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2 •EORGIA AND THE UNITED STATES Report of the Select Committee in the House of Representatives, March 3, 1927' (Con eluded.) The right to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indians, was one of the first federal rights exer cised after the commencement of the revolution. On the 12th July, 1775, it was resolved by the Continental Congress, "that Commissioners he appointed by this Congress to super intend Indian affairs on behajfof these colonies,” and the Indians were di vided by the same resolution into the northern, mi Idle and southern departments. In the latter depart ment the Creek Indians were in cluded. By the articles of confederation, Congress had the exclusive power of making treaties at that time, and it is believed at all times the only mode in time of peace in which the relations with Indian tribes have been conducted by the United .States: Congress had also the power of ‘ regulating trade, and managing all affairs with the Indians, not mem bers of any of the States. Provid ed, that the legislative right of any of the states, within its own limits he not infringed or violated,” This express prifviso, and the proviso ini jdied in the words, “not members of any State,” were t heSources of much embarrassment under tlio old con federation. Georgia particularly, claimed the right to treat with the j Creek Indians concerning peace, lands, and the other objects that Usuahv form tlio matters of Indian i treaties ; and, in order to establish j her right so to do, she by the treaty j of Galphinton, in 1785, stipulated i that the Indians ofthe Creek nation, were " members of the state” of Georgia. In what sense they could have been "members of tin; state,” , this committee does not understand ; and the right of a state to enter in to those treaties with the Indians, Vas strenuously resistcd,hy Congress. At I-ngth the constitution was a rlopted.—The treaty-making power was again vested Iho United States. A treaty duly ratified became the supreme law of the land, “any thing Jii the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstand ing.” By the confederation, the powers of the congress in regulating trade, and managing affairs with the Indians, were limited, (as has just been observed) by the proviso “that the legislative right of any state, within its owl limits, should not be infringed or violated "" No such limitation is found in the constitution of the United States. 'Phis omis sion was’not undesignedly made. It was one of the changes expressly introduced, to prevent the continued collision of Federal and state pow ers, which had so long existed to the injurv of the public. The grant of unqualified power to regulate com merce with the Indians, thooxclusive right of repelling by force, their hos tile encroachments, and the exclu sive power of treating were neces sarily so many infringements upon the jurisdiction of the individual states and upon the power of the state legislatures. If any authority bo wanted to confirm these principles it may be found in the 42d number of the Federalist, a paper written by Mr. Madison Comparing the pow ers grant ;d to congress by the pre sent constitution, with those et the confederation, he says, “the rogula • tion of commerce with tlio Indian tribes is very properly unfettered from those limitations in the articles (^confederation,whichre.«der the pro vision obscure and contradictory. The power is there restrained to In diting, not members ot tiny state, and is not to violate or intringo the le gislative right of any state within its limits. What description of Indians are to be deemed members of a state is not yet settled , and has been a question of frequent perjdaxity and oontention in the federal councils. And how the trade with the Indians iipt members of a state, yet residing within it's legislative jurisdiction, can he regulated by an external authori ty, without so far intruding on the in- tcrnal rights of legislation, is abso- j lutely incomprehensible. This is not; the ouly case in which the articldu of confederation have inconsiderately endeavouieu to accomplish impossi-! biiitics, to reconcile a partial sover-1 eignty in the Union, with a complete 1 sovereignty in the states ; to sub vert a mathematical axiom hv ta king away a part and letting the .whole remain.” To tho constitution of the United States, thus designedly trained on these points Georgia became a party and thereby relinquished, it she pre viously possessed it, ail power to treat with the Indians, and all right to exclusive jurisdiction over them. The powers conferred upon the general government, in reference to the Indians, are to he viewed, not* more as conferring authority, than as implying and imposing burdens. Wuh their exclusive rights in rela tion to the