USA > Louisiana > History of Louisiana, the Spanish domination > Part 41
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537
MR. MADISON ON THE PROTEST.
by Spain, are in fact too futile to weigh either with others or with herself. The promise made by the French ambassador, that no alienation should be made, formed no part of the treaty of retrocession to France ; and, if it had, would have no effect on the purchase by the United States, which was made in good faith, with- out notice from Spain of any such condition, and even with sufficient evidence that no such condition existed. The objection drawn from the failure of the French go- vernment to procure from other powers an acknowledg- ment of the King of Etruria, is equally groundless. This stipulation was never communicated either to the public or to the United States, and could, therefore, be no bar to the contract made by them. It might be added, that, as the acknowledgment stipulated was, according to the words of the article, to precede possession by the King of Etruria, the overt possession by him was notice to the world that the conditions on which it depended had either been fulfilled, or had been waived. Finally, no particular Powers, whose acknowledgment was to be procured, are named in the article; and the existence of war between Great Britain and France, at the time of the stipulation, is a proof that the British acknowledg- ment, the want of which is now alleged as a breach of the treaty, could never have been in its contemplation.
" But the conduct of the Spanish government, both towards the United States and France, is a complete answer to every possible objection to the treaty between them. That government well knew the wish of the United States to acquire certain territories which it had ceded to France, and that they were in negotiation with France on the subject; yet the slightest hint was never given that France had no right to alienate, or even that an alienation to the United States would be disagreeable to Spain. On the contrary, the minister of his Catholic
1.
538
MR. MADISON ON THE PROTEST.
Majesty, in an official note, bearing date May 4th last, gave information to the minister of the United States at Madrid, that the entire province of Louisiana, with the limits it had when held by France, was retroceded to that power, and that the United States might address them- selves to the French government in order to negotiate the acquisition of the territories which would suit their inte- rest. Here is at once a formal and irrevocable recogni- tion of the right as well of France to convey, as of the United States to receive, the territory which is the sub- ject of the treaty between them. More than this cannot be required to silence, for ever, the cavils of Spain at the titles of France, now vested in the United States ; yet, for more than this, she may be referred to her own measures at New Orleans, preparatory to the delivery of possession to France; to the promulgation, under Spanish authority at that place, that Louisiana was re- troceded, and to be delivered to France; and to the orders signed by his Catholic Majesty's own hand, now ready to be presented to the government of Louisiana, for the delivery of the province to the person duly au- thorized by France to receive it.
"In a word, the Spanish government has interposed two objections only to the title conveyed to the United States by France. It is said, first, that the title in the United States is not good, because France was bound not to alienate. To this it is answered, that the Spanish government itself referred the United States to France, as the Power capable, and the only Power capable, of conveying the territory in question. It is said, next, that the title in France herself is not good. To this, if the same answer were less decisive, the orders of the King of Spain for putting France into possession are an answer that admits of no reply." *
*
539
MR. MADISON ON THE PROTEST.
Mr. Madison added : "The rightful limits of Louisiana are under investigation. It seems undeniable from the present state of the evidence, that it extends eastwardly as far, at least, as the river Perdido; and there is little doubt that we shall make good both a western and northern extent highly satisfactory to us."
On the 12th of October, the Marquis de Casa Irujo addressed to Mr. Madison another communication, in which he resumed the argument to prove that Spain was right in protesting against the execution of the treaty of cession : "I have received," said he, "your letter of the 4th current in reply to those which I had the honor to write to you on the 4th and 27th of the last month ; and as, without entering into the examination of the powerful reasons which, in the name of the King my master, I unfolded therein, against the sale of Louisiana, you refer generally to the explanations which, as you inform me, the minister of the United States near his Majesty is to make at Madrid, I shall at present confine my observations to that which you are pleased to make to me, founded upon certain expressions which you cite to me from an official letter of the Secretary of State of the King my master, to the above mentioned American minister in Spain. The expressions are the following :
+ " By the retrocession made to France of Louisiana, this power has recovered the said province with the limits which it had, and saving the rights acquired by other powers. The United States can address themselves to the French government to negotiate the acquisition of territory which may suit their interests .*
" These expressions, which you consider as an explicit
* Por la retrocesion hecha á la Francia de la Luisiana, recobró esta potentia dicha provincia con los limites con que la tubo, y salvos los derechos acquiridos por otras potencias. La de los Estados Unidos podrá dirigirse al gobierno Fran- cès para negociar la adquisicion de territorios que convengan à su interes.
