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Georgia® Statesman.
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UY S. MEACHAM
THF
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SXECUTIVE Pi: .KTM ENT, Ur.OhGlA, >
.MilUdgt ' .‘.c, 7th -Vot'. iß2t>. y
FELLOW-CITIZENS,
The political year just terminat
ed, has been distinguished by noth
ing so much as th - decease of Thorn
as Jefferson and John Adam% vtbo,
itl'ter laying the foundation of Arne >-
ca L depend nee, and fiili gth
ligh'jt offices o’ Stub through a
long scries of time, survived to the
fiftieth Anniversary ol the Indepen
de ce th?y had declared, and on that
day, almost at the same hour, di<‘d
full of years and full of honor, de
plored by the whole nation, whose
grief was testified by a universal
mourning, accompanied with every
demonstration of love, respect and
Veneration —Among the many token
ol tne tender mercies of Divine Provi
dence toward our country, none have
been more signal than those which ac
companied this memorable dispensa
tion-so much so t hat our sorrows h • ve
foil id solace and coinlort in the a i
tuirr on and gratitude due to Almigh
ty God for tbo special interposition
■which, by its circumstances, made
their deaths not less gloriras than
Uisir lives had been exemplary and
illustrious.
It was known to th last Lcgisla
sur , that for certain reasons expres
e<! by the President of the United
States, he would call the attention of
Congress, at their first meeting, to
th va'idity ofthe Treaty negotiated
at the Indian Springs in 1825 ; and
in ns message to the Congress at
the opening of the session, after an
no u. i::g that “ tiie Treaty had been
ratified under the unsuspecting mi
'pi '---.ion !>at it had been negotiat
ed in good . itb,” he promised t
lav before that body the subsequent
transactions in relation to it. Toe
President failed to do so—Toward
the close of the session of Congress
lie did submit to the Senate anew
Treaty in .brogution of the old one,
with a general <!■ duration of the
ftdsehoo • and deception practised y
ti e Commissioners, in their official
communications with the Govern
ment, ofthe numerical inferoirity of
the parly which signed it, and of their
consequent inability to ca>ry it into
effect, but unaccompanied by a sin
gle document or vouch* to support
any fact or principl untamed in that
declaration.—The Senate, as you
know, ratified the Ti aty ; and tin
one of the Indian Springs of prior
and ft*, prior rat ification.fe passing vest
ed rights togeorgia,was declared nu 1 !
and void. The objections to t.u
pr .ceding, considered altogether
novel and unprecedented, were ob
vi.ii —Georgia, lor whose benefit
a c the Treaty was negotiated, was
and ivoil without her consent, of in-
Son sis already vested —The party
"with vvtu.m the old Treaty had been
Oegociated was not recognised as a
party at all in the conclusion oi the
new, and in the ex-cution of the new
Treaty without their consent, aud
eve-, against tiieir consent, they have
not merely been deprived of every
rigid which they could claim under
the old or new but havo been to all
hdeuts and purposes denationalized,
and forced either to submit uncondi
tionally to the power oftheir enemies
or to abandon their country. It was
with a knowledge of what was in pros
pect, from the first annunciation of
the President to Congress that the
•Legislature of Georgia, at the close
of its session, again reviewed and
again confirmed the validity of the
I reaty of the Indian Spr ngs. This
confirmation was the more imposing,
because the Legislature which first
acknowledged the authority of that
Treaty had returned to the people,
if s conduct had been passed in review
and of course a favorable verdict
pronounced upon, it. The act of the
legislature, founded on the provis
ions of the old Treaty, having been,
as it wore, re-enacted by a succeed
ing Legislature, was to be regarded
as mandatory and imperative, to b
u>lo the Executive
under his oath of office, according to
its requisition, unless forbidden by
paramount considerations there
could be none paramount, but whal
would be found in the Constitution
of the United States, and none such
were found. The Constitution it
self, in denouncing an act impairing
the obligation of contracts, recogniz
ed the sacredness of the Treaty of
the Indian Springs. The Executive
of Georgia, therefore, had no alter
native bui to carry that Treaty into
effect, in conformity with the repeat
