Newspaper Page Text
(No. 799.)
Me r rs. JcbnJlon , *
The Message of his Excellency the Governor to both
Branches of the Legislature h *ving been puhliflied in the
Augusta Chronicle and in the Columbian Museum, and
a number of errors appearing in both, we have to request
■you will be kind enough to give it a place in your paper.
The enclosed is a coned and genuine copy.
Several Subscribers .
i/r. Prejldent and Gentlemen cf the Senate ,
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Repre
sentatives, ....
THE political year having expired, it becomes my duty,
under the eighth feftion of the fecund article of the
Constitution, to give you information of the (late of the
.Republic, and to recommend to your conlideration such
n-'ifures as I may deem ncccflas and expedient for its
fafety, prosperity, and welfare. .
In difeharging this trail, which, as far as my frnall abi
lity will permit, I Ihall'cheerfully perform, I (hall volun
tarily glance at fome parts of tht Executive AdminiftratU
on, in order to give you at once a clear view of tlie pad,
and a more comprehenlive view’of the prd’ent (ituation of
the hate. Knowing it, however, to be impoflible to attain
genera! approbation in toe Executive Office, although con-
JVions of the purefl reftitude and intention in my public ac
tions. I have only to flatter myfelf that on examination
vou will find m y Administration as firm in the paths of duty
j, ?tiy of my predecessors, mod of whom had beaten roads
tn travel in, not a track to seek for themselves, and whole
(tuns, if thorny, were not so assiduously traced.
The pall year has been productive of so many events, at
ence so clashing, and so varied, that it required, I mull
cohfciV. a more able head than mine to (low the political
bark entirely free of the whirlpool of di Icon tent; for, ex
tlafive of the new order of things, by the adoption of a
new Constitution, fcarctly had the LegilLiture ril’en in Fe
bruary lad when two operations took place indirect appari
tion co the wiil of that Body.
The firft of those operations which I (hall notice was the
resolution of the Legislature direfting the Executive to re
call the Coinmiffioners appointed by the late Executive
from running the temporary boundary line between this
Hate’s ordinary jurisdiction and the neighboring tribes of
ndrns. This resolution was immediately attended to
and lent by express; but the line was already run when it
reached the Commiißoners, and I have to lament that se
veral of our unfi tunate fellow citizens were left without
tht boundary as then decided on.
Justice and policy dictate an immediate legislative appli
cation to the Genera! Government for its interpolition to
procure the lands afierted to be improperly left out, and
free from ail queflion, honestly and legally acquired and
fettled. Application has already been jawde, and the A
gent for Indian affairs appears to have seconded the Exe
cutive reqneft, but I have as yet learnt no determined re
sult. We have to hope that tine like attention which lias
ken paid to the citizens left out by tlie running of the line
in TennefTee will be paid to those left without the tempor
ary boundary of this (late; the neceflary papers for your
information on this fubjeel will be found marked No.u.
While the line was running an outrage ox an enormous
nature took place in Jackson county, no lets than tlie rav
ishment of a Mrs. Hilton by an Indian Chief called Big
Feared or 1 ufkeegee Tuftunnawgee. The Agent gave
bim up to the Civil Power of the (late, and a happy event
it would have proved could he have been tried, convi&ed,
tnd punished.
