Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/42



34 LIEUTENANT HOWISON REPORT ON OREGON, 1846

pany would be soon turned out of the country by the terms of the anticipated treaty, and many were led to this offensive course by a desire to succeed to those advantages which could not be conveyed away by the retiring company. Since the de- tails of the treaty have come to hand, it is to be presumed a better understanding of respective permanent rights will be entertained; but I feel bound to express the opinion, for the information of government, that however acceptable that treaty may be to the people generally, some of its items give great discontent and heart-burnings in Oregon. Howsoever little creditable this may be to the good sense and moderation of the complainants, it may be accounted for by reference to the fact that in every community some of its members are unrea- sonable enough to act upon a one-sided view of the subject. In this particular case several causes unite to excite dissatis- faction: first, disappointment at not having a grasp at the en- closed fields and ready-made habitations which they had all along expected the treaty would oblige the Hudson's Bay Com- pany to vacate; next, the hoped-for dissolution of this com- pany would have relieved many persons from the presence of their creditors; and others saw that only in that event would Americans be able to engage successfully in commercial pur- suits. But although too many were influenced by motives so unworthy, yet it must not be supposed I would include among them the substantial cultivator, or any one of the great bulk of hobest emigrants who came here to live by his labor, and not by his artifice or speculating genius, which would render the labors of others subservient to his use.

These discontents might not be worth alluding to, did we not remember from what small beginnings political parties sometimes take their rise; and this may be the nucleus of a growth of independents, who may compromise our government i'n its stipulations for the security of English property in Ore- gon, to say nothing of the effect produced upon public opinion by the habit of seeing always on the increase a party opposing the policy and measures of the United States. It should be