Western Sun & General Advertiser, Volume 18, Number 9, Vincennes, Knox County, 7 April 1827 — Page 1

WESTERN SUN & NERAL ABVEKTISEM. BY ELIHU STOUT. VINCENNES, (1ND.) SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1837. Vol. IS. No. 9.

THE WESTERN SUV, IS pubished at Two Dollars and yirTT cents for Fifty Two Xumbers which may be discharged by the payment of TWO DOLLARS at the time of subscription. Payment in advance being the mutual nticrest of both parties, that mode is so

licited. A failure to notify a wish to discontinue at the expiration of the time subscribed for, will be considered a new j engagement- I

No subscriber at liberty to discontinue until all arrearages are paid. Subscribers must pay the postage of tlieir papers sent by mail. Letters by mail to the Editor on business must be paid, or they will not be attended to. Advertisements inserted on the customary terms. jlJ Persons sending Advertisements, must specify the number of times they wish them inserted, or they will be continued until ordered out, and must be paid for accordingly.

Frankfort Mai ch 7. The President and Georgia. In this paper wid be found a message uf the President ol thv United States, relative to the Creek Indians and Ge gia. To enable the reader to understand tins subject, it is necessary to recur to some facts in the history of the relations between that state and the General Government At the time of the declaration of Independence, Georgia extended to the Mis si-sippi river, including the present states ol Mississippi and Alabama She was a sovereign and independent state, in the fullest sense of theso words. No foreign government nor people had aright to control her, in her conduct towards the Indians within her limits, either in relation to their personal lights or title to the soil In the constitution of the United Slates, the thiiteen original states did not delegate to the i'ne:al government any nower whatever to control them in their relations with the Indians, living within their limits, except only in relation to trade. Georgia ceded to the United States all her ten liorics, n jw 'orming the Mates of "Mississippi a 'd Alabama, upon the expics c n li,:on that the latter stvu'id extinguish h . Lid', in title to all lands lying with in her t eset d limits. I: '8Ji, tr.utv was formed with tire Ct ek I iduns, by which they relinquished dl i!ie to lauds lying wittiin the limits of G orgia. Geoigh made immediate provision for surveying mid disposing of those lands. Hut a portion of the Creel; Indians contended, that the tieaty had been fraudulently obtained, put to death some of their chijls who had nude it, an 1 appealed to the government ol the United States for redress. Dining the ecr-sioti cf Congress last year, another treaty was made with some of the Creek chiefs then at Washington, which secured to the Indians a pait cf the lands within the limits of Georgia. The government of Georgia, believing that the title to those lands, w as vested in that state, by the first treaty and could not thereafter be divested by any subsequent treaty, and that they had a right to enter upon and survey any lands within their territotial limits, without Interlerencc from the General Government, proceeded with a survey of all th? lands ceded to her by the first ucaty. The Indians stopped the rv.rvcyors, took away their compasses, and applied to the President for protection The President orders suit against the surveyors, and informs the Governor of Georgia, that if he persists in making the surveys, he shall nuke use of the force of the nation to prevent it. Georgia defends herself upon 'two grounds : 1 That in relation to the Indians within her limits, she is c vt reign and not responsible for her conduct to the General Government, or any other power on earth. 2 That the title to the Indian lands Were vested in her by the first treaty, and could not be again divested by a ueatyor any other act of the United States, without her con-cut Both grounds are properly the subjects of judicial investigation ?.nd decision, and it would seem that the Executive might have withheld his threats to bring the army of the United States upon the people of'Geogia, and waited the due course of law Il k shall be decided, that the Uniud States had no right to interfere with

