220 TIIK THKATV OF WASHINGTON. 



ly Consented to tlie prolongation of the nominal joint 

 occ'in)ation. 



But the discussions in Congress heretofore men- 

 tioned, and tlie disposition of Americans to settle in 

 Oregon, had, in 1S12, rendered the joint occupation 

 intolerahle to the people of the United States, and 

 the negotiation for settlement was renewed on the 

 l)remises of the -PJth j)ai'allel. The Ijaleful intluenco 

 'of tlie Hudson's r)ay Company caused the negotiation 

 to tli'ag on for the ])eriod of four years; when the 

 Treaty of 184G was at length concluded, yielding to 

 Great I^ritain the southernmost extremity of Van- 

 couver's Island. 



It was the question of Vafieouvers Island which 

 chiefly occupied the succeeding negotiators. To run 

 the line on the 4*.>th parallel to the sea, and " thence 

 l)y the Canal de Ilaro and Straits of Fuca to the 

 ocean," was Lord Aberdeen's proposition to jSIr. 

 ]\IcLane. And the same \inderstanding of the (pies- 

 tion, — that is, to concede; toGreatBritain "Vancouver's 

 Island, and nothing else south of latitude 4'J°," — per- 

 vades the dispatches and debates on both sides. And 

 on such premises, notwithstanding much opposition 

 in Congress and out of it, the United States acceded 

 to these tei-ms as a measure of peace and of concilia- 

 tion toward Great Britain. 



But strife was unexpectedly renewed two years 

 afterwai-d by Lord Palmerston, or by Lord John Bus- 

 sell, who had succeeded as Premier to Sir Robert Peel, 

 and their action has kej)t np dispute on the subject 

 between the two Governments for more than twenty 



