H. or R.] Emigration of Indians. them, how are you to supply them with provisions? Who So far from your being able to shut out the intercourse of the whites, if it were so much as known to what district the Indians were to remove, no matter how distant the country, my word for it, Mr. Chairman, the pioneers would be there in advance of them; men of the most abandoned and desperate character, who hang upon the Indians to defraud them. You cannot run away from these men nor shut them out from access to Indians, scattered over the wilderness; for, with the pioneers, the law is a jest, and the woods their element; the farther you go with the Indians, with just so much the more impunity will they set your laws at defiance. Indeed, under this plan, the Indians would be nothing more nor less than poor miserable dependents upon those who governed them and supplied them with food. [FEB. 20, 1828, porting in the woods, at twenty cents a day, as appears by a document from the War Department, laid on our tables a few days since, and the cost of this single item will be found to fall not far short of ten millions per an. How long should we go on at this rate, before we num. left these poor wretches to perish of hunger? The utter impossibility of introducing any system of economy or accountability into such a department, where the supplies are to be furnished, in such a country, would open a door for fraud and peculation, without any example among us. Indeed, the document last spoken of, states, that the expense of supplying the Creeks has been, hitherto, enormous, from the want of any system of economy, and we have no assurance that it will be otherwise in future. We all agree in desiring to promote the happiness, comfort, and improvement, of the Indians; but we disagree, and widely disagree, concerning the means to be employ. I well know there is no gentleman here who feels a To build houses, and open farms, is a work of time, ed. and the labor of many hands. You cannot get on with purer sentiment of benevolence for them, or has their the government, and execute its diversified operations, good more sincerely at heart than my colleague, the Chairwithout great and constant intercourse with the whites-in-man of the Committee on Indians Affairs; but I do, in tercourse too with soldiers and other mercenaries. Abuses my conscience, believe, the measure he advocates will inwould spring up, and be practised with impunity, from volve them in untold misery. Gentlemen tell us (and the utter impossibility of superintending the detailed op- my colleague among the rest) that, in their present abodes, the Indians are in distress, and must go beyond erations of a distant colonial Government. the Mississippi, where they will be free from want, and the corrupting influence of the whites. Sir, we have documents enough to show that the Indians are content where they are, and look upon a removal as the greatest calamity that can befal them; but, we are unceasing in our importunities and efforts to dislodge them from the little remnant of country they still enjoy, and to get into possession of it ourselves. This is the motive that gives The Indian has the impulse which threatens to annihilate them, whatever guises we may assume to the contrary but few objects of attachment; but, to them, his attachWith him, ment is strong and powerful, because, upon them, his whole feelings and passions are concentrated. no passion is so strong as his love of home; and, when he quits it to make way for the white man, it is in agony But again, sir, by what means are a hundred thousand and bitterness of soul. If you look for the abodes of faIndians, spread over the wilderness, bearing towards each mine and distress, you will find them, with the exception other inbred hatred, and implacable animosities; pressed of the suffering we have brought upon the Florida Inby hunger, and pressing upon each other's means of sub-dians, not on this, but on the other side of the Mississipsistence, to be reduced to order, regularity, and obedi- pi. In the language of my colleague, over the way, [Mr. ence to law? If my colleague, the Chairman of the Com-Woons] "there are no Elysian fields beyond the Mismittee on Indian Affairs, can do this, he will be justly sissippi." The influence of this country has gone beentitled to go down to posterity with a fame, as a law-yond the settlements, and is felt, in diminishing the sup giver, more immortal than that of Solon or Lycurgus. ply of Indian subsistence, to the very summits of the He will have done that of which history, either sacred or Rocky Mountains. Famine no where presses more heavi profane, furnishes no example. It is true, the children ly upon the Indians than in the regions of the west, a of Israel were led out of the wilderness, into a land flow-thousand miles beyond the remotest cabin of the frontier While ing with milk and honey; but, contrary to the Divine inhabitant. Gentlemen can find no happy_regions_that example, we propose to lead a whole People, nay, more, does not feel our withering influence upon them. the