this effect may be made consistently with the spirit of that convention.

The recommendations which I have made as to the best manner of securing
our rights in Oregon are submitted to Congress with great deference.
Should they in their wisdom devise any other mode better calculated to
accomplish the same object, it shall meet with my hearty concurrence.

At the end of the year's notice, should Congress think it proper to make
provision for giving that notice, we shall have reached a period when
the national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firmly
maintained. That they can not be abandoned without a sacrifice of both
national honor and interest is too clear to admit of doubt.

Oregon is a part of the North American continent, to which, it is
confidently affirmed, the title of the United States is the best now in
existence. For the grounds on which that title rests I refer you to the
correspondence of the late and present Secretary of State with the
British plenipotentiary during the negotiation. The British proposition
of compromise, which would make the Columbia the line south of 49°, with
a trifling addition of detached territory to the United States north of
that river, and would leave on the British side two-thirds of the whole
Oregon Territory, including the free navigation of the Columbia and all
the valuable harbors on the Pacific, can never for a moment be
entertained by the United States without an abandonment of their just
and clear territorial rights, their own self-respect, and the national
honor. For the information of Congress, I communicate herewith the
correspondence which took place between the two Governments during the
late negotiation.

The rapid extension of our settlements over our territories heretofore