I ordered a guard over Oglethorpe gaol, where lie was
confined, as well to prelerve his life for exemplary justice
as to prevent an elcape; but 1 tvas too soon mortified, in
learning that an attack had been made on the gaol, and
i.u ome relatives of this woman were implicated as be
■ongmg to the attacking party. The attaik however fail
le ’ ., Ut W r , tl ? r t ', le ,8 n was to take private latisfaction
In u * I b' s death, or to relieve him from a trial,
■T-,1 S . en . a ’ ls not Efficiently afeertained to deter-
t e ’, but .grange to add, that,’on a habeas corpus
I “ [° J S ’-f t | lt bidian, tlie woman declined to appear
Ito liip*, i l ™ ’ Clt j l l r * rom a want °F tellimony or a wiffi
■lnferior Tud G , eor^ia her red brethren, the’
® eS °. county difeharged him. Their
No ‘ 2 ’ Wiil fully inform you on
. _( !t . canhot leave the fubjed without this
■ been tVJ TT"’ “ 11 f ro F cr as their proceedings may have
ISianlwWk r K that al P eft of cruelty toward the
lly charged **** to ° long and to ° ‘S norant -
IJ “? o 7 nce ®FP°Fed to the will of the Lcgifla
■ °? t *‘ e ® :>r P ora tion of Savannah,
he 1 f declared, under the 3d leftion
1“ An ad\ . 22d l da y.°f February, titled,
■ tejof t hj. n ‘ llltri ‘ n the several new coun-
I fcladoa of the ‘ T ,O > * tamedin oppolition to a re-
, 8 ll f^/ orthe,r W persons ofco
ler Bngands. g ucfcn P tlon of Well India Negroc,
I m ( CoanCl! at a “^ ucc d of their being
I the Executive at,s * a ol° r /, and the fleps taken by
I %1 -* be found m** ’ \r P roceed i ,l S s °f the Corporation,
I •tnts, however l r ' rrn those docu
■ paftdx ,1 ’. . ™dhtd the Executive after tlie refiv
I and we-* V,IS UU * do Pk £ but tliey tame under the
I of tU to t] * community. But the
I S cSL S'**? 111 ™ so highly difrefpecll'ul
■ w n * u * t.-ii tofmefs, and cue ultimate
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, i 799 .
steps taken to (liip them off under that ad were so very in
effedual, that notliing but their lieing an eledive iiody, and
not answerable individually, whose time expired in a very
(liort period thereafter, andtheir declaration that they in
tended no insult to the Government, with a conlideration
that it would be unjust to pmiih the many citizens of Sa
vannah for tlie miffioings df a few,’ prevented me from,
suspending the City Council ?nder tlie ad of tiie 23d day of
December, 1789, until your pleasure Uiould be known.
During the course of thole events leveral irruptions took
place from the Indian tribes.
In tlie month of February hft, exclusive of the ravifli
ment of Mrs. liilton on the 3d, Njrhcrhas Vines, of Han
cock county, was Ihotdeadou tlie nth, and William Al
len, of Waftiir-nmn county, was murdered the'l4th;
and depredation*: lid robberies were conr ed by-them
from the Ttigaloo all along the fr.ontier-to the-Saiut Maiy W
Complaints were continually reaching the Executive of the
Indians being enticed on this lide the line to trade, and to
this in part was imputed the murders and depredations of
thole people. The littlers on the Oconee, in Montgomery
county, as you will learn by a letter to the Executive
from John Jones, Elq. accompanying a reihonftrance from
thence, marked No. 4, in case their application ffioitld not
be attended to, had cor.ie to a resolution to jrill an Indiah,
and bring matters tb a crilis at once. The remonstrance
charged one Ford as the person who enticed tile Indians on
this Tide the line to trade in chat county, and Major Cas
ter, the commanding officer of its militis, as encouraging
Ford in the illicit commerce, as well at having procured
Ford to be illegally elecled a Captain. ‘The only points
# for Executive conlideration were, either ito inveftigute the
charges, or, by disregarding the compliint, indirectly to.
fandlion hostility, and in all probability 110 bring on ail In
dian war. Duty, as well as prudence, without rei’pedl to
jierfons, required the former, in.order to evade the heavy
expence and lavage cruelties unavoidably attending the lat
ter. Justice alto to Major Gaiter’s repu ation, as well as
the character cf the state, demanded tint his conduct as
commanding officer lliould be inquired injo; for, if guilty,
it was unofficer-llke behavior, and, if innocent, the Major
ought not to lie under the imputations alfcged againftltim;
I therefore arreftedhim, and ordered a Court to lit at I.ou
ifville for the trial of the different charges igainft him. The
extract from Col. Hawkins’s letter, among the papers 011
this head, will evince his opinion, that 11b harmony could
be expected until I’ome Hop could be put to those illicit
practices.
