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EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. Louifvillc, is:b March* IN obedience to an Executive order, contained in die letter following, viz. jv. ■ - . Stateboufe, Louifuillc, February 26, i? 9 “SIR, ‘ • o lt is with sincere regrit that I have learnt,’ from a fwtement of the Tax Colleftor of die 2ad inst. the lengths to which the City Council have carried their oppofitkm to the concurred resolution of the Legislature relative to the l'ale of Negroes ordered thereby to be fold in terms ol the Tax Ad of the year 1797. Surely die Corporation do not aim at preferring laws for and fixing limits to the Ge neral Assembly, or bv violence or force to prevent the op eration of their afti; yet, from the prelent feature of their proceedings, I am at a loss in what other points of view to confider their condua. - | “It will be unpleasant to me to be compelled to any Kftep against a Corporation under whofe'jurifdiftion I have |fo many years relided, and whose authority I have so re peatedly supported on the Legislative floor as the Repre sentative of Chatham county; but, placed as I am in the ■Executive Chair of-the Government, it is not forme to between this and that county, or this and that Incorporated body, or set of individuals. I can know no Ban or bodies of men, in my public capacity, but in the ■ne of my duty, and that I mean to perform to the best B my ability. ■ “ And, in order to enable the to perform this duty im- Hrtially, Ido, in die name of the State of Georgia, de fjB n d and require, Os and from the Corporation of Savan- Hh, full and compleat extracts and tranlcripts, duly certi ■d, under your hand and the leal of the city, of all the Hurnals, votes, and proceedings, of the City Council, as |Bll as copies of all papers and documents lodged with, or lEicurcd by them, touching or in any wife coiKerning 35 taken up at lea, as part of the cargo of the lltip IBni.ral Nichols, and imported into Savannah in the IBiooner E mma, Callaghan, Mailer, from the day cf their jHfl arrival until the day this letter (hail lie received by you. jßy Secretary will receive the papers so to be copied and ■anferibed, and will have the honor of presenting )ou Bith this letter. B U I am, Sir, with due refpeft, your very obedt. fervt. K JAs. JACKSON. B The Worjbipful John Glen, ■ Mayor of Savannah” 1 Mr. Secretary Jobnfon presented the proceedings of the Bity Council of Savannah rel'peCling the said Negroes, ac- Bmpanietl with'the following letter from the Mayor: fl To bis Excellency James Jackson , Governor and f Commander in chief of the State cf Georgia. ■ “SIR, • .. ■ “ We have receivetl your communication by your Se cretary, Mr. Johufon, and proceed cheerfully to comply Bith your orders, in furnifhing you with all documents Bid papers refipefting a certain number of Negroeyacked Bp at lea ind brought into this port by Cant. CaHaPln of [B schooner Exuma, from New Providence. The fame m hand you herewith, numbered from 1 to r 2. * §■“ lhe Corporation felt it their duty to proceed in the yßnner they have done, and allure your Excellency that, Bthe course of their proceedings, they have never bad the Bft intention of afting with dillefpeft to your Excellency Bthe Legillature of the (late, and though there may be Be features tending that \Vay, they have arisen altogether Bni tlie wortls of the law of the state, which made it the Bticular duty of the Corporation to pursue the measures By have. Your Excellency will please observe that, in B aft of the Legislature for'the-year 1796, pointing out B duty of militia in the firft brigade of the firft divilion, Bre is not a word faitl of Brigands; but every person of Bor, free or Have, arriving from any part of the Bahama B lt until ex P orted > * x the rilk and expenev of the owner stßporter. The ad of Capt. Callaghan was that of hn- JB|ty> the Corporation could not confider him in any B of view as either importer or owner, or impose on j tl,e obligation of the law in lucli case made and pro ■“> the Corporation therefore prepared to ptfrfoe the iB“* r y steps pmnted out by law, and embraced the firft fßxual, tiiat ol Mr. John Wallace, who entered into Bd, with security, to the fetisfaftion of the Citv Conn- , B } our Excellency will alfoobftrve that, in the Tax 80l 1 7 971 the word: “ imported for sale or settlement” •ear, aud would certainly prove, by the documents be ■’ Hicntioned, that thole Negroes were neither for sale or ■tlement, and that the interference of Mr. Norment was ■rst a an un j li ftifiable, he having information for months ■lory lie took any steps in his official capacity of such per- B S Jr*,;* *“*• The of Mr. Robert ■btchel Will clearly fatisfy your Excellency on this head. Bie copy of the bond taken from Messrs. Joltn and Tames 5 . a< f com P i y in g witli the law, in