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BY GUIEU Ac THOMPSON.
-4E CONSTITUTIONALIST.
OFFICE IS M VCISTOSH-STREET.
i door from the N. \V. corner of Broad-street.
I of LAND by Administrators, Executors, or
ardians,are required, by law, to be held on the
t Tuesday in the month, between the hours of
i in the forenoon and three in the afternoon, at
t Court-House in which the properly is situate,
lice of these sales must be given in a public
zette sixty days previous to the day of sale.
■ of NECHOES must be at public auction, on
» first Tuesday of the month, between the usual
ars of sale, at the place of public sales in the
unty where the letters Testamentary, or Ad
listration, or Guardianship, may have been
nied, first giving sixty days notice thereof,
one of the public (iaxettes oflhis State, and at
i door of the Court-House where such sales
> to be held.
•e for the sale of Personal Property must be
en in like manner, forty days previous to
Clothe Debtors and Creditors of an Estate,
|il be published for forty days.
•e that application will be made to the Court
Ordinary for leave to sell LAND, must be pab
led for four months.
f„r leave to sell NEGROES, must be pub
led four months, before any order absolute
i be given by the Court.
ifgßsmsmmssrnm. — )
[COMMUNICATED.]
•ffrs. Editors.— Singular developements are
ing in relation to the late Cherokee movement
e administration, and I am almost afraid to
nenl on the metier, lest I shall have soon to
y what these devclopeincnts clearly warrant
1 saying at this lime. A great hubbub was
d at first by every body against the President,
re they had lime to understand it. You edi
particularly, allow me to soy, have been very
t k on the trigger.” and probobly pulled the
t r too hard. I know you are a sort of unten
ir feelers for the public—like spiders, cternal
the watch, and woe-belide the unfortunate
eh, who happens to blunder against any por
of your web. You undoubtedly represent
the feelings of our people, when you say,
are opposed irreconcilably to the Indians re
[ng an y longer within our territory. But you
d away 100 precipitately. You Ini the wrong
If the administration has been to blame at
ie error lay in the impolicy of taking any step
is business at the lime it did, when nothing
he done before th« treaty must bo executed,
fu r nearly all the expense of the operation
have been incurred. But it was the duly of
jvernmenl to have paid a respectful attention
i opinion and suggestions of influential and
igenl Georgians, w ho, it had a right to sup
perfcnly understood the matter, and were
ing “day and night” to accomplish, at least,
iflering of a “reasonable proposition.*' In
of blazing away at .Mr. Van Huron, for doing
he had no intention of doing, and disclaimed
lly on the face of nil the documents which
lei my eye, you, I menu your brother quill
rs, should have reserved the discharge of
heavy ordnance for those ambitious gentle
who, wall .Mr. Dawson, were working, night
uy, to appropriate to themselves, nil the crc-
F the peaceful execution of the treaty, by
h too, not provided for in its stipulutinos.
c President, I have said, distinctly disavowed
D.-session of any power to May the execution
i treaty, and gave explicit orders to General
, to suspend no arrangements he had made
e speedy removal of the Indians, und to see
hey he removed “ continuous! »/," —that they
>pt perpetually going, till they were all gone,
tier they were removed by the I niled .Slates’
#,or their own. The allegation which h> in
my mouths, that tho President had allowed
idninfl to slay two years longer in Georgia, is
nirary to ail he says, and says so plainly, that
at a loss how to deny its truth in terms (hat
dbe decent, ll is only equalled by Gov.
jr’s imagining that the government bad deter
j to keep |>osscssion and drive olf the Gcor
, .atber than the Indians —who pretends to
to know distinctly of the President, \f this is
Inention, that he may go to tho Cherokee
iry and order the IJ. S. troops from our tern-
So fur from these strange imaginings being
the troops wore ordered, first, to clear the
ns from our lands, that the proprietors, to
i the Si«n> had granted them, might meet
no delay m gening possession of llieir proper-
The Stales interested, with the full acknow
lent of llieir rights, were simply requested not
!8s their claims in a manner to occasion un
wary discomfort and inconvenience to the In
. And Gov. Gilmer says, he hod entreated
irbearance of the proprieloi* in this regard,
irs Justly eulogised tho people of tho Chero
ountry for acting in accordance with his rc-
Whcre is the administration to blame in
natter? Gov. Gilmer says, the U. S. troops
ernove the Indians belter than Georgia can ;
hat Ross, if be will, cun remove them better
either. To induce him to undertake this
the Governor opens a correspondence with
-offers a “ large compensation,” which Ross
ibly thought was as indefinite ns Gen Jack
“judicious tariff;” and Mr. Dawson works
“night nnd day,” probably to bring Ross
I from some enormous demand for this service
‘reasonable proposition” for the same. The
dent entering into their views, from a very
inablc presumption, that they knew best how
fled what interested them most, lays their
estions and advice before congress, believing
Gov. Gilmer, that if Ross or other Indian
t« could be induced to undertake and superin
the removal of their countrymen, they would
ff belter contented, in better humor, and of
ip, with less probability of any bloody outroge,
if removed by the whites at the point of the
net. How strange then, that Gov. Gilmer
Id turn round and abuse the President for hi
ring w ilh the treaty, by adopting his own ad
snd suggestions! And, moreover, should take
to his head, so to understand all that the Presi
t has said and done in conformity to that ad
, that I have not the charity, much as I respect
to believe, that his interpretation of the Pres
t’s motives and designs, has any approval from
unual good sense.
