406 



ADDENDUM. 



gation of all of her rivers is free. Two (Bolivia and Ecuador) have 

 refused to make an exclusive treaty with Brazil ; have issued decrees 

 declaring their tributaries of the Amazon open to the navigation and 

 commerce of the world, and are stretching out their hands asking foreign 

 aid for the development of the great resources of their respective coun- 

 tries. The question comes up, has Brazil the right, under the circum- 

 stances, to close the highway to the navigable waters of these countries, 

 and thus deny them what they conceive to be their rights ? 



It has been argued that this is no business of ours ; that it belongs to 

 those Spanish American republics to obtain from Brazil the right of 

 way to and from their ports as we did from France and Spain in the 

 case of the Mississippi ; but the argument is not a good one ; it leads to 

 no practical results ; the cases are not parallel. We were, from the first, 

 a maritime and commercial people. We had ships and seamen ; and 

 an outlet for the productions of the Mississippi valley was of so vital 

 importance to us as to make us ready, if necessary, to go to war with 

 France on that question. With the Spanish American republics, on 

 the contrary, " Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle." They have no ships 

 or seamen, and no means of making either, and a war between them 

 and the powerful empire of Brazil would be hopeless. The navigation 

 of the Amazon, restricted to themselves alone, would be valueless to 

 them. We have a greater interest in the matter ; for, although the 

 benefit derived from trade and an exchange of commodities is reciprocal, 

 yet we should have (on account of our geographical position with regard 

 to the mouth of the Amazon, and our skill in the construction and man- 

 agement of the river steamboat) nearly all the carrying trade. They 

 have done all they could. Desirous to develop the resources of their 

 country, and to improve their social condition, and knowing that they 

 can do nothing of themselves in the way of trade and commerce, they 

 hold out their hands to us ; they throw open their ports to the com- 

 merce of the world ; and they invite all people to come, offering as 

 inducements, privileges, lands, and money. I think, then, it belongs 

 peculiarly to us to consider whether they have the right to give the 

 invitation, and we the right to accept it. 



Let us suppose a case in illustration of this. Suppose that the St. 

 Lawrence were navigable from the sea to the lakes ; and that we 

 were to invite the nations of Europe to a free trade with our ports of 

 Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit, offering them money, grants of lands, 

 and great advantages if they should come. It seems to me that it would 

 be unwise and improper in us to enter into controversy with England 

 on this point ; and that it would be clearly the business of the invited 



