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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