prcsi-
TME LOUISIANA PURCHA8B AS hood in the Louisiana treaty that be- lish-speaking people. dent's delegation and reported that
A PRECEDENT OF TERRI fore the repsesentatives elected to one The treaty of cession consummated the population had welcomed the flafr
TORI VL EXPANSION congress from the Pacific northwest by Livingston and Monroe in April, with cheers, a report contradicted in
' ' could take their seats a new congress 1803, now regarded as the most diplo- congress on discussion of the bill for
All Our Acquisitions of Territory Except would be in session, and a dozen years nmtlc bargain of history, thrust on their provisional government, when it
i..b. nih Posswsinns The later the battle of New Orleans was Jefferson's ndmiuist ration immense waH ehnrged that they were dissatis-
Simple and Easy Methods by Wbich fought and won in ignorance of the difficulties. Ills envoys, sent to buy ed. This bill, although it was opposed
Assimilation was Affectei-Tbe fnct that a treaty of peace had been one seaport, had brough home an em- "s " mIetc despotism" by one of
Pat Points the Clear Way to sied more than a fortnight before. .ire. Furthermore, they had affixed Jefferson own party, continued the
Future Success in Expansion.
It was a territorj-, remote, vast, un- to their purchase covenants, running
government practically in his hands.
, A , , - . , , , ... ., ,i4 ,. . . . rhe house nppurantly sanctioning- the
n if we explored; traversable mainly by In- with the ceded territory, that the in- n '. , , , . . . Vu i
as ii we i j - .Muni. new, though not, it is to be hoped,
irting of !" paths and difficult waterways; habitants thereof should be inoorpo- the of Qf
Lewis rated in the United States" as soon as
It seems to many persons
1.0.1 nmo in mi ominous parting
lt tw hniieve we are aban- ' part, by barbarous tribes.
rfnnintan established national policy, and Clarke had not yet made their possible, with all the rights of the ex-
n,i : friirhtens them that our coun- .., iu mc pm.u ..iC4 ul mc w ..-...K ....,, ...... ,... . -
taphc
setts that "the principles of civil lib
erty cannot suddenly be engrafted on
a people accustomed to regimen of
try, now so snugly ensconced in what lumbia, nor had the Oregon trail been Orleans should have a temporary pref- a (i;rectiy opposite hue."
they consider her .national borders, unroueu oeiore ine eyes, oi i-arKman. erance over every oiner port in wie This act (March 19, 1804) divided th
should be pressing beyond them. Nev- More than sixty years elapsed from Union. territory into two section the north-
ertheless we are confronted with the the purchase.of Louisiana before the Jefferson was of the opinion that crWt called "The District of Louisiana,"
accomplished fact of annexation by Union Pacific railroad, justified as a to thus annex .his most desirable ter- embracing practically all the purchase
treaty and conquest. Protest will no government necessity, was built. Then, ritory would make the Constitution execpt the present state of Louisiana,
longer avail. We must all of us who nt last, the distance between the "waste paper," and wanted an amend- which wkm called "The Territory of
love our country turn our minds to oceans is measured, not by years, but ment to legalize it. John Quincy Orleans." The latter was governed by
solving the problems before us. by days! Thus, in the measurement of Adams held similar views. Senator congress on the apparent assumption
Every departure from tradition is distance and time over country has Tracy of Connecticut declared it un- that it was territory acquired with
serious. Established conditions are dwindled incredibly since Jefferson's constitutional to "make citizens ami treaty obligations as to its govern
not to be lightly changed. Institutions tjay when Massachusetts could have states by treaty;" and there was the ment, while the vast tract to the
which have proved safe in the hands been invaded weeks before Vincennes most strenuous objection to the favors northward was treated as "merged in
of a homogeneous population may not or savannah had the news. Six mill- granted the port of New Orleans. the old territory, which congress had
be safe in a land of mixed races. On jons 0 pe0pe sparsely scattered Nevertheless, there was a sufficient express right to "dispose of and Teg
tile threshold of a new undertaking', aong the Atlantic seaboard whose majority in congress, who saw the ulate at will." (Henry Adams, Hist,
the prudent man weighs risks against resoUrces were undeveloped, whose value of the purchase, to ratify the U. S.) Being for the most part unset
possible profits, anil relies rather up- means of communication were primi- treaty, without regard to these objec- tied, it was at first administered by
on experience than hope. tive, dared to double their territory, tinos; and the president, acquiesced in the governor and three judges of the
The purpose of this letter is to re- and jn he teeth of objection, faced their action. They found power Indiana territory from the town of
cite briefly the acts which made the ajj e responsibility for the military enough in the broad constitutional Vincennes. who made its simple lnw
first precedent of our national expan- protection and civil administration of provisions for the care of territory and until a territorial government took up
sion, showing how perfectly they ap- the vast domain. It is with this solu- property of the United States and the the task. That governor was William
ply to our present undertaking. Those t;on ot the political problems thus "general welfare" clause. As for fa- Henry Harrison, "O.d Tippecanoe."