TT.e Court, cornpofed of a refpe&ablfe set of affiegrs,
fome of whom are w ithin your walls, met, and 1 lincertjy
willi that Major Caller had attended and chfreu up‘his con
duct; but, inllead of doing so, he enclosed his commillion
to Brigadier General Moriifon, President oithe Court, too
late for acceptance, and was unanimously ibund guilty of
three charges out of four and lentcnced to U cashiered, as
you will find by the proceedings of the Court, marked No.
5* 1 -- 1
A presentment has fmce ap|x:ared from tjie Grand Jury
of Montgomery county agsinlt tlie trial of ihe Major out.
of his county, in a military way, for a clurge of a civil
nature.. This is'aperfeft mistake; he was triiß for unofficer
like conduct as Commandant of the Montjjomery militia,
not as a civil magiftrute; and, as to trying him out of his
county, how could it have betyi avoided? Ihe 22d I‘eCtion
of the. Militia Law declares, that “ for the trial of a Field
Officer the Court lhali conlilt of one Brigadiel General, three
Field Officers, and five Captains.” Could thole be taken
from a county which had but one F-eld Officer, and that
Officer charged? Was it more proper then that a Brigadier
General and three Field Officers lliould hive been ordered
to Montgomery from difterent counties, to try tlie Major,
or that the Major Humid attend his trial at the feat of Go
vernment, the moft convenient place, and tie midale ground
of the brigade he belonged to? If it be cletided that an of
ficer of your militia cannot be tried out of his county, it
may ealily be dilcovered that cases may arise where he can
not be tried at all, however heinous his offence. I have
barely difeharged my duty; and the oath of Biaziel Over-
Itreet, one of the Jury who presented the trial, will prove
that the Grand Jury were deceived in their presentment,
and only thought it a petition for anew trial. It is certain
that since the period of the Major’s trial lei’s damage has
been sustained from Indian depredations, and the Executive
with pleal’ure informs the Legislature that not a man lias
been called intp iervice, of course not a (hilling expended,
for Indian defence, notwithfhmding the unpromising alpect
of the commencement of the year; a circumflance unparal
leled since the firft settlement of the state; fome robberies
have indeed been committed,’ and one man, Benjamin
Tims of Camden, was killed in the month of May lalt; but
on demanding the murderer the Agent declared them to be
Florida Indians, and that T ims was killed in their purliut
without the bounds of tlie United States.
The aversion which the Legislature (hewed to running
the line, and tfie correspondence between the Agent and
myfelf, marked No. 6, as to tlie quantum of property
which might be expected to be received in case a deputation
took place, induced me to delay appointing Commiflioners
to demand it from the Creek^"Nation, and to submit it for
your confide aticn. The ftatemcr.t from Major Abner
Hammond, whom I lliould have appointed as one of them,
had 1 conceived the step proper, will convince your Honor
able Bodies that the delay lias not been improper, and that
an appointment would only have been productive of expence
to tlie state, and chagrin to her citizens who have fullered
hem thtir depredations. That appointment, or the pro-
(4 dollars per arm.)
priety of an application to Congress for compensation, y< u
will decide on. J
The papers marked No. 7 will so folly explain themlelvts
on the lubjttt of the enclosure of the Statehood- yard that
it would be a trefpafc on yoUr time to add more than thar,
although the power of contra A was not perfocl, and a brick
wall would have been preferable, as being more durable,
yet, as the work as it is adds rdpccUbiiity to the (tato
building, an equitable price Ihould be aflowed the work,
man; the sum contracTed so apjitared to nie to be extra
vagant, but you are better udgss than myfelf, and may ’
not deem it unreasonable. &
In the month of May t/ic State Convention met and
formed the Constitution under which you hold your
No doubt it has its impcrfe&tom, for it is nut tfie lot if
hbniaii wifdoin, in any ‘of its attempts, to be free firm
them; but I have with pfeafure hdard ot its being applaudcil
in other states, and 1 venture to express my opinion that it
is as little exceptionable as moft in die Union. It coul.l
not fee expfcfled that this of that detaclied part of the state ’
lliould reap all the benefits ferifihg from it; and to give a
little to gain a little is the fate of human society: Such as ‘
it is, however, the People, otir Sovereign, have framed it,
and it is our duty, as public fervaiits, to obey it; wc
no right to claiin a part and deny a part, to support this
clalile and protest againfl another claule; for although it is
trttr that various conftrudlions may be placed oil a lingle
feClron, as to the meaning or operation’ oi that fedlion, un
til explained and decided on hy law, yet the great whole
mud be protected and implicitly obeyed, until alteied by
conilitutional means, both by the Legislative Branches,
under the oaths ts eir Members take, and every other Dc*
partment of Government. To protest and declaie agaiidt
beinj bound, by certain parts of the Constitution is, in my
opinion, mutiny, to lay no wovfe, againfl the majtlly cf
the Fcople, and I hope, however untalhionable, that the
Government of Georgia is not yet arrived to that point of
difrelpetT for that fountain of power as to cpnfider the Con
stitution willed by tliein as a cobweb, and the Charter cf
their Rights as a bauble, to lie broken through or torn in
pieces as Self filtered or circumstances may luit; it ii our
duty, as public servants, to preftrve and defend it, as the,
roclc of the people’s happiness, and the creed of their poli
tical ■ lalvatioj\.
