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LOUISVILLE,
IVEI)NESDAT, Jfril 27, iBc3.
1
COMMUNICATION
Of his Excellency Governor
Milledgc, to both branches j
of the Legiflature.
J-'ellci Citizens rf the Senate , &
cf the Houfi of R
THE object of your being
now afiembled at the feat of go
vernment, was exprdled in the •
proclamation ill ucd by me for
the purpofe of convening you.
The flare has, for die fit ft
lime under the national govern
ment, acquired an aectfiion of
jurifdidional territory, thetrea- |
ty of Fort W i! kin Ton, conclu
ded the 16th cf June, a 802,
having been onahrmoufty rati- ;
fied by the Senate of the United
States, end accepted, ratified
and confirmed by the Prefident
under the feal of the General
Government, on the nth of
January Lift.
The packet No. i, contains
a copy of the ■inftrument fo con
firmed, which points out the
limits of the Territory ceded.
The treaty making depart
ment of the nation makes no
difference, in the confirmation
of treaties, whether they be with
a civilized and enlightened peo
ple, or the rude lavage of the
wildernefs—they pafs through
the refpeflive branches of that
department, and undergo all the
forms of other treaties.—The
firft treaty held under the Ge
neral Government with the Creek
Indians, was that of New-York,
where the treaty making power
adopted the precedent refpefting
the ratification of Indian treaties.
That treaty is well known to us
all—it difmembered the fiate
of that part of her domain called
TalafTee County, and not until
the treaty of Fort Wilkinfon,
under a change of national ad
miniftration, did we getreftored
to us a ffnall portion of that
county, of which we have been
deprived. But we need not
doubt that there cxifts a difpo
fition on the part of the Gene
ral Government to heal by every
means in its power, the wound
made on the jurifdi&ion of ft ate
right.
On the fubjefl cf the land
ceded, I conceive it my duty
to lay before you my ideas, troll
ing that they will be allowed to
fpring from motives pure and
difinterdled. ,
I have long reflected on the
condufl which ought to be pur
lued in this interfiling hi; fine Is,
and if uiy fentiments ihould meet
your approbation, I Batter my
lelf our union, on this occafion,
will gain the confidence and
afient of every difmtcrefted good
citizen of the fiate. Let me
earnefily rcquell then, that while
you arc adopting a mode for
locating the land, you will fie
rioufiy and attentively reficdl on
the advantages that will refult
•to the Hate, by requiring adhial
iettlements and pofieffion before
grants cflablifh unqualified rights
in the grantees ; for if you do
not guard all the avenues to pri
vate intcreff, you will find to
yourforrow and the mortification
of the fiate, that nearly the whole
of that fine country will center
hi the hands of a few companies, |
ahd be parcelled out and fold in ,
all parts of the w orld—immenfe
fortunes made by individuals—
and the fiate rifled of its brighc
eft profpe&s.
It is in vain for us to hope
for an increafe of population,
an objed fio definable fat our
country, if grants are allowed
Vvithout the afluaf Tcttlement
ami improvement of the lands
granted. If head-rights fhould
be permitted to be taken out in
the manner they now are, it wfiL
be Teen in a finort time, that
every than in the country, whole
habits, mode of life, and want
of induftry forh d his fettling in j
a wildernefs, will fell to whoever
will buy and be at the expence
required to obtain a grant. —
Review the pine land fpecula
tion. —Here was a quantity of j
vacant land, and fiome of a qua
lity fit for cultivation, that nurn
-4 A J
btrs might have Icttled with
comfort and advantage to them- 1
/elves and benefit to fociety.—
Yet millions of acres have becil ■
owned and fold by a few without
the acquifition or addition of
any feeders. The (Length and
confequence of the fiate depends
on population, no matter from
what caufe produced, and any
meafure which may fuller mo
nrpolies cf land, muft be the
bane of that fource of /Length.
Georgia may be the mod
fiouriffiiug and important date
in the Union —view its geogra
phy and add to it but population,
and her advantages are incalcu
lable—therefore Another in the
bud all hopes, entertained by
individuals,- of accumulating in
the weftern parts of this fiate,
a large landed intereft. Let us
fiecure the induftrious poof from
the grafting hand of the rich
(peculator, who may at a future
day poifiefs and retail this land,
at an exhorbitant profit; or, on
humiliating and degrading con
ditions. It is againfl the genius
of our government to have large
land holders, and if events
and careleflhefs have heretofore
brought us into this flare of
things, it is time they fhould
be checked; for it is unnatural
to enable a few to get rich at
the expence of the many who
may and do want.
It may alio be prudent to
reftrve from this ceffion, feme
of the bed fires and places for
towns or public inftitudons, as*
the inconvenience of getting
fuch (pots, after they fall into
the hands of individuals, is con
-1 fiderable, and the expenfe great
! —therefore referves of that kind
I on vacant land, ought always to
I be made. I have Laid thus much
| to draw your attention to the
1 importance of the fubjeft, con
fident that the refult of your
deliberations will be for the pub
lic good.
The place of depofir, at
New- Orleans, on the Mifiifiip
pi, fecured to our weftern Al
low citizens by the Spanifh
treaty, has been (hut up by the
intendant of that port ] by which
unjuft obftrudlion the com
merce of the country border
ing on that river, is much in
jured and embarraffed—But wc
learn with fatisfaftion that the
Prefident of the United States
has taken flops to an eft the
progrefs cf the injury, and has
lent an enlightened and approv
ed citizen, as a fpecial envoy,
to negotiate on the fubjcd. It
is believed that the meafurc
adopted by the Spanifh ftiten
dant is not lar.dioned by the
king, Jus mafter—The negoci
ation will place us in a fuuacion
to know the caufe of this un
juft i liable a 61.
