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THE CHEROKEES.
In another part of our paper to day,
Will be found the substance of an ad
dress delivered by Colonel John Low •
rey, the ageut appointed by Secreta
ry Eaton, to negotiate with the Cher
okee Indiana, with the reply of the
Councilvof that nation.
We have always regarded the re
moval of the Indians as a matter of
much importance to the States, as
well as to the Indians themselves.
But we had always understood it an
object, to effect which, no violent
measures on the part of government
would be resorted to; but that it
should be brought about by fair and
voluntary compact on the part of the
Indians,—-in which it was intended by
the government to recognize them as
a sovereign community. We were
therefore much surprised at the doc
trines presented in the address ol the
agent; though we cannot conceal the
fact, that, in our estimation, the cir
cumstance of the state of Georgia bc-
iug permitted to extend her jurisdic
tion over the Indian territory., was
calculated to prepare us* tor the
consummation of the most oppressive
violence.
In the council, the Indians are
plainly told that Georgia claims a
right to extend her jurisdictio over
the Territory claimed by the Choro-
kecs. It is also plainly intimated
that she will proceed to “survey
your lands and allot them to her citi
zens.’’ A strong effort is made to
excite the pity and arouse the /cars
of'the nation.
Is it possible! Does the general
government of the Unitad States in
deed, stand thus ceinmitted by a
pledge and guaranty solemnly entered
into with the Cheroke; to protect them
in the occupancy of their territory,
when, in fact, the government had a
long time before, by compact with
Georgia ceded the territory in ques-
‘■y>n to that state, & pledged the faith of
to guaranty her claims?
Ahd has the States now arrived
at the crisis which *.-,n,p P l 9 them to
acknowledge their inability vo redeem
the faith Of the nation solemnly pledg
ed; and to sue for term*, offering unto
the Indians a rein nne rat ion sufficient
to indemnify them for the violation of
the treaty on behalf of* the govern
ment? Such an artifice might have
been practiced upon the aborigines a
century ago with better success.
They have now become too rnach en
lightened to suffer themrclvcs to he
hoaxed in this manner. But what
are the facts? The United States
unde no guaranty to the State of Geor
gia, which can, by any possibility,
come in collision with the guaranty
covenanted to the Indians.
In a compact entered into between
the states and Georgia, it was agreed
on the part of the states; in considera
tion of Georgia ceding her claims on
certain territories, that the United
States would extinguish the Indian
title within the geographical limits of
Georgia, so soon as it could be done
upon peaceable and reasonable terms.
What then, we ask, becomes of the
opposing claims and the dilemma of
the states? We are happy to say
they have no existence hut in the
head of the agent'.
The Indians are next threatened
with the loss of their lands without
any-.equivalent, unless they accept, of
the proposition now being offered unto
them' If is said that Geo. holds them
by a prior guaranty, and therefore in
the event of an appeal to t he Judicia
ry she would ’ sustain her claims a*
gainst the present occupants. He
says in “1778 congress had guarantied
to Georgia her sovreignty Its boun
dary lines were defined and marked,”
that “it is true that in the year ’91’,
by the treaty of Holst on, the Chero-
kees were guaranttod the right of the
•oil not then ceded.. * * * If two
guaranties are made which shall pre
vail? Must not the oldest prevail?”
This ifl the agent is n bold attempt to
Impugn the government he represents.
We blush for our country when such
men are Ugally cmrtituted the slander-
era of our government.
Wesnv, the declarations of the a-
gent to the contrary notwithstanding,
that the states never guarantied ei-
ther the soil or the jurisdiction of (be
tliidian territory to Georgia; and we
fearlessly say, moreover, if such a
guaranty had been made bv the states.
»f hpjr period within our history, aueh
guaranty tcould have been a perfect
nullity. • A claim sst op by the state
of Georgji to the Indian territory*
could not be sustained by such a guar
anty, because the Indian title is de
rived from the laws of nature, and
sustained by the municipal laiV of
nations.
The states could not be liable to
Georgia, because it is guarantying a-
gainst a known defect. If A guaran
ties to B the freehold ofC, B know
ing the right to be exclusively in C,
B cannot make A liable for a false
guaranty, lor reasons too obvious to
need demonstration.
By the law of nature any one who
should become occupant of any thing,
became the exclusive owner while
he continued the occupancy. This,
however, only extended to the occu
pancy of territory,to what was used for
sitting, walking or resting upon; and
as soon as the occupant abandoned his
property in the occupancy, his right
became extinct, and the next one
who came along might acquire a title
in the same manner- But the mu
nicipal law of nations remedies the
inconveniences that' would frequently
occur in ascertaining the real owners
of (he soil. The municipal law gives
the discoverer who appropriates the
newly discovered territory to his own
use, the exclusive right to the soil
and jurisdiction. And this title can
not be extinguished but by the finder
abandoning it or trnnsfering it into
other hands;
The Cherokees Haim their territo
ry ns the original occupants. This
claim has been recognized by the
Federal government ever since we
have been their neighbors. Indeed,
this claim was distinctly admitted ini--.