' much may he said on this subject, thot I am at
s what to omit; but I condemn Gov. Gilmer,
'son, and all others, for tampering with the
y—in effect invalidating its arrangements, by
Spending with that treaty’s most inveterate
and making a new one with the man, who de
ss the former one fraudulent, while they are
■ ring they will have tho treaty and nothing but
treaty of 1835, and will order the 11. S. troops
of our territory, if they do not proceed to cxe
> that compact. lam for the treaty of 1835, nnd
hould have been the Governor, who has been
poring with its enemies. Georgia should have
id simply and plainly on the treaty, nnd insisted
ts full and immediate execution, standing aloof
n Ross and every body else on that subject.—
> removal of the Indians was her right—she had
I for it—and she should have listened to nothing
the possession te which it entitled her. It was
hing to her, how much the government should
b Ross, or any one else, to have the treaty exe
ed, with the least possible trouble and delay
e government might have added two millions or
r millions more to the sum stipulated—it was no
ig to Georgia. But instead of this plain common
>e and honest stand of the Stale orthcr vested
it, her high functionaries; from an overweening
ire to appropriate all the glory of the removal
hemselves and their party, must be trying new
unknown to the compact, and not only incon*
sistent with it, but inconsistent with the plainest
suggestions of die best moral feeling. They were
not ashamed to attempt to bribe that treaty’s truly
great opponent, by a “large compensation,” to be
faithless to that country that trusted him, and put
the reward of his perfidy in his pocket. The more
I see of the world, the loss I think its great men
are to be trusted. Certainly, the late develope
ments in regard to the Cherokee treaty, are little
calculated to give exalted ideas of the honesty,
candor, and fairness of some of them. M.
TIVENT Y-F IF TH CO XGRESS,
SECOND SESSION.
UNITED STA TES SENA TE, June 7.
INDIAN HOSTILITIES.
On motion of Mr. WRIGHT, the Senate
proceeded to consider the House bill making ap
propriations for the prevention and suppression
of Indian hostilities for 1838, ami for the pay
mcnl of arrearages in 1837.
On ordering this bill to its third reading, Mr.
WEBSTER addressed the Senate, and was an
swered by Mr. WRIGHT, when Mr. PRES.
TUN spoke at length, reflecting generally on
the war and its causes, which be attributed to
the fault of the Administration.
Mr. LUMPKIN addressed the Senate as fol
lows:
Mr. President: I bad indulged tlie hope, and
still indulge it, that the Senate would be permit
ted to act promptly on this appropriation bill,
without bringing into its discussion the exciting
topics of the Florida and Cherokee treaties, and
the Florida war. The service of the country
and the character of the Government are at this
time suffering for the want of the passage of
this bill. Drafts amounting to hundreds of
thousands of dollars arc at this inoincn pressed
upon the Treasury of the country, and cannot
be discharged till we pass ibis bill. The citizens
of the country, who have given full and fair
consideration for official ami legal drafison your
Treasury, ought not to be delayed in receiving
tber just dues.
It is, therefore, with extreme reluctance that
1 feel myself called upon to take some notice of
the remarks of the Senator from South Carolina,
[Mr. Preston.] I shall not, however, follow the
gentleman in the wide range lie lias taken in re.
gard to the Florida campaign, or tho merit or
demerit of the distinguished officers who have
bad command in Florida. For the present 1
leave all these gentlemen (with my kind regard)
to the justice of that public opinion, to whom
wo, as public men, are all amenable. There is
but one point connected with the. Florida war
to wliieli the gentleman lias adverted, which I
feel myself called upon to notice.
The gentleman, with his usual eloquence, lias
eulogised the savage chief O.scula, apparently
forgetful of the many horrid deeds which led to
the catastrophe of tins extraordinary man. When
I hcai Oscola eulogised on the floor of this Sen
ate, I ran but remember the treachery of this
much indulged man to bis friend and benefac
tor, the lamented General Wiley Thompson ot
Georgia, witli whom 1 was long associated in
public life, and who was long a respected mem
ber of the oilier branch of Congress. Yes, ibis
bloodthirsty, Oscola, not only murdered General
Thompson, but was, and lias been, the principal
organ of all the horrors of the Florida war, in
discriminate!}’ levelled against every age ami
sex. Sir, if 1 fail to express my sympathy in
strains of equal eloquence with the Senator from
South Carolina for the sufferings of the deserv
ing portion of the native race, I will not yield
to ilie gentleman my claims to feelings as refi
ned, enlarged, ami sympathetic for suffering hu
manity, even when n wuvnge is the victim, I
avow myself the friend and defender of the just
rights and true interest of the native race. But
I am far, very far, from being the eulogist, or
apologist of Oscola. I can but think of bis
name with horror and disgust.
But, sir, my anxiety for the speedy passage of
this bill would have induced me to vote in si
lence, after all the remarks of the gentleman
upon the Florida part of the subject, if tho gen
tleman bad slopped there. But, sir, lie lias
come nearer home tome; and 1 feel bound to de
fend my own premises. The gentleman has
given us a history of his support and defence of
the Cherokee treaty of 1835, and lias manifested
marked z- al in the defence of my Stale, ami a
portion of its public functionaries. I thank him
kindly for all this voluntary service. It isafree
will offering, which I feel assured will he duly
appreciated by the friends of the treaty and of
the Stale.
But, sir, wc find mingled wi ll all this support
of the treaty, and zeal to have it faithfully and
speedily executed, a spirit and bearing in the
remarks of the gentleman, which, to my mind,
is calculated to do great injustice to the Admin
istratiou which made and has sustained (his
treaty; as well as the friends of tho Administra
lion, who have borne the beat and burden of the
day, in bringing our Indian relations to their
present attitude.
The gentleman reminds me of what I have
often seen in the course of a life not now a very
short one, that is: persons vociferous in a cause
after flic victory was achieved, and persons, too,
who stood aloof while the battle raged.
Sir, 1 will never |>eriiiit the Senator from S.
Carolina, uncontented, to step in at tiiis late day,
and carry otT whatever meed of praise may be
due to those who have struggled so long to re
lieve my beloved Slate from an Indian popula
tion. 1 truly thank him for ail bis kind feelings
ami services to my State, and her citizens, who
tlicr private or public men. But all this kind
ness and zeal for my State and her distinguished
citizens, shall not induce me silently to acquiesce
in direct or indirect censure, when improperly
cast upon me, or the Administration of the Fede
ral Government which I support. My position
in relation to this matter shall not ho misunder
stood or misrepresented without the proper cor
rection. I am fully apprized of the fact, that
the late communication of the President of the
United Slates to Congress, embracing the letter
of the Secretary of War to John Ross, is at this
time a most fruitful subject for excitement ami
misrepresentation. I, therefore, deem it my du
ty to go into a history of this transaction, sus
tained by such facts as cannot be controverted,
and as will do justice to myself, ami the Execu
tive Government.
