OREGON NEGOTIATION

 Concluded) MIR. BUCHANAN'S LAST LETTER. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, }
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COnclHded.)

 MIR. BUCHANAN'S LAST LETTER.

 DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

 WASHINGTON, August 30, 1915.

 But what authority can Great Britain in- i terpose in this manner? Was t ever imagin. ed Tn any court of justice that the acquisition ol new title destroyed the old one; and Gice rersa, that the purchase of the old title destroyed the new one3 In a question of mere private right, 1t would be considered absurd, fl stranger to both titles should say to the party who had made a settlement, ou shall not avail yourself of your posses sion, because this was taken ia violation of another outstanding title; and although must admit that yoa have also acquired this ont4 standing title, yet even this shall avail vod nothing, because, having taken possession previously to your purchase, you thereby eVInccd that you did not regard such title as valid And yet such is the mode by which the British Plenipotentiary has attempted to destroy both the American and Spanish titles. On the Contrary, in the case mentioned, the possession and the outstanding title being united in the same individual, these conoin- ed would be as perfect as if both had been vested in him from the beginning

 The undersigned, whilststrongly asserting both these titles, and believing each of them separately to be good as against Great Britain, has studiousIy avoided instiuting any com parison between them But admitting, for the sake of argument merely, that the discovery by Captain Gray of the mouth oi the Columbia, its exploration by Lewis and Clarke, and the settlement upon it's banks a. Astoria, were encroachments of Spain, she, and she alone, had a right 10 comPlain.- Great Bitain was third party; and, as such, had no right to interler Ill the question between Spain aud the United States. But Spain, in- stead of complaining of these acts as en- croachments, on the 22d February, 1919, by the Florida Treaty, tra slerred the whole title to the United States. From that mo- ment all possible conflict between the two titles was ended, both being united in the same party Two jules which might have condicted. therefore, were thus blended to- gether. The title HOW vested in the United States is just as strong as though every act of discovery, exploration, and settlement on the part of both powers had been performed by Spain alone, before she had transferred all her rights to the United States. The two powers are one in this respect; the two titles are one; and, as the undersigned will show hereafter, they serve to confirm and strength en each other. If Great. Britain, instead of the United States, had acquired the htle of Spain, she might have conlended that those acts of the United States were eaeroach- meats; but, standing in the attitude of a stranger to both titles, she has no right to in- terfere in the matter.

 The undersigned deems 1t unnecessary to pursue this branch of he subject further than tp state, that the United States, before they had acquired the 1ile of Spain, always treated that title with respect. In thesnego- tiation of ISIS, the American PIenipotentia- ries ''did pot assert that the United States had a perfect right to that country; but insisted that theiy claim was at least good against Great Brlain;" and the Convention of Octo- Der 20, ISIS, unlike that of Nootka Sound. reserved the claims of any other power or State to any part of the said country. The reservation could have been intended for Spain alone. But ever since the Usited States acquired the Spanish title, they have always asserted and maintained their right in the strongest terms up to the Russian line, even whilst offering, lorthe sake of harmony and peace, to divide the territory in dispute by the 49h parallel of latitude

 The British plenipotentary, then, has en- trely failed to sustain his position, that tie United States can found no claim on discov- cry, exploration and settlement, without ad- hitting the principles of the Eootka conven- tion. That convention died OH the commence ment of the war between Spain and Eng land, in 1796, and has never since been, revived. 4.

 The British plenipotentlary4 next "endea- vors to prove that, even if the Nootl.a Sound convention had never existed, the position off Great Britain in regardt to her claim, whether to the whole or to any particular portion off the Oregon territory, is at least as good as that of the United States.o In orderto estab- fish this position. he must show that the British claim is equal in validity to the tides both of Spain and the United States. These can never HOW be separated. They are one and the same. Different and divergng as they may have been before the Florida trea- ty, they are now blendedand identified. The separate discoveries, explorations and settle ments of the two powers previous 10 that date must now be considered as if they had all been made by the United States alone.- Under this palpable view of the subject, the undersigned was surprised 10 find that in the comparison and contrast instituted by theI British plenipotentiary between the elalm oi Great Britain andthat'oi the United States, heI had entirely omitted 10 refer to the diseove- ries,. explorations and settlements made by Spain. The undersigned will endeavor to1 supply the omission.

 But, before he proceeds to the main argn- ment on this point, hefeelshimself eonstrain- ed to express his surprise that the British .plenipotentiary should again have invoked in support of the British title the inconsistency between the Spanish. and American branches of the title of the United States. The under signed cannot ferbearto congratulate himself upon the fact, that gentleman of Mrs Pak- enham's acknowledged ability has been re- duced to the necessity of relying chiefly upon such support for sustaining the Bfi- tsh pretentions. Stated in brief, the argu-

 