edly expressed will of the Legisla
ture—His intentions were early com
municated in the most frank anti in
genuous manner to the Executive
Government at Washington,and from
that time to the present moment he
has never ceased to remonstrate and
pr dest on every occasion requiring
n, against any act injuriously affect
ing interests of Georgia derived uti
!er it—But there were other reasons
for maintaining the inviolability cf
the Treaty ofthe Indian Springs—*
By that Treaty Georgia had acquir
ed >ll h r territory within the Creek
limits—by the new she was to ac
quire less—and the difference be
tween them was bv the stipulations
of .Die new guaranteed to the In
d in. I r<?ver. The G .veruor could
in no manner recognise the pow
er of th<- President arid Senate, bv th*
abrogation of the oid Treaty, to vio
lat the Constitution of Georgia—
The Constitution of Georgia, as well
as the articles of agreement, entered
into in conformity with it. had set
tled her permanent boundaries irrevo
o-*bly. The new Treaty prescribed
new boundaries for Georgia, and by
its perpetual guarantee made them
permanent—Lauds, the rightful pr ,-
perty of Georgia, were taken from
her and ceded to the Indians forever:
and the jurisdiction over the river
Chattahoochie, which had been se
cured exclusively to her by the ori
ginal charter, by her Constitution,
and by the articles of agreement and
cession, was divided by the new trea
*y between Alabama and Georgia—
As no power is given by the Consti
tution of the United States to the
Government of tho United States, tc
jlttrr or revoke the Constitution of a
State, it would have been not merelv
an unpardonable indifference to her
rights and honor to hive submitted
>n silence to these palpable infrac
tions of them, but the Chief Magis-
trat - would have believed himself
guilty of a criminal desertion of the
interests of the State, if his sanction
or countenance bad been given to
such an instument. If the difference
between the provisions of the old and
new Treaties had been a nominal,
not a real >iiff rence, the U. States
and Georgia could have proceeded
iu good faith, and without collision of
interest, to execute either, as the one
or the other was believed to be the
Constitutional law ; but as those pro
vwions were variant in several par
ticulars involving essential rights,
md as one of thorn especially whe
ther so designed or not, would have
effectually postponed the settlement
of the country for an entire year, it
could not be expected that Georgi..
would surrender rights, interests and
rinciple too, because the President
;of the United States considered the
new Treaty the Oonststutional law
T;>e Government of either State is
to he considered as an independent
moral agent, having a conscience of
its own, tiie arbiter within itself of
right and wrong, to be i ifluenced or
controlled only by D vine authority :
an 1 the conscience of this Govern
ment has already passed definitively
on the validity o ’ tbe Treaty of the
Indian Springs.—And hero permit
me to remark that with regard to th*
rights of sovereignty aud jurisdiction
generally, which Georgia claims un
der her charter, to the territory with
in her limits in the occupancy ofthe
Indians, there is such a radical differ
ence of opinion bet ween the authori
ties of Georgia and those ofthe Unit
ed States, that the harmony tnd tran
quility of the two Governments, so
much to be cherished by all good
men, can never be niantaintd unin
terruptedly until those Indians shall
have been removed. In illustration
of this, it is sufficient to inform you
that on a recent occasion the right
of Georgia to make even a recen
noisance within that territory, with
a view to eventual internal improve
ment, was denied, and that denial
accompanied by a formal protest ot
the President of the United States
against it; and moreover, that when
about the same time there were in
dications ot an hostile feeling on thi
part of the Indians, which threatened
interruption to our Commissioners
engaged in running, with the consent
and approbation of th United States
the dividing line between Alabama
and this SPate, anfl precauti mry mea
lres were taken for their safety,
Georgia wa*- o understand
.hat she had-qp light to extend he
H* tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem, parcel* subjects et debell&re superbos.—Virgil.
MILLEDGEVILLE, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1826.
