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their own government, unless they
have surrendered that power to the
Federal Government, which I am of
opinion they have not. If they have
the power to impose taxes, there is
nothing which forbids them tojax mer
chants which would trot equally pro
hibit the Stales from doing so. The
Stales have frequently exercised the
power, it has never been denied
them by any judicial decision, and I
must believe they have rightfully
exercised it. I can see nothing in the
treaties which I think was intended
to place an Indian trader with a li
cense upon more favorable footing
than the resident merchant witlinut
a license; therefore 1 concnlde the
nation have the same power to tax
the one that they have to tax the
other. Let us now see what Congress
has actually done; whether there is
any provision of theirs that will be
Violated by an exercise of this power;
Upon examining this subjest, I can
not discover any one provision which
will be infringed.
The act of 18JJ, (ch. 273, sec. 7,)
provides that no citizen or other per
son shall be permitted to reside at a-
ny of the towns, or hunting camps, of
a n y of the Indian tribes, as a trader,
vvjthout a license under the hand and
8 e al of the S lperintendcut of the De
partment, or of such other person as
l it. President of the United States
shall authorize to grant licenses for
that purpose, &c. The section then
proceeds to point out the duties of the
superintendent, in taking bond and se
em itv from the applicant for a license,
and vesting a power to recall the
same, if the condition of the bond
should bo violated. Tlie 8th section
imposes a penalty of forfeiture ol all
the merchandize in his possession, and
the punishment of line and imprison
ment upon any person who shall go
and make a settlement for such pur
pose without a license. The 9th and
10th sections prohibit the person hav
ing the license from receiving in bar
ter, guns, instruments of husbandry,
^cooking uttensils, articles of clothing,
horses, &.c. and inflict a penalty upon
the trader who may offend in any of
these particulars. The 11th section
prohibits any person authorized to
grant the licences from being concern
ed in the trade, under a heavy penal
ty; and the 12th prohibits, under a
like penalty, any person from pur
chasing land, or taking a lease from a-
nv Indian, or nation, or tribe, &c.—
The 19th section gives a general per
mission to citizens to travel the road
to Price’s settlement, if the Indians
do not object thereto.
Now, in all these provisions there
is nothing which countenances the idea
that the Indians have not a power to
pass laws for their own g ivernment,
and to levy taxes for its support upon
all persons within their limits. By
the treaty, no man can enter the na
tion without permission from the U-
nited States. They may refuse per
mission entirely, or grant it upon..
what conditions they choose. They
have prescribed' the terms, and im
posed penalties; but, upon whom do
they operate? Upon the whites: not.
upon the Indians in any instance.—
These are the terms upon which the
citizen may take his goods into the
same market with the Indian mer
chant; hut there is not. a single word
communicating the idea that he shall
be exempt from any imposition to
which the Indian trader without license
would be subject. Instead of this
a-t placing him on better footing than
the Indian resident merchant, it would
saemtoineto place him on worse*
lie m ist comply with the terms and
conditions to which he has subjected
himself to his own Government, and
he must likewise conform to the lo
cal regulations of the nation, except
a i to crimes, for which there is a
treaty stipulation. No provision is
made hv which lie shall collect debts
due to him, or be compelled to pay
those he may happen to owe.
I am aware of the p.ovisions of the
acts of 1806; (ch. 48, 1809, ch. 205,
• mei of 1811, ch. 307;) and in them
find nothing which asserts, in the Fed
eral Government a power to regulate
the internal affairs of the nation. The
object of these acts was to devise
plan upon which the United States
should themselves, as a nation, carry
on trade or commerce with the differ
cnl Indian nations, and to prescribe
rules for the government of their own
officers and agents, in transacting this
business; and not to assert any right
to make municipal regulations for the
conduct 1 of any- person within the na
tion. The President, it is true, is
authorized to establish, for the United
States, trading houses near to or with
in the nation. Suppose Congress
were to believe it the interest of the
United States to carry on the business
of merchandize in each of tho Slates,
or in England, and were to pass an
act authorizing the President to es
tablish trading houses it; each of those
places, would any one contend that
this act would be the assertion of a
power to manage the internal con
cerns of the several States, or of
those of Great Britain? Surely not.
