Western Sun & General Advertiser, Volume 14, Number 8, Vincennes, Knox County, 22 March 1823 — Page 2

inhabitants what before they did not pos-1 Louisiana. In 1790, North Carolina ce sess, the free enjoyment of their liberty, 1 ded to the United States her western tcr

firoicrty and religion. No new power I ritory,and the United States accepted the

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piwcrs usually exercised there were restrained, and the salutary exercises thereof enjoined. Mr. Adams, it seems, would have taken possession of Louisiana, and would then have taken the sense of the inhabitants of that countrv, before he Would have passed any laws to have force there. Well; suppose General Wilkinson and his army in possession of the country end iis fortifications, the sense of the inhabitants is taken, and the various peopct from all the nations of Europe, -'the men of color, the Washinangos, and "the Indians are brought to the poll, and a impnty ot the whole number vote ag Vist beii)'? subject to, or united with

the United States. Would Mr. Adams,

as asUtcvnan, have given up the coun try aril lost our 15 millions.' Pohaps Mr. Adams might have ad

milted that we had a right to the land;

b'.u even that could not be sold without

legislating for Louisiana. The doctrine

contended for by Mr. Adams will not do in practice. We posses the same rights

as other nations, and the same powers as other governments, without the limits

of the st ite. War is a game, which if

We should at any time play at, as we

mu3r nav what sve lose, so we should

take what we win. Hut neither Ceylon

nor i.'iih-x can become one of the United

St.ittis, by treaty. That can only happen

by the consent of the American people,

in Congress assembled ; tor congress a

lone has power to admit a state The

president and senate, cannot, by treaty exercis" a Dower which the states and the

K people have committed only to congress

It is worthy of special remark, that Mr.J Adams in the treaty negociafed by

him with Snatn, premies that the inhabitants of Florid " shall be incorporated

in the union of t he United States, as soon

as may b consistant vith the princip'es

of the tedal constitution, and admitted

to tr-e enjoyment of all the priviliges, righ's, and immuuties of the citizens of

the United States We find no provis

ion here tor asking the consent of the people of Florida. But this is not all.

Mr. Adams was desired by the commit

tee ol foreign relations to prepare-a bill

for the government of Florida, he did pre

pare such a bill, or cause it to be pre

pared, and sent it to the committee of

foreign relations. The act founded there on contains the following clause.

"Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. Thai until the end of the first session of

the next congress, unless provision for

the temporary government of said terri tories, be sooner made by congress, al the milit iry, civil, and judicial powers ex eicisedoj the officers of the existing gov

crnmcnt of the same territories, shail be vested in Mich pet son and persons, and

s ail be exercised in such manner, as the

l,,ei ivot of the United States shall di-

n vt; for the maintaining of the inhabi

t ;r.s f'said territories in the free enjoyin ik ofth-: lidiy, property, and icli-

Ki'i. Vi.m was ihe torm of gjvern i;Kit iirc-sJiued for Florida bv Mr. Ad 4

a n:,; .'.n : he tells you th it against the

perfectly regular exercise, fur the pur

p'. ies if me rtost r.guroas justice, of the

cession. 1 he territory containeu aoout

90,000 citizens of North Carolina, whose

rights certainly, were not less than those of the inhabitants of Louisiana under

Spain. Congress, and the President

Washington, without asking their con-

Jscnt, gave them a government, and provi

ded them with laws, m the making ot

which they had no share. The governor and judges w,erc appointed by tle president, some of them sent from the original states, and vested with power to adopt such laws of any of the states, ciimiual and civil, as might be necessary, which should be in force, unless disapproved

by congress. Now I apprehend, that, if

congress in 1790 had power to legislate for the people of .the territory ceded by N. Carolina, a people accustomed to self government and entitled to all the rights and privileges of American citizens, they had at least an equl right to legislate for the people inhabiting the territory ceded by France if the United States may govern American citizens without their consent, to prepare them for self gov ernment, (as now done in all our terri tories) they might, in like manner, gov ern the inhabitants of a territory ceded by a foreign power, who never possessed the ricrhtof self covei nment.