Hopewell treaty in 1785. No time
nor pla e nor circumstance can he
cited in evidence of their title ever
having been extinguished; therefore
they cannot be ousted, until abetter
right can be made out by somo other
claimant.
As to the doctrine that they have
become amalgamated, and citizens of
the United States, and therefore lia
ble to have the laws of the Stales ex
tended over them, it need only he
said, if they ever possessed the power
of self government, either they have
relinquished that right, or it has been
taWn from them, or they are a sove-
in the community. We look, in vain,
reign history of (bat people for the
termination of their sovereignty.
The states in the Treaty of Hope-
veil, acknowledged their right (o
make War upon the states, and pledg
ed the faith of the government to de
liver up to them, any citizen of the
United States who might perpetrate
any of the crimes therein specified
to be pttnished or not according to
their discretion, and according to
their own usages and laws. Who ever
thought of the government of the Li
nked Slates recognizing the right of
any class of Iter citizens to make war
upon the States? Or where shall we
look for a precedent of a government
entering into a compact with a class
ofher citizens, to deliver up any of
fenders against them to he punished
according to their laws and cus
toms.
In 1791, another treaty was had
with the Cherokees, and by the sug
gestions of General Washington anoth
er compact was solemnly entered in
to in these words:
“Art. 7. The LTnited States sol
emnly guaranty to the Cherokee na
tion all their Innds not horeby ced
ed.”
If any doubt exists as to their ju
risdiction, the 11th article of that
treaty settles the question unequivo
cally—it is in these words:
“If any citizen or inhabitants of
the Llpi'ed States, shall go into any
town, settlement or territory belong
ing to the Cherokees, and shall there
commit any crime upon or trespass n-
gainst the person or property of anv
peaceable and friendly Indian, which
if committed within the jurisdiction of
any state, or within the jurisdiction of
either of said districts, against a citi
zen or white inhabitant thereof,
would be punished by the law* of
such slate or district, such offenders
shall be subject to the same punish
ment, and shall bo proceded against
in the same manner os if the offence
bad been committed within the juris
diction of tile state or district to
which he or they may belong against
a citizen or white inhabitant there
of.”
Now what has become of the gov
ernment pledged to the Indians? We
blight make the appeal to the friends
of fhe government—is snot the states
solemnly bound Iq protect tbo Choro^
kees against the unparalleled aggres
sions and oppressions of Georgia?
Nothing we presume is more demon
strable.— Troy
From the Adams Sentinel.
jTlic Committee appointed by the
Citizens of Adams County, assem
bled at the Courthouse in Gettysburg,
on the 18th day of Dec. inst. to pre
pare a MEMORIAL to Congress, on
the subject of the Southern Indians,
have agreed on the following—which
they Bubmit to the consideration of
their constituents.
T. Stevens,
J. F. Macfareane,
John Dickson.
To the Honorable the Senate and
Home of Representatives of the U.
Stales of jimerica, in Congress as
sembled,:—
The undersigned, inhabitants ol
Pennsylvania, beg leave to lay be-
lore your honorable Louies, their o-
pinions, feelings and wishes, with re
gard to the rights, an.l the course
proper to be pursued towards the
Southern Indian tribes.
We believe that the Cherokee In
dians hold the absolute right to the
lands which they now possess, by a
title indefeasible by the acts or de
crees of this or any other Nation,
without their consent. Among Na
tions, prior ( occupancy, and fixed pos
session, cstJ^lisli the right to soil,
w hich can I^Bl'estcd only by abandon
ment, trealtor conquest; by neithei
of tvhieh have the Cherokee lands
been alienated. Their possessions
are reduced to so narrow a compass,
as not, in our opinion, to justify further
unauthorized encroachments, on the
ground of National necessity or poli
ey. The Cherokees are an independ
ent -Nation, ond entitled to all the
rights of such independence, except
so tar as they have already surrender
ed them by treaty. Including them
within the boundaries of the States,
could not deprive them of their inali
enable rights or nntionul independence,
so long us they confine themselves
within their own acknowledged limits.
Within such limits, and over all the
inhabitants thereof, the power of their
own peculiar government is, and ol
right ought to be, absolute and un-
eontroulabic, except so far as regulat
ed by Treaty.