The Government would be doing ex
actly the same thing which two indi
viduals do, when they enter into part
nership, and agree to establish a trad
ing house, and lix to the teiins upon
which their business shall be conduct
ed. By these acts Govcrnnent ex
pected to conciliate the Indians, and
increase their influence over them, by
carrying on a system of meiehandising
with them upon fair and l'nera! prin
ciples; but never intended these acts
to operate as acts of sovereignty, ex
ercised over the Indians, or any of
their affairs, within their nation. I
therefore conclude there is nothing in
any of the acts regulating trade and
intercourse with the Indians, or in
those establishing trading houses,
which, in any dogret, denies to the In
dian nation the power which they now
claim. But suppose the Cherokees
have surrendered to the United
States the power to regulate their
trade, internal as well as external,
it will .not, as 1 think, thence follow
that they have not the power to im
pose the tax in question. The pow
er to regulate trade, and the power to
raise revenue, are distinct powers; and
the surrender of the one is not neces
sarily the surrendci of the other.—
The several States have surrendered
the power to regulate commerce; they
have also given to the United States
even the power to collect taxes; will
any one argue that they have, there
fore, parted with the power to levy
and collect taxes for themselves? I
think not. It may, therefore, be true
that the Indians have deprived them
selves of all power over trade, both
at home and abroad, and still their
power to raise revenue remains un
impaired. There is matter for each
power to operate upon, without neces
sarily interfering with the other; and,
therefore, those powers may well be
in different hands. The possibility
that the powers may be so exerted
as to conflict with each other is no
reason to deny that either possesses
the power. The theory of all Gov
ernments is, that the powers conferr
ed will be honestly exercised for the
attainment of the specified objects.—
A knowledge that the powers
might be abused, by exerting them
for different purposes, can never he
admitted as an argument against the
possession of them; otherwise, every
Government could be stripped of all
power. In arguing such questions
we must take it for granted that those
conferring the powers for given pur
poses expected an honest and fair ex
ertion of them, for those purposes on
ly; and that no person or persons en
trusted with the exercise of sove
reign power would exert it for the at
tainment of one object, when it had
been given for the attainment of a-
nother. Treaties rest upon the same
principle—the confidence reposed in
each party. Admit, then, that by the
treaty the Indians gave up their whole
power to regulate both internal and
external trade, still, as they havfe not
given up the power of levying taxes
and collecting revenue, they retain
this latter. If, in such a case, under
a pretence of collecting revenue, it
was obvious they were regulating
trade, it would be n$ much a violation
of the treaty as if their avowed ob
ject was to regulate trade. To col
lect a tax from merchants, to compel
them to pay a small portion of their
profits, at stated periods, for the sup
port of the Government where they
transact their business, has been a
very common mode of collecting rev
enue; and no State lias been charged
with attempting to regulate com
merce when they have exercised such
power. Why, then, should the Cher-
okees be denied the power, because,
by possibility, they might abuse it,
and undertake to regulate? 1 have
believed, and still do, that, under the
treaties, tho Cherokees must be con
sidered a nation, possessing like pow
ers with other nations, except so far
as they have surrendered their inde
pendence to the ^United Statt?. That
they have made surrenders of powef
of making municipal regulations
for their own internal government;
that, among the powers they still re
tain, is that of imposing taxes; and, us
there is nothing in either the treaties
or laws which forbids them from tax
ing a licensed trader, living and do
ing business within their territory,
that they may impose the same lax
upon him that they do upon the Indian
trader who has no such license.
