Oregon Territory holds out to the American
citizen evety inducement to sei tie. The val
leya of the Columbia river and it* tnhutarie
are estimated at 350 square miles. The suit
is fruitful, the climate nr derate. and the
mmmtasns hy which they are bounded the
east are filled with mineral wealth The
The mouth of the Columbia river is the finest
site in ilte known w r'd for a commercial city
It is within ten dave’ sail and within six days’
steam heat navigation of the Sandwich Isl
ands. and within thirty d tys. over an imruffl-d
ocean, of Canton. In the hands of a free and
enterprising people there is scarcely any limit
to the opulence of such a city. Io the Uni
ted States it would he a most invaluable em
porium. It would insure a steady market f"t
our increasing manufactures; it would open
an unborn ded man for our agricultural pro
ductions; and it would secure to us the fur
laade of the West, nf which we have been so
long surreptitiously deprived hy the eorpma
ted agent nf a rival nation; and the lumber
trade, which would of itse ! f be auffi' ieni t<>
pay all ihe expense* of transit and settlement,
and by enabling us. through that direct route,
to exchange the boundless produce of the
lead mines of Missouri f"r the teas and silks
of China, instead of transporting them to the
Atlantic States, and thence to the East Indies,
we would not only supply ourselves, but all
the rest of the world, with the-e valuable
commodities. Great Britain, as Inng ago as
17A9. valued the ••trade and traffic” of Noot-
Ita Sound so highly. that her Parliament voted
a million of pound* s'erliug to secure them ;
and we are told in A«toria. (page 230. 2 I vol.)
that the gocd* taken on board an American
vessel at New Y‘>rk. which cost there only
<25.0<)0. were exchaug-d on this N- rthwest
eoast f>>r furs, for which the captain wa* offer
ed, in Canton. <l5O 000 ; and ths', ha I he •*<■
cepted this offer, and laid nut the amount in
Chinese goods, thev would have brought, tn
New York. *3OO 000.