remnants of forty different nations of men, out of a they used the bow only, and before our traders went We cannot make among them, they followed for food and clothing only, the land of plenty, into the wilderness. this great and untried experiment, upon human life, and immense herds of buffalo, and other animals of chase, human happiness, without incurring the most solemn re-found in the plains beyond the Mississippi. They had sponsibility. Let us examine this experiment in another neither motive nor ability to diminish, by an unnecessary aspect, and it will be found, that it is not in the power of and wanton destruction of these animals, the ample sup. the Government to provide for a hundred thousand in-ply of food nature had provided for their support. But habitants, some five or six hundred miles in the wilder- their habits and their condition are now wofully changed. ness. Regular supplies, from the very nature of the Our traders penetrate the remotest recesses of their councountry over which they must be carried, could not be try, and, putting guns into their hands, hold out to them tempting rewards for the destruction of these animals. transported to them. There can be but little question, that, to support a hun- Thus tempted, the Indian goes out, and wastes the whole dred thousand people in the wilderness, would cost more season, that should be employed in taking and curing than twice as much as to feed double that number at his food for Winter, in destroying the Buffalo for the hide Whatever was only. When the Buffalo retires from his country, and home, where supplies are ready at hand. transported to them, would, from the labor of transport. Winter comes on, then follows a scene of famine and sufation alone, be rendered almost as costly as silver, be-fering past all description. Tribes in the interior waste fore it arrived at the place of consumption. Take the from these causes with such rapidity, that, becoming price of the ration for the Creeks, whom we are now sup- too weak to protect themselves, two or more tribes are frequently compelled to unite for their common security. Gentlemen will find these, and many other interesting facts shewing the condition of the Indians beyond our settlements, in an article that appeared, a couple of years since, in the North American Review, written by a gentleman [Governor Cass] well known here for his intimate acquaintance with the Indian character. They will also find there, an unanswerable array of facts and arguments against this plan of Indian colonization. [H. or R. usages in which it has grown up; and were they to make the attempt to change their Government, they could not do it. They are without the moral power, knowledge, and experience, necessary to make so great an effortan effort, always great, when and wherever made. They do not know how to set themselves at work; and, if even the chiefs had the necessary knowledge and moral power, they would naturally use it in perpetuating their own influence. For these reasons, Mr. Chairman, I come to the conclusion that we are in possession of no facts that will, for a moment, justify us in making this great experiment, which, if it fail, must bring discredit upon the country, and distress upon the subjects of it; that it would be madness to exhaust the treasury of more than twenty millions, according to most moderate estimates, founded upon data and estimates from the War Department, endanger the frontier, cut down the resources of the country, create domestic collision, and disturb the balance of power among the States, in the prosecution of a theo. retic plan of Indian colonization and improvement, that has not, in my humble judgment, even the merit of plau-parated from each other, their influence would be, comsibility. I come now, Mr. Chairman, to the contemplation of this oppressed People in their present abodes. We all agree the time is come, when something ought to be done to rescue them from extinction. And here, gentlemen turn upon us, who oppose them, and ask what we will do. I answer, enlarge the means of improvement you are now employing with acknowledged success; and extend your laws over them. Try the experiment where they are. It will cost but little, and if that fail, there is no danger of bringing distress upon them, or making their condition more desperate. It will then be time enough to try the scheme of colonization, which, it is not contended, has any other advantage than that of getting them out of the way of the corrupting influence of the whites, which I have already shewn is a mistaken notion. If the colonization plan is tried first, it will be too late to try the other afterwards. When the step is taken, it cannot be retraced. Gentlemen maintain, that, because the tribes in our neighborhood have not become civilized, that, therefore, they cannot be, unless they are removed at a distance from us. Many of the tribes have made great and flattering advances in improvement. And now, we are called upon to undo all we have done, by breaking them up from their very foundation. But what is