540
CASA IRUJO TO MR. MADISON.
and positive acknowledgment of the right of the United States and France to enter into the engagements which they afterwards did, do not, in my opinion, weaken, in any manner, the foundation and the force of the repre- sentations which I have had the honor to make to you against the sale of Louisiana.
"There is an expression among those you cite, which will suffice to refute the inference you draw from them, and it is that of saving the rights acquired by other pow- ers. Although the general form of this expression gives, in other respects, much latitude to its true meaning, it is indubitable that Spain having made the retrocession of Louisiana to France, under certain conditions and modifications, Spain has the undoubted right to claim their execution. Of this nature was the stipulation that France should not sell nor alienate Louisiana in any manner whatever, and likewise the solemn and positive accession and declaration of the French government adhering to the wishes of Spain; consequently this ex- pression destroys the possibility that, according to exist- ing circumstances, the French government should possess the right of selling the said province, or the government of the United States that of buying it.
" There is another consideration still stronger, and which is not at all subject to the interpretation of equi- vocal expressions. It is evident that the engagement entered into by France with Spain not to alienate Lou- isiana in any manner, is much older in date than the official letter of M. Cevallos, whose expressions you are pleased to cite to me. In that letter, those which you have scored : that the United States can address them- selves to the French government to negotiate the acquisi- tion of the territory which may suit their interests, neither signify nor can signify any thing but a deference towards France, whose government alone is now concerned to
541
CASA IRUJO TO MR. MADISON.
give a decisive answer to the requests of the United States,-an answer analogous and conformable to the nature of the previous engagements which had been en- tered into with Spain. The repugnance of the Spanish government may likewise be recognised to give to that of the United States a necessary negative, at a time when it found itself united with them by bonds of the most sincere friendship.
" Other interpretations of equal force may be derived from the obvious meaning of the expressions of the of- ficial letter of the Secretary of State of his Majesty mentioned by you ; but as those which I have just made are, in my opinion, conclusive, I abstain from entering upon others in detail, and I take the liberty to call to them the attention, as well of yourself as of the Presi- dent of the United States, in order that you may be more and more convinced of the reason and justice with which the King, my master, objects to the ratification of a treaty founded upon a manifest violation of the most sacred engagements entered into by France."
Mr. Madison communicated to Mr. Pinckney, the American Minister at Madrid, all the arguments which he had used to refute the pretensions of Spain, and said : " The President thinks it proper, that they should, with- out delay, be conveyed to the Spanish government, either by a note from you or in conversation, as you may deem most expedient, and in a form and style best unit- ing the advantages of making that government sensible of the absolute determination of the United States to maintain their right, with the propriety of avoiding un- dignified menace and unnecessary irritation.
"The conduct of Spain, on this occasion, is such as was, in several views, little to be expected, and as is not readily explained. If her object be to extort Louisiana from France, as well as to prevent its transfer to the
542
MADISON TO PINCKNEY.