The Cherokee treaty of 1835, after all that
has been said to disparage the Government and
the Indians who formed it, I repeat, as I have
often done before, it is a monument of the mag
nanimity of the Government on one side, and a
standing record of the honesty and pure patriot,
ism of the Clierokccs who negotiated it, on the
other side.
I was invited, at an early day, to aid as a com
missioner in the execution of ibis treaty, and
have been familiar with every important trans
action since, up to the present day. The Ex
coutivc Government has uniformly, and at all
limes, expressed an unwavering determination
to carry out and execute the treaty, without in
fringement or change of its provisions. I has as
uniformly, constantly, and sincerely expressed
a desire to discharge this duty in a spirit of the
utmost kindness and liberality towards the Cher
okee people. In all this I have concurred and
co-operated with the Government. But it is
nevertheless true, that from the time I entered
upon the duties of the appointment of commis
sioner until I look my scat in this Senate, yes,
sir, and up to the present day, some difference
of opinion between the Exculivc Government
and myself lias existed, on some points touching
the best mode of accomplishing the object which
we all had in view. I united in the views of the
Government, in using every effort within my
official range to reconcile the opposing part of
the Chcrokees to this treaty; aud have, to a
considerable extent, succeeded.
But I have uniformly dissented, as all rny
official letters wills how, while acting as corn
missioncr, to that p art of the jiolicy of tfyc Go
vernment which has permitted John Ross and
hiafollowers, while constantly protesting against
the validity of the treaty, receiving the countc.
nance and courtesy which they have done fiom
the Government. I have uniformly believed,
and still believe, that the best and safest way to
to have executed this treaty would have been,
from the first, kindly, but firmly, to have used
the imperative language to Ross and bis follow
ers—to have said the argument is exhausted in
regard to the treaty—// must be executed . I
believe that no propositions from Ross should
ever have been entertained, without being ac
companied by a pledge to cease from all opposi-
Hon to the removal of the Chcrokees. But I
believe this difference o: opinion originated from
no difference in object. It was the desire of all
to execute l lie treaty in that manner which might
he best for all the parties in interest. From my
knowledge of the character of Ross, 1 had no
confidence that he could be conciliated by con
cessions. Grant one demand, and another would
immediately be made. The strong desire oft.be
Government to conciliate Ross and his party has
boon constantly strengthened by the opinions
of many of the officers and agents of the Gov.
eminent, as well as by the opinions of highly
respectable citizens of various Stales, com muni
catod to the Executive Government—that the
treaty could never be executed peaceably with,
out the assent and aid of the opposing party of
the Chcrokees, therefore, to avoid the evils of
an Indian war, which must terminate in the do
struct ion ot the Chcrokees, ns well as some loss
ot while inhabitants. The Government has,
with a patience and forbearance unparalclled,
kept an open ear to the untiring perseverance of
Ross.
On taking my seat in the Senate, I found
Ross and his delegation still here, memorializing
Congress, and making propositions to the Ex
ecu live Government, by mode and manner of
meeting which is known to the Senate and to
the country. In the month of March, I found
troin information derived from different sources,
that the Executive Government here was still
urged by gentlemen in high official stations, to
tile policy ot conciliating Ross by increased libo
raliiy in money. Amongst others, I will read
an extract from a letter of Governor Gilmer of
Georgia, to the Secretary of War, dated March
5, 1838. The Governor says: “The best in
formed persons residing among the Chcrokees,
express the opinion that Ross can, if lie will, re
move his people at once. To avoid the great
expense of the Government, and to preserve the
lives and property of our citizens, and the Indi.
ans which may he sacrificed if the treaty isexc.
etiled by force, the Government can well afford
to pay a very liberal price for the voluntary and
immediate removal of the Indians. To enable
Ross and the chiefs to effect this object, I be
lieve it to be necessary for them first to return
home, see their people, and let them he satisfied
that their efforts to change the treaty have been
honest though unavailing. The Clu rokces are so
suspicions of their chiefs, that even Ross, as en
tirely as he has llieir confidence, might lose all
power to serve them if he attempted to make a
eoiitiact with the Government, for their cmigra
gralion, before they were consulted, and llieir ap
proval of the measure obtained. If the Go
vernment should ascertain upon Ross* re
turn home, that, lie bad the power, and was
willing to undertake the removal of hia people,
the terms of contract could he agreed upon with
out difficulty or delay.” “If the pertinacity of
Ross should create any difficulty, it might booh,
vialed in making no reference in his contract to
the treaty.”
Very many letters from other nersous of high
respectability and official standing, to the same
purport of Governor Gilmer's may be found on
the files of the War Department. Indeed 1
have always rnysulfanticipated mischief grow
ing out of the execution oflhis treaty, unless
the influence of Ross was neutralized by force or
purchase. Under this aspect of the subject, and
after both branches of Congress had given suffi
cient evidence of a determination to execute the
treaty, regardless of the reinonslranees of Ross,
and the silly petitions of persons wholly igno
rant of the subject, upon which they were peli
tioning, I came to the conclusion, that Ross
might possibly he in a situation to yield to the
true interest of his people, and Jet them
emigrate to the West in peace.
And hence my assent was given to the views
suggested in the extract of Gov. Gilmer's letter,
which I have read. And while 1 have uniform
ly protested against any movement which might
in the slightest degree retard the removal of the
Chciokecs, I have, nevertheless, uniformly and
freely expressed the opinion, that the moment
when all opposition to the treaty by Ross and his
party should he yielded up, and a diposition
manifested to emigrate with reasonable dispatch,
from that moment the Indians would ho secured
from any unreasonable pressure on the part of
the people of Georgia. I repudiate the idea that
my constituents would, under such circumstan
ces, act with inhumanity towards the suffer
ing Indians, or refuse to grant every indulgence
which the true interest of the Indians and hu
manity may require. No Senator on this floor is
better acquainted with his constituents than I
am with mine. They are generous, just and lib
era). Their magnanimity cannot lie appealed
to in vain. But, sir, they never can he forced
into slavish submission, or withdraw from upen
ding controversy.
