Western Times, Volume 3, Number 14, Richmond, Wayne County, 18 December 1830 — Page 2

to How, W& aMuoli impidtionlllltomld§>M;mhto f> <>(' iffl-rnsTyTar’s appropriation, added to the SBO,OOO for the present, will, bo exfx-nded bridging, andbulrerting the road, aboit* thirteen rallies east tad west of the seat of governriripiat a ttist ofabput $(53,000, still leavbulaiicc in ffw hands of the commis-

sioners. On the subject of this road, I will remark, that the whole western country, will have abundant reason to complain, under “the cancelled obligations of plighted faith, if at this late period, an unexpected and illiberal construction of the constitution or other cause, shall stop enlarged, annual appropriations of money by congress, until it is finished according to the original surrey, to the Mississippi. The prices at which all the work is taken, testify in favor of this, as being as favorable as any other time, for its progress, labor being low and

, provisions cheap. The Michigan road has been placed under contract, from Madison to Loganaport. The contracts for this road, during the last Summer, were entered into at high rates, compared to those of the National road.— More of the great loss we have suffered, however, isascribabie to the mistaken poli-

cy of the la w of the inftt uwaion, providing nothing but scrip, for payment, without any Certainty as to tiiqe for its redemption, excluding the poor from any thing like competition and placing the whole of the contracts within the grasp of the wealthy, than to tfao bad management of the Commissioner in charge of-the read. But if the commissioner had notified the people, that he would have received proposals, and made contracts with those who might take large or small ; given distances for the lowest sum, many j would have bid for the road, who were in- j

duccd to put in their proposals according to his advertisement by the mile, and though they were the lowest bidders in that way, were excluded by the acceptance of sweeping propositions covering many miles in extent. The law already bad enough, by S lacing every the power of the capalists, was rendered riU worse, by the! practice tinder it. These contracts will remain as warnings to the State, never again to trust her credit in the hands, of the speculator. When she borrows money the only sacrifice is the interest. But, when she subjects her paper to the mercy of shavelings, if she escapes from their avarice with a loss of thirty per cent, hereafter, she will do better than she has in the Michigan road transaction. To the afore mentioned law, I gave my assent with the greatest reluctance, ina spirit of compromise common to legislators,, in order to drive the vexed question from l the house, by fixing the point of termination of the roadnnd save the state from further expense; but I have regretted the sacrifice of my convictions, since, and hope to be more guarded iq the future. .

By the law of the last session, tl\e governor of this state was required to wtwnf with the general government, and ascertain when, and how, the lands donated by treaty and an act of congress, to the state, to open the Michigan and Ohio road j are to be surveyed, and whether they are to be surveyed by the state or general government, and urge the immediate survey of the same, by the latter, fisc. If the United States’ he was also required upon that condition, (and that only) to notify the commissioners When to proceed to the selection of the lands. If States refused to survey the lands, (then again, and upon that condition only) he was to notify the commissioners to employ a surveyor, fisc, and not otherwise. In faithful obedience to this act, the execu-

tive did, on the lOtb day of February, 1830,' open a correspondence with the Hon. John It. Eaton, secretary of war, (the successor of the Hon. James Barbour, with whom, by negotiation, the governor had the honor during his administration of that department, of settling tiie same question to the satisfaction of the state, now submitted to the present secretary! up to the spirit and letter of the law. After waiting fora reply in vafti, to his first communication, until the Bth of July last, the executive tlien addressed the secretary agaiu, and in a more earnest manner than at first, on the sajne subjects in charge, but has received u no~ answer to this. He has also addressed another letter to the secretary of war asking him to acknowledge the receipt of his tiro first letters, but he has received no reply to this. In due time (June) he gave the above information to the commissioners then at Indi- > rotative to his having received no decision* as to the surveys, from the United Stales. And-in due time afterwards, (first of August) after waiting as long as practiCab e, tor the opinion of the war department to his second letter, be then gave his opinion through Mr. Hanna, ope of the commissioners, to them, -and afterwards by written communications to the board, that for safety, they might better proceed to the employment of surveyors, &c. and to the execution of the spirit of the taw, so as to prepare the lands for market, according to its provisions and instructions. Copies of all these documents, 1 shall lay before the legislator© with care.