These principles we hold to he
correct, and binding, by t ie general
law of Nature and of Nations, inde
pendent of any contract between par
ties. But if it were otherwise, it
would ill become the United States
to deny the national independence of
the Cherokees; their sovereign pow
er within their own territory; or (heir
light to tlie protection of ihe Nation
al Government from the intrusion of
all our citizens, whether perpetrated
under the guise of law, or for purpos
es of private plunder.
Whenever nations negotiate trea
ties with each other, through acknowl
edged agents, hoivever unequal in
numerical force and physical power,
they admit themselves equal in point
of national rights. Masters do not
negotiate with their slaves; nor sove
reigns with their subjects. Every
one of these United States, through
its constitutional organ, the Executive
ol the Union, has repeatedly become
a party to compacts and treaties, en
tered into with the government of the
Cherokees in their national and inde
pendent character; and have, thereby,
become estopped from questioning
their national and sovereign existence.
By the treaties of Hopewell and Hols-
ton. and others subsequently made,
after designating the boundaries of the
Cherokee Nation, the United States
solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee
Nation/onerer all their lands not here
by ceded; the Cherokees acknow ledge
themselves to be under the protection
of the U. States alone, and surrender
their right to make treaties with oth
er nations or individuals. These
treaties, having been ratified during
the administration of the illustri
ous Washington and his distinguished
successors, Congress enacted laws
for carrying into full and faithful ex
ecution. By the act of 1802, the
President is required to employ the
“military force” of the country to en
force their observance. Notwith
standing the premises, the Common
wealth of Georgia, in defiance of the
spirit and obligation of these treaties
has passed laws annihilated the na
tional existence of the Cherokees:
subjecting them, within their own
territory, to Stale nuthoiitv> and con
trol: and t aking cognizance of the acts
of Indians done within tho chartered
and reserved limits of their Nation.
We forbear tq comment on the odi
ous and partial character of these
laws, discriminating between tho
same dels when committed by men of
different color; and prescribing differ
ent punishments and mojes of redress
to different individuals, without ony
other regard to the quality of the ac
tion, or the degree of right, than the
diversified hues of the skin. For, if
Georgia has a light to legislate at all
for the Indians, she is not answerable
to the General Government for the
quality of her laws. Such right w«
conscientiously and firmly believe
does not exist: she claims it because
the Indian nation is within her boun
daries. It is difficult to perceive,
why an independent people should lose
its existence, and be stripped of its
individuality, because it happeus to
be surrounded by the possessions of
other nations. Such a circumstance
may give the power, but not the right,
to crush them.
But, however humanity may weep
over the licensed oppression which is
sweeping the Aborigines from the
face of the earth—yet, as Americans,
such sympathy is merged in the alarm
which we feel for ourselves, at the
consequences of certain doctrines
lafely promulgated by a high officer
of our Government, and adopted by
the Executive in his late Message to
Congress. In order to justify (he a-
baiuloiunent of the Indians, and the
refusal to protect them according to
existing treaties, the Secretary of
War, in his report to the President,
assumes, that the Act of Congress of
1802, passed in pursuance of prior
treaties, is unconstitutional, and not
obligatory on Georgia, or the Federal
Executive; and this reasoning is ac
quiesced and acted on by the Presi
dent.
A reference to the prior acts of
Georgia will shew' that she cannot sus
tain this position. The treaties of
Hopewell and Holston, and the Act
of Congress of 1802, above referred to,
all took place before the “articles of
agreement and cession betweer ‘1.?
United States and the State of Geor
gia,” by which Georgia ceded a part
of her territory to the United States.
In those articles, she explicitly ac
knowledges tho existence of the In
dians as a N. tion; with whom the U.
Suites were to hold treaties, and ex
tinguish (lie title to their territory,
as soon as the same could he peacea
bly and reasonably done. By such ac
knowledgment, she certainly admitted
the validity of former treaties and
laws, which guarantied their protec
tion and distinct existence.
The Treaty of Hopewell is older
than the Constitution itself; hence,
liie adoption of the Constitution,
which declares treaties to be the su
preme law of the land, is a direct re
cognition of the right to treat with the
Indians, according to the provisions of
the compact.
Is it consistent with the spirit of
our Government, for our Chief Magis
trate to constitute himself the judge
of the validity of laws, and execute
them or not according to his decision
thereon? After the people, through
their Representatives, have passed
such laws ns they deem best for the
public weal, should their Executive
servant be permitted to justify his dis
obedience to them, on the plea of
their unconstitutionality ? While laws
are neither repealed by the Legisla
ture, nor invalidated by a decision of
the Federal Judiciary, we can per
ceive no right in (He Executive to
set (hem aside, or suspend their oper
ation at pleasure. Such a power ad
mitted would be a firm foundation for
future usurpers to build upon. Make
the Exccutivo and his Cabinet the
arbiters of the constitutionality of
your enactments; and, at some future
day, when your officers become more
ambitious, and less honest, than at
present, what barrier have we be
tween Tyrants and our liberty?