Indiaus, devolved on the United States the groat duty of de fsndiug the States against savage violence In the discharge of this duty, is laid the foundation of the m jiary establishment of tbc United Biales. The tirst armies raised after the Union, who struggled in their in fancy, alone and unaided, against uumerous and powerful tribes of savages, have been charged with perhaps the greatest single item of public expenditure, in the tulfilment of the trust and duty of carrying on the relations of tho Union with the Indians. But the power and the burden must be reciprocal, and the State which claims the right, by un controlled legislation, of causing an Indian war, cannot reasonable call on the Union to sustaiu the burdeu of carrying it cn. The firs? law regulating the inter course with the Indians, passed af ter the adoption of the constitution was approved July, 1790. After prohibiting the Indian trade to all but licenced persons, it gave to the President the power to make such order respecting the tribes surround ed in their settlements by the citizens of the United States, as to secure an intercourse without licci.ce, it he deem proper ; and the same law de clared that no •-ale ot Indian lands to an individual or a state, whether having the right ot pre-emption or not, should be valid, unless made and executed at it public treaty, held under the authority of the United States. The duration of this act was limited to two years, nn:l anoth er law was passed approved Ist March 1793, by which the surveying oi lauds belonging to any tribe, by mark ing trees, or otherwise, was prohi. | bited. Allpurchas sand grants of land, or claims or titles to laud “not i made by treaty or convention, enter ] od into pursuant to the constitution,” •were declared to “be without validi ty in equity or law." This act, limi | tod to two years, was supplied by that of May 19, 1796, by the first . articTu of which the Indian bounda ry line was declared aud defined j from the mouth of the Cayahoga j river, on lake Erie to the St. Mary’s. 1 At this time the Oconee formed the boundary lino between Georgia and the Creeks By this law, the pro hibition of surveys is specifically re-enact gd, and all right, title, and claim of whatsoever nature or kind of persons settling or surveying lands secured to Indians, by a treaty, is vested in the United States, or con viction ot’ the offender. This law was limited to three years, and its irrovisions-were substantially re-en acted by that of 3d. March, 1799. By the law of 30th March, 1802, the previous legislation on this subject, was re-enacted, without limitation of time, and has remained to tho pre sent dav, and still exists unrepealed. It is not known to the committee that, until recently, either Georgia or any other State, has since tlie a doption of tho constitution, exercis ed or claimed the right to treat with independent tribes of Indians, ex cept by authority and consent ofthe United States, or has exercised any act of legislation over them, or has claimed to do any act or thing for bidden by the law of 1802 The committee believe that the State of Georgia has not only acquiesced, un til lately, in the v iidity of this course of legislation, but that her intelligent and prominent citizens have giv-.-n it their express sanction.—ln the talk of Messrs. Campbell and Meri wether to the Cherokees, in 1823, those gentlemen say, “the sovereign ty ol’the country which you occupy [a r.ousiberublo part of which is in tho State of Georgia] is in tho U nited States alone ; no state-or for eign power can enter into a treaty or compact with you. These pri vileges have passed away, and your intercourse is restricted exclusively to the United States.” In a letter dated March 10th, 1824, addressed by the Georgia delegation of Sena tors and Representatives tot he Se cretary of War, the committee un derstand the dclegaron to say, that the Cherokees are to be viewed as other Indians, as porsons suffered to reside within the territorial limits of i tho United States, and subject to eve |ry restraint, which the policy and 1 power of the general government re i quire to Ire imposed on them, for the interests of the Union, the interest of a particular state, and their own ' preservation.” From these considerations the committee arc brought to the'conclu sion that the property in, ar.d juris diction over the lands occupied by the AJreeks, within the state of Geor gia, arc not exclusively possessed by that state, but are subjected to the riglihj guarantied to the Creeks, or reserved to the*United Slates by tlih constitution of the United Stati, the compact of 1802, by the pro visions of law, or by treaty. It remains only to usK, whether the occupancy ot’ the small portion of lands now in controversy is reserv ed to the Creek nation, and oiMHiat right