who believe that our national policy brought upon them that we shall have voring the port of New Orleans over Iteyond this there is little to interest
has been a forward policy from the to do other ports in the Union, Nicholson of us in the evolution of what later be-
first may be strengthened, ana tnose Louisiana lias a checkered history. Deleware said in the house: "It is in
who doubt may be relieved by having The Spaniard, De Soto, perished in dis- the nature of a colony whose coin-
thus recalled to them the circum- covering it (1541)and has for a monu- merce may be regulated without any
came
The Missouri Territory."
It was in the southerly territory of
Orleans that the problems of annexa-
so complex and their solu
tion remains so instructive. This was
an old community of some 50,000 souls
irrespective of negro slaves, nearly all
foreign, in race and religion, to those
stances under which our republic, at mettt the Mississippi. The French reference to the Union." and on that f?on mrBt
. .. . . i i-; i i -.to i. """ "ere
the beginning oi its existence, uui - w;gan us cuiuaizuuuir uuuui iu.o, um theory congress seems to have pro-
ly acquired an imperial realm, but also lost it to Spain a century later (1762). Ceeded. "It shows," said Caesar Kod-
pledged itself by treaty to admit to in 1800 Spain ceded it back to Prance, IMfV; that congress has a power in the
citizenship a large and alien popula- but only delivered possession in 1803, territories which they cannot exercise
tion. to enable the rrencn commissioner to -m the states, and that the limitations , t .,
It is a most apt precedent at this hand over to our representatives what of er found n the constitution are mtmHtv ,, , m . . .? ?.
moment., when it seems almost for- we had already purchased. applicable to the states, not the tart- TlThT ' stocrat,c;
gotten that though we bought Louisi- During its first century the law of wMe John Kan(lo, h main J" "
ana from France, the laws we found rana was French. In 1769 Count g0VernnJt of the JeHwl" tv ! be Sd Z
there were Spanish, admin stered by O'Reilly, the Spanish governor (the United States with respect to this ter- 'benefit Tthev derfv d f rom I e
Spanish officials, and that (eptuV Gneral Count O'Reilly of Byron's "Don wl the rf Eun. mZZJZZ
Alaska) all the land we have hitherto juan), took possession of New Or- Lereignty " This power is com,ncrcnd a kss b.te.0 govern-
..: w ..n Rnonish. With that ,MT1B nP nV, ih FVnch conn- ?"" fm,Bn ln,S Pwr nient and the pains taken to encour-
.itiumtu u - t lortmvitn assumeti.
one exception, two-thirds of the pres- c for "sedition," and put to death
ent -area of the United States came to several noted citizens for protesting,
us from Spain. One can travel from jje supplanted the French language
San Diego to St. Augustine; thence, and laws by "the form of the political
along the Gulf, to New Orleans; from government and administration
New Orleans to Omaha, from Omaha which," he said, "our wise laws pre-
age their speedy participation in it.
The act of Octoler 31, 1803, pro- The declaration of transfer between
vided that until the expiration of that French and American commissioners
session of congress, or provision there- was published in Iwth languages.
tofore made for the temporary gov- Claiborne, on assuming- control as
ernment of the ceded territory, "all gOVernor assured the people in an ad-
;sew uneam. lu """ ., '", ' - the militarv, civil and judicial powers, (lreKs similarlv ,i;wmJn,tl tW th-
to Tacoma, and return to San Diego, scribe, and bv which," he added with . . ,. - " nt 4ll . . ,,ress s,m,Iar,J disseminated, that thej-
io iiivuio, ... . exercised bv the officers of the exist- iir.,,i,i ) nmtant.i : t(.r. i:k-..
alwavs iourneving through what wasllnconscious irony, "all the states of . .., . t.- haaUl P" '" their liberty.