Georgia, or that the title oF the lands was vested in that state by the first treaty, and could not be divested by the second, will the Executive still persist in executing that as law, even at the expense of civil war, which the judiciary have declared is no fate ? It may be presumed that he would do it if he dare do it : lor, in the concluding part of his message, he claims credit tor his 44 forbearance to employ it at this time." He ddes not hold an anneal to the

i judiciary at ad necessary, but claims the . right to act as juige and jury, upon the j contested lights ol Georgia, and do mili- . tary execution upon the citizens of that ' state !! ! . What does he mean by " a superadded obligation, even higher than hu an authority" which 44 iviil c.mfu l the Executive of the United States, to enf rce the laws and fulfil the duties oj the naii-m, by ell the force commit! ed for that purpose to his charge: Do not all his duties and obligations as President, spring horn 4 hii- , m in authority ?' Or has our Executive, ! like those ol Europe, a 4 right divine" to attack and kid the citizens ol these states, in the discharge of that which they conscientiously believe to be thcii dutv. without the consent of th legislative or judicial powers of this g ) vcrmm.nl I i Although the President thus claims a right to make war on Geoigia, cf his own uiluby an 14 an hcritif higher than 44 hit" ma'iV he seems to think the aid ol Con- i gicss will be necessary in carrying on the ; contest. Says he, 44 it is submitted to the 1 wisdom ol Congress to d 'tei mine, wncta- j er any further act of legislation may be ,

necessaty or expedient to meet the emergency which these transactions may produce." That is, will it not be expedient 44 to p ovidefoi calling lorth the militia," to aid me in my wai upon Georgia i How like the Hrilish King ! ! He first iesolvrs on war, and 'hen calls on his 44 faithiu! commons" for supplies. Wi.l they authorize him to send to the south a few of your ILrr'ford Convention in Una, to help the. a! its ol Hritain whom -.,ek-son conquered, to cut the thioa-s ol the Georgians? We think not. ?vku uho rcUised to light the enemies' of their country in the late war, would be the only tit instruments to use against th -ir patriotic fellow-citizens ot Georgia. Hut Congress dare; not uuihm k'.c. them to go, and if it did, they dar.? no: go. What has infected Mr Adams with too

fghnvg

mama c

I, it J A Civ SON'S (

fame ? Does his th one tremble in the swelling torrent of Ja Uson's popuiaiity, and must he loo turn 41 military chieftain' to save himself from pdi'ion? Mistaken man ! Jackson turned his bayonets only against his country's enemies : not ag dust the. bosoms of h.s elloiv c tizens. Had Jackson been Pi. si lnt and sent such a message to Coiigrc -s what an uproar there would have been about 44 military chieftain !" Let those who predict what Jackson might do, consider what A dams has dune, and say what we have to

apprehend from the change I

Argus.

LV SlCWiFF OF Villi U STJTF.S. March 1, 1827 The Committee to whom was re I email the several messages of the President of the United States, of the 5th and 3th Februarys and a report and certain resolutions of the Legislatuie of Georgia, ask leave to make the following REPORT. The committee have eircrcd upon the examination of the subject referred to them, with a deep sense of the magnitude of the questions which it involves, with a strong desire to preset vc the respective rights of the United States, and cf Georgia, so far as these mav be allVcted by the actions of the Legislative Depal tment, and with a still more anxious solicitude to arrive, if practicable, at a result which, without violating the obligations, or committing the tights, of the Cordederacy, or those of one of its members, might preserve, undistuibed, the peace and harmony of the Union. They have believed that a view of this subject, so far as it is necessary to the purposes of this inquiry, mav be presented to the Senate by a brief statement cf facts, with reference. First. To the ground? on which the Executive Government of the U. States has interb red, and purposes further to interfere, with the proceedings of Georgia ; and Secondly To the claims of that state, and the principles cm which she relies to support them. I Under an act of the Legislature of Georgia, passed in June, 1825, and