This detail of facts, will show to-you, that there is something wrong some where; and it will remain for the War and Post Office Departments, to explain the mystery. Yet, thut the surveys and locations of the lands, made by the Commissioners, will be good and valid, without any decision of the Secretary of War, or notice of the same to the Commissioners,and with or without en act of the Legislature to legalize, (inasmuch as these were only preparatory steps to the consummation of the main object, and of a ministerial and pecuniary nature,) is pregnant with mapy reasons. The Commissioner* havo acted. They have surveyed and so-

lecte* a%£v*4|Vo hundred sections of good i dead, avidiugdfe, their report thereof to the United State’s They intend to survey and select uie balance due die state the ensuiiapseaso*. They liave also completedthe surveysfrotri Greensburgh to Maditten, via Napoleon. Ties lands were prepared for your mandate to sell them.— The terms establish *! for the sale of the Canal lands, are in a train of proofs to ascertain their-gooduags. Their application to those may be appropriate.

In this progress we have been visited with surprize, within a short time past, with a published opinion of the Acting C jmmissioner of the General Land Office, which would confine us, if possible, in the location of these treaty lands to Uie exclusive unceded country of the Indians. This course and such views, appear to be a remarkable and unaccountable departure from the lucid and emphatic decision of the late Secretary of War, on the very same points. Tfee grounds taken by Mr- Moore in this case will be found on the closest scrutiny, to be unsatisfactory, and sustained by neither the letter, language, or meaning of the treaty. The j position taken, that the road article forms | “an entirely distinct and separate cession,!’ i

will not stand the tost of a critical examina- j tion of the treaty cdnthiiling'it. It CaHttiSt | bear the touch of the knife oflegal criticism. The article granting the lanmjaxpresSly de- j termines these three essorittai matters of fact so explicitly, as to forbid implication at ail, to wit: Ist. It determines the quantity of land granted for the road. 2d. It deter-, mines the length and breadth of a a*# of, land for the road, and names the two points j between which it must lie. 3d. It deter-1 ,mines where the land or sections for thei whole line, from the Lake to the Ohio, arei to he located, by significant words, “ contig - : Ittous to theroad. vl The WabasK and the ! ; Lake and the specified points between which . | the strip and the conterminous lands must ;be Ideated No, this iaftd must lie touching i the strip or road, by the wbrds of the treaty i (if good land can so be found) from one definite point to another; and how can it do

thts, if-it is to be selected according - to- the new decision, ten and twenty miies north and south of those points, and thence inclining to the centre of the road? In making the agreement the contracting parties had in their mind the enhanced value of the land, through its influence, lying in jnxtaposition on the road, the whole distance through the country then about to be ceded to the Uni-

ted States, as well as that to be retained by the Indians. With such understandings expressly carried into the treaty, in plain English, we shaft feel justified in resisting anyimmature construction which shafLrestrjct us to the benefits only, of little ihiiNre than half the road north of the Wabash, for the selection of our lands. And it will be matter of astonishment, if the Indians themselves do not concur with us in opinion, as to the object of the treaty. We might be chargw -itha aiseugciiuuus concealment or ni

reeling were we not here to remark, that our dissatisfaction of this late procedureps heightened, by theYJnited Stales authority not giving to us an opportunity to be heard, in defence of our rights, prior to. the sale of the lands which the State authorities had selected, in conjunction with an agent of the United States and several Indian chiefs, in the disputed territory'. If upon the reception of the authentic proceediiigs of the joint commission, at the General Land ©dice, the lands to which both parties thought they had , a right, had been reserved from sale, for the time being, for further adjustment, instead of peremptorily ordering them for sale, without notice to any officer of the State, and making it necessary for us to bring the question before Congress, on a claim of the monies the lauds may have sold for, we would hafee looked upon the transaction, as having a tender regard for the public interest, not less than as the manifestation of common respect for opposite opinions and the people of the state*. We have already noticed that the ground work of the decision is, that the article making the graat contemplates a separate cession out of the Indian lands, and not ceded oy the main article, because the articles themselves stand as separate ones iq the treaty. This logic, if good, must control all the articles in the instrument, and right growing out of them, and would prove too much to be admitted; because it would overrule other decisions of the (hated States’ government, touching this and rip up the already vested rigtykof individuals under it, in the country ceded by the first article. What is to become of the reservations made to individual Indians and others, by separate and distinct articles from the *