It mu ft ftrike every di’fpaf
fionate man, that it was wile
and prudent in the Prefidenf, to
leek negociation before war—
fhould we however find that
the aggreflion has been ordered
nr countenanced, and no redrtfs
can be obtained, we may be
compelled to rtfort to arms to
do ourlelves juftice—and fiiould
this necefiity occur, lain confi
dent Georgia will be found as
forward, in defending the com
mon rights of the nation, as
either of her fifttr dates.
The Prefident, as •you will
perceive by the packet No. 2,
in compliance with a refoluticn
of the Houle of Reprefenia
tives of the United Stares, has
called upon this as well as the
other dates, and urged the im
portance and indifpenfable ne
ct lTuy of vigorous exertions on
the part of the date govern
ments, to carry into efted the
militia fyftem, adopted by the
national legifiature, agreeably to
the powers rdcrVcd to the dates
refpedively, by the conftitution
of the United States. Under
the circumflances mentioned I
beg leave to recommend to
the legiflature to adopt imme
diate and efficient me a lures for
arming the militia, and for pro
viding a diffident quantity cf
ammunition. Permit me alfo, to
recommend a revifioh of cur
militia laws, that, if from the
Experience w ; e have had of their
operation, any defeds have
been difeovered, they may be
amended—and moreover, let
me v recommend to each of ycu,
in your individual ftations, to
inculcate a military fpirit and
ardour among our fellow citi
zens, to aid and affift dlfcipline
within your refpedive counties,
that we may be prepared, if re
quired, for adive war—always
recolleding that a well armed
and difciplincd militia, fuper
cedes the ncccffity of aftanding
army—that inftrument which
has proved fo deftrudive to the
liberties of mankind in every
quarter of the world.
It affords me pleafure, to be
enabled to tranlVmt lor your
confkleration, the excellent ob
fervations of our Adjutant-Ge
neral, Colonel Fauche, on the
militia fyftem, which you will
alfo find in packet No. 2.
By the ad palled the laft Scf
fion of the Legifiature, pointing
out a mode for adjufting the
claims cf the Citizens of this
ft ate 1 again ft the Creek Nation, it
was made the duty of the Comp
troller-General, to examine, and
make out fchedules, of all fuch
claims as fhonld be laid before
him by the Executive, within
three months after the pafiage
thereof. I accordingly called
on that officer, within the time
limited, to comply with the re
quifition of the law', and receive
the claims which were dcpofit
td in the Executive Office.
The packet No. 3, co?;N > -
copy of my kttcr to Imncn the
fubjeft, and his .snfwer, by
which you will perceive his
reafons for not entering on the
duties by that law affigned him.
The evidences of claim againit
the Indians therefore remain
unafted on.
On the Bth day of January
lad, Mr. Seymour, of the firm
of Seymour, Woolhopter, and
Sctbbins, printer;, of Savannah,
depofited in the Secretary of
the State’s Office, the manu
script DigOt of the Laws of
Georgia, as compiled by Hora
tio Marbury, and William H.
Crawford, Inquires, from which
the printed work, now in that
office was taken.* I deemed it
neceftary, in order that the
woik fhould be as complete arid
perfect as pcffible, to appoint
three perfons to examine the
fame, not only with the manu
feripr, but with the originals
from which it was compiled.—
That being done, errors, as are
contained in the errata which is
now annexed to each Digeft,
as in the one tranfmitted for your
examination* have been found.
The ad of the 6th of De
cember 1799, t 0 carry into ef
fect the Bth left ion of the 3d
article of the Conftitution, au
thor! fed the Governor, to ap
prove, or difapprove, of fuch
luch Digeft of the Laws, as
fhould be compiled incompli
ance with that aft; and his Ex
cellency James jackfcn, then
Governor of the State, did, on
the 3d of March 1801, confirm
and tftablilh, Marbury, and
Crawford’s reported Digeft, as
the Digeft of the State, “ be
lieving that every ufeful aft is
in it, and that no material aft, to
injure private or public happi
nefs is withdrawn or concealed
from it.” The dime fee- •
ticn, in the article of the confti
tution juft mentioned, declares,
tc that within five years after
the adoption of that inftrumenf,
the body of our Laws, civil and
criminal, fhali be reviled, di
gefted, and arranged under pro
per heads, and promulgated in
luch manner, as the Lcgiflature
may dirtft.” I therefore ap
prize you, that on the 30th of
the cnfuirg month, (May) the
term of time allowed for that
purpofe will expire, and fug
gelt the propriety of your point
ing out, as early as pcffible, the
manner in which you would
wifh the two thoufand copies of
the printed Digeft to be diftri
buted.
The packet No. 4, contains
a copy of the affidavit of Gor
don I. Seymour, which ffiews
the reafon of the manufeript’s
not being returned at the time
O t
ftipulatcd by him and his part
ners, in their contraft for print
ing the Digeft, and alfo a ftate-
O O '
ment, (hewing what they con
traded to print the work for,
the amount they have received,
and the balance now due them
from the (fare, for the payment
of which, the Legiflaiure is in
jufticc bound to make imme
diate provifion.
Since the adjournment of the
laft Lcgiflature, levcral perfons
have preTented for fettlcmert,
accounts for fupplies turn'.ft 1
the militia of the Lower Di