Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About The Washington news. (Washington, Ga.) 1821-183? | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1824)
the recognition bf independent com munities. The question may be considered as settled in relation to the acknow ledgment of South American inde pendence.— Nat. Advocate, NJVJL JCTIOX. Vie learn from Capt. Osborn of the sloop David, who left Havana on the 10th of April, that he was embargoed at Havana seven days in consequence of an action fought off Matanzas between tbe Colombian fleet,consisting of 2 corvettes An br. and the Spanish sloop of war Ceres of 28 guos, (built by Mr Eckford oft bis city,) on the 6th April. The battle lasted ooe boor. The com mander of the Ceres was killed the first broadside. The Patriots cap tured three heavy ships and eight drogers, and disappeared with their fleet, immediately after tbe action. A frigate, sloop of war, a brig and schooner, sailed frm Havana in pursuit of them on the 9th, when the embargo was taken off, but it was not believed they would fall in with them. It was supposed that the Patriot fleet would stop at Key j M esi to repair. There were be- j tween 30 and 40 killed and wounded on board the Ceres. A number - jumped overboard from the Ceres, ft*d swam ashore, and were taken up and put in the Moro Castle for leaving the vessel.— Daily wJdrcr. Quebf c, Jlpril 5. Tbe Tariff bill now before (be Congress of the United States, very justly excites much interest in Low er Canada, Great Britai being the country from which the TJ States chiefly derive their imported Goods. If the Goods of that country are subjected to high or prohibitory du ties on importation at the American sea ports, these goods will fiud their Way ioto the United States through Canada, the frontiers of which are open towards the U. States for the conveyance of Goals to tbe extent of many hundred miles. On tbe one hand a great revival of trade and general prosperity would follow in Canadr ; on tbe other, our pro vincial revenue, won and i.icrease or hiay be augmented at pleasure, with out much incor.venience. Ills is the agreeable vie>f of the suhj< In another point of view, if the new Tariff become a Law of the American Union, if the principle UT'on which it is founded is adopted as ‘*ue of fundamental policy by tho p i.ple t-f the United States, like B viap-rte’s prohibitory system, it W’ll probably ere long have to be supported by extraordinary means. Tne occupation of the British pos tensions in North America may be fbo-id at a future dav to beoecessa ry to prevent this law of the U. St lies, this fundamental policy of the Union, from b'iog almost nuga tory by the introduction of British 1 go .da from Canada. It is only ne cp- *ary to Inok at the map and to have a slight knowledge of the enun try and the means of commercial | oi* tum unicat ion which now exist, to ! perceive that from the waters of the St. Lawrence, fully one hclf of the I population of the United States may , be supplied with British Goods, at i as cheap a rate of conveyance as by tbe sea ports of the Uoited States, Horrid Barbarity. Indianapolis ? March 30. It becomes our paiuful duty to record one of the most outrageous transactions that has occurred since the settlement of the state. We have been enabled to collect tbe fol lowing particulars from the inform ation of a traveller who has just pas sed through the neighbourhood, and in whose veracity we place tbe ut- j most confidence. It seems that a party of Indians* ten in number, consisting of three men, three women, two girls about half grown* and two small boys, | were encamped on Fall Creek, in | Madison county, about eight miles above the Falls, and 35 miles above ‘ this place, for the purpose of hunt ing. On Monday, the 22dof this lostant, a party of five while men , and two boys went to the camp, j and detmyed the three men away j from the oamp for the ostensible j purpose of assisting them to bunt tome cattle* After they bad gone some distance from the camp, two of the ladiaos were shot dead, the third made his escape, badly woun ded. In the evening of tbe same day, tbe same puny returned to the camp, aod, after making some pro fessa>ns of frieiirhhip, murdered the whole of ike women and ohil- i drenJ Their bodies were most I ! sho kingly mangled, for the pur- j • pose of producing an impression that it was the work of Indians, and thrown ioto a hole of water occa sioned bv the falling of a tree. One bribe men killed U nA ©r *u ©I;M -ren by taking it by the heels and ; beating iu brains out against a tree, | On Tuesday the place was visited i by a party of meu, when one of the | women was found still alive, but , died oa tbe evening of the next day, j At the time tbe camp was first visit ed, after the massacre, the proper- j ty of the Indians, consisting of guns, , skins, furs, Bce. was still at (he , oamp, and was left there unmolest ed, but on tbe suoueediog day, | when the plat e was visited by apar ; ty of men from the falls of Fall j Creek, tbe bodies were found en- ■ tirely stripped, and every species , of property carried away. We are further informed, that ono of the Jads concerned io the murder (aod who was compelled to assist by the threats of his father.) | soon after the transaction, gave in i formation, and five of the pavty con i eerned were immediately arrested, [ and are now in custody at the falls of Fall