Firmly believing that our treaties
with the Cherokee Indians, and law
passed for their execution, arc con
stitutional and ralid; and that a disre
gard and violation of them would be
an indelible stain on our National hon
or—we pray your Honorable bodies
to pass such laws as may he necessa
ry to protect the Cherokees ond oth-
or Indians, within their own territory,
from the intrusion of any of our citi
zens; whether done in pursuance of
State enactments or not* according to
ihe true intent and meaning of our
several " Treaties with said Indian,
tribes*"-And w#will pray, &c.
THE INDIAN REMOVAL,
- This important question becomes
ono of increasing concern t» the peo
ple, outlie crisis is approaching in our
National Congress, at which the hon
our and faith .of our country is to be
sustained, or ingloriously stained and
abandoned! Wo have seen in the
last session, that the force of the nu
merous petitions to the unfriended In*
dians, were so far unavailing. The
friends of the country, have therefore
to redouble their energies, and by tho
voice of the people, speaking out
from every village and hamlet of our
land, not devoted to sectional feelings
and gain, constrain the National Re*
presentatives to perceive the fact,
that thc*grcat mass of the nation-—
the proper sovereign people, will have
no part, or lot in the spoil of the poor
Indian. This is the more necessary
as the bland and measured profession*
of pure good will and kindness to that
Cherokee and other tribes in tlie'
President's Message, are at variance
with the stern and vigorous opposition
actually operating through the mea-
sures of the Geueral Government.
It is understood we aro soon to be
offered for approbation and signature,
a printed petition, prepared for the
county of Philadelphia. To this end
it may possibly he preferred to call a
town meeting, and in anticipation of
such an event, as near at hand, these
few hints are now offered, that ouf
citizens may give the proposition pre
vious consideration. West Chester
has already preceded us in this mea
sure, although we hope our feelings
and copvinccments are not behind
theirs.— German. Tel.
•d New York Negro and a Kentuck-.
tan.—Not long since a gentleman from'
Kentucky was standing at the 'door of
one of our hotels, whence he was a-
bout starting for (lie steamboat.
Wishing for somo one to carry his
baggage, ond soeing a spruce looking
negro passing along the street, ho
railed out to him:—‘Here, you nig;
take my trunk and carry it down- to
the boat.*
The negro rtopped, and raising Ids
quizzing glass to his eye, stared at
the Kentuckian with a mixture of in*-
dignat ion and astonishment. Having
scanned him sufficiently with his glass 1 ,
he gave his hat an independent twist
to one side, pulled up his dickey a*
limit his ears, drew himself to his
fullest height, and thus replied.—‘Did
you ’dress that language io me, sir?*
‘Yes, you black nscal, I want yo.u.
to take my trunk to the steamboat*’
‘Indeed! I guess you eome front
the slave boldin’ stales, did’nt you, if*
I may take the liberty to ax?*
‘Ay, you black dog— and What ITT.
did?—you take too much liberty, I'
can tell you.’,
‘Why I am sure you must has*
come from the slave stales, other
wise you would’nl treat a gentlemau
in this supersilly manner, just because
his skin isn’t of the same color a*your
own.’
‘Shut your thick Bps, or I’U stick,
my fist down your throat.’
‘We don’t have any gag laws iu
this state.’
‘Well, you ought (o have, to stop
the mouths of such saucy black rascal*'
as you are. 1 wish 1 had you in Ken
tucky once.’
‘I spose you’d gouge me then. But 1
thank heaven, I’m not in Kentucky*,
and not a slave neither. And wbat’t
more, I undertake to tell you, Mr.,
Impotence, that there’s no gouging nor
gagging in this free state, and one'
is as much inspected as another, if bo
behaves as well, although he is a'
black man, or a nig, as you call him.
Behavicr makes tho man, sir. For
my part, I should be ashamed to sfiotV
my face ’mong other gentlemen, if
1 ’dressed a man in the sttpercilly man
ner you did me.
Having finished his speech, tho
dark coloured benu ngalir raised his
quizzing gloss to his eye, and giving-
his antagonist a look of ineffable dis
dain, wajked on; while the Kentuck*-
ian, almost doubting his senses, won-*
tiered what sort of republican princi
ple that could he-which gives a black
man as much liberty ns a white one.
A 4 . Y\ Constellation.
AWSOFTHF. CH^ToitFF. NA;
TION.f'naetfd in the yrnrt rt2tk 182t^
182# & 1829, printed in pampbtat: form fA-
sale at this office-