I regret exceedingly that to you 1
have ever given any opinion upon a
subject that interests your nation.—
Had I known the purpose for which
it was desired, I should have been si
lent. But, having given such an one
as I honestly entertained, I can never
express any other until convinced of
my error. 1 can, with the same sin
cerity, tell you, that, where my opin
ion as a professional man does not cor
respond with that entertained by tlie
officers of Government, there can be
no doubt that I am in error, although
l cannot see it. They cannot well
mistake the meaning of tlie Constitu
tion and the treaties; in such a case,
I easily may. Under tlie protection
of the United States, the Cherokees
have been, in a great degree, reclaim
ed from hunters to agriculturists,
herdsman, merchants, mechanics, and
from savages to civilized men: from
extreme poverty, many have risen,
not only to a competency, but to af
fluence. These are the strongest ev
idences of the parental care of the
officers of the United States. Let no
consideration induce you to act in op
position to their will. Let their coun
sel be the rule of your conduct.—
You will then have reason to hope
that the good work of civilization, so
happily begun, may, ere long, be com
pleted. A different course will pro
duce your ruin. Let tlie world know
that tlie protection of the United
States is withdrawn, and tlie Chero
kee nation cannot exist twelve months.
1 am your obedient servant,
HU. L. YVH1TE.
Mr. John Ross.
300 within the state of 9. Carolina.
5.000 within the slate ol' Georgia.
1.000 within the state of Tennessee.
1,877 within the state of Ohio.
23,400 within the state of Mississippi.
19.200 within the state of Alabama.
939 within the state of Louisiana.
4,050 within the state of Indiana.
4,900 within the stale of Illinois.
2,031 within the state of Missouri.
9,340 within the territory of Michigan.
7,200 within the teiritory of Arkansas.
4.000 within the territory of Florida.
20.200 within the country cast of the
Mississippi, north of the state of
Illinois, and west of lire three up
per lakes.
74,300 within the country west of the
Missisippi, eatt of the Rocky
Mountains, and tiot included in
the states of Louisiana, or Mis
souri or the territory of Arkansas.
20.000 within the Rocky Mountains.
80.000 west of the Rocky Mountains, be
tween latitude 44 and 49.
313,130 within the United States.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE :0,1829.
CANADIAN INDIANS.
Our city has been favored during the
last week with a visit from the Rev.
Wm. Case and a small company of
Northern Indians, who have been,
through the influence of the gospel,
reclaimed from the savage life—and
pul on the order and decency and
robes of Christianity. A deep inter
est has been excited in all the congre
gations who have witnessed their re
ligious services, which, we hope,
will be followed by correspondent ac
tion. It appears from the details of
missionary operations in Upper Cana
da, made by Mr. C., that 5 years ago
a pious Indian was scarcely known in
that province; that the natives, as a
body, were abandoned to drunken rev
elry and debauchery; but that now an
intoxicated Indian is scarcely to be
seen. Now, the incense of prayer
ascends from Indian altars every
where; even children ol 6 or 7 years
of age conduct the sacred services of
the wigwam in the absence of their
parents. Among the conversions from
the lowest state of intemperance 950
arc numbered; 1400 are under the
care of the Missionary Society of the
Canada Conference; at Bellville, on
Grape Island, is a pious community
of 220; at Rice Lake there arc 275
who have professed religion; at Lake
Sincoe there is a body of 550, of whom
only 150 remain without a Christian
profession; at the river Credit there
are 240, all of whom except six are,
it is said, walking as becorneth the
gospel^and among the Six Nations
and the Mississaugahs nativeTaborcrs
have gone forth, whose exertions have
been crowned with success in the.
supposed hopeful conversion of 200.
There are 14 schools in the several
tribes, two of which are taught in the
Mohawk and 12 in the English lai»
guage: in these schools are about 400
children, seventy-five of whom can
read the scriptures. These little
ones teach their parents, reading to
them the scriptures, and are thus in
strumental, often, in leading them
“to glory and to virtue.”—See Isaiah
xxxv. 1—6.—Philadelphian.
Indians.—The following is the estimate
made at the war-office, of the whole num
ber of Indians within the limits of the Unit
ed States, and their location.
2,573 within the states of Maine, Mas
sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
and Virginia.
4,820 within the state of New Yoric.
200 witlun the state of Pennsylvania.
3,100 within the state of N. Carolina.