Creek; one made bis escape, and the youth who gave the infor- i motion is said to be at liberty in (ho neighborhood. Since their arrest | it is said that the persons have made a full coulession. i All the families composing the i settlement in (be neighborhood of the scene of (his horrible transac tion, have removed to the mills, at the falls on Fall Creek, to avoid the > retaliatory vengeance of the Indi- ; an s,— Gazette. EXTRACTS REPORT ‘ Os {he select committee to ivhicli was referred the President*s Message, of the SOth of March, 1824, rela ting to the compact of 1802, be tween the United states and the state of Georgia ; also , a memo rial of the Legislature of the said state upon the same subject. Afkil 15, 1824. | Read, and committed to a cn.uiit- ; tee of the whole house oo the sta>s of the Union. The select committee to whom was i referred (he President’s message, of the 80th of March, with the d,n untents accompanying i?, rela ti g to tbe compact oi’ 1802, be tween the United states and the si ?r J Georgia, submit to the House, o.i that message, and on the memorial of the Legislature of the state of Georgia, also re ferred io them, the following REPORT: The state of Georgia claimed, on the establishment of tbe Independ ence of (he U. States, all the lands now forming the state of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, with the execution of those portions of (he two last states which formed a part of Florida and Louisiana. This claim was founded upon tbe charter of incorporation of the | proprietary government ; on the I royal commissions issued to the G v ernors of the state? after the pro | prietors bad surrendered their . bar ter t<* the crowo. The claim whs disputed by S, Carolina aud by the U. States. The conflicting claims of South Carolina and Georgia were adjusted by a convention between them, in 1787. The U. States re cognized, by the treaty with Spain of the year 1794, the claim of Geor gia. having refused, io 1788 a ces sion from the state, on account of the remoteness of the lands, aod of the terms proposed by Georgia. In April, 1798, Congress passed a law in relation to tbe western part of the territory of Georgia, with a I reservation of the rights of Georgia j to the jurisdiction and soil. In May, 1809, another aot was passed, containing a similar reser vation. j Iu December. 1890, Georgia re ’ monstrated against these acts, as a i violat ion of her rights of sovereignty I and soil. The compact of 1802, | ; pul an end to the disputes which were likely to arise out of this collision j I between tbe general and state gov j cruments. By this eomptci, the ! U. States obtained a surrender of j the rights of Georgia to tbe sove reignty aod soil of two states, con taining by estimate. 86 millions of aores of land, for the paltry consid eration of the payment 0f51,250,000, out of the proceeds of that land, and j of a promise to extinguish the In dian title to the land within the ter ritorial limits not ceded to tbe U, 1 States, at soon as it could be done 1 peaceably and on reasonable term . j The execution or tins compact pro duces io change in tbe right of Georgia to the sovereignty and soil of tbe land within her newly defined boundarits. Its only effeot was. to throw upm the United States the expense which might attend the ex tinguishment of the Indian title, an expense which, but for this compact, must hav4 been borne by the state. Nor did tqU compact, in the slight est oireumfttance, add to the title of the Indians; it recognized only the claim which they, as Indians, were allowed to have, according to the usages of tbe states, and the liberal policy adopted towards them by tbe General Government. In relation to the Cherokees, the principal topic of the Piesideot’s message, it would appear that new doctriues are permitted to be eoter tained of them, in the opinion of the ; committee? neither consistent with j the opinions heretofore entertained wiih the practices of the Govern ment, nor with tho interests of the Union. The Cherokee! claim to ho an independent tribe,. The Presi dent avow iht belief that the arti T ole* of cession of 1802, is a full proof that the Indians had a right to the territory, in the uUposal of which they were to be regarded as free agents. The act of the General Govern ment,. in 1814, in relation to the Creeks ; the language of the Presi dent of the U. States in 1817 : the language Secretary of War; iu 1818 : of the agent of the Gov ernment in that year, in treating with the Cherokees : of the agent treating with them in 1823, does not co respond With the opinions now expressed, Io 1814, General Jackson acting under the authority of the Govern ment, took from the Creek Indians, for an equivalent named by himself, all the laud the U. States chose to re quire, to effeot a great object of na tional policy in regard to the Indian tribes. It cannot bo alleged that this was done by virtue of conquest. The letter of tho late Indian agent; Col. Hawkins, of tbe lltii of August, 1815, laid before the H-use of Rep resentatives, bn the sth of April, 1824, shews that nearly eight mil lions of acres were taken from the friendly Indians, (our allies in the war) over and above ail the hutting grounds of the upper friendly Creeks, for what was called an equivalent, but which the Indians did not deem such. In 1817, in his message, at tbe opening of Congress, the President says : “ the hunter