exporting a part i.o e . tgrocs, the copies ol Mr. Cumining’s fetters mm Augufli; and the report of the Committee relative to fe lale of one cf tliofe Negroes; will also, we hope, fa ■ • ° ir Excellency that the Corporation were taking e\erv Receifei v step for remedying tlie ev oft those Ne- KwS a ' MOng a,Klof tan 7 in U into tffed f ,„‘l. „ the tO E v °. f Dr - Putnam’s letter to Mr. G/.in we that the Negro Gilbert, or Gilbfes, Sfm ! V p y Mr * Cu,^ m,n g Augufla, was taken % Tj ** Carolina for and that with the kiiowledge oti Kr Corporation. This as a corporate body celled c"? manntr deny, and a.Tert tovour Ex- w n “r ’ that uhc udbnnation we ever received of this wh'n £ ‘ VaS convcr^at * r :1 Mr. Aldennan Holland 4 rom , A^U:S vhere the Ntgm in question w .ppmhended December last, andfiie letters of L* ;:* ,1 - ,nn g on tfe fame fubjed. we W*'™ mW by the papers encfefcd have sor Ut 'r >OU j *' xcc ' Ut ' DC y ***** the Corporation L-. in duty according to law, I :- oi ; r moll humble servant, I- ,cr belnlt 9- f the Corporation of Savannah, Savanr -J, ,1 ,r L “ J OHN GLEN, Mayor. Y hir r* 9!b Varclt * 1793-- , . tac’o. * irv ’ t ' n ’-dy read, were,ordered to lie on EXECUTIVE ’ ’ The letter of John Glen, Esq flavor of tlie city of Savannah, togeibet with the pnx-.eedings of the City Council, refjieding 35 Negroes imported into Savan nah in the schooner Exuma, Daniel Callaghan, Maften, and on the fubje£l of which the order of the Executive was founded, were taken up and maturely conlidered; and from the facts it to tlie. Executive that William Nor ment, Tslx Collector of the county of did, hn the sth day of January last, feiz-r, as forfeited under the Tax Adt of 1797, 25 Negroes, as part of a cargo of 35 imported into Savannah in ti e schooner Exuma, Daniel Callaghan, Master; that a dispute between him and the Corporation arole tlierton, and that he applied to the Ex ecutive, dating the circumstances of . the fei/ure, arid re questing information how-to act; by which Department it was referred to the Legillature for their decision, who by a concurred resolution ordered tlie said Negroes to be fold, in terms of the Tax A£t for the year 1797, and an Exe cutive order in obedience thereto immediately followed. That the said William Nprment did advertise the said 25 Negroes for sale on the 16th day of February last, which was forbid by an advertisement of tlie City Council. . That after the resolution for the sale had actually passed one Branch of tlie Legislature, and was taken up, .if not passed in the other, a statement from the Corporation, un der the lignature of the Mayor, accompanied by several papers, reached tlie Executive, in which the Mayor states “ Brigands tranlported from the Weft Indies, of which description are the Negroes in question,” but no one atom of proof accompanied the aflertion, but the heaifay evi dence of the City Martha!, who heard feme of the pi itbn ers fav they were so; whilst on the other hand Mr. Mit chel, of the House of Gairdners and Mitchel, of Savannah, as appeare by tlie statement of the ColtefW, and fincc by the oath of Mr. Mitchel himfelf, reprted them to the said Coltedlor for sale. That on tlie r6th day of February last, in consequence of his advertisement; the laid Collcdlor intending to pro ceed to sale, in compliance with tlie Legislative and Exe cutive orders, did apply to Mat’hew Motts, the-Keeper of the federal gaol, where the said Negroes had been firft lodged by the Corporation, and afterwards foized and lodged by the said Tax Cos He (Tor, for their delivery,’ to be carried to tlie Courthouse for l'ale as aforefeid, when the laid Motts positively refit fed to deliver any or either of them, unless by order of the Corporation, fa\ ing tliut tlie Corporation would protedl him, and the Memliers whereof aided and abetted the said Matthew Motts, peremptorily declaring that the Tax Collt&or IhoulJ not have them; and which refiilal must have arisen frdim an order of the City Council, passed the 29t h clay of January last, to the said Matthew Motts, ordering him to keep in close custody 26 Negroes brought into Savannah hy Capt. Callaghan of the schooner Exuma, and not to deliver them to any per son or persons, except under a dii'diarge from Council, fignedby the Mayor; whereby the laid William Norment was prevented from carrying the said concurred refoluti .n of the Legislature into effici. I'hat the said Negroes were imported into this state so early as the month of September last, as now appears by the protest of William Prouting, chief Mate of the fliip General Nichols, font forward by. the Corporation tinder the Executive oi-der, who declares that they had on board that ship 91 free colored people of different foxes, to be tranljiorted from the island of Oren id?, and 137 runaway ftaves, that were to be fold; that they landed on the