But, Mr. President, I now eomc to the impor
tant object which I had in view, in addressing
the Senate. Ia in fully apprised of the great ex
citement which has been produced in my own
Stale, and elsewhere, arising out of the proposi
tions of the Secretary of War to John Ross, late
ly submitted to Congress. 1 am not only ap
prised ofllie excitement, but of the misapprehen
sion which seems to exist on this subject. I per
ceive from the newspapers of Georgia and other
States, as well as from the letters which 1 re
ceive from rny constituents, that an impression
has been made upon the public mind tiial the
Government was desirous, and had proposed, un
necessarily, to delay the emigration ofllie Che
rokces for two years. This I know to he an en
tire misapprehension. The extension proposed
to the Stales by the Government, and that in
the most delicate and respectful manner, was
never intended to embrace a longer period than
that which might be required by a due regard to
the common dictates of humanity, it being ex
pressly staled that the Chcrokees were to he re
moved as speedily as was consistent with health
ami comfort. General Scott is, moreover, in
structed to continue the prosecution of the mea
sures he lias adopted to remove the Indians, and
whether their removal is to be effected by com
pulsory, or voluntary emigration under their own
agents, so to conduct his operations as to place
the proprietors of the lands there in possession
of llieir properly with as little delay as possible.
These instructions certainly do not warrant the
supposition that the Government consents that
Ross and his friends shall remain two years
longer.
On the contrary, the orders of the Government
are most positive, that the Indians are to be re
moved from Georgia first, and from the other
States as speedily as practicable. This is the
plain meaning ofllie letter of the Secretary of
War to John Ross, as intended, understood, and
interpreted by the author himself. I admit that
the propositions made to John Ross, by the Se
cretary of War, might have been put in a form
less liable to misapprehension. But lam utter
ly at a loss to account for the wide-spread mis
apprehension upon this subject, except it he from
the fact that it took its rise in both houses of
Congress, and thus rapidly spread to the four
quarters of the Union. I know positively that
the exposition given by the Secretary of War,
of his letter to Ross, is perfectly consistent with
the views which he expressed to rnc before ma
king his proposition to Ross. The Secretary
bad ample grounds to believe that Congress cn
AUGUSTA, GA. THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1838.
tertained the most lilieral fhelhgs towards the
Chcrokees, and would willing]! soothe them, as
far as that could reasonably be 4me, by addition
al appropriations of money to hi applied to llieir
comfort. He had just cause I ope lieve, and did
believe, that the high.minded, renerous Stales
of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabarn., and North Ca
rolina, would act with becoininjr humanity and
indulgence towards the poor, deeded Chcrokees;
and the people of those States vill not fail to do
the present Administration justice on this sub
ject, when the misapprehension and excitement
of jhc present moment shall have passed away.
I lie position of the Federal Administration of
the Government bag. upon this Indian subject,
lor many years past, been most delicate and pe
culiar. Especially since the commencement of
General Jackson's administration, and bis imud-
Tested determination to relieve the Southern
Stales from the disadvantages of an Indian po.
pnlation. His untiring vigilance and perseve
rance on this subject is now a part of the history
ofllie Government. In all bis exertions to re.
lieve Georgia from her Indians, and do justice to
her claims upon the Federal Government, I was
not only a faithful co-operator, bat something in
advance of the President himself. His succes
sor lias faithfully adhered to the policy of his
predecessor in carrying out these measures.
But at every step a most formidable and pe
culiar opposition has embarrassed the Govern,
nient in the prosecution of its Indian policy.—
The Administration has not only had to cncotin.
ter the combined and regularly organized Op.
position, which were known as open and avow,
ed opponents, but many of the iVieids of the Ad
ministration, especially amongst the less inform
cd, have been used os opponents ;o the. Indian
policy of the Government. Evciiinllic Stales
most deeply interested, we have sometimes seen
the strong feelings of self-interest, waived loac.
commodate party spirit and party interest. At
any rate I have always found tlij measures of
General Jackson and myself, even in Georgia,
discountenanced by some of our political oppo.
nenls, as far as public opinion would tolerate un
expression of disapprobation. The newspapers
of the day will show that I was for years cen
sured for the determined and straight forward
course which I pursued in paving the way to in.
sure the speedy removal of the Indians from
Georgia. Yes, sir, I and my friends have borne
llie heat and burden of the day on this subject.
And now, in the moment of success, in the day
of triumph and victory, what is the exhibition
which we witness on this floor? Why, sir, wo
see the honorable Senator from Suulli Carolina,
with bis characteristic zeal and eloquence, rise
in Ids place, nnd address this Senate in a mode
and manner calculated to produce the impression
abroad that the Executive officers of the Govern,
mint and myself hud, all at once, suddenly and
without rhyme or reason, abandoned our long,
cherished policy, and gone over to the enemy;
and that, 100, after we hud fairly achieved the
victory of a hard and long-fouglit battle. Sir,
can the Senator believe that lie can (bus fur inis,
lead the public mind? Sir, ho is a stranger to
my constituents if ho believes aiy man living
can make them believe tiial 1 have proved re
creant to llieir interest on (his Indian subject.—
They too well know my toils and my labors, my
perseverance, my constancy upon this most ini.
poi lant subject connected with my public life.—
No, sir; the Senator cannot make my eonstitu
cuts in Georgia believe that I have abandoned
their rights or interests. In Georgia, al this
lime, wc have but one parly on this subject.—
’1 lie whole people anxiously desire the speedy
cx mention of the treaty.
And, sir, the opponents of this Administration
are greatly uuvin-.i, »e »i.. j i- .:
male upon the intelligence of the people of
Georgia, as to suppose they will find special fa
vor with them for their loud cries of victory in
the Indian battle, when they have only entered
the field of labor al the eleventh hour. lam wil
ling that these new comers should receive their
penny; but I cannot consent to the withholding
a just and equal reward to those faithful laborers
who have home the heat and buit'icn ol the day.