As to the printed speech of Mr. Adams, he may be assured that I never knew or heard that he had delivered a firmted nfieech in the senate respecting Louisiana, or any other subject before my former address to you was written. Atter the cession by France, and delivery of possession to the United States, the sovereignty cither vested in them, ot in the inhabitants of the territory, of ail classes and colors. In the Florida treaty, negociated by Mr. Adams as secretary of state, His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States in full firoficrty and sovereignty all the territories Sec. According to tne secretary of state, the sovereignty passed to the United States ; out, according to senator Adams, the sovereignty of Louisiana, when it passed from France, vested in the inhabitants of the ceded territory. As Mr. Adams has two opinions, I will take that which I most approve, and conclude that the sovereignty, and the consequent power to regulate the commerce of the country, was in the United States. There was then no objection in 1803 to the immediate prohibition of the importation of slaves from abroad; for a privilege to import slaves until 1803, was reserved, by the constitution, only to such of the original states as should think proper to use it. But, Mr. Adams says, that slaves might have been brought into Louisiana by the way of Georgia; it was therefore useless to prohibit their being imported directly into Louisiana, from abroad. If this is good reasoning, there should be noquaramine regulations at our cities on the Atlantic ; for the yellow fever may, perchance, be brought by land from New Orleans. It is not at all remarkable that Mr. Adams in voting in IS05, against the prohibition of the importation of slaves after the 1st of January, 1 808, should be found in company with Mr. Baldwin and Mr.

Jackson, the senators from G eoi'gia and

In i so it, u t'.e . talis of Congress, the sirens of you-- cities, tke summits of your mount tins, and tne echoes oi your valley, nave resounded with clamors of violated ng vi a.i I unco istitutiona4 i.ets of vl ism " For the g.U'H f this i ; ... .i itl' u porter," as Mr. AUms

ter i n, hu apwlogy is t:iat th-. k

povers thus prescribed by Mr. Adams Mr. Ellery, senator from Rhode Island;

lor Georgia then imported slaves, and probably desired to continue in the exercise of the privilege of importing slaves as long as possible; and some very distinguished citizens of Rhode Island have continued the trade long after 1808. Although Mr. Baldwin and Mr Jackson were friends to the administration of Mr Jefferson, it was not in that capacity thai they voted with Mr. Adams against bringing in a bill to suppress the slave trade, but as representatives of the interests ofGeorgia.l admit theywere in the same dilemma with Mr. Adams He U lis you that in 1805 he vctcd against bringing in a bill to suppress the slavctrade after I of January, 1808; because in his opinion, it was unconstitutional. "But the principle having been settled, that the prohibition might be enacted in anticipation," he voted for the bill in January 18 7. His vote does not appear by the journal; but it is presumed that he states it correctly. Here another constitutional principle is settled with a facility that shows how light constitutional objections weigh with Mr. Adams. How was this point settled ? Why by a simple vote of the senate alone, giving leave to bring in the bill, and reading it twice. Not even a vote of congress was necessary to settle this question; and to remove the conscientious and constitutional scruples of Mr. Adams. Mr. Adams is by no means justifiable in placing General Washington at tha head of those, who, in 1789, denied to congress for 20 years, the power to prohibit the tdavc trade. Ho presided oer

)nn-

cipte nul iut been sc;;ledV m iJ03;anJ tn.u tne ;v).veisof cou;;,ess are now estiV.'Vied by the constriction then in (ltfv)3) given to the constitution." Vet he says' were the question now a new oie, I nave no hesitation in saying, that 1 s lonld let tin the same opinion, and give the. 5.vnc vote." And is this ihe true con9:ructhn af our constitution, that a single act passed by congress, establishes a power claimed by that body, an 1 makes it the duty of every member in the minority to give up his opinion, although if the question was new he should retain it ? If this be so, there is no real difference between our constitution and that of England, where, whatever has been once dine, maybe constitutionally done again. Phis is not such an opinion of the paramount delegations of the constitution, as ought to be entertained by one who aspires to take the oath, to " preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United State." Mr. Adams as readily yields to precedent it is unfortunate that he 'as not, in 1803, intimately acquainted with our sta'ute book, or he would there have found a precedent, not indeed exactlv in point but one which I deem much stronger thsji the act for taking possession of