main one in the treaty? These have generally been laid and ratified, withni the limits of the general cession, and not ordered to be sold. Those grants cannot be distinguished from the one for a road. Even the plausibility of the stand taken is imperceptible; and to give it the appearance of such, the most latitudinarian construction, at war with the entire treaty , all its parts , its spirit and context , are resorted to. One article possesses as much solemnity as unother. All parts of the instrument liave the same dignity and effect, having had a simultaneous beginning, progress, and maturity in point of time and validity. If must be interpreted so that the whole will stand together in rational harmony. But matters of fact, settled as in this case, are above the arts of construction. They speak for themselves. What has been said on this subject is submitted toyou for legislation, witha belief, that! you will feel as willing as your executive,! to defend the rights of the state against injuries from any quarter; and in this case* coming from a source, I am happy to add, 1 whose acts, in the general, are entitled to much respect. But, let us do our du*.J*r- Eei j os sjpw by eur acts that we are for princi- 1

pies and not devotees of men. That we will afcall times applaud ahd maintain what is right, and condemn what in wrong, uninfluenced by party spirit. As long as this is fee creed of the paliflail church, the people and their servants way rejoice together.— Conflicts of opinion ihen, will not be viewed as signals of war. Bat when they sincerely occuras evidences ofhonesty of intention, to cement in tire cfucibte of investigation, the most lasting friendship* under fopguidance of an unadulterated charity. Our lands have been sold hut ,thc money ispurs. A sale of the undisputed; selections will be requisite to meet the expectations of contrac-

tors, -j 'Hie question respecting the public domain is still unsettled. A gradation bill, in congress, for the time being, is likely to suj. persede iti A reduction of the land of the United’States down to one dollar, seventyfive, fifty, and twenty-five cents per acre, making regular periods the standard of their value, would, as well as aid the army of honest poor ill the .country, strengthen the unioii and inprove its treasury, settle down ; its Boating population, and materially inj crease the finances of the states where the j lands are; and even then do less than other nations have done and arc still dfiing, for their citizens" and far less than the, American deserves, k would be useless to offer j landsrorrate, at a less price than twenty-five '•cents. When t(cy fad below that price, they should be giren away, to actual set- * tiers, under prudeitial limitations as to time of occupancy and number of acres. And | how much of this kind af land is there, and I how many unabk tobny it, are known eve[ry where. Wei have some who inherit wealth, some competency, others nothing but poverty. And Is it not frequently the : case, that the most indigent heads the most ; numerous offspring! How often are our sympathies aroused by the sg# spectacle of the heads of families, passed the grand climacterick of life, of twelve or fifteen children, wearing out their miserable lives in j unprofitable tenantry, with no better hope than to procure bread enough to gratify the calls of nature. If such children and. parents of misfortune, wore permitted to occu- j

py as their own, even the sterile and bleak districts of land, which no one at any price 1 would buy, they would feel more like freemen. Yes, if their lands were too poor to { produce any thing but the green grass, their situation would be infinitely more happy, than to be doomed to the homeless drudgery i of a perpetual uaderling servitude. Open a door to a general freehold population, and the government at once receives new strength as a consequence of the dmchment which all men have to a home. When this is 'the situation of the people, the external or internal commotions arise, they will be irresistible in war, and as priceless as Fabricius against bribery and corruption.— When the endearments of home and family are entertained together in the heart of the tKn *r fcWoau4o|roirdent upon the salvation of his coutry, he. is then prepared AS die for it. If such lands are value .ess to the Union, then the cries