United States, it would seem that she must be embold- ened by an understanding with some other very power- ful quarter of Europe. If she hopes to prevail on France to break her engagement to the United States, and voluntarily restore Louisiana to herself, why has she so absurdly blended with the project the offensive com- munication of the perfidy which she charges on the First Consul ? If it be her aim to prevent the execution of the treaty between the United States and France, in order to have for her neighbor the latter instead of the United States, it is not difficult to show that she mis- takes the lesser for the greater damage against which she wishes to provide. Admitting, as she may possibly suppose, that Louisiana, as a French colony, would be less able, as well as less disposed, than the United States, to encroach on her southern possessions, and that it would be too much occupied with its own safety against the United States to turn its force on the other side against her possessions, still it is obvious, in the first place, that, in proportion to the want of power in the French, the colony would be safe for Spain; that com- pared with the power of the United States, the colony would be insufficient as a barrier against the United States ; and, in the next place, that the very security which she provides, would itself be a source of the greatest of all the dangers she has to apprehend. The collisions between the United States and the French would lead to a contest, in which Great Britain would naturally join the former, and in which Spain would, of course, be on the side of the latter; and what becomes of Louisiana and the Spanish possessions beyond it, in a contest between the powers so marshalled ?- An easy and certain victim to the fleets of Great Britain and the land armies of this country. A combination of these
543
MADISON TO PINCKNEY.
forces was always, and justly, dreaded by both Spain and France. It was this danger which led both into our revolutionary war, and much inconsistency and weakness is chargeable on the projects of either which tend to re-unite for the purposes of war, the power which has been divided. France, by returning to her original policy, has wisely, by her late treaty with the United States, obviated a danger which would not have been very remote. Spain will be equally wise in follow- ing the example ; and, by acquiescing in an arrangement which guards against an early danger of controversy between the United States, first with France, and then with herself, and which removes to a distant day the approximation of the American and Spanish settlements, provides in the best possible manner for the security of the latter, and for a lasting harmony with the United States. What is it that Spain dreads ? She dreads, it is presumed, the growing power of this country, and the direction of it against her possessions within its reach. Can she annihilate this power? No. Can she sensibly retard its growth ? No. Does not common prudence then advise her to conciliate, by every proof of confi- dence and friendship, the good-will of a nation whose power is formidable to her; instead of yielding to the impulses of jealousy, and adopting obnoxious precau- tions which can have no other effect than to bring on, prematurely, the whole weight of the calamity which she fears ? Reflections, such as these, may, perhaps, enter with some advantage into your communications with the Spanish government; and, as far as they may be invited by favorable occasions, you will make that use of them."
It had been thought proper to communicate to M. Pichon, the French Chargé-d'Affaires at Washington,
544
THE FRENCH CHARGE ON THE PROTEST.
the tenor of the notes from the Marquis de Casa Irujo, and, in reply, M. Pichon addressed to the Secretary of State, on the 14th of October, the following note :
" The undersigned, to whom the Secretary of State has been pleased to communicate the proceedings of the Minister of his Catholic Majesty to the United States, in relation to the treaty by which the French Republic has ceded Louisiana to the United States, thinks that he owes it to his own government as well as to the American government, to present to Mr. Madison the observations of which those proceedings, as far as they attack the rights and even the dignity of the French government, have appeared to him susceptible.
" The Court of Madrid, according to the notes of its Minister, considers the cession made by France to the United States as irregular and invalid: 1º-because France has renounced the right of alienating the terri- tories in question : 2°-because the treaty of St. Ilde- phonso, by which Spain retroceded those territories to France, has not been fully executed with respect to the acknowledgment of the King of Etruria-an acknow- ledgment which was one of the conditions of the retro- cession to be fulfilled by France.
"On the first point, the undersigned will observe that the treaty of St. Ildephonso retrocedes Louisiana in full sovereignty, and without any limitation as to the future domain of France. To operate a limitation so essential as is that to which the Court of Madrid appeals, nothing less would have been necessary, according to the nature of contracts in general and of treaties in particular, than a stipulation to this effect inserted in the treaty itself. A promise made fifteen months after the signature of this pact, and which might, on one side, have been yielded to the solicitations of one of the con- tracting parties, and, on the other, dictated by the dis-
545
THE FRENCH CHARGE ON THE PROTEST.
positions which might then exist in the other party, but which ulterior circumstances might have changed-such a promise cannot create in favor of Spain a right suffi- cient to enable her to charge with invalidity the trans- actions which have contravened it. The contrary pre- tensions would certainly confound all the principles relative to the nature of obligations, and would de- stroy the solemnity of treaties. These general reason- ings would receive a new force from the circumstances which are peculiar to different nations in relation to the subject of pacts ; but the undersigned will not enter into the examination of these circumstances, under the persuasion that general principles sufficiently repel the pretensions of the Court of Madrid.
