Cherokee phoenix. (New Echota [Ga.]) 1828-1829, May 21, 1828, Image 4

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POETRY. Mr. Boudinott:—The following extract from tho writing ofCowper may lie famil iar to some of your readers, and new to oth- er<5. I suggest it for insertion in your po etical corner for the sake of its moral. It is not only slave tradersand their advocates, ( r the slave trade has not ceased to have advocates,) who resort to the argument which the poet so happily exhih’ts; hut all, as far as my observation extends, who are en jaged in any species oftraffic profitable toth a nselves, but injurious to the commu- i*St/. A •norig others, I cannot but venture to propose to all whiskev-dealers, in this nation especially, the consideration of the story of little Tom. y>?. PITY FOR POOR AFRIC \NS. I -ee the good, an 11 approve, But still the bad pursue. I own I am shock’ 1 at the purchase of slaves, And fear.those who buy them and sell them are knaves; What I hear of their hardships, their tor tures, and groans, Is almost enough to draw pity from stones. I nitv them greatly—but I must be mum— For how could we do without sugar and • rum? . Especially sugar, so needful we see? What, give up our desserts, our coffee, and teal Besides, if we do, the French, Dutch, and Danes, WiH heartily thank us, no doubt, for our - pa : ns: If we do not buy the poor creatures, they will, And tortures and groans will be multiplied still. If forc'gners likewise would give up the trade, Much more in behalf of your wish might be sa ; d; But, while they get riches by purchasing blacks, Pray tell me why we may not go snacks? Your scruples and arguments bring to" my mind A story so pat, you may think it. is coin’d On purpose to answer you out of my mint: But I can assure you I saw it in print: A youngster at school, more sedate than the rest, Had once his integrity put to the test: H s comrades had plotted an orchard to rob, And ask’d him to go and assist in the job. He was shock’d, sir, like you, and answer- ’ •—“fJh, no! What! rob our good neighbor! I pray you don’t go, Besides, the man’s poor, his orchard’s his bread, T!i mi think of his children, for they must be fed.” “ You speak very fine, and you look very grave, But apples we want, and apples we’ll have; If you will go with us, you shall have a share, If not, you shall have neither apple nor pear.” They spoke, and Tom ponder’d—“I see they will go; Poor man! what a pity to injure him so! Poor man! I would save him his fruit if I could, i But staying behind will do him no goo 1, “ If the matter depended alone upon ipe, H < app'es might hang till they dropp’d from the tree; B it, since they will take them, I think I’ll go too, He will lose none by me, though I get a few.” His scruples thus silenc’d, Tom felt more at ease, Ana wen; with his comrades the apples to seize; He b’am’.i and protested, but join’d in the plan: He shai ’J iu the plunder, but pitied the mau. INDIAN EMIGRATION. Speech ok M.t. Woods, [continued.] I will now, Mr. Chairman, examine into the situation of the Country which the Indians now possess within the limns of the several States; and into the advantages which they enjoy in their present homes. The Indian lands lying vvijliin our borders is that portion of their original possessions, which they have never sold or trans fixed to us. or to any other Govern ment. We are told by one of our sovereign States, while urging upon us her claims to the Indian Country with in her limits, “ it belongs to her, and “ that she must and she will have “it ; that we are bound, at all hazards, “and without regard to terms, to pro- “ ure it.” (See doe. 102, page 12.) S r, the samo argument may be urged, or rather the same language may be used by all the other States, within the limits of which there is any Indian territory. It was by virtue of the same sovereign right, that the Pope, in the name of St. Peter, gave to Soain all the Countries which Co lumbus discovered. It is the right which power gives, and not justice. Shall we be told that Congress is to ‘ disregard the right of the Indians. That the lands on which they now re side shall be taken from them “with- ‘ out regard to terms?” That it is the ‘ interest—the determination—the set- ‘ tied policy of the United States. ‘ “at all hazards,” to drive them from ' their Country and homes? 1 hope not, ' sir; for the honor of my country, I hope not. 1 may he told that I am unacquainted with the true interests of the Indians, and that they arc in the most wretched and miserable 6itua- ' tion where they now reside. I will, ' Mr. Chairman refer you to the infor ' motion given to us by the Indian De- ' purtment, and by the Agents of our 1 Government. The facts stated by 1 those Agents, and in the documents to which I will vefer, have been fre- 1 queutly reiterated, & if untrue, would long since have been fully disproved. \ The whole number of the four largest I nations within the limits of the States, i is stated at more than fifty-four thou- 1 sand. The Creeks, 20.000; the 1 Cherokees, 9,000; Choctaws, 21,000; I and the Chiekasaws, 3,625. t It appears, from more recent infor- i mat ion, that the number is probably r much greater, and is rapidly increas- s ing. These Indians enjoy all the ad- t vantages which our own citizens in t