hack part of the iiland of Cuba the aforefaid 91 free colored people; and that he and four whites and 35 ftaves elclped from the wreck of tlie fliip, and arrived at Tybec in the tehooncr Exuma, who picked them up at foa on the 1 ath ol that month; that after performing quarantine they were permitted to come up to town cri the 25th, and the Cor pora lion committed the Negroes to the federal gaol. 1 hat the said Collector, negligent of his duty in this (• rdpeeft, did not seize the - 25 Negroes he reported to tlie Executive until the sth of January, urged, he de clares, by the interference of tlie Corporation, which in duced him to apjily to the Gaoler to know whether he had all the Negroes which had been committed to his charge, ’ when the said Gaoler an five red he had but 17 ; that the remainder were out by orders from the Mayor-and Alder men, and two he undei-ftood bad gone up the country; when, fearful, as he lays, of the Executive denranding of liini the amount of tlie tax, and in execution of his duty as lax Collector, lie went on ’ward the Pile nix aud seized seven of the Negroes on behalf of tlie Stare, they being identified by the Gaojjer himfe ls, and brought them to Sa vannah and put them into gaol; arid seized those in and out of gaol, to the number of 25, and delivered diem to tlie care of the said Gaoler, That it fort! er appears, by tlie proceedings of the City Council, that the two mentioned by tlie Uaoler to have gone up the Country were liberated by Aldennan Putnam’s order tu tli* find Gaoler, and- one of them, Gilbert, was declared to have been fold by Dr. Alderman’s brother. T hat the Corporation draw their authority under which tliey declare they aft from the clatife of an aft, entitled, “ An Aft to organize the Militia of the several new Coun ties,” puffed the 22d day of February, 1796, which aft contemplates that the Negroes coining within its description shalt be kept in close 2nd fafe cuftridy, instead of -being li berated and set at large, to spread their dangerous and se ditious tenets, and promptly andfpeedily exported, instead of a of near four months, when the Tax Colleftor ftiaed diem. And it further appears that, during that pe riod, die number 35 had diminHhed to 23-, and no fuffioient account has been yet rendered of the miffing number. r m i ufticc to Rato* and so obedience to the fpfot, if not letter, of tbe aft, the Negroes if of the de fcnption the Corporation now contend, British fubjefts, and slaves imported by the Exuma from a British port, and purt of the cargo of the British Ihip General Nichols, ought Mavedxren exported so Ifie fame vessel, after being iup a?f** ‘K*M**x for her voyage and their fubfiflence; * . * lu,narilt ) r induced her Commander to pick them fes humanity ought not to he thrown as a burthen on dm state) contrary to a pofitire law. life Negroes were not on shore in breach of tlie law themselves bat permitted to he landed by the Corporation so contradiftioa thereof. That th* said Corporation have, fincf the Htttmptedfjx tmder the Concurred resolution and Executive older, con. “ trafted with David Gamn for the exporution of 14 of the ;Hid Negroes; and by their groceedmgs it uppers the% have liberated two otliers of the foldnumber, by their resolution o* fie 22d of February, 1798, m the Words following- * “ **/^*f. That JM> mdfs a nd, 2of tfc',6 persons of colm now m the federal gaol, arid ordered for exportation, appearing tc be freemen, and lately faifors on board t!>e thip General Nichols* and of the 4 mention* ed- in the resolution of Council of tlie 30th of October i797i he liberated, on producing certificates of the ahoJ bang tads to the fatisfadion of the Mayor, and'on their obtaining a certificate of Ihioping themfelvcs on board feme vend leaving the United States.” But what to tins day have become of the remainder the Executive is uninformed: But it has been repreferk**!** the contrad with David Garvin was supposed t.. time ot making it, ,for East Florida, bordering on St. Mary’s, the frontier of this state, and lias lince been currently reported to bet! fed; from Whence, if. true, and they mould proye of the description dtchred, tliere is little doubt of their returning to this state, and probably so a lawlds gang, and not only dominate their seditious tenets, but excite orderly (Javcs to Join tliem. Hence it must appear evident that the proceedings of die .Corporation have not only fieri ficed tlie revenue, but have left the state exposed to an equal, if not ‘a w*brfe foliation, than if tliey had been separately fold* ft T ‘ ;• ‘ ‘ 7 That, riotwithftinding the refpedful fetter of the Mayor, on which an! the Executive of fer this statement is founded, it does appear that after the violent measures before adopted, instead of adopting conciliating measures, ar/t fen >■ on ’ convincing proofs, and using a decent