THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY - 



Britain the concession of recognizing certain preten 

 sions of that Company in Oregon and Washington, 

 founded on mere encroachment, and, in order to be re 

 lieved of these pretensions, paying to the Company a 

 small sum in satisfaction of its claims, about one tenth 

 of what was demanded for it in the name of the Brit 

 ish Government. * 



Lord Milton expresses the opinion that &quot;On a just 

 and equitable solution of the so-called San Juan Water- 

 boundary Question depends the future, not only of 

 British Columbia, but also of the entire British pos 

 sessions in North America.&quot; By &quot;-just and equitable 

 solution&quot; he means, of course, decision in favor of 

 Great Britain. If the premises are correct, then the 

 consequences are a fact accomplished. But he over 

 estimates the value of the Archipelago of San Juan to 

 Great Britain. His opiniom assumes what* is impossi 

 ble, the acquisition of considerable intrinsic strength 

 on the part of British Columbia, sustained by railroad 

 connection with the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. 

 But what would avail, in a military point of view, a 

 railroad running through a thousand miles of com 

 paratively uninhabited country within easy reach at 

 every point to the armies of the United States ? I 

 think the future of the British possessions in North 

 America depends on a different order of facts, of which 

 something will be said in another chapter in speak 

 ing of the commercial relations of the United States 

 and the Canadian Dominion. 



P 