" On the second point, the objections of that Court do not appear to the undersigned to be better founded. It is known that the King of Etruria was placed on the throne since the treaty of St. Ildephonso. We have a right to suppose, that his Catholic Majesty was satisfied from that period with the measures and efforts employed by France to cause the title of this Prince to be acknowledged by the other nations. It is at least what might be concluded from facts within the knowledge of the whole world. In the treaty of Amiens, concluded on the 27th of March, 1802, Great Britain did not acknowledge the King of Etruria. Notwithstanding the silence of the Court of London, on so solemn an occasion, that of Madrid ordered, in the month of October follow- ing, the delivery of the colony to France, as is proved by the royal cedula, which the undersigned has received and exhibited to Mr. Madison ; a cedula, which, as all the world knows, was long ago forwarded to the Captain General of Cuba, who sent the Marquis de Casa Calvo to New Orleans to superintend its execution.
"To these conclusive observations the undersigned
35
546
THE FRENCH CHARGE ON THE PROTEST.
will add, that the Court of Madrid might have been informed in the course of the month of February last, by its Minister to the United States, that the American government was sending to Paris a Minister Extraordi- nary, in order to negotiate with the French Government the acquisition of New Orleans. If the Court of Ma- drid had seen, in the object of this mission, an injury offered to its rights, what prevented it, after being thus early apprised, from informing thereof the Minister of the United States at Paris, and the French government, and from interposing, before the conclusion of the treaty, its intervention in a form adapted to suspend it ? It does not appear that that court has taken, at Paris, any steps of this nature. To suppose it, would be inconsis- tent with the instructions which the undersigned has received from his government, to accelerate as much as is in his power the execution of the treaty concluded on the 30th of April last, between the French Republic and the United States.
"The undersigned therefore hopes, that the American government will not see in the proceedings of the court of Madrid, in order to obstruct the execution of this treaty, any thing but specious reasonings, and will pro- ceed to its execution with the same earnestness which the French government has employed on its part. The undersigned has received the necessary orders to ex- change the ratifications and effect the taking of posses- sion of Louisiana by France, and its transfer to the United States. He does not presume that the court of Madrid would wish to oppose the execution of the first orders. This supposition would be as contrary to its loyalty as to the dignity of the French government. In any event, as soon as the ratifications are exchanged, the undersigned will proceed without delay, in concert with the commissary appointed for that purpose by the First
547
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE IN 1803.
Consul, to the delivery of the colony to the persons whom the President of the United States shall appoint to take possession of it."
On the 17th of October, Congress assembled at Wash- ington agreeably to the proclamation of the President of the United States, who, in his message, thus referred to the purchase of Louisiana :
" Congress witnessed, at their late session, the extraor- dinary agitation produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit at the port of New Orleans, no assignment of another place having been made according to treaty. They were sensible that the continuation of that privation would be more injurious to our nation than any consequences which could flow from any mode of redress ; but, reposing just confidence in the good faith of the government whose officer had committed the wrong, friendly and reasonable represen- tations were resorted to, and the right of deposit was restored.
" Previous, however, to this period, we had not been unaware of the danger to which our peace would be per- petually exposed, whilst so important a key to the com- merce of the Western country remained under a foreign power. Difficulties too were presenting. themselves as to the navigation of other streams, which, arising within our territories, pass through those adjacent. Propositions had therefore been authorized for obtaining, on fair con- ditions, the sovereignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that quarter, interesting to our quiet, to such extent as was deemed practicable; and the provi- sional appropriation of two millions of dollars, to be applied and accounted for by the President of the United States, intended as part of the price, was considered as conveying the sanction of Congress to the acquisition pro- posed. The enlightened government of France saw,
548
THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE IN 1803.
with just discernment, the importance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as might best and permanently promote the peace, interests, and friendship of both; and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, has, on certain conditions, been transferred to the United States, by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When these shall have received the constitutional sanction of the Senate, they will, without delay, be communicated to the Represen- tatives for the exercise of their functions, as to those conditions which are within the powers vested by the Constitution in Congress. Whilst the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an independent outlet for the produce of the Western States, and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, free from collision with other powers and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country, its climate and extent promise, in due season, important aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide spread for the blessings of freedom and equal laws.