Our readers, who have paid any attenr
tion to the progress of Indian emigration,
will recollect that the country at the west
is highly extolled by the officers ot the U-
nited States, as being suitable in every re
spect for Indian habitation. We are even
told that the Creeks, many of whom have
already removed, and the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, who have explored it, are
pleased with it, and prefer it to their old
homes. All this shows, how determined
interested persons are to misrepresent tlie
Indians, and mislead the public. From all
that we can learn, the truth of the ca e is
entirely different. In a letter addressed to
an individual in this nation, the Chicka
saws say, that the effect of tlie exploration
of the country west of the Mississippi,
made by them, is to bind them more closely
to the land of their nativity. They saw no
country which could be compared with the
one they now possess, and in which they
can agree to reside. They visited that
section of the country now. inhabiting by
tlie Creeks, which is very poor. “The
Creeks,” to use their own expression, “arc
in a poor condition.- They are continually
mourning for the land' of their births.—
The women aro in continual sorrow. We
were told by the Creeks, that the land was
poor, and that they were wretchedly situ
ated.” The explorers further say, that
they saw the land owneil by the Cherokees
of Arkansas—“all the good land there is
in it, will soon be taken up—they [Chero-
kces] will soon he crowded.” This is pre
cisely what we have continually heard from
respectable eye witnesses. It is therefore
to deceive the public and to draw the In
dians from their present possessions, that
the misrepresont ation is constantly re
peated.
dians’*Advocate; aridfat seasons even niioti
my secret petitions nave been offered up
to the Throne of mercy and grace for my
own preservation, and also that of my
friends, and oflspring, (asl am a mother of
a numerous family, and sensible of all the
tender, anxious solicitude of a parent;)
1 think i may say without boasting, that I
have ol'timcs felt my hqart enlarged in
Gospel love, and desires raised for the
preservation of the whole human family,
when under the influence of that love
which is universal . and inexhaustible.
When permitted to partake of such feel
ings, the native inhabitants of our own
Country have been livingly brought to my
remembrance; believing that there is a
disposition prevalent in too many of. my
own nation, to deprive them of their rights
of inheritance, without allowing adequate
compensation, and almost oblige them
to leave their comfortable dwellings,-and
go far into the wilderness. But surely
there remains to be a protecting Arm of
Power, that has been graciously disposed
in ^11 agesofthe world to be near to suc
cour those who put their trust in Him,
and not in the arm ofjlesh.
I may tell thee if it will afford any consc'
ation or encouragement to thyself or those'
whose cause thou hast espoused and so feel
ingly advocated: Particularly those of thy
own or the Cherokee Nation; that there
are many very many with myself of our
nation, who are desirous of holding out ther
hand of friendship to you in brotherly kind
ness and affection; whose heart have re
joiced to learn that there is sucli a disposi
tion in many amongst you for improve
ment in virtue and industrious habits: and
that you have been enabled to form codes
of laws, and regulations of government, for
yourselves, which, no doubt, you find
benlicial. The Article prohibiting ar
dent spirits being brought near your coun
cils is praise worthy. It is holding up a
good example, Si it is of great importance
to every nation, that they discourage the
unnecessary use of so pernicious and de
structive an article both to health ami
morals, and every good feeling, yea, may
it not be said, eternal happiness in every
class of the community, in every nation or
country.
A writer in the last North American Re
view, speaking on the civilization and con
version of the Indians makes the following
bold and sweeping remark—“To every
unprejudiced observer the tribes tnat still
exist, as tribes, within the forests of North
America, seem as far from appreciating the
advantages of F.uropehn manners«nd cus
toms, maxims and morals, and certainly
as far from acknowledging the importance
of the Christian dispensation, as were the
haughty and spirited cotemporaries of
Powhatan or Miantonomoh.” “Partial
instances of better success” are however
excepted—but then they are but partial.—
Again. “Of all people ‘under the sun,”
our North American tribes seem most firm
ly attached to practices and opinions,
which constitute the distinctive traits of
their character.” Now we have noinclin
ation to spend time in refuting the fore
going remarks—they carry, in the view of
“every unprejudiced observer,” their own
refutation. One thing is certain, before
the w'riter can establish his positions, he
must prove that the Cherokees are not In
dians.
