Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/272

236 Oregon, to 1843, when- the bill of Mr. Linn passed the Senate, the action of Congress had been inefficient, and the diplomatic negotiations had been puerile. But now the people had spoken in no uncertain tones, and decisive action, backed by resolute purpose, was demanded.

The face of affairs began to wear a new aspect. A joint resolution of notice to Great Britain to terminate the joint occupation at the end of one year, passed the House by a test vote of 154 to 54, and after amendment, passed the Senate by a vote of 40 to 14, and was finally adopted April 23, 1846. (Benton s Thirty Years, vol. 2, p. 673.) Diplomatic negotiations, also, progressed rapidly. June 6, Sir Richard Pakenham, the British minister at Washington, submitted a draft of a treaty to which Great Britain was willing to agree, making the parallel of 49 the northern boundary of Oregon; thus compromising the question at issue by dividing the territory between the two nations. This compromise seemed the natural and equitable result of the controversy. It continued to the Pacific ocean the long line which separated the possessions of the two nations, and gave to each the territory which seemed to belong to it geographically.

President Polk, however, was pledged by his party platform to assert claim to the entire country. While his judgment approved the compromise, he thought it honorable, as far as possible, to consult the wishes of the country. He, therefore, availed himself of the unused constitutional privilege of asking the advice of the Senate. He laid the proposed treaty before them June 10, in a message, requesting advice and stating: &quot;Should the Senate, however, decline by such constitutional majority to give such advice, or to express an opinion on the subject, I shall consider it my duty to reject the offer.&quot; The Senate, June i2th, on motion of Mr. Haywood, of North Carolina, by a vote of 38 to 12, passed a resolution, advising the acceptance of the British offer.