our new States and settlements pos- < sess, except the political rights and ‘ privileges of which we deprive them. * If they are degraded and wretched, I ‘ believe it is occasioned by our injustice ‘ and oppression. Let us, by extend- 1 ing to them political rights and privil- 1 eges, and by the influence of educa- 1 tion, remove the cause of their morak 1 degredation, and they will soon stand ' on as high an elevation as occupied by ' ourselves. To prove that these In- ' dians are not in the wretched and de- ' graded situation which is stated by ' many, I will turn the attention of the ' committee to the document which ac- < companied the bill formerly reported I by the committee on Indian affairs— I In this document the Secretary ofWnr i informs us, that “schools have been “established, by the aid of private as i “well as public donations, for the in- 1 “struction of their youths. They J “have been persuaded to abandon the I “chase—to locate themselves, and he- < “come cultivators of the soil. Im- i “plements of husbandry and domestic 1 “animals have been presented to i “them, and all of these things have “been done, accompanied with pro fessions of disinterested solicitude “for their happiness. Yielding to “these temptations, some of them “have reclaimed the forest', planted “orchards, and erected houses, not “only for their abode, but for the ad- “miuistration of justice, and for reli- “gious worship. And when they have “so done, you send your agent to tell “them they must surrender their “country to the white man, and re commit themselves to some new des ert, and substitute, as the means of “their subsistence,’ the precarious “chase for the certainty of cultiva tion.” “I will add” continues the Secretary of War, in another part of this communication, that “the end “proposed is the happiness of the Iu- “dians; the means of its accomplish ment their progressive, and, finally, “their complete civilization. The “obstacles to success are their igno- “rance, their prejudices, their repug nance to labor, their wandering pro pensities, aud the uncertainties of “the future. I would endeaver to o- “vercorae these by schools, by a dis tribution of land in the individual “right, by a permanent social estab lishment which should require the “performance of social duties.” (See Ex. Docs. ofl825-6, Doc. 102.) This, sir, is the language of the Sec retary of War, (Mr. Barbour,) a lan guage which does equal honor to the head and heart of that distinguished statesman. Let me now, Mr. Chairman, turn the attention of the comWtce more directly to the present situation of the several tribes or nations to which I have before referred. What, sir, is the situation of the Cherokee Indians? We are told, in the same document to which I last referred, that, in the Cherokee country, “horses are plen- “ty, and are used for servile purpos es. *Numerous flocks of sheep, “goats, and swine, cover the valleys “and hills. On Tennessee and U- “st anal la rivers, Cherokee commerce “floats. The climate is delicious “and healthy. In the plains and val- “leys the soil is rkh, producing In- “dian corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat *‘oat8, indigo, sweet and Irish pota toes. Apple and peach orchards are quite common. Butter and • cheese are seen on Cherokee tables. “There are many public roads in the “nation; and houses of entertainment “are kept l^y the natives. Numer ous and flourishing villages are seen “in every part of the country. In dustry and commercial enterprise “are extending themselves in every “part of the country. Nearly all the ‘ merchants in the country ate native “Cherokees. Agricultural pmsuits “engage the chief attention of the Peo ple. The population is rapidly in creasing.” “The census taken this “year,(1325) shows that there are 13,- “563 native citizens; 147 white men “and 73 white women are married in- “to tip nation; and they have 1,277 “Afrjban slaves.” Are not these People, sir, in the possession of all that vve propose to give them—of all the/r warmest friends promise them, in /he new home in which they wish to place the Indians? I ask gentlumen, why we should remove them from this situation? It is our interest and not theirs which prompts us to this measure, and warms our unasked be nevolence into action. What is the situation of the Chickasaw tribe? I will turn gentlemen to the report of the Special Agent who has just visit ed this nation. He informs us, that “the population of the Chiekasaws “may be put down at four thousand. “They have increased about four hun dred within the last five or six “years.” lie says, “I will suppose “the families to average five souls, “which will give eight hundred hous- “es. The number of mills, it is be lieved, does not exceed ten. The “workshops, I do not think, exceed “fifty. Their orchards are few and “limited in extent. Their fences are “estimated to cost fifty thousand dol lars.” Their stock of all kinds, av eraging two horses, two cows, and five hogs and a dozen poultry, to each family, this agent estimates at eighty- four thousand eight hundred dollars, (see Doc. 2, page 179.) It is to re move these People, who are thus in creasing, in a ratio as rapid as the most flourishing of the United States, from the homes in which they already enjoy so many comforts and advanta ges, to