Sir, 1 thank the gentleman again for the zeal
which he exhibits in behalf of the interests of the
people of Georgia, und for the high compliment
he has paid the Government of my Slate,
1 concede to the Governor of Georgia good
intentions, in regard to his views and (ITbrts to
conciliate Jolm Ross, and have yielded some
thing of my own opinions in order that I might
co-operate with his views and wishes, as well as
those of the Executive officers of the Federal
Government. 1 shall always do the Chief Ma
gislrate of my Stale ample justice, whatever po
litical difference of opinion may happen to exist.
I do, however, most solemnly protest against the
justice of the yjiorl of the Senator from Soutti
Carolina to east censure ami blame upon tho
President and Secretary of War, as well us my
self, for* yielding something to the plainly ex
pressed wishes of Governor Gilmer ami many of
Ids political friends, especially his northern whig
friends. If there lie any error in t his mailer, the
sin lies al the door of the opponents of (lie Ad
ministration; and yet the Senator from South
Carolina, [Mr. Preston,] as the organ of the
Southern wing of the Opposition, upbraids the
Administration and its friends with throwing
weighty responsibilities upoi. the Governor of
Georgia. Sir, I would inquire, what is the great
responsibility thrown upon the Governors of the
four Slates interested in this matter, even under
the misapprehension indulged, that the States
had been applied to for two years more time for
the emigration of the Cherokci.s? Why, sir, the
only responsibility is, to give an answer in ac
cordance with the known wishes of the whole
people over whom they preside. Where is the
Governor who need he distresicd or embarrassed
al such responsibility as this?
Moreover, the Senator from South Carolina,
[Mr. Preston,] contends ami urges that the pro
posals of the Secretary of War to John Ross
amounts to a new treaty, and to an infringement
of the treaty of 1835. lam not able myself to
put ary such construction on the proposal ofllie
Secretary. I know that such was not his in
tention. Tho President and Secretary of War
have uniformly and firmly assured Ross and his
friends that the treaty of New Echota would be
executed without infringement or change.
The Secretary, in his proposals to Ross, in the
very first sentence, disclaims all right on the
part ofllie Federal Government to enter into
any treaty stipulations which might alfecl the
rights of the Stales. And we find a reiteration
of the same sentiments, and sacred regard to the
rights of the Slates, throughout the document
under consideration. 1 call myself an unwa
vering Stale Rights man ; hot I see not the
slightest grounds to complain ol this document
on that score. The present Administration ot
the Federal Government belong to the good
old Republican school of 1738, and therefore arc
not disposed to infringe upon the rights ot the
Stales.
That temporary mischief has grown out ot
the misapprehensions which have spread over the
country in relation to this subject, I am tally
aware. But, from the nature of things, I trust
thot the excitement will hioii abate. The con
slant and daily movement! and operation of the
Government must surely cirrcet, without delay,
any mistaken impressions which may have ex
isted. The Government is moving forward in
tiie discharge of its duly. General Scott’s in
structions remain unchanged. His character is
a sufficient guarantee that his duty will be dis
charged with fidelity and sbility. From various
accounts which 1 have received, from the scene
of action so far, the preparations and movements
connected with the Cherokee emigration is
going on harmoniously, and with all the promp
titude which the nature of the service will
allow.
In conclusion, I would beg leave to request
the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. Preston,]
to be assured of my fidelity to rny constituents,
especially upon Ibis Indian subject. I can as
sure the honorable Senator, that he is wholly
mistaken, iflic supposes that the bearing of his
remarks will even induce the Southern wing of
his own parly to believe that I have no more
self-love than to give a victory to my opponents,
which has been achieved by my friends and
myself. No, sir, the Senator misapprehends my
relation to this subject, as much as he does the
communication of the Secretary of War to John
Ross; or he would never have permitted him
self to get in the lead of my friends and myself,
in zeal for the faithful and speedy execution of
the Cherokee treaty, *
Mr. LUMPKIN was followed l>v M ••ssrs.
CLAY of Ala., STRANGE, SOUTHARD,
and WHITE, when the hill was ordered to be
engrossed by a unanimous vole.
REPORT ON Mil. WEBSTER'S RESOLUTION.
Mr. Wright, from the Committee on Finance,
made I lie following report:
The Committee on Finance, to which was re
furred the resolution ofllie Senate of the 31st
ultimo, directing certain inquiries as to various
provisions of an act entitled “An act to regu
late the depositee ofllie public money,” pass,
ed on the 23d day of June, 1836, respectfully
report:
The resolution instructs the committee “to
lake into consideration the act ofllie 23d of June,
183fi, entitled ‘An act to regulate the deposites
ofllie public money,’ mid to make inquiry upon
these points, viz:
First. “Whether, according to the provisions of
that net, it is now competent for the Secretory of
the Treasury to employ any bank which bos here
tofore been selected us a public depository, nnd
which, since the passage of that act, has suspend I
ed specie payments.”
'1 he committee have examined the net with
attention, and find that, all oilier objections he.
ing obviated, it is competent for the Secretary of
the Treasury to employ as a public depository,
any bank which has heretofore been selected for
that service, “and which, since the passage of
that act, has suspended specie payments.” The
«sghtli section of the deposite net prohibits the
Biicrctnry of the Treasury from discontinuing
any deposite bank, and from withdrawing the
public money therefrom, except lor certain cnu.
inerated causes, one of which is in the following
words:
“Or if any of said banks shall, at any time, refuse
to pay its own notes in specie, if demanded.'*
Upon I Ids cause being presented, it is made
the express duly of the Secretary, by the same
section of the act, “to discontinue any such bank
as a depository, ami withdraw from it the public
money which it may hold on deposite at the time
of such discontinuance;” hut when the bank shall
have again resumed specie payments, nothing is
found in this language to interdict its rc-selcc
lion as a public depository.