state can exist only in the vast uncultivated desert. It yields to the more dense and com pact form? and greater force r f civ ilized population : and, of right, it ; ought to yield, for the earth was gi ven to mankind to support the greatest number of whioh it is capa ble? aod no tribe or people have a right to withhold? from the wants of others* more than is necessary for their own support and comfort.” In a letter of the 99th July, 1818, the Secretary of War says to Mr. Mr Minn, speaking of the attempts to prevent the Cherokees from going to Arkansas, “ the U. States will not permit tbe treaty to be defeated by such means. Those who choose to remain are permitted to do so io quiet—those who choose to emi grate, must be equally free*” And further: “iris in vain for the Che rokees to hokl (he high tone which the} do? as to their independence as a nation : for daily proof is exhibit ed that, wer# it not for the protect ing arm of the United States, they would become the victims of fraud and violence. 9 ’ Mr. McMinn tells the Cherokees? in conformity with this declaration, in bis talk to tho ; Chiefs, of the 23d of November, 1818, “It must surely be,my broth ers, that you view me as an impos tor, acting upoo my own authority, with a view to deceive the nation, or that you flatter yourselves with the empty expectation that the United | Slates cannot execute a measure of general defesee for tbesafety of her | citizens, whieh shall, in the slightest degree, affect your interest or your ! wishes.” Tfce agents of 1823 assert an unqualified right io the United States to take from the Indians any of their lands for public use* It is asserted, however, by the Secretary of War, that there were traders ex | fating with the Cherokees io 1802, | which guaranteed their lands. These • guarantees were only of the Indian title, as understood by all at tbe ! date of the execution of these trea -1 ties—a title of mere oocupancy, for | tbe purposes of hunting. The idea of title to the soil was, until lately, un known to the Indians. Their lands were overrun by them, not inhabit ed : their rights not transferred, but extinguished dependent upon the will of the pAwer to whom the sovereignty over them belongs. This sovereign power was Georgia, prior to the adoption of the constitu- l tion of the United States. i hat constitution gave to the U. States the authority to manage the aftairs of tbe Indians, for the peace of j the Union, and the eventual bene- j fit of Georgia. The Indians bad mere occupation: the U. States j were the agents of Georgia for , the extinguishment of this allowed . possession. The compact of 1802! required this to be effected out of the general fund. Mo aot of the U, States, nor of the Indians, nor of i both, could, without her consent, impair the rights of Georgia to the jurisdiction and soil of tbe territory > In question, whenever the Indians should be removed from it by auoi- > dent, by contract, or by force. This doctrine is confirmed by the decision of the Supreme Court of the U, States, which has declared sales made by states, of Indian ter ritory, valid, prior to the extin guishment of Indian title: That there is a species of seizin it fee, which enables a state to grant to individuals. In fact, the compact of 1802 is tbe acknowledgement of j the U. S. of this doctrine; as their I only title to tbe soil of Alabama and • Mississippi is founded Upon it.. The ! Secretary of War, in his attention to ! the treaties guarantying the Indian title, has entirely omitted to notice the first and important document in relation to this subject, the treaty of Hopewell of 1785—a document sustaining the opinion of the commit tee, and giving to what is now deem ed important, tho sanction of ludiao a quiescence; Tlif 4th article of the treaty of Hopewell is, “ the boundary allotted to the L'herokeeS for their hunting grounds , is, and shall be, the following.” The In dians acknowledge; by that treaty, the United States as their sovereign: and, by the 9th article, Cougress as sumes for the interest and rOinfort of the Indians; the power to regu late their trade, and manage all their affairs as they may deem pro per. This treaty existed at, the adoption of the constitution of thd U. States, ar;d Georgia, as a mem ber of the Union, was vested with the sovereignty and soil of tbe Che rokee lands, subject only to the In dian right of hunting within tbe al lotted limits, which right the Gen eral Government was bound to ex tinguish as early as the general con venience would permit. The duty of the General Govern ment was to do all aots which would accelerate this event; io refrain from all acts which would retard it. Ovvr the territories of tbe United • States, the General Government | could rightfully exercise unlimited power in relation to the Indian tribes. Within a particular state, the sole power was that of ageuoy, for the preservation of peace, tbe re \ gulation of trade, & the extinguish . meat of title. To this general ohli j gation, imposed by the constitution : on all the states, a special promise i was added in favor of Georgia, in ’ 1802. partially executed : but to the oomplete execution of which, diffi i culties are alleged to exist, which ! require the interposition of the pow ! er of Congress, How far this promise has been complied with, is attempted to be shewn by two documents, marked A and B, sent to Congress by the Pre ‘ sident. By the doouroent A, it ap ; pears that the Indian title to 15,744, ! 