some happy Elysian fields, that gentlemen have seen their imagi nation, but which exist no where else, that we are so earnestly solicited to make this appropriation. The present situation of the Indians, as proved by the documents to which I have referred, is not worse, in re gard to the means which they possess of obtaining subsistence, and the or dinary comforts of domestic life, than that of thousands of our hardy and in dependent yeomen, who are the pion eers of a more dense population. Among our citizens in the new States, we will not find in a population of four thousand; more than eight hundred houses, ten mills, and fifty workshops. Yet, Sir, with all this evidence be fore us, gentlemen insist that these Indians are a wretched and miserable People, who can be preserved in no other way, than by removing them in to the wilderness, to seek their sub sistence by pursuing the game of the forest. In my opinion, sir, nothing more is necessary to make them pros perous and happy, than to extend to them the rights of a free People Make them a portion of the great A- merican family. Sir, I am in favor of the policy pro posed and pursued by the late Secre tary of War, [Mr. Calhoun.) The system which he first proposed to Congress, and to the nation, and which had long before been sanctioned by the recommendation of several of our wisest and greastest statesmen, was to extend to them the advantages of civilization, not by driving them from theirland into the wilds of the untrod den forest, but by a 6ysiem of educa tion, which would teach the Indian, & particularly his children, the pursuits and the habits of civilized man, and thus make his present home more val uable to him. In urging this subject upon the consideration of Congress, Mr. Calhoun says, “it will require “the enlightened co-operation of the “General Government, and of the “States within Which the Indians may “reside. With zealous and enlight ened co-operation, it is, however, “believed, that all difficulties may be “surmounted, and this wretched, but, “in many respects, noble race, be “ultimately brought within the pale “of civilization. Preparatory to so “radical a change in our relations to wards them, the system of educa tion which has been adopted ought vto be put into extensive atid active “operation. This is the foundation “of all our improvements. It ought “gradually to be followed by a plain “and simple form of government, such “as have been adopted by the Cher- “okees. A proper compression of “their settlements, and a division of “their landed property. By introdu cing gradually and judiciously these “improvements, they will ultimately “attain such a. state of intelligence, “industry, and civilization, as to pre pare the way for a complete exten sion of our laws and authority over “them.” (Ex. Docs, of 1821—’2 vol 4, Doc. 59.) Sii, this is the language and the recommendations of the statesman who lately presided over the War Department with so much distinction. . He did not dream of proposing the scheme which is now urged with so much zeal. He wished to provoke no angry collisions in this work of hu manity, of justice. Let us banish from our councils the narrow feelings of self-interest, and give to the Indians a right to the soil which they possess— I or rather, let us have the magnanim ity to acknowledge that they have now that right. Let the Indians be the owners of the soil in fee—let the right of individual property be ex- [ tended to them—let the strong > passion awakened in the human bosom by self-interest, be called into ac tion. and they will no longer be a de graded People. They will stand up on the proud eminence of Americans. They will feel no shame on account of their origin. No, Sir, it will be to them a source of conscious pride. I might support these views by the o- pinion of many gentlemen well ac quainted with the subject. I will re fer to one. Mr. Merriwether, of Georgia, formerly a member of this House, remarked to me, that “the on- “ly way to elevate the Indian, is to “give him property.” He said, “give an Indian a slave, and he at once “becomes a man.” I say give him property much more valuable—give him the rights of a freeholder and a citizen. But, sir, we are told that the Indians are oppressed by the encroachments of the white population which sur rounds them; that they are trampled on and oppressed by our own citizens. This, sir, is a poor encomium on our People—a wretched compliment to the nation. While we are talking a- bout our justice, our generosity—our feelings of humanity for Indians—m the same breath we say, that our cit izens—that the American People— with ruthless violence and injustice, are trampling the weak remnant of these once powerful nations into the dust. If, we cannot protect them within the limits of our State Govern ments, in sight of our courts of justice, and within reach of the arm of the laws, we cannot protect them when placed beyond the reach of our laws, and out of the limits of any organized civil government. Sir, this system, spun of wild theories, is all a dream— it is an Utopian scheme. If you can not here stay the oppressing hand of avarice, where will you remove them to be beyond its grasp? Where you propose to plant them, will not oar soldiers be placed over them? will not our People surround them