the argument? It is, that civilization cannot spring up in the midst of civilization. That civilization is a plant that cannot grow be neath the shade of the full grown tree. Sir, we have done nothing to civilize them in a form that can touch the evil to be corrected; nor have the Indians the intelligence and moral power necessary to reach and correct it, without our aid. The great difficulty now in the way of their improvement, may be traced to the nature of their government and the tenure of their property, With the exception of the Cherokees, who have lately formed for themselves a Constitution on Republican principles, which has given some gentlemen here so much alarm, there is not a single tribe that we do not now find under the same government and usages, that existed on the day when the Pilgrims first landed on our shores. It is the government of the savage, fitted to the savage state, and wholly at war with the rights and usages of civilized man. Efforts at civilization have been made by those who have not hard the power to touch and heal this evil. And, until the government of the savage, and the basis upon which he holds his property are broken up, all efforts at civilization, directed either by individuals or by the Government, will and must fail. To expect that they, unaided, will do this, is to require of them more than miracles. Ignorance is every where wedded to the We cannot reasonably expect they will voluntarily assist in a work of reformation, that must end in the extinction of their own consequence. Begin then, here ; take away your whiskey, and extend your laws over them, and see what they will do. Give them the right of individuality of property, and fertilize them with your schools; then, and not till then, will you make an experiment worthy of the name. By so doing, you bring upon them no accumulation of misery and distress, endanger no frontier, excite no sectional jealousy, nor exhaust the Treasury with a wasteful expenditure of public money. Being in the bosom of the country, and separatively, unfelt. If they can be civilized at all, it must be done by these means; and I cannot subscribe to the declaration so often made, that they feel themselves to be a degraded race, and that our People will always treat them as such. The Indian has an innate sense of dignity; and those among them who have property, feel their personal importance, and are every where treated with respect. Personal dominion over property never fails to impart to its possessor a feeling of personal consequence, and to command for him the respect of others. The poor, naked, and starving Indian, feels a sense of personal degradation, because he is dependent; he is compelled, by his wants, meekly to submit to insult and indignity. But give him property, and make him feel that his means of subsistence are within his own command, and you lift him up at once from his prostrate condition. We have the means ready at hand to try the effect of individuality of property upon him, without costing the Treasury a dollar or the country a single effort. We have more than a hundred millions of acres of land in market, seeking a buyer from year to year, and finding none. Give to every head of an Indian family the right to go into the Land Offices, and select for himself a half section (320 acres) of land, wherever he pleases, on condition that he settles upon it, and secure it to him by such guards and restrictions, as will protect him against the frauds and artifice of the designing, there can be but little doubt that very many, especially among the more improved tribes, would gladly avail themselves of such a provision. In this way, they would place themselves voluntarily under the action and jurisdiction of our laws. All that is proposed to be effected by a removal beyond the Mississippi, is thus brought about, secretly and silently, by a single operation. To do this, the creation of no governmental machinery, or enlargement of Executive patronage is required-we have the whole machinery ready at hand for the operation. Our Land Offices are established, and lands surveyed; or, if the Indians should prefer an apportionment of the country on which they live, our surveying department is already organized to execute the work. Estimatng them at a hundred thousand, six and a half millions of acres, out of the hundred millions now in the market, would give to the head of each Indian family three hundred and twenty acres; with it, we make him respectable in point of property, and, what is more, we diffuse them through the country in search of good land, where we should hear no more of their sufferings and want. My colleague [Mr. Woons] yesterday said, that a gentleman from the South, well acquainted with the Indian character, had, on a former occasion, observed to him, "give to an Indian a slave, and you make a man of him." The condition of the Southern Indians, no doubt, fully verifies the truth of the remark. Permit me, sir, to say, by way of modification, give him a farm of 320 acres of land, and you as certainly make a man of him, and a much better man.