>roteetion to her own officers engag*
and <.n her own soil in carrying into
fleet an act of her own Legislature
gainst such hostility. It is vain to
ook into the Constitution of the U
States to find what rights of sovereign
ty and jurisdiction acquired under the
charter over the territory within her
limits, Georgia has suironderodto the
Federal Government—No such sur
render has b. en made, and yet Geor
gia in her late intercourse with the
United States has been treated in
tnis respect as if she had no rights ol
sovereignty or jurisdiction at all, and
this too whilst the laws of the United
States, as well as the articles of agree
ment and cession distinctly recognise
and proclaim them, and of course to
the very same extent as they arp as
serted by the Treaty of Hopews
and others.
The forlorn and helpless condi
tion to which the Mclntosh, or fried!*
ly party ofthe Creaks, havo bee;,
reduced by the continued persecu
tions to which th-y hav been ex
posed, is submitted to you as claim
•eg your humane and benevolent
consideration. This portion of t!i
Creek tribe having fought the bat
tles ot the United States and van
qiiished*the hostile part of it, who
were at once their enemies and the
enemies ofthe United States, it wa*
Imped that they would have been
regarded with some degree of favor
;iy that government and people, in
whose defence they had expended
their blood and put to hazard eve
ry thing dear to them For a time
ms hope was not disappointed—
General Jackson, by his Treaty of
1814, had recognised their services
and their claims—Their Chieitian
was distinguished by the favor ol
•he Government, and he and ins fol
lowers were regarded not only as
th • faithtul and devoted friends of
the whites, but as the conqu rors of
the Red Sticks, then numbering
two-thirds ol the whole nation, whose
rights of territory, by tho laws ol
War, passed to the victors. It was
the conviction oi the justice of their
cause and ot the rights acquired by
it, which dictated the letter of th
Secretary of War of the 17th day of
.March, 1817, recogniziug in full the
power oi Mclntosh and his follow-
i*9 to sell the country. When, in
obedience to the expr -.sed wishes
ot the United States, Mclntosh with
others, proceeded at the Treaty o
the Indian Springs, to exercise this
acknowledged power, the power
was deni and, and the murder of him
self and Chiefs which followed, look
ed upon without emotion, whil t
Un: murderers were cherished* ca
ressed and honored by the Govern
ment of the United States—his fol
lowers lelt without hon e, without
protection, without bread, and final
ly denationalized and put under the
ban—so that at last they were con
sidered as no part of the nation,
having no claim of territory and of
course no rightful participation
the consideration for which tho te
ritory sold—and what is worse th:
all, the money w hich should have
been given to them under the Trea
ty. noi only given to their enemies,
but made the instrument of seducing
rori; their allegiance the friends of
Mclntosh, who had no alternative
but to take the bribe or share the
calamities of the party. To com
plete th* ir degradation as an unwor
thy and ignoble race, tho President,
in his official message to the Senate,
lias deigned to stigmatize them as
“an impotent and helpless minori
ty,” ’’unable to execute their en
gagements”—“as fugitives instiga
ted by a vindictive fury,” “making
extravagant and unwarrantable de
mands, whilst they were eating the
bread and begging the protection
of the United States.” And again,
as “ a party making unwarrantable
pretensions and extravagant de
mands, and having no claims on the
United States, other than of impar
tial and rigorous justice.” Is it to
be wondered that under such treat
ment the friendly party should be
reduced to a mere remnant, and im
potent and helpless minority, or is it
uot a subj ct of wonder, that instead
of the 1000 which remain, there
should be one left bearing the name
or rallying under the standard ol
Mclntosh. We cannot permit our
selves to believe that the Congress
of the United States, will not itself
regard with tenderness and compas
sion a portion of the human family,
reduced by reverses to piteous dis
tress, deserted by the inconstancy oi
friendship, and abandoned to the
-ports of fortune.