of the needy are the demands of justice and sound policy. •/ The Indians still abide amoug us. Here they are, wasting away like the snow-flake before the fervid rays of the sun. Give tham ihechistian religion, give them organic laws, give them separate estates in lands, give them privileges aid make them citizens, or appeal to the general government to assign them a place oftheirchoice beyond the Mississippi, in a country suitable to the chase or the establishment of a government of their own, to which they may emigrate if they please. To suppose that the barbarian with all his savage feelings and manners and hurrifte customs, can long exist in the heart of civilzed society, without unpleasant collisions, is about as probable as to expect a union between fire and water, for a mutual existence. One or the other must prevail, and it is not to be supposed that the civilized will yield to the savage state.llft f would be the part of wisdom togive them speedily what must be fixed upon them by the Ibrce of circumstances in the ultimatum; but in love and without force. The Sunday mail question is still alive. Like other abstractions, not susoqrtibfe of being formed into law by ttt| bui bearing upon our rights or privileges, wc| piay consider this a subject of legitimate notice. Still it should form ho part our purpose to diminish in the least that deep veneration which is so justly entertained for the Christian sabbath, or to insinuata an unfavorable opinien to the divinity of its institution. Few things wliich fbrm a part of the social compact, human or divine* are productive of more salutary effects inthis world of moifl evil, than a sabbath, or day of rest and meditation. Bat we wish to. leave the protection of thin ajtcredLday where we it, in the hands of the Almighty, its divinity upon die testimony of the bible,and the punishment of the violator! to him who ordained it. If this is the Lord’s day and of his appointment, it is under his protection , and he will preserve it. Let the mails run until they are stopped by a higher power than congress. If this body shall assume a jurisdiction over the sacred writings on a tingle subject, the wedge is then entered, and there is nothing further in the way to prevent them from taking complete cognizance of the whole. The orthodoxy of this, and the heterodoxy of that empd, would soon follow in the train of a fruitful source of new legislation, concerning the That system of ethics which will not stand <done and recommend itself by its own grace?. without the white washes of the law, deserves a tomb among the rubbish of other human follies. And that one which claims for itself perfection over alt others, in the midst of an extended religious toleration, is not likely to escape suspicion for its presumption. It is the natural and constitutional right of all to think as freely as they please, without responsibility, and to act under it. *■ It will become' your province, at the present session, to lay off the state into new senatorial and ropI resentative districts. Tab usual difficulties growing j out of this task will be found to present themselves as | almost insurmountable obstacles, among your best exertions to do equal yu*hi, and at the same time give complete satisfaction, to all the counties in the * state. If you are governed in the formation of dia--1 tricts, by any demnttely fixed ratio, whether it re- ; mains as it is, or is increased, there are many couni ties which w ill be deprived of separate representative ' privileges, now enjoying them. The most satisfac- | uon Will doubtless be given bjr rather leaning to a yt-

tem of compromise, than to too dose an adhesion to txact numbers. Owing to our prodigious increase of population, during the last five years Increase of members in both houses must be the consequence of even an increased ratio, whicMa either too great an extent, we are admonished by economical considerations, and the representative principle, to be guarded against. Within rivslast tengj-whave risen in numerical strength ty odd thousand, toabotit fcur hundred thousand.— Such an unparalleled rise in so short a time, wjU enable us to indulge the presentment, £***2 receive ah unforeseen check in some way, by the year 1840, progressing at the same rate of the past, a mill' ion of souls will live in Indiana. You may, or you Jnay not, make the congressional district, under the late census, this session. You can form them subject to contingencies before the ratio bill is passed by congress, or absolutely afterwards. Otir new delegation will nofoe elected until August, 1833. Perhaps it might be most agreeable to form the state and federal districts at the same