Georgia claims to survey it. Georgia claims a right to survey it under the treaty of the Indian Springs, hut the Committee are of ophnon that no right nox title, could vest under that treaty, for the 10l- Jewing reasons, in brief: Jst, That treaty was negotiated not only contrary to instructions, but on a basis expressly forbidden by the Executive, when previously submit ted for bis sanction 2d. The treaty at tho Indian Springs was concluded by a party ot GEORGIA STATESMAN, MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1827 3d. The treaty was concluded by a minority, not merely of the princi pal Chiefs ofthe nation, but by a mi nority of the Chiefs present, and without regard to the protest of the Hoad Chiefs, made by their repre sentative, both before and af the mo ment of executing the treaty. 4th. Supposing the Commission ers authorized, and the Chiefs em powered to treat, such authority and power could, in no circumstances, extend beyond a cession ofthe lands occupied by the Chiefs treating, and those who empowered them’ where as, by the treaty of the I.idian Springs, a small party assumed to j themselves the right to cede away | nearly all the lands occupied by the nation. sth If the Creek’nalion was a par ty to the treaty of the Indian Springs, then it has been declared null and void by the two parties to it, viz: the United States and the Creek nation; if the Creek nation was not a party to it, then it was no treaty at all, for it purports on its face to be negotiated with the Clerk nation. For thc3o reasons, on which the Committee art prevented for wsnt of lime from enlarging, they are of opinion that, by a treaty like that of the Indian Springs, the Creek nation could net be divested of its right of o;cupancy, nor Georgia vested with a right of possession, and that the lands West of the new treaty line having never been ceded away, are reserved to the Creek Indians by the treaty of Washington, and that the survey of them is contrary to law. The Committee, however, are happy to add, that the inconvenience resulting from this circumssnnce is much les3 than was apprehended. In a letter of Governor Troup, to Messrs. Cobb arnd berrien, dated 4th March, 1826, itjsstated that, “unless all the sources of information her: shall prove erroneous and deceptive, tiie State (if the validity ofthe new treaty be admitted) has been de frauded of one million of acres of her best lands.” Bat if the Western boundary of Georgia were run, ac cording to a rigorous construction of' the compact of 1302, it would pass in some points East ofthe Chalta houchie, and thus give her" a boun dary which sho might consider less advantageous than the line drawn by the treaty of Washington. If the Western bouudary line be run accord ing to the interpretation put upon tiie compact by the Commissioners of Alabama, it ufould leuve Georgia less than she now claims, lint grant ing the cx parte line, run by the Georgia Commissioners, to be the true West rn boundary ofthe State, the quantity ot unceded land, by the only computation the Committee has seen, is 198,632 acres, and that of a poor quality, being about one nine ty-eighth part of the lands, the Indi an title to which, the Uuited States, in 1802, covenanted to extinguish for Georgia, as soon as it could be done reasonably and peaceably. The small quantity of land in con troversy, and its trilling value, ren der it probable, that the Indians will igree % to cede it. Inasmuch as the quantity depends on the direction which the line" between Alabama and Georgia may take, it were to bo wished that this line should he first run. It appears, itowever, that the Executive, from an earnest desire to meet the wishes of Georgia, has in structed the Agent to urge the Creeks to a cession of all the lands East of the line, which Georgia lias established for herself. The pre liminary steps for this cession re quire no appropriation; and the Com mittee deem it inexpedient, b}' now making an appropriation for tho fi nal purchase, cither to fix on an inad equate. or an unnecessarily large sum. It is tho result of the best vk <*■ which the Committee have been able to take ofthe suject, that no legislation upon it is at this time necessary. In conclusion, tlie Committee brg leave to observe, that they have giv en to this important subject all the time and attention they could com mand, at this advanced stage of the session. They have felt how many great interests arc concerned in the subject. The powers ofthe Union, and the manner in which they have been exercised; the rights and inter ests of a sovereign State, and the •protection due from the strong aud the prosperous, to the feeble rem nant of a once formidable race.