Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/310

 292 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPER were passed over and Congress adjourned without action on them. Linn's bill to extend a portion of the laws of the United States over Oregon met with a similar fate. His reso- lution calling upon the Secretary of War to furnish an esti- mate of the expense and his opinion of the utility of establish- ing a series of forts from the Missouri River to the Columbia valley produced from Poinsett an opinion favorable to Linn's notions. 18 The second session of the Twenty-sixth Congress did not find Senator Linn more successful. The campaign was over and not only had the Whigs secured the presidency, but they would control both houses of Congress from March, 1841 ; this meant that the great topics to come up in the next Con- gress would be internal improvements, the tariff, the bank and other fiscal matters, and everything else not absolutely essential to the running of the government would be postponed. Moreover there were indications that the Maine boundary question might be settled and it was possible that Oregon might come in for consideration at the same time. Conse- quently when Linn again introduced resolutions to authorize the adoption of measures for the occupation and settlement of the Oregon Territory the utmost he could accomplish was securing their reference to the select committee. Apparently he felt that he was not being treated with exact fairness for he mentioned the fact that he had desisted at the last session on account of the negotiation with Great Britain. Such tenderness, however, would not avail ; ever since the Treaty of Ghent Great Britain had step by step made her advance into the territory, which he understood she was ready to pur- chase in 1814; she was sending immigrants, building forts, extending her laws not only north but south of the Columbia. It was his opinion that the issue would never be settled in a peaceful manner and it was better for the United States to act then, combining all its claims: against England, than to allow the insidious process to continue. 19 But a bill, framed in accord with the recommendations of Secretary Poinsett, advanced no further than an introduction and reference. 18 Sen. Doc. No. 231, 26th Cong. ist. Ses., 26 Feb., 1840. 19 Globe, IX, 71, 89, 90. Appen. 105.