The fourth section ofllie act sets out the terms
nnd conditions upon which the banks shall
agree to receive the public moneys before they
shall be employed as depositories. Tho second
of these terms is prescribed in the following
words:
“ Secondly . To credit as specie nil sums deposit
ed therein to the credit of dm Treasurer of the
United States, und to pay all cheeks, warrants or
drafts, drawn on such deposites, in specie, if requi
red by the holder thereof.”
The breach oflhis condition, on the part of
the bank, would he a refusal to pay its deposi
tors in specie, and consequently a suspension, to
tiial extent, of specie payments; and the duty of
the Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue it,
us a depository, and to witiidiaw (he public mo
ney from it, would become imperative, by the
language of the eighth section, referred to,
which assigns, as another cause of diseontinu
ancc and withdrawal, that, “at any time anyone
of said banks shall Jail or refuse to perform any
of said duties, as prescribed by this act, and slip,
ulatod to be performed by its contract.''
This contingency, therefore, like the former,
would take from the bank its character as a de
pository, for the time being; would forfeit the
existing contract, and render its discontinuance,
and the withdrawal of the public money from
it, an imperious duly; but the committee sec
nothing, in cither ofllie causes, to prevent a sc
com! contract with llie same bank, when it should
again resume specie payments, again consent
“to pay its own notes in specie, if demanded,’'
nnd again “pay ail checks, warrants, or drafts,
drawn on the public deposite, in specie, if re
quired by the holder thereof.” They find no
provision, in any other part ofllie act, interdict
ing a second contract with the,same bank, when
the first shall have been terminated for cither of
these causes, and they therefore express llieir
opinion that “it is now competent for tho Sec.
rotary of the Treasury to employ any bank which
has heretofore been selected aw a pnld c deposito
ry, and which, since the passage of that act, has
suspended specie payments;” there being no
other obstacle, in the way of such second em
ployment, than the act of suspension ol specie
payments.
The next point to which the resolution directs
the inquiry of the committee, which is in the fol
lowing words:
Second. “Or which has, sine© the fourth day of
July, 1830, paid out notes, or bills, of a less de
nomination than five dollars.”
To cause the inquiry 1 1 be clearly understood,
it is necessary to connect the preceding lan
guage with the words above quoted, and the in
quiry will be, whether, according to the provis.
inns of that act , [llie deposite law of 1836] it is
now competent for the Secretary of the Treasury
to employ any hank which has, since the fourth
day of July, 1830, paid out notes, or hills , of a
less denomination than Jive dollars.
In answer to this inquiry, llio committee find
the two first clauses of the fifth section of the
act to be in the following words:
“Sec. 5. And he it further enacted, That no bank
sliull bo selected, or continued, as a place of de
po Hie of the public money, which shajlnot redeem
its notes and bills, on demand, in specie; nor shall
any bank ho selected, or continued, as aforesaid,
wliieli shall, alter the fourth day of July, in the
year one thousand eight hundred and ibiny-six, is
sue, or pay out, any note or hill of a less denomi
nation than five dollars.”
The last of these clauses meets and answers
the inquiry directly, and shows that is not com
petent for the Scrclary of the Treasury under
this act, now to employ, as a public depository,
any bank which lias, since the fourth day of Ju
ly, 1836, either issued or paid oat, notes or bills
of a less denomination than five dollars; while
the first clause interdicts the selection or con
tinuance, at any time, and under any circum.
stances, of any bank “which shall not redeem
its notes and bills, on demand, in specie.”
These two points of the inquiry seem to the
committee to assume the expediency of a course
of legislation which shall revive and introduce
again into practice t he deposite .system establish
ed by the act of 1836, as the system upon wliieli
the public money is to be kept and disbursed.—
Under this supposition, the opinion of the com
mittee, as to the first inquiry, does not indicate
the necessity of further legislation; while the
plain and unquestioned construction of the act,
as to the second, compels an answer which, to
the minds of those who desire the re-inlrodnc
tion oj that system, may seem to point out such
a necessity.
Not so with the majority of the committee.—
While left by the Senate to the free exercise of
their own opinions, they cannot recommend any
legislation, the effect of which will be to reunite
the public Treasury and the banks, by a return
ofllie public treasure to the uses of banking; to
stimulate and compel the banks to discount up
on the public money, by exacting from them an
interest for its use; to promote an expansion in
the paper issues of tho banks, exactly proper
tinned to the fertility of the public revenues, and
a correspondent embarrassment of the public
Treasury, when a sterility of revenue shall call
for the public money which has passed into the
hands of the customers of the banks. Such, they
VOU. XVI.—NEW SERIES, NO. 1.
believe, have been the effects of a system of de
posiles, the revival of which the resolution seems
to contemplate. That system compelled the de
poshes of all the public money in banks; it placed
it in those institutions upon general deposite, and
thus made it, in fact and in law, the money of
the banks, and not the money of the people; it
not only held out an inducement to the banks to
use the money for the purposes of discount and
banking, but, in this way, gave them the right
so to use it, in d* fiance of the popular will, and
of the public authorities; it went further, and
compelled them to convert it to some profitable
employment, by demanding interest from them
while it was in llieir keeping. Time and expe
rience have shown (be consequences of such a
policy, and, were there no other reason, these
consequences would forbid the committee from
recommending any legislation calculated, or in
tended, to revive that system,
The action of the Senate, however, appears
to them equally to stand in tho way of any such
recommendation. A special convocation of Con
gress, in September last, was a necessity imposed
by the failure of this system of deposites, and
tho embarrassments ofllie public Treasury there,
by occasioned. Recommendations for the keep,
ing and management of the public money, with
out the aid of the banks, and especially for a
permanent separation between the treasure of
the people and the business of banking, were
then laid before Congress by the President.—
These recommendations were deliberately and
definitely acted upon and adopted by the Senate,
but failed to receive the assent of the other
branch of Congress. At the commencement of
the present session, the same recommendations,
substantially, were renewed, and again the Se
nate has, after long deliberation and debate,
adopted them, in the shape of a bill, and thus
sent them to the Mouse for its concurrence. If
that hill shall become a law, the whole deposite
system recognised ami legalized by the deposite
act of 1836, will he superseded. Will the Sc
natn, then, by its own action, supersede its own
bill? Will it, in the absence of all information
as to what may be the fate of that measure in the
co-ordinate branch of llie Legislature, or rather
with the knowledge that it has not yet been
considered, there, send another bill upon the
same general subject, based upon adverse prin
ciples?
