THE OREGON QUESTION 1818-1828 211
to this. Adams* irritation at Floyd and the commence- ment of the agitation was due far more to his belief that it was a political move which would entangle him with Canning when England's cooperation was really essential to the forthcoming Monroe Doctrine, than to any oppo- sition to Oregon itself. 33 Adams' official letters to Rush as well as his Memoirs furnish conclusive proof as to his real attitude on the Oregon question. He would have been lukewarm toward any attempt at heavy emigration, but he desired an occupation and there is no doubt that Floyd's second bill is an accurate expression of Adams' views. 34
Accordingly, when the President's message urged an occupation of the Columbia, Floyd's bill appeared in the light of an administration measure. Calhoun as well as Adams backed it; Crawford had induced Floyd to reduce it to its present modest form. 35 But its little day was brief indeed. Neither the strenuous efforts of Benton nor the perfunctory support of Barbour of Virginia could insure it a very long shift. Dickerson, at the head of a politely incredulous Senate, disposed of it deftly and with dispatch.
The cause of the failure is not hard to find. There was no great popular interest in the question or a popu- lar demand for expansion. Floyd spent his efforts in a period when popular indifference was the determining force against him. The old centers of population had not sufficiently refilled after the emigrations following the War of 1812 to feel the need yet of another draining. Nile's Register of November 25, 1825, voices an opinion that would have found general acceptance. 36 It "hopes that the project for establishing a chain of military posts
33 J. Q. Adams Memoirs, Vol. I, 260 (Jan. 29, '21) and Vol. II, 139 (Jan. 27, '24).
34 Am. State Papers, Vol. VI, pp. 790-791, Adams to Rush, July 22, 1823; also p. 792.
35 Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 250 (Mar., '24) ; p. 428 (Nov., '24).
36 Niles Register, Vol., p. 151.