— Notwithstanding the collisions of opinions, which can nrely be avoid ed where sucli interests are involved the Committee think it may with jus tice be averred, that, in the general result, while die Constitutional pow ers ofthe United States have been asserted, the great objcct s'Hjfeired by Georgia have been attained,^and the public sentiment of tho world has not been disregarded, .which re quires a tenderness and moderation, m disposing ofthe rights of those, wirom Providence has placed, with out the means of resistence, at our discretion. Such arc the views which the Com mittee had prepared themselves to submit totbc House. By the mes sage and accompanying documents vestqjday referred to the Commit tee, it appehrj (if the Governor o Georgia correctly represents the other authoritcs and People of the ■ I ~l , , been hoped. To the letter of the Secretary at War, informing the Gov ernor that the President, in conse quence of the remonstrance and ap peal of the Indians, would feel him self compelled, if to em ploy all the means under his control to maintain the faith of the nation, by carrying the treaty of Washing ton into effect, the Governor has re turned a direct defiance. Instead of submitting the decision of the ques tion to the tribunal provided by the constitution, he has issued orders to the Attorney and Solicitor General ofthe State, to take all necessary and legal measures to effect the lib eration of the Surveyors, who may be arrested, under the .authority of the Government ofthe United States; and has directed them to bring to justice, by indictment or otherwise, the officers ofthe ynited States, or others concerned in arresting the Surveyors, as violators of the peace of Georgia. lie has ordered the Major Generals of two divisions of militia to hold the regiments and battalions within their respective commands, in readiness to repell any hostile invasion ofthe Territory of Georgia; and he has declared, in substance, that he shall regard the attempt of the United States to sus tain the Indians by force, (which if will become their sacred duty to do should all other means fail) in the occupation of the lands resciVed to them by the treaty of Washington, ae an attack upon the Territory, the People, and the sovereignty of Geor gia. The Committee will not take up on themselves to express any opin ion on tiie subject of counsels, so much to be deplored. They have no apprehension that tho People ol Georgia will engage in violent col lision with the Union, tor the purpose of sustaining a title to a small strip of barren land, acquired under an in strument, whicli, by a very large ma jority ofthe other House of Con gress, sanctioned by an dmost unan imous vote of this House, has been declared “null and void." If, how ever, it is necessary to Amtemplatc so disastrous an event, the Commit tee trust the law of tlie land will be maintained, and its faith preserved inviolate. The Committee recom mended the adoption of the follow ing resolutions; Resolved, That it is expedient to procure a cession of tiie Indians lauds, in the limits of Georgia.. Resolved, That, until such a ces ion is procurred, tho law "of the land, as set forth in the treaty of Washington, ought to be>maintained, by all necessary Constitutional and legal means* A LARGE SQUASH. BRIGADE ORDERS. H. Q. Savannah 24th Feb. 1827. When we are awfully told by the President of the United States, that he will be compelled, under certain" circumstances, by an obligation ‘even higher than that of harnan au thority,” to use the “military arm” of the Union to prevent the enforce ment of a law of a State, passed un ler the guarantee of a treaty ofthe Union, solemnly ratified and promul gated as the supreme law ot the land by the proper authorities, whereby rights have been vested in the State which no human authority can di vest it of but by the slioug arm of power: when the Executive of the State tells us that “Ho will resist to the utmost any military attack which tlio Government of tho Unit ed States shall think proper to make on the territory, the People, or the sovereignty of Georgia” —it is, indei and time to stand upon our defence , and having assorted our rights, to pre pare to maintain them. We will not, then, wait for further orders. The Colonels under my command will, therefore, forthwith have their regiments in ths best possible at titude of readiness to meet the worst statd of things which may grow out of any attempt to prevent the right to pursue the ends for which our Government was instituted ; to es tablish the sovereignty and indepen dence of the States, and promote the welfare and happiness of the People. ED. HAT!DEN, Brig. Gen. Ist Brig. Goo. Militia. [Quere. —Would not*:he General make a good Governor himself?