The committee can only repeat, what they
have found it to lie llieir duly to say upon a kin
dred branch of this subject, that whether such
deposite action, by the same legislative body, be
consistent with established parliamentary Jaw,
with the economy of legislation, or with the uni.
formity of decisions which should characterize
all deliberate bodies, are questions which pro
perly address themselves to the Senate and not
to them; but upon the merits of the propositions
they must bo permitted to Joel entire confidence
(hat no sufficient reasons for a change of opin
ion or action con be presented.
The remaining inquiry embraced in tiie reso
lution is in the following words;
“ Third. And also to inquire into the expediency
of repealing or modifying those provisions of the
said net, which prohibit the receipt, in payment
of debts and dues to the United Stales, of the Lilia
of all hanks which issue hills of less denomination
(linn five dollars.”
This inquiry relates to the last clause of the
5 1 1 1 section of the act, which reads as follows:
“ Nor shall the (he notes or hills of any hank lie ,
received in payment of any debt due to itic United
States, which sludl, after the said fourth day of
.Inly, in (lie year one thousand eight hundred and
lliiny-six, issue any note or bill of a less denomina
tion than five dollars. ”
This provision of the law of 1836, was insert
ed in furtherance of a policy some years since
adopted by Congress, as will be seen by tlie Bth
sec'inn of the proposed rc-charter of the Bank of
the United Slates of the year of 1832, which re
served to Congress the power, from and after the
3 1 of March, 1836, to prohibit tiial institution
from issuing or circulating notes ot'a less deno
mination tlian twenty dollars. That act did not
he come a law, but this feature of it met the ap
probation of the two Houses of Congress, while
the objections of the then President to the l>i 11
made no mention of this provision as exception
able to Ins mind. On the contrary, bis whole
policy, ami all bis recommendations in relation
to (lie currency, after that dale, and especially
after the lime when the power coni 1 have been
exorcised, favored the policy ol ibis limitation.
Various legislation ofCongrcss in llie year 1836,
distinctly indicated a determination to adlicrc to,
and carry out the policy, and by limiting the cir
culation of hank notes of the smaller denomina
tions, to secure a currency of coin only for the
minor transactions of business, for the payment
of day laborers, for the change required in pecu
niary dealings and the like; and in tiiis way, also
to give a more broad metallic basis to our whole
paper circulation. Many of the Slates of the
Union fell into the policy thus adopted and pur
sued by this Government, and conformed their
legislation to the object proposed. It seemed to
be universally conceded that these two objects
could only be secured by the exclusion of small
bank notes from ordinary circulation; and all
adopted the policy as wise, and worthy of pur
suit. The powers of this Government could el*,
feet little, as the paper circulation to be suppres
sed was that of the notes of banks existing by,
and acting under Stale authority; hut wiiat it
could do, was proposed to be done by the provi
sion of the deposite law above quoted. As a
more direct, and much more efficient movement,
a very general and vigorous effort was made by
the Siatcs and the people, to exclude from circu
lation hank notes of a less denomination than
five dollars; and several Slates, whose hanks had,
therefore, been authorized to issue notes of the
denominations of one, two, and three dollars,
took from them that authority, while the banks
of several other States had either never possessed
that authority, or had been deprived of it at a pre
vious period. The progress in ibis attempted
reform of llie currency was materially retarded
by the fact that all the Stales did not enter into,
and act upon i*, so ns to restrain llie issues of
small notes by I heir banks, and that the banks of
the British provinces upon our northwestern
boundary continued to issue small notes, which
found a more or less extended circulation in the
contiguous States of the Union. Still the ad
vance towards an entire metallic circulation for
all sums below five dollars was as rapid as, in
the then situation of the country and the hanks,
could reasonably have been expected; and addi
tional Stales were taking measures for the gra.
dual exclusion of the small notes of their banks,
when the suspension of specie payments, with
very few exceptions, by all the banks of all the
Stales, in May, 1837, arrested the salutary ini
provement.
The suspension was, to every practical extent,
perfect. The banks, as a general rule, did not
pay specie upon any denomination of their notes,
or to any class of their creditors. An unavoida
ble consequence followed. AM the coin in cir
culation, the most of which had been put in cir
culation by the policy and measures before ad
verted to, was either gathered into the hanks, not
to be again given out for the circulating curren
cy of the country, or was hoarded by private
holders, to whose minds the suspension bad coin
mu ideated a feeling allied to panic, inclining
them to t reasure up all they had which was mo
ney, precisely in proportion to the diminution of
their confidence in the value of that circulating
medium which had, theretofore, represented mo
ney, but could not do so during the continuance
of the entire suspension of specie payments by
the banks. Hence either an absence of any me
dium for business transactions under five dollars,
or the worst of all media which an enlightened
public feeling could tolerate, soon became, in
many sections of the Union, an evil of the first
magnitude, and one against which the interfe
rence of the State Lcgislatuies was command,
ingly invoked. In obedience to calls ol this des
cription from a suffering constituency, the Legis
latures of several of the Males, which had adopt
cd and prosecuted the policy of substituting the
circulation of coin for that of small bank notes
in the minor pecuniary transactions of society,
felt it to be their duty to retrograde in their ac
tion, and again to confer their banking in
stitutions the power to issue, and the right to cir
culate, notes of the denominations below five dol
lars. In some cases this change of policy, in
the action of the States, lias been made general
and unlimited; while in others, as the committee
think more wisely and fortunately, it has been
made temporary, and adopted with an evident
design, not to abandon the policy, but to meet
the particular grievance, and, that being obvia
ted, to return to those sound measures which, as
permanent regulations of law, cannot fall to havo
a most salutary influence upon our currency ge
nerally, and especially upon the interest of the
poorer, and by far the most numerous classes, in
ils soundness and reality.