the supplementary, and amendatory acta of the same Legislature of December, 1825, suiveys were directed of that portion of the territory of Georgia, the Indian title to which had been extinguished by the treaty of the Indian Spiings, of February, 1825. By the terms ot that compact, these lands were not to be surrendered by the Indians, until Sept. 1826 ; but the government ol Georgia was desirous of ejecting its surveys, betore the arrival of the period of surrender, under such arrangements with the Indians themselves, as would render the act acceptable to them J lie measures which weie adopted to effect this arrangement, the tact that one ot the duels who hail assented to it, was put to death, and the subsequent divi-sii n of the tribe into ho sine panics ; bjih of whom sought the protection ot the United States, ai c within .the recollection of the Senate. At this period, the Executive government of the Union, interposed, and having made sucn inquiry, as it (Itemed piuoer, toi hid the fu1 ther pi osecution ot the suiveysbv Georgia I he Exocu ive of thai state, piotesiing against the nKasU'e,nevertheKS subndiied to the inhibition ; and his state ut things continued untb the last session of Congress, when a new ueuty v.' .is negotiated at this place, with certain chi; is and waniors aclii g under ihe auth.m of a council of the tribe. 1 h;s compact stipula ted the sun endcr ol certain .antU, wiihin limits which it defined, and the abrega lion of the treiity ol the ImMan . o "gs. It wasiodsted by Gcoigiuaa violation of her rights, and her represcnUv i cs in Congress i corded their ptoicst ag.niiat the measure. I never. hchss rccvived the constitutional sanctions, a:id,s?- fur as depended on the United Slatei has been carried into cilcct, by the payment ct the stipulated price. In the resuu, it was found n .1 to include all die lands occupied by the Creeks within the limits ot Grotgia, h the attempt to suivey ihoc which were excluded, wan resisted, and the surveyors of the state of Georgia, have In en s'opped by an order of cei tain chiefs of the tribe, who lurvo appealed to the government for protection. The President cf the United States, conceiving the survey of Georgia to be in violation ot the hnvsof the Union, and iij'p'. Hiding the foi be trance of the Indians, is ca'coilrd to avert scenes ol violence ;o:,i h'ooel, which he apprehends would othctwise result Irom these proceedings hr.j assured them of his protection, and h..s .bin Jed the arrest an I prosecution of the efneerc of Geoigia engaged in the survey. These prosecutions, and the mcas urcs w hich may be adopted tocairy them into effect, are stated to be founded on 5th, I 6tli and . 7th sections of anlict of Congress, passed on the 30th of Maich, 1802, to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, und to pi escrve peace on the frontiers. Expressing his conviction that it was within the competency of the E'teciuive to have resorted at once to military foce or to civil process, for the arrest of the olliccis ol Georgia, tiie President proceeds to stale the reasons which influenced him to have recourse, in the first instance, only to the latter; but lie adds the declaration, that the act of the Legislature of Georgia, under the construction given to it by the Governor ot that state, and the surveys made, or attempted to be made under it, beyond theboundatv line secured by the treaty ot Washington, are in direct violation of the supreme law of the land ; and, if pet severed in, and the laws o tin Union remain unaLetcd. it is declared thai a sufieradde i cot ga'ion, tvm h-gher than that of huwan au:hirin ivill c .m fid the Executive f ihe Ur i'ed Staes o enforce ihe la iv s and Jit (ft the duties of the nation, by all the f rc cott'tni ted for that purpose to his chargp" It is adoed, 'that the arm ot military force will be resorted to, only in the vent ot the failure of all other expedients provided by the l .ws, of which, (it issad.)a pledge has been given by the foibtarancc to employ it at this time " Finally the President submits U to the wisdom Congress to deteiminc whether any further act of legislation may be necessaty or expedient, to meet the cmcigency which these transactions may produce. Such arc the circuma'ances under which this subject is presented by the President to the consideration of the Senate. , On the other hand, Georgia claims the right to exercise jurisdiction within the whole extent of her chartered limits, except only over that part of her original territory, which by the compact of 1802, she ceded to the United States She claim the right to survey such

lands within her limits, as may be within l the temporary occupancy of - an Indian