and refpeiftiul style toward the Government, and foch as’ought to be used to the Legislative Power, that gave tlie CoqWatiou existence, and can anmhfl ire tlie fune when it thinks projier for the public welfare, the feid Coiporatiori did endeavoyto destroy the confidence of the people in the Government, bv pub • liftiing in the Georgia Gazette an abnfive Tibely under die ftia}ie of a protest, against tlie Legislative and Executive Authority, attempting to juftify their proceedings, by asper sions Jigamft the Government, under the blind of improper condua and milhtements of the said William Norment, thereby making the Lqgiflalive and Executive Powers ap ptor dupes to the Colledtor: And further judging and aC* ferting that lie Norment oeglit to have refortel to Judicial Authority; whereas the Tax Art of 1797, under which he lei zed the Negroes, declares, “ that no replevin ffiall Ue, or judicial interference be had, on any levy or diftrainfor taxes under this law*/but that tlie paitv ilijured be left to bis own proper remfrly in a court of law*” . . r From which several proceedings, together with their un . dertaking„as appears by a report of one of their to direst tlie Attorney General, the Executive Law Officer, to prosecute Capt. Callaghan and Henry Putnsßi for a breach of their refolutipns, whilst they themselves opposed the resolution of the Ugiflciture; the liberations of the feid Negroes at various tunes, together with tfeir judging Foa* ftal and Ned freemen, and liberating them as such, to ship thcmfclvei on board fame vessel leaving the United States, which tlie"faid a<ft does riot waffaiit. as {flipping themselves (if they ever do so) cannot be termed complying with the law, which makes it the duty cf the laid Corporation to have them kept in close ajul fafe custody, and to cause per sons coming under its description to be exported; their itfak ing a diftindtion between freemen faifors and other freemen, or (laves, which the a<ft does npt contemplate, as is acknow ledged by the letter of the Mayor herewith inferred; and’’ their assuming the right of even construing theConftitution by dedariug the concurred ref'oiuticr of the Legislature void, illegal, and unconstitutional, although fofoided on an express ‘Fax Aft, and the feizrire of the Gblleftor under it; whilst their own refblutions are fanftioned by them as valid, although repugnant to law; it evidently appears tiiat the have far exceeded the botinds of their con ftimted authority, and have raflily and unadvifetfty assumed all the powers of the Government, and ftriftly may be said to have committal an abuser of their charter. The Execi! five, feeling the moft poignant regret, Whilst duty impels that Power to express those Centime nts, and conscious that irwould be Jiighly criminal in the-Depart merit, to whose cHiirge, in the” recess of the Legislature, tlie execution of the laws, as well as the power of the Government, is confided, to pennit such strides of assump tion to pass with Sight fobmiffion, declares his entire dis approbation of tlie conduct of the Corporation of Savan nah so this particular foftance; and, did not doubts as to the power oi filling vacancies of corporate officers under the aft to empower the Governor* to fill up vacancies ■ that may happen in office wiring the recess of the General. Assembly, pafftd the 23d day of February, 1789, and a confederation tiiat the whole of the citizens of Savannah ought Rot to be punished for the nufeonduft of a few of ficers, arise, he would conceive it his iudifpenfaWe duty to forpend all the Members of the feii Cfocjforatiou until"the meeting of the Legifklturie. But, from the last afore recited reaforis, and the readi ’ riefs with which die feid Corporation gave up their pro ceedings, under the Executive order, and their declaration of intending no irifult to the Legislative Os Executive Powers by their proceedings, it becoming a fit ami proper fubieft for Legislative deliberation, . It it ordered, That certified copies of all the pro ceedings of the Executive, together with this statement, and all and proceedings of ’ the Corporation of Savannah, together with the statement of William Ncy ment, lodged so the Executive Office, touching or so any wife concerning the laid Negroes imported into Savannah in the schooner Exuma, and ftized by William Norment, and attempted to be fold under the concurred resolution aforementioned, be made out and laid before the Legislature at their next feflion for their deliberation and decision thereon, and as the protest of the Corporation has been inserted imthe public papers, which nay leave improper impreffioas an the public mind, . It it ordered, That the foregoing statement be published so the Savannah and Augnfh papers. I do certify the aforegoing to be a true Extraft from the Minutes* . ■ L THOMAS JOHNSON See. E. D.