Mr. White, of Delaware, rose and addressed the Chair as follows: Mr. President, on this subject, which has on a former day been discussed with so much ability, and with so much eloquence, by my friend from Pennsylvania, the honorable mover of the resolutions, I shall submit the few observations that I may make, in as concise a manner as I am capable of; for it is very far from my wish to occupy the time or attention of the Senate unnecessarily. The resolutions on your table I approve of in their full extent; I believe they express the firm and manly tone that at this moment is especially becoming the dignity of the Government to assume; I believe they mark out a system of measures, which, if promptly pursued, will be honorable to the nation, and equal to the accomplishment of the important object which gentlemen on all sides seem to have in view. These alone, with me, would be sufficient inducements to yield them my feeble support; but in addition to these, and to the thorough conviction of my own mind as to the course I ought to pursue, I have the happiness of being supported in my opinions on this subject by the unequivocal expression of the sentiment of the State to which I have the honor to belong.
It was early seen, Mr. President, and required but little penetration to discover, that adventurers emigrating beyond the mountains, and settling on the Western waters, must possess the free navigation of the Mississippi, it being their only outlet to the ocean. This important privilege it became necessary on the part of the Government of the United States to secure by treaty, and not leave to the capricious will of whatever nation who might in future hold the territory at the mouth of the river. Accordingly, in the 4th and 23d articles of our Treaty with Spain, I find on this subject the following stipulation:
"Art. 4. It is likewise agreed that the western boundary of the United States, which separates them from the Spanish colony of Louisiana, is in the middle of the channel or bed of the river Mississippi, from the northern boundary of the said States to the completion of the 31st degree of latitude north of the equator. And His Catholic Majesty has likewise agreed that the navigation of the said river, in its whole breadth from its source to the ocean, shall be free only to his subjects and the citizens of the United States, unless he should extend this privilege to the subjects of other powers by special convention."
"Art. 22. The two high contracting parties, hoping that the good correspondence and friendship which happily reigns between them will be further increased by this treaty, and that it will contribute to augment their prosperity and opulence, will in future give to their mutual commerce all the extension and favor which the advantages of both countries may require.
"And in consequence of the stipulations contained in the 4th article, His Majesty will permit the citizens of the United States, for the space of three years from this time, to deposit their merchandise and effects in the port of New Orleans, and to export them from thence without paying any other duty than a fair price for the hire of the stores; and His Majesty promises either to continue this permission, if he finds, during that time, that it is not prejudicial to the interests of Spain, or if he should not agree to continue it there, he will assign to them, on another part of the banks of the Mississippi, an equivalent establishment."
This instrument, Mr. President, it is known, for a time, quieted the fears and jealousies of our Western brethren; they supposed it had removed for ever the possibility of any future embarrassment to their commerce on those waters. And after it had been proclaimed as the law of the land—after it had been ratified by both nations, and become obligatory upon the faith and honor of each, who could have thought otherwise? Yet, sir, it has happened otherwise. This place of deposit at New Orleans, secured to our citizens by the article last read, has been recently wrested from their hands by the authority of the Spanish Government, and no other equivalent one assigned, where, after more than two thousand miles of boat navigation, they may disembark their produce in order to be shipped for sea; and without this advantage the navigation of the river is to them but an empty name.
I have said, by the authority of the Spanish Government, it has indeed been given out to the world, for reasons that every man may conjecture, and are unnecessary to be mentioned, that this was not the act of the Government, but the rash measure of a single officer—the Intendant General of the Spanish provinces; that the Spanish Minister had issued orders for the speedy adjustment of these difficulties; had kindly offered to throw himself into the breach to prevent this Intendant General from going to extremities with the Government of the United States. Sir, gentlemen may find, when too late, that this is a mere piece of diplomatic policy, intended only to amuse them; and to say nothing of the humiliating idea of resorting to such a plaster for the wound that has been inflicted upon our national honor, if they had taken the trouble, they might have been informed that the Spanish Minister near this Government has no control at New Orleans; that the Intendant General is, like himself, an immediate officer of the Crown, and responsible only to the Crown for his conduct. If the Spanish Minister has interfered, which I am not disposed to question, to make the best of it, it could only have been by the entreaties of men in power, as a mere mediator, to beg of the Intendant General of New Orleans justice and peace on behalf of the people of the United States. Are honorable gentlemen prepared to accept peace on such terms? They might do, sir, for a tribe of starving Indians; but is this the rank that we are to hold among the nations of the world? And it seems that even these supplicating advances are likely to avail us nothing. By accounts very lately received from New Orleans, by a private letter which I have seen since these resolutions were submitted to the Senate, the Intendant General has expressed much displeasure at the interference of the Spanish Minister, stating that it was not within his duty or his province, and that he, the Intendant, acted not under Spanish but French orders.
As to the closing of the port of New Orleans against our citizens, the man who can now doubt, after viewing all the accompanying circumstances, that it was the deliberate act of the Spanish or French Government, must have locked up his mind against truth and conviction, and be determined to discredit even the evidence of his own senses. But, sir, it is not only the depriving us of our right of deposit by which we have been aggrieved, it is by a system of measures pursued antecedent and subsequent to that event, equally hostile and even more insulting. I have in my hand a paper, signed by a Spanish officer, which, with the indulgence of the Chair, I will read to the Senate:
Advertisement.—Under date of the 16th instant, (December,) the Intendant General of these provinces tells me that the citizens of the United States of America can have no commerce with His Majesty's subjects—they only having the free navigation of the river for the exportation of the fruits and produce of their establishments to foreign countries, and the importation of what they may want from them. As such I charge you, so far as respects you, to be zealous and vigilant, with particular care, that the inhabitants neither purchase nor sell any thing to the shipping, flat-bottomed boats, barges, or any other smaller vessels that may go along the river, destined for the American possessions, or proceeding from them, that they shall be informed of it, for their due compliance of the same.
CARLOS DE GRANDPRE.