Dee Spanish territory. his Majesty in America have ever been T nTnTonT ,nd " TeU8',OUS Profession' aDd
itwold, indeed, seem as if the for- ma;tained in the most perfect tran- m J' TZ , "" """ advanCemcnt f ,itical in'
ard movement of our frontiers had quiIIity, content, and subordination." " "T " TnZ ZZ ion" so that th chi1-
aru . .. ., J . . the president of the United States ...i,, ,..,...... ..
been more or less continuous, and as jjy the laws thus established the
president
shall d irectJ
if, from the beginning our policy had gOVernor at New Orleans became abso- of f wf n
i,., nl nf territorial affcrrandize- inte administrator of the province. .. , .. , ..,. tne,n' whose object
could "appreciate the intrinsic worth
The act further au- of of he government traninnitted to
been one of territorial aggrandize- lllte administrator of the province, ,. nrmv , nfivv' i 'h Looor- ..'. whos s "-ere to secure
ment; for these acquisitions were under the crown, and sole judge of all - jr nappmess anu we.rare
made on four several occasions, at in- causes of which he chose to take juris- ,, nln a hL That th,s wa8 nt mere Phrase mar
- ... he seen from a clause of the act of
March 19, 1804, which enjoins upon
the governor of Orleans Territory to
himself of th ciintima
Step seems XO lime uixu. ., uu.-, la lv luc iuji nuuiui, puiuiu . .. i4 "v)ntinli --.,
at the time, was bitterly opposed, and over by the captain-general of Cuba, "!" ""J t.Mn5ai, ',-" habits aml diPHioi of the inhab-
MtiF - - .te "-'f o iti ntti n-ntt nAmmitninitA 4ham 4 lh&
tervals rf many years, and were, in d;ction, having for assistant a royal d, , the m of $lf605,ooo, "to be
turn, followed by the purchase of attorney( lettrado). From his deci-. direction."
ft . 1.n1r lnl fknll WWTPflrn n?A..v n wAvn4?in nnl 34Fis14 nnrufll
Alaska. As we look back each forward s;0n a vexatious and difficult appeal
step seems to have been wise, but each, ay to the Boyal Audience, presided
It was a startling bill,'' said Beo- inform
The Spanish law thus forcibly im- putting the president in the place of .. The goyernor npparentl
1he kirc of Spain, putting all the ter- ..., . , . . , , ..
osed upon a foreign people, neverthe- . r;afofficer; Inhe place of the -s office we. for he kept .t
none more so can it be credited? sitting at Peurto Principe.
than the purchase of Louisiana.
-w. -irr? Ii X. A1t ivrln -.rJl
11 IS ailllCUll ll ua ivj, " IIU3CU uiwu a .u.t.jju (,wf.v., ..i,..- -.:1 ! : t1,n l-w.
4 n,;ii:nno nnnnlnto tli eonti- lacs ciipimi1ii1 nfler fnrtv tmis nf in. . . .. continuously
sici,, .........o r-r - - - - . - -rf kins s officers and placing the ap- ;
f.nm coo in cm ti liark back to floirihlo pnfftrppinpnt. in frpttm into . . . ,. .. . . came a State,
ucub j... --f o o pointment oi all these onicers m me
the year 1S03 and Thomas Jefferson s their very bones; and, although 5. alone, without reference to rh act
pastoral republic. It seems but little French continued to be spoken large- the genate. Nothing could be more terr,t"ai
further back to the days of bluff King ly, Spanish became therr official Ian- iuct,uipatible with our constitution
Hal or even of Alfred. Indeed, the guage. France made no changes dur- ihi. SI10h a cyovernment. a mere ema-
changes wrought in the world by this jng her twenty days' possession in nation of Spanish despotism, in which senate; and for a legislative council
century make the gulf between the 1S03, so that we took from her Spanish all powers, civil and military, legisla- of thirteen resident freeholders, simi-
old English kings and Jefferson seem territory, with Spaniards holding all tive, executive and judicial, were in Iarb' appointed. The council, with the
less deep lhan that between his'times the offices, and Spanish judges admin- the intendant-general." ' governor, should have power "to alter,
and ours. isTering the Spanish law, which, so On December 20, 1803, Governor Clai- modify, or repeal the laws" then in
until the territory be-
in 1812.
The act of March 19 provided for a
governor, secretary, and
three judges, appointed by a president
in recess, but to be confirmed' by the
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