Whether in reference to that part
ofthe territory of Gbowgia, yet in the
occupancy of the Cherokees,'you
will think proper, in eonformity with
the recommendiUioQ t« tha\ effect
contained m a message, to ex
tend the laws over it as a right r*•
-lilting from your general soverei
y and or whether you
will abide the result of future nego
tiations by the United States, to ex
tinguish their claims in virtue ofthe
compact of 1802, will be for you, as
rfhe only competent autl oritv to de
cide A state of things so unnatur
al and so fruitful of evil as an inde
pendent government of a semi-bar
barous people co-existing within the
same limits, cannot long continue,
and wise counsels must direct, that
relations w'hicn cannot be maintain
ed in peace, should be dissolved be
fore any occasion can occur to break
that peace. How ungenerously tan
talizing to this unhappy tribe would
be a policy inviting them to a local
habitation and repose, when the
fates had alreadv decreed their des
’iny to be fixed anti irreve:sible up
on another so/!. To perpetuate the
remnant of a noble race, we ask of
ihe United States to give them a
resting place whithiu oouudareis of
their own, fruitful, ample and salu
brious, .-uch as they command, and
-uch as in hum-mity tbev should be
stow, where the arts of civilization
and the lights of Christianity can
reach them unmixed with the cor- 1
rupting and contageous vices of th
whites, and where their perpetuity
and independence can be assured
If the United States hesitate now, a
few years will bring them to just
reflections, but too late to save from
irredeemable waste and decay the
numerical strength and moral ener
gies ol a people, so far preserved by
the encouragement and patronage
otthe United States, with the toLr
ance of Georgia.
Messrs Crawford, Blount and
Hamilton, were appointed Commis
sioners, James Camak mathematic
ian. assisted by the Chief Civil En
ginnccr, and Edward L. Thomas,
surveyor, in pursuance of a resolu
>on ofthe Legislature, to run the
dividing line between this State and
Alabama. These gentlemen have,
<u the execution of their several
trusts, discharged the duties confid
ed to them to my entire satisfaction.
Those assgm and to the Commission
s were delicate and arduous, and
whilst they respected as they ought
the rights of others, they have not
been unmindful of what was due to
the State they represented, its hon
or, interest and dignity. The Chief
Civil Engineer having received the
appointment from the Executive,
was to be considered ns under his
exclusive direction and control, un
til the meeting of the Legislature.
His pow er over this officer was how
ever, from a consideration of fituess
and propriety, voluutaily and che> r
fully, but imfcirmally, surrendered lo
the Board of Public Works, with a
settled purpose not to interfere with
the exercise of that power, unless
claims to his services of higher inter
est to the public, should, at any tie e
be interposed. An occasion offer
ed, and he was ordered, without hes
itation, from the less, to the more
in port ant service. It is to be re
gretted that the Commissioners oi
Alabama could not tee! themselves
uthorised to concur with those of
Georgia The correspondence be
tween the t«’o commissions will ex
hibit the views of each, and it is not
presuming too much to say, that
those of Georgia are not the less sat
isfactory, because they have not re
ceived the concurrence or approba
tion of the Commissioners of Ala
bama. If the first Bend above Uchee
and Coweta and Cussetah Towns,
from which a line to Nickajack did
not strike the river, would uot satis
fy the requisitions of the articles of
agreement and cession, it was not
to be expected that any other beDd
above it, and farther removed from
Uchee and the Towns, would. It
was the less to be expected that the
Commissioners of Georgia would
consent to pass that bend, for no
other reason than that Alabama
would take more and Georgia less
of territory by it—And when the
Commissioners, without the concur
rence of those of Alabama, finally
adopted the point of Miller’s Bend,
it w ash the point which was about
mid-way between that assumed as
i he true one by tho Governor of Ala
bama, aud the one ultimately pro
posed by her Commissioners to ours
—As the Commissioners of Alabama
would not agree to run ffoTn the
first bend immediately above Uchee,
and as a line running from that bend
intersecting the river, would have
made the boundary not a straight
one as contemplated by the articles
but a devious one, straight upon the
land and meandering on th water,
it is difficult to preceive how tho
, overnment of Alabama can with
nold its assent from a boundaay
which contemplated in all its aspects
would seem, at least to us, to recon
ede more differences and present
ewer objections than any. The
Commissioners of Alabama appear
. consider Georgia as the principal
1 arty to .je having deep-
est concern and interest in it, and
the boundary having been establish
’d by the act of Georgia, any par
ticipation in the expense has been
declined, and the whole of it suffered
to fall on this government alone.—
The expense therefore, unavoida
bly considerable, is believed to have
been incurred with as little of waste
fulness and extravagance as could be
expected from an operation so tedi
ous, and conducted under so many
disadvantages. The r port, corres
pondence and documents, relating
to this subject, with the account of
the expeditures, will be laid before
you.