—He lias before this, evinced several rare qualifications.] A VOICE FROM NEW-YORK. GENERAL JACKSON. The states friendly to the election ol General Andrew Jackson are right •n supposing that the indications ol NewjYork promise an auspicious re sult. Things are daily shaping their course in that direction, not in a udden, hasty manner, 4 calculated to produce reaction, hut with delibera tion and steadiness of purpose.— There are few who took an active part in the election of Mr. Crawford who are not now equally zealous iu of General Jackson. The prom inent friends of Mr. Clinton are squaly decided on this point, aud il 'he canvass is conducted with mod eration aud tirmuess, with union and good foci mg the entrio vote of New- Virginia.—Hot sister state, fair Virginia, has been tossing up har head, and turning up her delectable nose any time these last forty years at the younger members ot the A mcrican family, jis if she alone of all ihe sisterhood, possessed purity and virtue—We have always kuown that like Queen Betty, in honor of whose single blessedness she received &cr name, she wasgiven to scolding—but as to any fauxpas of her ladyship, we were not informed. The following toasts, however, of Mr. Randolph, given at the late public dinner in. Richmond, seems to tell a most dis reputable tale ofthe elder sister:— Virginia. —The Son who will not stand by such a Mother—must be a Basiard. Now, however, it may suit the personal views ofthe Honorable gen tleman to place the bend Senister in his brothers shield, we cannot but think it a graceless act to slander his own mother, by sucb gross insinua tions. U. S. Gazette.' Great Rail Road. —The Legis lature of Maryland have incorpor ated a company under the title of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, with a Capital of g.j, UOo.OOO, to construct a rail road from Baltimore to the Ohio—a dis tance in the shortest line about 350 miles. The Corporation of Bal timore arc expected to subscribe for half a million of the stock; one branch ofthe City Council hav ing already passed a resolution, which will, it is said, have the coa hrmation of the other brauch, au thorising such a subscription The State reserves to itself the right to subscribe a million ot' dol lars. Liberality. —The citizens of Cien veland, Ohio, must teel obliged to the editor of a New-Hauipshiro pa per, now before us, for the uncom mon generosity he ascribes to them. Hu says they have “ seut 12 pounds ol' pork, and 8 of beef, lor the relief ol tho Greeks.” A sufficient couvoy has gone out, we hope, to protect it. The editor ofthe Baltimore Patri ot has been favored with tho follow ing interesting extracts of a letter tr„ui a gentleman m Europe,( who has the beast means of acquiring the most correct information,) to his friends in Baltimore, dated 26th Jan uary ; —Whether his predictions are well founded or not must soon be r- alized. “My unconquerable persuasion, is that War must break out erelong, and that France and England must be parties. Every effort will be made oy England to involve us, some way or other. Iknow, that a policy to this effect has been agreed on and laid down iu England several years ago, as the policy to be observed witu respect to us, whenever any new war should occur. There was a policy adopted then, and it will be* followed, not to allow us to enjoy a profitable neutrality, aud to re-be come the factors ol’the world They move overy spring to deprive us ol another indefinite term ot progress ive, uucxampled prosperity. —They will not ailowde a renewal of Joana then’s tnriity, nourishing system of paddling his own canoe, and pick ing up grists all over the nul-pouds ofthe world, and o! effect mg in some twenty years, what other nations have required centuries tt> accom plish. i tell you my good lric-nd J know tnis. England will have e nough on her hands in Europe, aud 1 shall not be surprised, if, under her present pressure, she may not be in earnest in accommodating every cause of difference with the United Slates—indeed I have some reason to believe that she will. “There must bo War—all Europe is alive for it-especially the French : they arc indiguaiit at Mr. Canning’s audacious language in his afterwards subdued and mitigated speech. The English are detested every where on the continent, and no where more than in Portugal, the Portuguese ask tho British officers, what the devil brought you here! Who wants the English to be meddling in our affairs ! You may be assured that the Portuguese neither understand nor want Don Pedro’s Constitution. The English are as well aware of that as are the French or Spaniards. Again I say, there will be War.” **tTlic Grech Supply Ship. —*ho ele gant ship Chancellor, Cant. Bark hauled out in ihe stream yesterday, and will probably sail to-day, with provision, kc. for the Greoks. Mr. Miller, of Vermont, who vv,as three years in Greece, and eighteen months in active ervice, goes out in the ves sel. lie will have, the charge of the supplies, aud pay attention