There is another important subject which has not, it is believed, ever been discussed by the two Powers. This is the claim to the ownership of the places settled and improved under the convention. It seems to me that, on the principles of both natural and international law, these rights, to a defined extent, should be respected by each Power respectively, whose sovereignty over the portion of the territory in which such improved settlements may be situated will ultimately be recognized. It appears also that the United States may, in conformity with the convention, and without affecting in any shape the claims advanced by Great Britain, pass a law declaring that they abandon or grant without warranty, to such of their citizens as shall have made actual and bonâ fide settlements in any part of Oregon, under the convention, all the rights of and claims to the ownership of the soil, on which such settlements shall have been made, which the United States may now or hereafter claim or acquire: limiting and defining the extent of the grant in the same manner as would be done if such grant was absolute; and promising that the title should be confirmed, in case and whenever the sovereignty of the United States was recognized or asserted and maintained. The prolongation, in 1827, of the convention of 1818, was evidently intended as a temporary measure, since it was made revocable at the will of either party. The plenipotentiaries of the two Powers had been unable to agree on the terms of a definitive arrangement, or even in defining with precision the conditions on which the convention of 1818 might be continued for a determinate period. It will be seen, by reference to the protocols and correspondence, that, although it was generally admitted that neither party ought during such continuance to exercise any exclusive sovereignty over the territory, the American Plenipotentiary declined to agree to any convention containing an express provision to that effect, or accompanied by the insertion in the protocol of a declaration for the same purpose by the British Plenipotentiaries. The reason was not only because an exclusive right over Astoria and its dependencies was claimed by the United States, but principally because it was anticipated that, in order to have in fact an authority equal to that exercised by the Hudson Bay Company, it would become necessary for the United States to perform acts which the British Government might contend to be forbidden by such express provision or declaration. The consequence was, that the convention recognizes some certain rights, and imposes no positive restrictions but only such, as may be supposed to be implied in the clause which declares, that nothing contained in it should be construed to impair or affect the claims of either party. The probability that it might become necessary for the United States to establish a territory or some sort of government over their own citizens