* [FEB. 20, 1828. for reminding him, that, two years ago, our commissioners offered to the Choctaws in his State, ten times, and I think I might safely say, twenty times as much as was ever paid for Indian title in Ohio. The Indian title to the greater part of the State of Ohio was extinguished by the treaty of Fort McIntosh, so long ago as 1785, and some years be fore an emigrant had passed beyond the river Ohio, or a Government been erected there. A treaty, which had for its exclusive object, to give security to the frontier of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the then infant settlement of Kentucky, and not for the benefit of Ohio, where there was, then, nobody to be benefitted. Gentlemen, from the general tenor of their remarks, seem to be ignorant that the Indians now own and inhabit, in the very heart of Ohio, and of her richest soil, a quantity of land equal to eighteen or twenty townships, and capable of sustaining, in comfort, some fifty or sixty thousand inhabitants. And, for one, sir, I will never give my vote for this, or any other appropriation to deprive them of it, and drive them into regions of famine and distress. Let them live in peace and quiet where they are; the world is surely wide enough for us and for them. Gentlemen also imagine there is some magic in the surprising growth and prosperity of Ohio, and attribute it to the fond partiality of our legislation. If gentlemen will give themselves the trouble to look into the history of Ohio, they will find that the sources of her present and future prosperity spring from deeper and surer fountains than legislative favors-they will find them in the salubrity of her climate, the richness of her soil, and, more than all, in the moral worth, the enterprise, and industry, of her People. And here, Mr. Chairman, I would gladly close, after having detained the committee so long, did I not feel bound, in justice to myself, to notice a remark that yesterday fell from my colleague, the Chairman of the Com. mittee on Indian Affairs. He appealed, with some feel. ing, to my colleague over the way, [Mr. Woons] who had opposed this appropriation, to say, whether it was generous in him, after nearly all the Indian title in Ohio had been extinguished, and the Indians left the State, to oppose this appropriation to remove them from other States. The course that I have now taken in this debate, renders the remark equally applicable to myself, as to my colleague, and I cannot admit that there is any thing ungenerous in my opposition to this measure. I understand, sir, that this appropriation is to be applied, in part, to the removal of Indians from Ohio, and, therefore, if local considerations were to govern us, my colleague, [Mr. Woods] and myself, would be found among the advocates of this appropriation. But, sir, we have heretofore uniformly opposed similar appropriations, and, as I am at liberty to speak for myself, of my own motives, 1 shall say that I have opposed them, because the removal of the Indians is, in my opinion, a work of desolation and cruelty. With me, therefore, it has never been a subject of inquiry, whether they were to go from Ohio or elsewhere. I must, therefore, be permitted to say, that I do think the remark of my colleague was unmerited and unkind. 1 regret it should have been made, and the more so, since, coming from the pure and benevolent source it did, it is calculated to give a sanction to declarations of a similar tendency, from other quarters, and which have been made, occasionally, on other subjects, as well as on that now before the committee. And even during the pre-display of words on this floor. Nor am I disposed to take sent debate, the gentleman from Mississippi has felt himself under the necessity of making a formal complaint to the committee of the omission of Congress to provide for the removal of the Indians from his State, and in his enumeration of the partial favors bestowed on other States, and denied to his own, he thought proper to include the State of Ohio. To draw comparisons among the States, and inquire, here, which has received more, and which less, of the favor and protection of Government, is always delicate and disagreeable in the extreme. It would be with great reluctance I should undertake to shew which States had been, and which had not been, the favorites of this House. Suffice it to say, Ohio does not complain, and it would be unbecoming in those who represent her here, to do so. The committee will, how ever, pardon me in saying, that of all the new States, this Government has paid less for the extinguishment of Indian title in Ohio, than in any other. And as an evidence that there has not been wanting a willingness in Government to promote the interests of his constituents in this particular, the gentleman from Mississippi will pardon me To show the probability that the plan here suggested would meet the approbation of the Indians, and that it is our own fault it has not been tried before now, it may be proper to state a fact connected with our Indian