000 aores have been extinguished, aud there remains 10,240,000 acres yet in their possession as hunting grounds. The first quantity is al leged to be all that could be peace ably obtained on reasonable terms. The document No. 1, aeeompany ing this report, will shew (hat, since I 1802, the United States have been able to obtain, for their own use, more than 30.000,000 of acres in Alabama and Mississipi, in additioo to 7,633,400 obtained in 1801: to 5,006.880 obtained for Tennessee, by J treaty, from the Chickasaw Indians, [ subsequently confirmed by a treaty j with the Cherokees; 700,000 for ; North Carolina: aud a quantity, an | estimate of which is not in the hands ; of (be committee for South Caroli l na. No satisfactory explanation is afforded to shew bow this difference ; in the quantity of lands procured by | tbe Uuit .1 States for their own ae -1 count, and in compliance with their promise to Georgia, has occurred. The document B is intended to shew the expense incurred in the ex ecution of the compact of 1802. It is defective and delusive. It con tains no credit for the money re ceived at the treasury of Georgia, viz : Site Yazoo fund : It is omitted to be stated that the 5i,250,C00 was pot out of the proceeds of the pro perty acquired. It charges the Yp.- zoo compromise ns a benefit to Geor gia, who had no interest in the set tlement but a common interest with the other states. The land procur ed for the Cheiokees, on the Arkan sas, is charged at the minimum va lue of lands surveyed and offered for sale by the United States, and not at its trifiliug actual cost, about $25,000. i The committee ere at a loss know what hearing this defective document has on the question of the Cherokee lands. As, however, they presume it has a relation not well understood, they conceive it proper to shew, by the statement Mo. 2, what pecuniary advantages have ac crued, and will accrue, to the Unit ed States, under the compact with Georgia. By this statement it ap pears that $4,512,850 25, exclusive of Mississippi stock, have been re ceived into the public treasury; that 56,444,821 51 are due from sajea made; that tho land ceded by ‘ho\ Indians, and not yet sold, is 27 v 588,- 800 acres, which at the minimum price, i $34,480,000. That there remains yet, as hunting grounds for the Indians, 22,977,575 antes. The balance of profit suffici ently with the United States u jus tify eontratets for (he extinguish ment ol Indian title for the benefit of Georgia, without great scrutiny as to the amount of expense in* ur red. The committee agree with <ho Secretary of War, *• that no oppor tunity of extinguishing the Indian title, oh reasonable terms, has been neglected by the General Govern ment,” for its own use ; but they do not perceive that the same zeal has been successfully exerted for the state ofGeorgia. The treaty of 1814 9 with the Creek , was dictated by General Jackson to the Creeks, by order of the Depart merit of War— As has been already seen, a largo territory was taken from the Creeks. The policy of the United tates aa explained by the Secretary required % separat on of the tribes oi Indians from each other, and from the ocean—To this policy a compliance with the pro mise to Georgia was sacrificed.. It is aleged that the obligation to Georgia extend’ only to the purchase oi lands, Sec The term purchase is an inter polation ; it is not found in the arti cles of cession of t SO2. It is alleged* also that this land was obtained by conquest, and therefore the nation was at liberty, laying the contract with Georgia out of view to pursue its plan of policy Without entering into any considerations to shew that the United States, hav ng obtained by force. noc-j used for that purpose, but de en ively* 1 the opportunity to extinguish the In ndian title within the limits of Geor gia, was bound in good aith to ue it* it is deemed sufficient to refer tho House to the facts disclosed by tho extract from Col Hawkin’s letter al ready quoted that this acquisition by conquest was an acquisition of lands from friends and aLcs, for an equi valent named by the United States, The propriety of accommoda ing the state of Georgia wsugge tt and to the commissioner of the United States by the Indian agent; but the an wee was, that the in-tructions of the Gov ernment wou and not permit a compli ance with this sugge tion. (See Cos!. Hawkin’s letter.) The committee are of opinion that an acquisition of land to Georgia, to any extent, could have been obtained from the Creeks in *Bl4. The attention of Congress has been called to the arrangements made with theCherokee* iniß>7 & 1819. The arrangement of 1817 was for the pur pose of carrying into effect the wishes of the Cherokees, a* declared to Mr. Jefferson in 1808, by a deputation from the upper and lower towns.— According to the preamble of the ar rangement of 1817, the upper towns deired to remain fixed above the Hi awa see river, to contract their society within narrow limits, and begin the establishment of fired laws a r sd a re gular government. The loiver towns desired to continue the hunter life, and for that purpo-e wished to move across the Mississippi. The wishes of the upper and lower towns were i granted, and arrangements made for the removal of the latter, although a request was made of the Indians that , it might be done by the United State*.