I am lorry, on this head, to lay before you a tranfartion
which has made much noise throughout the. Hate, and may
require fome of your attention.
Two Members of the late Convention declined signing
the Conllitution, for rtal'ons they sWlared to be contained
in a paper, which the Convention refufed to notice, or to
have entered on their journal. Some time alter the Con
llitution took effort a publication was inlerted in the Au
guila Southern Ccntinel, by two officers of high grade in
your militia, purporting to be the paper preleuted to the
Convention, and which, in public print, appeared to be a
protest against the 23d and 24th feciions of the lirlt article
of the Conllitution, under the lignatures of Brigadiers Ge
neral Janies Gunn and Thomas Glafcock. On fome ob
servations made thereon this protest against the rights f the
citizens of Georgia was again, in tlie public prints, avow
ed, and officially authenticated by Joleph Hutchinlon, a
Notary Public arting under the authority of the state.
The Executive, taking into conlideration the danger of
public officer! being permitted with impunity to trample
the Confti.ution under their feet, and also considering that
if Generals of the state .could protest against it, no inferior
officer or private militia man be expected to lupport
or defend it, and that if one set of persons could protest a
gainst this, another set could against another part of tlie
Conllitution, and in a lliort time no vestige of a'conftituti
onal authority would remain, determined to arrest thole
officers, and to bring them to trial by a Court Martial;
but his determination iu this xdpert was impeded by tlie
filiation of the state, cxpbfed to mvalion, and when every
profpert led us to expert it. When the Union was pre
paring for war, to have drawn the remaining Brigadiers
and 14 Field Officers to a point for their trial would have
been a dangerous and an imprudent step, or you fiiould not
have been troubled with this detail; neceflity therefore in
duced a lubmiffion of their conduit to the Lcgiflature; and
it lies with you to determine if your Militia Officers will
not protert the Conllitution, nor defend the public property
“of tlie state, what lkfety there is for the government under
whose authority they hold their commillions. But before
I quit this fubjert I have to inform you of the fufpenlion of
this daring Notary Public, wljp, although he held his office
only during good behavior, undertook to exercile the au
thority the state had veiled him with to destroy tlie very
eflence of the authority which gave it.
As the law pointed Out no mode of trial of the good be
havior of ffich an officer, and he was not known as a No
tary by the Conllitution, I referred the lubjert to the Law
Department: Tlie answers of Solicitors General Van Alen
and Caldwell to certain Executive queries, to be found in
the papers on tills head, marked No. B,* were tlie ftreng
grounds on which I suspended him, and my refearchts fmee
have convinced me that their opinion and niy fcifpenfion
was proper. A simple quetliou decides again!! him: Waa
it good behavior in Mr. Hutchinson to fix his notarial seal
and lignature to a protest against tlie Conllitution of his
country? If a citizen does not accord in political sentiment
with the Conftitiition let him remove from its jurifdirtion,
or wait with patience for a constitutional change, not ac
cept offices under tlie Government to employ them against
Ithe conftkuted authority. ~ The 14th section of the 4th
article of the Conllitution, declaring that all Civil Officers