the convention with his wonted dignity, but he took no part in forming the constitution ; and Virginia, one of whose dele

gates he was, voted to prohibit the slave trade from the 1st of January, 18G0; instead of 1808; but it was decided otherwise by New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia. I shall make no reply to the reasons which Mr. Adams has assigned for some other votes which I disapproved ; but leave to you to consider those otes and his reasons together. He is pleased to say that my charges are groundless and unprovoked. The assertion' that those charges are groundless, is certainly as unfounded as any assertion that Mr. Adams could make ; for the evidence on which those charges rest, are his votes of record in the. journal ct the senate His memoianda of his motives, if they justify him in givu-g those votes, arc known t himself alone. As to prjvi ation, I admit M. Adam rs n.tg'nen me any, othei than that whit n is offered to every citizen v i o s?cs a nr.n aspire to the piesidentiai craii, whose ibng fixed political sentiments hs disapproves, as highly dangerous, and from whom he does not expect the at.optiui; of a liberal system of policy, su'.', as becomes the only free ?iQti-jri the hofie nf mankind.

I should consider mvselft eusui able if

my opposition to Mr. Adorns aiose from private provocation. M: Adams himself says, that public pri iciple can be settled only bv Dublic discussion. He

ought then, rather to be gratified that an opportunity has been off'-red him for public discussion He says, that he would have been satisfied, had I merely declared to you my intentions as to him. I doubt not that the reasons which I have assigned for my opposition are what chiefly interests him- But, although Mi. Adams w ould have excused me from offering the reasons which decided me to be opposed to him, you would not have been satisfied with a simple declaration that I was opposed to him, without hearing the reasons for such opposition. I considered what youhad a light to require, and not what would be agreeable to MiAdams. I might here close my reply, but Mr. Adams seems dissatisfied that I did not adduce more of his votes given in the senate of the United States. He affirms with apparent earnestness, that he never gave a vote either in hostility to the administration o! Mr. Jefferson, or in disregard to republican principles, or in aversion to republican patriots. If all this be so, it is unfortunate that the name nf Mr. Adams should, during the first years of his service in the senate, be so fieouenllv found united with the names of those who were the steady opponents of the republican administration, and of republican principles. On the 2d of December 1803, llr. Adams voted is a minority of 10, against the 12th aniemlme.'.t to the constitution of the United State :, which provides that the electors shall designate in iheir ballots for whom tlr.y vote as president, and for whom as viee presidcut. Thus he seems to have approved of the former provision, under which he. federal parly in congress attempted to make Aaron Burr president, when not a single vote had been given to him by the electors, with intcnticn to make him president.

And Mr. Adams voted in a minority of 7f against presenting to the president the

resolution of bothhouscs proposing that amendment. Mr. Adams voted in a minority of 5,t

against the resolutions of the senate, which prescribed a mode of proceeding gainst Pickering, and he voted in a minority of 7 for the acquittal of the same judge Pickering, on every one of four articles of impeachment against him ; and he voted in a minority of 6 against the removal of the same Judge, even after he had been convicted of every charge exhibited against him." On the t st of March, 1 805, Mr. Adams voted for the :u qni-ial of judge Chase,on every one iu- charges exhibited1 againbt him; and so indeed did each of the other gentlemen of the federal party then in the senate, while there was a great diversity in the votes of the republican members of that body; there being on different charges, 4, 10, 16, 18, and 19 votes given against him And although I impute no censures for votes of this kind, yet they may be received as some evidence of a bsia on the mind, occasioned by certain political principles. My fellow citizens, we ought not to forget that the universal exclusion of the republicans from office, was a rule observed by the federal administration When the republicans had once "corrected the procedure," they adopted a different role; and they would have been rensuralle had they done what, when done by others, they declared to be unjust.