It is proposed, in concert with
the General Government, to com
mence running the dividing line b -
tween this State and Florida, on the
first day of December next. The
correspondence in relation to it is
submitted, and it will be seen that
no difficulties can be expected to
arise to embarrass the operation or
to prevent the mos. desirable con
clusion of it.
Affer a tedious correspodence with
several of the most distinguished of
the Engineers of the United States,
from which no satisfactory result
could he promised, Hamilton Fulton,
Esq. a gentleman of known integrity
of character, and recommended by
the most eminent of the Engineers of
Engla id, was appointed to the office
ot Chief Civil Engineer. It is hoped
that Mr. Fulton will uot disappoint the
just expectations oft le public. The
proceedings of the board of public
works after their first organization are
submitted to you. A plan of internal
improvement having been digested
and prescribed by the Legislature,
nothing remained for them but to a
dopt the most prompt and appropri
ate measures to carry it into effect
The report of the Board and of the
Chief Engineer, will disclose the £ir-»r
practical operations under them, arid
will enable you to decide upon the
merits ofthe past, and what for the
future, in furtherance of the plan, the
public interest shall require. Tc
open new sources of commerce and
give facilities to those already open
ire the great objects of the system.
If by a communication between the
waters of Tennessee and tho«e o;
Georgia, the trade of the Mississippi
and Ohio can be diverted to our At
lantic ports, the freight and commiss
ions would more than suffice to re
place, with the ordinary interest, the
capital which might be employed in
effecting that communication, and if
this were true at the beginning, th*
progressively increasing commerce
which an almost unbounded region,
with rapidly augmenting population,
would supply, might convert a chan
nel of intercourse into a permanent
source ofrevenuetothestate. What
ever can be realized in this respect,
will dep nd on the facilities given by
tiie projected canal across tiie Penin
sula ol Florida, which forming a line
of steam boat communication be
tween the Western waters and our
A’lantic ports, cheap continuous and
comparatively safe, may have adv n
t tges over the short and mere direc’
rout, not open to this valuable instru
ment of conveyance, As connected
with such an undertaking, the States
ot Alabama and Tennessee have been
consulted, and their views in relation
toil, so far as communicated, are
aubmitb and.
With respect to that port of pub
lic improvement, designed to facili
tate the intercourses of trade within
our own limits, the obvious rule wid
be to adapt our measures aot only to
the actual state of the trade and
commerce of the country, but to the
means which we can command to
give efficacy and success to them;
and, whether canals, or rad roads,
or turnpikes, shall in different situa
tions be considered as best adapted
to this end, to limit both capital and
labor to a single object at a time,
until that object is accomplished. It
ueed not excite surprise, if, before
a long time with the exception of
the level alluvial country, the rail
will universally supercede tho canal,
having the advantage of cheapness,
expedition, healthfulness, safety aud
certainty.
? You will receive with other docu
ments on this subject, a communica
tion from the Governor of South
Carolina, which looks to the im
provement ofthe navigation of the
Savannah river,by a concert of meas
ures and combination of
that State and this, dependhqfoh the
authority of their respective Legisla
tures, with my answer, which will
disclose to you my own views and
opinions in relation to tbe subject,
and to which it may be only ncG-s
--sary to add that those views aud
opinions remain unchanged.
The honorable William Schely,
in compliance with his engagements,
has completed his Digest f the Eng
lish Statutes. Tiie work was ap
proved by tha Executive, and it is
(OR $4 IF NOT PAID IN SIX MONTHS.