The extract of a letter which follows is
from an unknown female friend in Phila
delphia,who signs herself, A well wisher to
the Indians. Wc can assure oflr corres
pondent that we prize highly a word of
encouragement from whatever c;uarter it
comes. We need the sympathies of all
well wishers to the Indians. We pray
that the spirit of Geoiige Washington
may prevail in the community, to an
equal extent that the spirit of William
Pf.nn prevails among his followers,
We feel in duty bound to pay our public
acknowledgements to tlie Society of friends
who, following the noble example set by the
illustrious founder of Pennsylvania, have
always acquitted themselves as friends of
Indians.
To F.lias Bcudinott, Editor of the
Cherokee Phanix.—Having felt my mind
very much engaged for a considerable time
past on account of, and for the welfare o!
the Aborigines! of our Country, and my
sympathy increased by reading the In-
We have taken general interest in the
information forwarded in the Phoenix con
cerning the Indians; and our feelings par
ticularly excited on reading the interview
between the Winncbagoes and the Presi-'
dent of the United States. Altho, the
writer seems to feel some sympathy for tlie
poor Indians when he says, th*t “the heel
of the foot of the white man is already upon
their soil, and ere long will be pressed
down, and made to cover it,” yet h" comes
to the conclusion that “it is right doubtless;
for it is permitted of Heaven.”—I hope the
writer does not mean to go so far as to
charge Divine Justice and Mercy with all
the crimes, that man, in the frowardness
ofhisoien will lias committed since the
creation, because, he h&s permitted them.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God: for God cannot be tempt
ed with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bring-
eth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,
bringelh forth death.” And if a belief
is entertained that a divine decree of “ex
termination has gone forth against the en
tire Aboriginal race that yet haunt our for
ests &. wilds, a9 truly as against the Canna-
nitesof old,” let those who entertain such
A belief consider with awfulness and fear,
what has eventually befallen the children of
Israel, that highly favoured people of the
Lord, when they departed from the law
and testimony: was not his Language to
them, “You have I known of all the fami
lies of the earth, therefore I will punish
you for all your iniquities.” Has he not
punished them, accordingly ? Can we who
make such high professions expect to be ac
quitted by Him who is of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity in Jacob, or sin in Israel,
with any degree of approbation. Nay ve
rily. Although he is a God of mercy, be is
also a God ofjustice.
“Civilization, must displace barbarism.”
Is not this realized, in, and by the Chero
kee nation and several other tribes. It
would no doubt spread far and wide under
the protecting care of kind Providence en
couraged by a mild pacific government;
like that of our worthy predecessor Wm.
Penn.
Notwithstanding you may be driven
from the land of your forefathers by the
hand of man, far beyond the Rocky Moun
tains, yet not beyond the care of Him who
regards even the sparrows.&who said to his
disciples “ye are of more value than many
sparrows.” What encouragement then is
contained in this language, for us all to en
deavour to be the followers of a holy Re
deemer, who is yet willing, both immed
iately, by his good spirit, in the heart, and.
by 'sometimes impressing the minds, even,
of feeble instruments, to hold forth a word
of encouragement one to another; and if,
this address should afford any comfort or
consolation under trials, may it be ascribed
to the great comforter, and not any thing
to the creature.—I feel no objection to thy
communicating such parts of this as mor«
immediately concern tlie natives, in thetf
own language, to them.
ENGLAND.
Catholic Emancipation accomplished.
—The Catholic Reelicf Bill passed
the House of’ Lords on the 10th of A-
pril by a majority of 104, and receiv
ed the Royal Assent, by commission,
on the 13th of April. The Bill for
the Qualification of Irish Freeholders,
(the 10/. Bill)nlso passed on the 10th,
and received the Royal Assent on the
13th. On the passage of the Relief
Bill the votes stood—
Contents—Present 149; Proxies €4 213
Non-Contents Pr’bt 76; Proxies 33 106
Majority, 104