to their distribution. The cargo is said to be worth aboat SIB,OOO, inclu ding the freight and insurance, which have been paid. It consists princi pally of corn ineal. flower, rice, and the like articles. May prosperous gales attended her! We have al ready stated that a second vessel will be despatched as suou us practi cable, in which Lieut. Carpenter, ofthe U. 8. Navy, who has just re turn from the Mediterranean, will go VOLUMU 11.. The Tallipot Tree. —A leaf of this extraordinary tree has lately been brought over from the Island of Cey lon, of which place it is a native, and is now in tho possession ofthe Rev Richard Fletcher, of Hampstead. The leaf is iu a good State of preser vation: it measures fully *ll feet hi height, 16 feet across ifs widest spread, and from 38 to 40 feet in circumference. If expanded us a canopy, it is sufficient to defend tt dinnerparty of six from the rays of the sun, and in C.-ylon is carried about the by natives for tho puL po«t. La to Intelligence. The case of Charles L. Smith vs, P, Franks, the* Editor of the“lndepondence Bal ance.”printed at Philadelphia, for a ’ libel published in that paper against Mr. Smith has been lately tried and determined at Nisi Prius. before Judge Duncan. The Jury gave a verdict ot ten thousand dollars dam* ges for the Plaintiff being the whole amount claimed in plaintiff’s declare, tion. NEW YORK, March!) (k Jin unwelcome Disclosure. — greatest political misfortune of our country is, that while the South rons in Congress cling together to a man, there are almost always treacherous members enough from the North, to give the actual min-- ority the ascendancy. And when speaking upon this subject, we have more jfchan once had occasion to lament that Mr. Van Bureu should so frequently sacrifice the great interests ofthe notih to tis southern predelictions. Such, however, is the fact, and we have now before us another instance, of a more formidable character than transpires every day. A member of Congress has just put into our hands a volume of docunents by which it appears that in the Geor gia controversy, when in the Sen ate in secret session last year, Mr. Van Buren was the active partisan of Gov. Troup, in his cruel op* pression of the Creek Indians.—- We are aware that|ieiv|will believe sucha thing possible, &?we should have doubted it ourselves, upon any testimony short of ctfficial.— Fortunately we have thattestimo ny, and we are informed that hk publication has given no little un easiness to Mr. Van Buren. On the 60th page of the volume of documents before us, (entitled the Reports and Resolutions of the Legislature of Georgia, with ac companying documents,) at the close of a long fetter from Mr Berrien, one of the Georgia Sena tors, to Gov. Troup, giving an ac count of his labors in the Senate to defeat the new treat}', we find the following paragraph:— vl cannot conclude this letteu, without stating to you, that wc have, in all this affair, received a frank and cordial support from Gen. Harrison, of Ohio, from Coh Hayne, of South Carolina, from Mr. Van Buren, of New York, and though last, not least, fiom Judge White of Tennessee.” The next document in the book is Gov. Troup’s answer to the foregoing, which concludes as follows: “Do me the favor to present my best thanksto gen. Harrison, €•!.. Hayne, and Mr. Van Buren, and judge White, for their able and li beral co-operation with you, in the cause of the weak against the strong ; aad, as I trust, ofthe just aginst the unjust. ’’ Here, then, is Mr. Van Buren, a Senator from New York, and thfc only northern Senator who dared hazard the experiment, if they had a disposition to do it, when in se cret session, aud as he fondly sup p *sed, secure from the eye of his constituents, leaguing himself with Gov. Troup in his atrocious de signs upon the poor Creek Indians, and his daring opposition to the su preme laws ofthe land! Not only this, but he receives the thanks for Irs services from this same Gov. Troup. The manner in which his precious secret was disclosed was this : During the session of Congress which lias just closed, the Georgia delegation brougtit forward a bundle, of documents which they, without careful exam ination’ moved to have printed, which motion was adopted. Mt. Van Bruen, in the mean time, knowing that it was only in secret session that he had directly be trayed his constituents, felt snug ly secure, until the documents came printed upon the tables, when lo ! it was fbnnd that by some strange fatility, -the confidential, letters of Mr. Berrien andJGov. Troup had been accidentally shut tled among the papers, and hem the secret was disclosed as limb os life J—JV*. Y .Com. Adv. In the Philadelphia case ol Harris v*. Lewis, in which ths jury reudsred n verdict for the Plaintiff of SIOO. the cost will arroiirrt it r? suM P