Still the committee suppose that nearly all tlio
banks in many entire Slates havo, in obedience
to, and in conformity with, this change of policy
in the legislative action of the States under
whose authority they exist, violated the rcslrict
tion imposed by the clause of the Deposilc law
of 183(5, last above quoted, and thus put it out
of the power of the fiscal officers of the Govern
ment to receive any of their notes in any pay
ment to the United Stales, while that restriction
remains in force, and without modification.
Under such circumstances, the committee are
not prepared to say that this provision should
be so rigidly adhered to as to perpetuate the ex
clusion of the notes of the hanks from the public
receipts, while the notosof other banks, no more
safe, are received. Such a rule would not aid
the policy which the committee earnestly advo
cate of giving greater stability to our paper cir
culation, but would merely establish an invidious
discrimination between the different local bank
ing institutions, founded, so far as th y can dis
cover, upon no defensible principle. Had these
violations of the restriction imposed by the ]Jc
posile law been entirely voluntary on the part
of the hanks; had no suspension of specie pay
ments, and no consequent derangement of the
whole paper currency, intervened; and, even
under these pressing inducements, had not the
interference of the Legislatures of the States an
thorized the violations, and, in some cases, at
least, rendered the issue of the small notes al
together a duty in the estimation of the sur
rounding community, the committee would Iks
the last persons to suggest even, much less to
recommend, the remission of the penally which
this law of Congress imposes upon the act.
Afler what has been said, it will not ho ex
pected that the committee will yield to “ the ex
pcdiency of repealing those provisions of the
said act which prohibit the receipt in payment
of debts and dues to the United Stales of the
hills of all hanks which issue hills of less deno
mination than five dollars.” This would he to
yield the sound and salutary policy which the
provisions were designed to carry out j one of
the last things, in the administration oftheuifairs
of this Government, which the committee are
disposed to surrender. While the benefits of a
sound and stable currency are so loudly demand
ed by all parties and all interests, and while the
committee know and feel that a greater infusion
of coin into the circulating medium of the
country is tin: safest mode of reaching that great
and good result, they cannot become parlies,
much less agents, in a course of legislation
which surrender the first step towards a consum
mation so ardently desired by all. They, there,
fore, give their opinion against a repeal of this
provision.
It remains to consider what modill -atlon can
properly be adopted to meet the rase, and not
weaken the great principle contended for. That
in the opinion of the committee, is a proposition
of easy solution. The legislation of several of
the Slates, to which reference lias been made,
furnishes a precedent which Congress can safely
follow. A postponement, so far, of the opera
tivc limitation of the provision, as to relieve the
banks from the exclusion caused by former vio
lations ; the fixing of another clay, beyond,
which, if they shall again cense to issue notes
below the denomination of five dollars, their
notes be received in payment of the public dues,
will effectually cure the evil complained of; place
the excluded banks, so fur as the legislation of
Congress is concerned, upon tin; same footing
with their neighbor institutions, and pics ■ ive the
policy of the law, in no other respect impaired
than as to the time when that policy siiatl be
come practice.
The committee cannot, in justice to their own
feelings, fail here to notice that many of the ex
cluded hanks have been among the first in the
country to resume specie payments ; tha. their is.
sue of notes under the denomination of lire dol
lars was a measure believed, not by those inte
rested in the hanks simply, but by the commit,
nily within which they arc located, to bo in di
rect aid of a speedy resumption by the institu
tions which made the issues ; and that the effect
of those issues, under I lie circumstances of the
case, and in the then condition of the currency,
is still thought to havo been salutary upon all
interests, public and private. These arc circum
stances, which as it seems to the committee,
cannot escape the attention of Congress in de
ciding upon the propriety of the suggested modi
fication of this provision of the deposit© law of
1836.
Still the question in one connecting itself with
the general subject of legislation, covered by llio
bill upon which, as has been before remarked,
the Senate has acted, during its present session,
and which hill has been, long since, scut to liio
House of Representatives for the concurrence
of that body. When that bill shall be acted
upon, the committee believe that an amendment
to the effect they have suggested, will bo proper
and expedient; and as they have abundant evi
dence that the attention of that body has been
repeatedly and expressly called to this particu
lar point, they havo no reason to doubt that, it
will receive the required modification there, in
case the judgement of the House, upon the pro
priety of its adoption, shall agree with that
which the committee entertain and express.
They believe it, therefore, inexpedient that
any independent proposition to accomplish this
object should, at the present time, be originated
in, or acted upon by, the .Senate. Should tho
bill referred to be rejected by the House, or should
it be returned to the Senate without the amend
ment suggested, in either case the modification
may be originated and passed as an independent
bill, without material consumption of lime, in re
lation to the business of this body, while ils adop
tion by the other, in the manner hero suggested,
will save the time and forms of independent le
gislative action. For these reasons the commit
tee return the resolution to the Senate, without
any proposition for the present action of the body
upon any one of its suggestions.
APPOINTMENTS BV THE PRESIDENT,
By and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
COLLECTORS.
William Nelson, Vorktown, Va., from the 3d of
April, 1838.
Robert Mitchell, Pensacola, ru., from the 3d of
April, 1838.
F ’ SURVEYOR.
William M. Loftin, St. Andrew’s Bay, Fa., from
the 3d April, 1838.
NAVAL OFFICERS.
Dnbnev S. Cnrr, Baltimore, Aid., from the 12lh of
April, 1838.
John Swasey, Salem, Mass., from the l‘3th April,
1833.
RECEIVER OF PUBLIC MONEYS.
Marks Crumo, Crawfordsville, la., from the lOih
April, 1838, vice Samuel Milroy, declined.
Peter A. Biinsmade, of Maine, to bo Agent of
the United Slates for commerce and seamen at llio
Sandwich Islands.
Aaron O. Dayton to bo Fourth Auditor o( the
Treasury Detriment. in the place of J. C. 1 ickett,
appointed Charge iTAtfaire. to I ern, Holman
Confederation.