diplomacy, that, perhaps, is not very generally known: When the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawattamie, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes of Indians, treated, in the year 1817, for the sale of their country, embracing the Northwest part of Ohio, a part of Indiana, and of the Territory of Michigan, an article was inserted into the treaty, giving to the head of each Indian family a tract of land, to be held as his own property. The Senate refused to ratify this article: to which, it is understood, from the best authority, the Indians attached so much value, that it was afterwards with great difficulty they could be prevailed upon to take a much larger reservation of land to be held in the usual way. Many of these same Indians are now dying with hunger beyond the Mississippi. Mr. LUMPKIN said, it was always with reluctance that he rose on that floor, to submit any remarks of his. When I look round [said Mr. L.] and see the intelligence by which I am surrounded, I cannot have the vanity to enter the list of competitors for the eclat or distinction which will be awarded to him, who makes the greatest a part in the discussions of this House, with a view of encouraging the manufacture of Congressional speeches. consider that of speech-making one branch of domes tic manufacture, or of the American System, if you please, sir, which does not require encouragement or protection. It has already arrived to a maturity, which can enter into fair competition with any country whatever, with a fair prospect of success. But, sir, I stand so connected with this subject in several points of view, that I cannot shrink-from addressing the committee on the present occasion. The two very distinguished gentlemen fron Ohio, [Mr. Woons and Mr. VINTON] who have consumed so large portion of the time of this committee, in displaying and exhibiting their opposition to the extinguishment of Indian title to lands, and to the removal of the Indians to some eligible situation West of the river Mississippi, have introduced such a mass of foreign matter into this discussion, that they will excuse me, in my present state of health, for declining to follow them in all their labored arguments and details upon this subject. The best refu tation which can be presented, to all that these gentlemen have said upon this important and interesting subject, will be found in the fact, that they stand opposed to the wisdom, the experience, and benevolence, of the whole country. In opposition to all their opinions, doctrines, and reasoning, I will place those of James Monroe, John C. Calhoun, James Barbour, and a host of others, who are experienced and distinguished statesmen and patriots, and who have long deliberated and reflected upon the subject of our Indian policy and relations. These distinguished individuals have all arrived at the same results; that the only hope of saving the remnant tribes of Indians from ruin and extermination, was to re move them from their present abodes, and settle them in a permanent abode West of the Mississippi river. [H. Op R. But, that the time has arrived, when this Government must change its policy in relation to the Indians, appears to me so plain, so clear, and so self-evident, that I cannot see any reason for delay or hesitation. From the commencement of this Government, that is from the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, this Government has assumed and exercised an almost unlimited control over the Indian tribes settled within our boundaries. It has assumed and exercised the right of legislating for them, in all their most important interests. We have taken the guardianship of them, and treated them as minors, orphans, and persons who were incapa ble of managing their own estates. And the exercise of this power has heretofore been recognized as legitimate, and has been acquiesced in by the Indians, by the States, and by foreign nations. But, sir, the day has already ar rived, when this state of things cannot longer exist. The inefficient course pursued by this Government, in mat. ters in which one of the States has a deep interest, as well as the Indians, has weakened the confidence of the Indians, as well as the State, in this Government, to an extent which has disposed all the parties in interest to look to their own sovereignty for a remedy of the evils un der which they are, and have been laboring, "for, lo, these many years." The views of all our Indian agents, so far as my knowledge extends, coincides with the friends of the emigration plan; and, with very few exceptions, we find the benevolent and pious missionaries, who have long labored for the benefit of this unfortunate race, decidedly in favor of the emigrating plan. One respectable denomination of Christians have memorialized the present Congress on this subject, and urged, with much earnestness and ability, the results of their labors and experience, in favor of the emigration plan; which is the only plan by which the Indians can ever be considered permanently located and settled. Sir, these