time, and be the subject Some steady and uirifapn mode of doing County Business throughout the iatc, isrecommended, alike by its benefits, end the evils of the present one.— What most appears to be the {pound of complaint is, the different kinds of county tribunals within the same commonwealth. In some counties there are boards of justices, and mothers commissioners. Such a diversity of special legislation in this matter, will lead in time, to a lamentable confusion. After a while, by its institutions, one will scarcely be able to know when he is in the state or out of t. Legislation should always be general , producing uniformity in its effects; and opposition by minorities U> the solemnly declared wiU of the majority, is no apology for Specisd acts afterwards to commit havoc upon the beauty and order of a state system. A( what point is die practice to stop! The examples already on our statute book, if persisted in, will in time produce n heterogenous and deformed polity, without comeliness, wisdom, or public security. The philanthropic exertions, making, too, in some counties in the state, for the erection of asylum* for the poor, upon farms, might induce the state to make them common, under the constiutional injunction. If an application were made to congress, for the location ofa section of land, forvery county 'in the state, for such humane purposes, I .flatter myself that it would succeed. Why not ? If this lands are ours, and congress holds them in trust only for us, surely we may dispose of them in our own way. And hov could about two townships of land be better disposed of? Indeed, "there is much reason for making such applications for the domain, in all of the states bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. And could it be said by any of the old states, that this is another scheme for the western states aggrandizement exclusively ? No—for the doors of these asylums would be open to tho unhappy victims of misfortune, of every state and clime. Many a son or daughter of affluent parentage, jp the old states, might, under adverse circumstance*, have the tear of affliction dried up, in these nurceries of banevolenre. Tha shores of our principal rivers, already vocal with the cries of distress, should answer the objection, that such grants would be of local benefit.

| Applications are frequently made to the Governor, ! to fiU vacancies, created, or supposed to be created, I by the absence of officers. The length of time that an officer must have removed' or absented himself j from his oifie or place of residence, to constitute a vacancy, appeals hot to be specified by law. This is necessary. When an officer dies or resigns , there is no difficulty infilling the vacant place. But hoW long a man may absent himself before he abandons his office, is matter of opinion. The public sentiment is divided on this subject; and therefore the time should be fixed by law. *

In the present advanced and refiaed state of the human mind, in those governments which justly stand at the head of the civilized world, the propriety of inflict ing capital punishments is, from the exper ■incuts of tiyf""* firevlßg more and more questionable . The right of society to take away liffjT and then the policy of doing to.publicly, though sustained by the hoary advocate of time and usage, are among the most problematical of the settled practices of the age, which have ae uniformly received the acquiescence es nations. Sbail the antiquity and universality of these customs, however, secure seem against assault, and sanctify the doubtful reasoning which sustains them? Or may we, under the lights of experience, teeming from all quarters of the glebe, and as the disciples of all wholesome reforms which are improvements, venture to doubt whether they have not failed to answer the ends of this kind of ponish men t. It is true, that iu taking life, all opportunity is cut off from the offender tocommit other offences ; but this is only one of the objects which punishments design to effect. They lool| to a reformation of their victims, and to

examplks to society, to tie>er others from the commission of similar crimes for which the criminal suffered. Are these designs consummated, by placing it without the power of the convict, to undergo the one, or by making him the instrument of a fib 'shed burlesque upon the other? Is the brief period between the gallows and ,conviction a suitable or sufficient time for the culprit to make bis atonement to hi* country or his God? Is not the day of public execution one of curiosity and amusement to many, rather than one of lasting impression ? Is it the purpose of the spectator, in travelling tor days to such exhibitions, to learn his duty to his fellow man or barely to see one of bis race hang .and die? The answers which tbclose observer would giveto these queries, would be such as to make the supreme power of a state, pause to examine the question in ail its bearings. Confinement at larocb in the solitary cell, responds to all of the reasons for punishment, and has been found to be practicable without its supposed concomitants, madness, inhumanity, and gradual mortality. But what weighs most in argu ment against life-taking is—that all men are fallible and some corrupt, and that when vitality is taken away from the ere ature through either of these infirmities, nothing but supernatural agency can again restore it. When the perjuty of witnesses or the frailties of a court or jury, shall snap the thread of life, is no redress; but when through them other corporeal pun isbments are indicted, or fines, or less of estate, or reputation, or other injury, is the consequence, the wrong is not remediless. The conservative remedial principles of our institutions, may cure all of theerrore of society, but that of taking away life from innocence. When there is to redress for such a cruel deed, with what a trembling caution are we found, by every sacred duty, to guard against it]

by law and practice. Whilst the quo ori too by which men act and are judged, U concealed in itp congenial microcosm bidden from the keenest penetration, am attempts to arrive at a certaity withVT gard to it, mult prove obftftive. The ut tioot of the correlatives, dried and matt* as being the interpreter* of each other, an often treacherous Effects are sometime! ascribed lo causes which never produce them. Misapprehension'irod mistake f o j low. The scene cloees with one tfcj primitive but barbarous custom* of fee ear ly end rode stages of society, when v t witchcraft was believed hi by leghtaton end judge* learned as Matthew Hale; sot life taken to appease the superstition | tbs law and judge.