there? Those who now prey upon them as vultures, will follow them to their new abode. There is no place fit lor the residence of any civilized People, East ol the Rocky Mountains, which has not been visited by the American citizens. A few years ago, had thejpro- position been made to plant the Indian tribes in a remote colony, the spot most likely to have been selected would have been Northwest of Ohio River, or, perhaps, just West of the Allegany Mountains. I ask gentle men to reflect on the consequences of this measure. It appears to me to be a scheme by which the exten sion of our settlements and States is to be limited and restrained, unless you leave the Indians exposed to all the uncertainty, to all the evils, of which you now complain. Their sit uation will be worse than it now is. In proportion to the distance to which you remove your territorial Govern ment from the seat of the Gener .l Government, and from the supervising care, you necessarily increase the a- buses to which it will be liable.— You may hide the oppression of these People from the nation by this meas ure, but you will not thereby relieve the poor Indians from its weight and consequences.. It is said, sir, that the India while in >ur vicinity, learn only o vices, and that tney cannot be civiii ed here, i ask gentlemen what th will gain by removing them, when t evil is not in the Territory which th inhabit—not in their local situation but in the relation in which they sta to us? Their condition cannot be i proved by the establishment of a mil’ tary despotism over them. If ma can rise to a high slate of improvemc under these circumstances, where he is taken from half cultivated fields and where he had become partially civi ized, and placed in a wilderness, I coi fess, sir, that I do not understand the human character. Instead of rising in civilization, he will sink beneath the despotism which makes him little lesj than your slave, or he will return a- gain to the chase, and take refuse, from your power and oppression in the more remote depths of the forest. I do not, sir, wish to preserve the Ii dian race iu distinct tribes, or as a s parate People. I would as soon pro. pose to plant in our country a colony from the Highlands of Scotland, and to provide that they should always continue to wear the Tartan plaid, and to speak the Highland dialect, as to preserve the Indians among us a distinct People. Mr. Chairman, this is the only step necessary for the consummation of that system of fraud and insincerity— of treachery and baseness—which has characterized our treaties and inter course with the Indians. I speak fearlessly, sir: this is the consum* •nation of the vile policy which we have hitherto pursued. Whatever faithless promises we have made— whatever guaranties we have given— they haVe been, for the promotion of our interest, all broken and disregard ed. I will not trespass upon the feel ings of this committee by travelling into the evidence contained in this vol ume of treaties, to prove the truth of my assertions. We may talk with all the sympathies of humanity about pro viding a home—“a permanent home”— for the poor wandering Indian. Yes, sir, it will be “a last home”—and one from which, when he shall reach its bourne, we will no longer be troubled! with his complaints. The sensibility of gentlemen will be no more wounded by the tales of Indian suffering and mi» sery, or their benevolence taxed by the claims of justice and humanity urged in behalf of these People. * The two sentences which immediately follow, and the one which declares, that “numerous and flourishing villages are seen in every part of the Country,” cannot be considered strictly correct. They wej-e written by a young Cherokee who had been absent from nis Country for a few years.-— On his return, the astonishing progress of his C untrymon in the arts of civilized life made such an impression on his mind, as to lead him to the commission of extravagant expressions. Ed. NEGRO PUN. The following short but pithy dia logue passed between two negroes it Northampton county, Virginia, soot after the surrender of Lord Cornwal lis, at the siege of Little York. Mingo.—Halloo, brudder Sam-* how you do? Sam.—0, don’t no brudder Mingt —mighty poorly. Mingo.—Poorly! indeed! you nc hear de news? Sam.—No. What sorter news? Mingo.—Why, don’t you know dal are great man dey call Cornwallis? Sam.—Yes, Iheranuff ’bout bin shooting after whitefolke all over d< country. Mingo.—Well I spose you kuovi Gin’ral Washington? Sam.—0 yes—I know ole masser Mingo.—Well I tell.you what; hi no Cornwallis now; he Cob-wallis— Gin’ral Washington shell all de cori off him too slick. TWO LAWYERS. An opulent farmer applied about a lawsuit to an attorney, who told him he could not undertake it, being alrea» dy engaged on the other side; at the same time he said, that he would give him a letter of recommendation to a rofessional friend, which he did.— le farmer, out of curiosity, opened it, and read as follows: “Here are two fat wethers fallen out tOf gether. If you fleece one. I’ll fleece the other, And make ’em agree like brother and brother.” The farmer carried this epistle to the person with whom he was at variance. Its perusal cured both parties, and terminated the dispute. CHEROKEE ALPHABET, ~~ Neatly printed and for tale at this