The republican presidents hVe n.aje their appointment from all paitirv; which, if made in due pioportion, ju. ; but policy requires that the tepubiicaits shall retain, and that in no doubtful hanr! the office of president lie who fills that office, should be the foremost rcpubhcai; of the nation. I w ould not vote lor a Trajan, or for a Marcus Aurclius, to be president, unless he was a democratic republican. If Mr. adams is a convert tu the republican doctrines, it is well; he has been liberally rewarded for having abandoned his political friends. All pioielytcs should beieccived with open am.; but I would exclude them from the cfike of Poniifcx Maximum. Let us remember the addage ol the burnt child. Let us particularly avoid all hereditary pretensions. Let not the office o picsident dejscrnc, as president Adams affirms the offices in Massachusetts do, " from generation to generation." Augustus succeeded Julius Leasa", and the ofiice of chief magistrate became he reditary . I am my fellow citizens, your representative and fiiend. ALEXANDER SMYTH.

' Ad ams, Butler, Daytcn, Iliilhotise, Olcot, Pickering, Piumer, Tracty, Wells, and White. t "Adams, Hillhousc, Olcot, Pickering, Piumer, Tracy, and White. Adams, Hillhousc, Piumer, Olcot, and Venerable. Adams, Hillhousc, Olcot, Pickering, Piumer, Tracy, and V eils. H Adams, Hillhousc, Oloct, Pickering, Plumef, and Tracy.

Sheriff's Sale. Y virtue of two writs of venditioni &5 exponas to me directed from tho Clerk's office of the Pike Circuit ccurt, I will expose to sale on Saturday the 29th inst. on the premises, all the right and title of Hosea Smith, in and to the following tracts of land, to wit the south east quarter of section No. 28 the north west quarter of section No. 27, and the north east quarter of section No 33, all lying in Xawnship No. I north, of Range No. 8 west, of lands offered for sale a; VincenneS, taken as the oronertv of Ho

sea Smith, to satisfy two judgments, one

in iavor ot Nathaniel Lwmg, against Mc

sea bmith, adm ot licHjamin Rice, deed, and Hosea Smith the other in favor of Nathaniel Ewing, surviving partner of the copartnership lately existing between Nathaniel Ewing and Nathaniel lireading against Hosea Smith, adm. of Henjamin Rice, deed, and Hosea Smith sale to commence between the hours of ten and two o'clock, on said day. JAMES KiNMAN, Shff. P.c. March 4, 1823.' 6-3t-g2 Sheriff's Sale. J WILL as late Sheriff for the county of Pike, by virtue of an act of the Legislature approved December 25th 1820a expose to sale at the Court house in the town of Petersburgh, on Saturday the fifth day of April next, lots no 61, 164 90, 16, 58, 60 and 92, in the town of Pe-" tersburgh Pike county, listed as the property of Call U Sullivan, or so much thereof as will satisfy the tax and costs, for the years 1818, 19, and 1820. Tuos. ( STEWART, late hjf. March 8. 1823. 73t Sheriff-s Sale. I WILL expose to public sale at the Court house in the town of Petersburgh on Saturday the 5th day of Apiil next, fifty acres of land in the county of Pike. Ivinr" in the flnnnfinn rn tKn n.

J O . . . nw nakCl of White river, in township I, N. range j) 9 west, or so much thereof as will satisfy y the tax and cost due thereon fcr thqL years 1819 and 1822, levied on as the property of Ann Reedy, for the heirs of William Reedy. Also lot no. 71, in the town of Petersburgh, listed as the property pjBazil Brown. Jas. KINMAN, p. o. "March 8th, 1823. 7t NOTICE. "JT WILL give MEicHAXDizr, for a few? JL hundred Bushels good WHEAT, de-xf lvered in J & W. L Colman's mill, with- U m a few weeks. Also for one or 200 sawlogs. A. PATTERSON. February 1 ,1 S23. ) .tf

Watches $ Clocks. WILL be repaired in the best mar ner, 3nd on the best terms.

klry, silver vtork and eneravinrr. tll

: , , , - a

t mane ana done on the shortest nntir -m,

j almost any kind of country produce taken

m payment on water street by, Wm. BADGER. Vmcennes, March, 7, 1823. 7-tf Printing neatly executed at this OFFICE.

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