tribe, or to inhabit their survey and the right, also, to extinguish the Indian titlo at her own cost, if shall think fit to do so. She questions the constitutional validity of the act of 1802 if construed to extend to the exercise of this power by a state in relation to those lands of which she has the ultimate fee ; but if its validity be esstablishcd, her rights, even under the provisions of that act, she affirms will still remain. Such arc the claims which she urges, independently of treaty stipulations between the United States and the Creeh Indians. Under the treaty of the Indian Springs, and by virtue of the contract of 1802, sho contends that she has acquired an absolute relinquishment of the Creek title of the occupancy, to all the lands within tier limits ; thai she has vested rights under that treaty of which she cannot be divested by any act of the government ot the United States, or of any part, or tho Ci eek ti ibe. She founds her claim to exercise jurisdiction wn! in the whole of he cha'i,:ecl limits, on the declarrtion of Independence, the naities to which bee. u t. ifiso

j facta, severally, soven ign and independ- ( cot sulci, owing noallegiai.ee to eachother, nor to a:.y common head. On 'he itult of tlu struggles which

that declaration produi ed. and which e-ventujt-i! n the recognition of the states, as .severally j-otevc'ur find u.deDndtntr

! and on the tail thai tins light, insepara- , b y incident to soveieigmy l as never bccr y ielded to the e niud Sat s The exceptions to ihe p. m iple, that hei jorb diction ;s co e u rrii t- vviih her

un its she contends, exist i y in those cases, uhi-'t in ccrfot n it to t e constitution, the Ui ited Stuies, havi by her Consent, acqnned j xciusivc juiisdietion ov cr particu ui ptao s; thutinothet cases providt d toi by tin c i s'itution, the jurisdiction o tot Uni'cd S'.att-. within 'hi dmi"s of a pdiihuhn state, is or cm t nt with but not tr.ive ol. ihe jusdtction of the particular state unless the constitution, in tei n s, from ihe w. ccssby of the tldng, inhibits the action ol the stale over the subject. As an ev'ulenrc o her iglt. thus to exercise a juiisdietion co-t xu r si"e vi h her limits, she appeals to ilu whole Instoiy of her legislation, in proot of ' on ii oed, uninti rrupU'd, and h-:he in qu s i- nedj txorcise; to her lav a: d its.. unions of 1783, 1785, 1787, 1814, 18 8 and 18 9, on the subject f smvys of ?ai d. in ihe occupancy ol Indian tribes, and to othtr acts of "75 and 1 788 t , !a, ive to tho county ot Hwiiiboti cstubti In d by her authotny on the banks of the Mississippi, and to the subsequent tccogi.ition by tho United Stales, in ti e contra t ot 1802, ot " the rights acquired under the loin cr act. She appeais to the hiclo'y of the legislation ot tier sister states, having Indn.ns residing within her limits, or. lands, tho ultimate fee ot which is in the particu ar state, all of whom, she alleges, have excr iscd the same jurisdiction, which is now claimed, and has always been exercised bv Georgia, and lo the principle of the decisions o' the supren c toUrt, espepicially in relet cure to the grants of M. Carolina, and she rcfei s particularly to the

- legisiotmn ot that state, of South CaioliI na, ol Virginia, rmd ol New York.

in turther p. oot ot tier riht to survey lands in - he occupancy of an Indian tribe, but within h r chartered limits, she appals otfie decision of the same council i.. the case of Fletcher and Peck; in which it was deck ed that the Indian titlo tolai d witl in t, i. I n. its of Georgia was ml consi tent ui 1, I title ii f c f that s.te, to the laic- zo .cupiid by the Indians ; tha. tin s: teo Georgia had power to grunt those ianos dutinp uch occupancy, and th.it In r la t-e miht maintain an ej. i tment for ti c rn. o wi?hs anding the till ; aid sin it quires, if tho rights of survey I c not ins p'iab y incident to the exercise of tl om tigh's,th exist nr. of w hid. is thus determined by the. supi t me C( 1 i The claims o! Georgia, vnder t r treaty of the Indian Sp ings, may tc briefly stated thus': The compact of cightun 1 undred and two, she contents, bound he U. States, in consideration of the ces-n n made by Georgia, to ti gu"nh th Indirn title ?o the remaining -ends within her lin i's. and in their occupancy. It created an obligation, but did not confer a tight rn the United stages It was simply, she urges rv stipulation that ihe expensed ti e extinguishment should be mad by the United States, and left them consequently to let?