At the requestof the legislature of /so bama, f shall lay before you a mitnoni) from that state to congress, projnog log relief to laud debtors to the United State* so lis to allow pay for mj>rovrments og forfeited lands, and to suspend their ask 4-c. This document has merits. * ~ I am also requested to lay before ra resolutions of the states of Coaoecticnt aj Georgia; the latter for, and the former * gainst an alteration of the constitution of the United State* relative to the presidfe tial election. One of these states is at eng to any altecntion whatever - The other wishes such a modification of it as will gjg the election exclusively to the people without the intervention of electors or cm!

gres* .- . . ~5) The secretary of war baa forwarded fc. this state 179 copies of artillery and 217f of infantry tactics, which are subject to such distribution as yon may direct. The various duties required of the ex* cutive, by several resolutions of the last general assembley, have been stricth performed, which wiU be made manifest to you at a proper time. The same economy and improvement may be introduced into the probate system, by excbangingtbecounty for a circuit probate judge, which exempli gratia, big distinguished the usefulness of the circus over the county prosecutors. By making a competent judge his own cleik, and rs quirioy a record to be procured and kepi in each county, the business may be dont for less and far better than under the pi* seat mode. The records of this court

should displey as much critical and legs] accumen, as any in the state. There j| none. And unless the proceedins are mas ked with strict accuracy, an endless litigation will grow out of them. Good faith and approaching necewltj require, that the donation at lndiaoapolii should be sold to create a fond for the eree tion of a *tate house. The collection tl materials for such a building as the stall will have funds to erect, will be the work of considerable time. The balance of tin land laid out io twenty acre lots, woald b mast likely to bring the most money, k is tune that some definite conclusion wa taken in this affair.

I feel mvself bound again to digress, fa the sake of opinions which I bold dear, U notice some attempts, by beads of voltntary associations, to ondermine the grand superstructure of republicanism and ares turn the first principles of the represent* tive system, within the past season, in tbs state. Political heresies, if left nocombat ted will soon fasten thir fangs upon the object. The hydra should be slain is its ows elemet, in limine. If “unauthorised bodies are io future to usurp the names and plactt of their constitutional “compeers,” and assist in regulating the state, or are permitted to usurp the dictatorial office, their evil practices and their creed ought to bs rendered as harmless to the body politic u possible. It seems to be contended, in (rue federalist sang firoid, that when a man u elected to office he becomes at once a kind of omnipotent being, and independent of tbs people—That the presumption at once attaches, that as be is selected for his “to/mb” and other merits, he is, therefore, abort the people , the law, and the constitutors. The inference drawn is—that it is contend*

ed an officer cannot acquit his conscience and at the same time serve popular whim and caprices. He must, to be useful, be absolute. This is pure aristocracy. It e delusive theory wielded by kings to enslave the multitude. They taking it for granted that the people at large are beasts of harden, and incapable of self government. Our new recruits to this doctrine, must act upon the same principles, to sustain tbs position—that the officer who will violate constitutional instructions, given to bike from the legitimate source —either the people or the legislature as the case may be—on any point whatever,—cas hold fast to the people's office, a moment afterwards, and hurl defiance at the power who give it. We have found with & vengeance, that we have those who not only contend lor such notable notions, but those who practice them under license. This class of old side lawgivers, have yet to learn, or informed, are too sinister to avow it, that there are few who will these enlightened times, call in qoestso® that maxim, “that all power and authority radically in the people.* And it i* becoming evident, that fewer will ever di*P|d* it in time (o come. To such as have " ot yet found it convenient to believe in these things, let me say—My soul come notthoa into your secrets unto honour, be not thou united. Though <pi' ifications in agent* and other qualifier constitute a considerable item in supp** of representative government, in its it is evident from th% nature of things, the* convenience and safely, are by fr the lDo,t prominent inducements to it* professor of any other. The people are always safe in their own hands, with light-