NO. 46....V0L. I.
believed merits and will rico.v i.e
approbation of the Legislature. If
to this work were added a Digest of
the Common and Statue Law, or if
the principles of these the Civil LaW
and of the Napoleon Code, as appli
cable to our condition and circum
stances, could be embodied into ono
general system of jurisprudence, talc
ing the place of all, it would be wof
thv the refinement of the age, and
would confer imperishable honor on
the legislators and sages who would
devise and execute it. No systetfl
of jurisprudence will avail for all the
beneficent ends of its institutions;
without a well organized Judiciary
to carry it into effect, and on this
subject it may be sufficient to remind
the Legislature of that defective or
ganization of our own to wh<ch iti
attention has been so repeatedly,
but hitherto unprofitably called.
Our academic institutions contu*.
ueto flourish, and Franklin College,
at the head of them, sustains its
merited reputation To its other
Professorships a chair of Mora! Phi
losophy, Rhetoric and Belles Lettres,
has been added, and the dise pline
and subordination maintained by the
proper authorities, are not known to
be surpassed by those which pre
vail in the best regulated Colleges
of the country.
It is recommended to you to cotV
solidate the Poor School Fund, to
augment it, to secure by sufficient
guards its faithful application, anti to
diffuse its benefits as extensively srt
possible among the poor and ir digent.
These are the classes of community
who in their means of livelihood fall
below mediocrity, and who « i*. this
account, as well as on account of
their numbers have the strong* it
claims fur that assistance which
enable them by the instruction of
primary schools to discharge in
peace and in war, with most useful
ness to themselves and advantage to
:ie country, all the duties of good
citizens.
Ofthe militia, nothing will be ad
ded to the numerous invitations giv>
en to the Legislature for the revisal
and improvement of a system jo
radically delective that it is almost
impossible to maintain the uec* ssary
organization under it—The evi; has
found a palliative however in too
encouragement extensivi.ly given to
the formation of volunteer corjt-. (ca
valry and infantry) which now pre
sent a force highly respectable .or
number, armament, aud discipline,
ready to he called into service at a
moment’s warning, and inspired by
the most patriotic sentiments.
The annual reports ofthe different
Banks are submitted. The interests
ofthe State, of the Stockholders
and ofthe trading and commercial
community claim your immediate'
attention to the actual condition of
the Bank of Darien—Whether it *
shall be left to the operation of time,
under the direction ofthe institution
as established by the charter, t> res*-
tore the capital with a view to ulte
rior active operations, or whether
th Legislature, for the purpose of
restoring the capital with a Vi w ei
ther to further operation-, or final
settlement of its affairs, shall take
t he management into their own hands,
are alternatives submitted to your
discretion. Your decision will be
governed by an estimate ofthe de.ep
stake which the Treasury has in the
event—the inconvenience resulting
to all the parti* s concerned, from a
postponed restoration ofthe capital,
ofthe proportion which the circulat
ing medium bears to the actual de
mand for it, and of the powers which
you yourselves possess of giving tho
desired efficacy to any mea.-ure for
the accomplishment of either or all of
these objects.
The organization of the territory
lately acquired by the Treaty ofthe
Indian Springs, will be a subject of
early attention. The public reserv
ations will particularly require a pro
vision, which will not merely place
them beyond the probablity ot tres
pass or intrusion, but will make them
available, with the least possible de
lay, for all the benefits ami advanta
ges expected to be derived fro©
them
The claims for militia services, re
main unacted on by Congress. Our
citizens interested in them suffer by
the delay, whilst the delay results in nr
advantage to the United States. It is
indeed a useless procrastination of
what must inevitably come to pass
as an irreversible decree of justice.
The objection, hitherto tnkeD, ofthe
mersion of these claims in the arti
cles of agreement and cession, must
be satisfactorily removed by the evi
dence communicated from this de
partment, and which shews that the
Commissioners of the United States,
who negotiated the articles, subse
quently recognized the claims as in
no manner connected with the stipor
’ations of that instrument.
The militia claims and the terrijp-