Cherokee phoenix, and Indians' advocate. (New Echota [Ga.]) 1829-1834, June 10, 1829, Image 2

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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