" With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those ulterior measures which may be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary government of the country ; for its incorporation into our Union; for ren- dering the change of government a blessing to our newly adopted brethren; for securing to them the rights of ' conscience and of property ; for confirming to the Indian inhabitants their occupancy and self-government, esta- blishing friendly and commercial relations with them ; and for ascertaining the geography of the country acquired."
On the 26th of October, a bill to enable the President to take possession of the territories ceded by France to the United States, by the treaty concluded at Paris on the 30th of April, was adopted in the Senate by a vote
549
1
DEBATES IN CONGRESS.
in the affirmative of 26 to 6 in the negative. Those who voted against the bill were John Quincy Adams and Timothy Pickering from Massachusetts, James Hillhouse and Uriah Tracy from Connecticut, Simeon Olcott and William Plumer from New Hampshire.
On the 2d of November, the Senate resumed the second reading of a bill entitled : " An act authorizing the erection of a stock to the amount of eleven millions two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of carrying into effect the convention of the 30th of April, 1803, between the United States and the French Republic." The bill had come up from the House of Representatives, where it had passed on the 29th of Oc- tober. On the question : Shall the bill pass ?- Mr. James White, from Delaware, moved that the further considera- tion of the bill be postponed until the second Monday in December next, stating as the ground of the motion he had the honor to make, that the question was then in- volved in much difficulty and doubt. He could not ac- cede to the immediate passage of the bill, " because," said he, " by the day I have named, the Senate would be able to act more understandingly on the subject, as it would then probably be ascertained whether we are likely to obtain the quiet possession of New Orleans and Loui- siana under the treaty or not, and there would still re- main a great sufficiency of time to make the necessary provisions on our part for carrying the treaty into exe- cution, if it should be deemed necessary.
" Admitting then," continued he, "that his Catholic Majesty is hostile to the cession of this territory to the United States, and no honorable gentleman will deny it, what reasons have we to suppose that the French Prefect, provided the Spaniards should interfere, can give to us peaceable possession of the country ? He is acknow- ledged there in no public character, is clothed with no
550 .
MR. WHITE IN THE SENATE.
authority, nor has he a single soldier to enforce his orders. I speak now from mere probabilities. I wish not to be understood as predicting that the French will not cede to us the actual and quiet possession of the territory. I hope to God they may, for possession of it we must have,-I mean of New Orleans, and of such other posi- tions on the Mississippi as may be necessary to secure to us for ever, the complete and uninterrupted navigation of that river. This I have ever been in favor of ; I think it essential to the peace of the United States and to the prosperity of our Western country. But as to Louisiana, this new, immense, unbounded world, if it should ever be incorporated into this Union, which I have no idea can be done but by altering the Constitution, I believe it will be the greatest curse that could at present befall us ; it may be productive of innumerable evils, and especially of one that I fear even to look upon. Gentlemen on all sides, with very few exceptions, agree that the settlement of the country will be highly injurious and dangerous to the United States ; but, as to what has been suggested of removing the Creeks and other nations of Indians from the Eastern to the Western banks of the Mississippi, and making the fertile regions of Louisiana a howling wilderness, never to be trodden by the foot of civilized man, it is impracticable. The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cocke) has shown his usual candor on this occasion, and I believe with him, to use his strong language, that you had as well pretend to prohibit the fish from swim- ming in the sea, as to prevent the populating of that country after its sovereignty shall become ours. To every man acquainted with the adventurous, roving, and enterprising temper of our people, and with the manner in which our Western country has been settled, such an idea must be chimerical. The inducements will be so strong, that it will be impossible to restrain our citizens
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