opinions of wisdom, experience, and piety, I present as a reply to the voluminous details of the two distinguished gentlemen from Ohio [Mr. WooDs and Mr. VINTON.] If the committee, or the country, ask for any further reply to the remarks of these gentlemen, I will refer to the remarks of another gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. McLEAN] the honorable Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. His pertinent, and very appropriate remarks, must be impressed upon the recollection of every gentleman who was present yesterday when he delivered them. That gentleman, with all his known vigilance and assiduous attention to the local interest of his immediate constituents, when It is known to every gentleman of this committee, his duty requires it, enters upon the business of national that my allusions are directed to the state of things, exlegislation, with a liberal dignity of purpose which em-isting between the State of Georgia and the Cherokee braces the general interests of the whole country. And, Indians, and the Government of the United States. It upon this occasion, the brief view which he took of this is a subject, sir, which, after all that has transpired, I can subject, and the information which he submitted to this but approach with reluctance. But, as one of the Recommittee, is, to my mind, sufficient of itself, to obliterate presentatives of that State, and as a member of the Comall the labors of his two colleagues. Sir, the remarks on mittee on Indian Affairs, duty impels me to use every this subject, submitted by the Chairman of the Commit- effort to draw the attention of the present Congress, and tee on Indian Affairs, reminded me of the saying of the of the Nation, to the importance which is necessarily atwise man of antiquity: "Words, fitly spoken, are like tached to this subject. I feel it my duty to warn this apples of gold, in pictures of silver." committee, and the nation, of the impending evils which must necessarily grow out of an imbecile course on the part of this Government. I deem it to be unnecessary to enter into all the details of the compact, entered into between Georgia and the United States, in the year 1802. The history of that transaction seems at last to be well understood here, and every where else. I know the subject is perfectly understood by every member of the Committee on Indian Affairs; and I will avail myself of this opportunity to add, that I have the most entire confidence that every member of that committee are disposed to do justice to Georgia, as well as to the Cherokee Indians. Indeed, from what we daily hear from members on this floor, I cannot doubt but what the long delayed rights of Georgia upon this subject have gained the attention of the Representatives of the People of this Nation-and that the cause of right and of justice will no longer be urged in vain. In relation to the compact between Georgia and the General Government, entered into in 1802, I will briefly state, in a summary way, that, whenever Georgia has urged the fulfilment of this compact, the United States have never denied the debt, but urged the plea of inability-alleging that the Indian title could not be extinguished "upon reasonable and peaceable terms. Upon the other hand, Georgia has alleged, and continues to allege, that the very impediments which lie in the way of extinguishment, have been produced by the policy pursued by the United States. But, I find, sir, that the feeble state of my health will not admit of my extending my remarks to many important details which I had intended to present to this committee; I will, therefore, again advert to the actual state of things in relation to the Cherokee Indians at the present time. Gentlemen deny that the policy of this Government is settled, in relation to the question of Indian emigration. I am of a different opinion. Mr. Monroe's Administration marked out the plan, and recommended its adoption in strong terms. The present Administration has continued to urge, upon all fit occasions, the views of its predecessors upon this subject. Congress, I admit, have Hever sanctioned the plan to the full extent which it has been recommended by the Executive Government. Nevertheless, many acts of legislation might be cited, which were based in the execution of this plan. Look at the various appropriations of money to extinguish Indian title to lands within the States, and to privide for their removal and settlement West of the river Mississippi. It is true, I am myself in favor of legislating upon a more extended and comprehensive plan, upon this subject. And, with a view to general legislation upon this subject, at an early day of the present session, I introduced a resolution, which was adopted, "instructing the Committee on Indian Affairs to inquire into the expediency of providing, by law, for the removal of all the remnant tribes of Indians, within the limits of any of the States or Territories of this Union, to some eligible situation West of the river Mississippi." The report of the committee, in answer to this resolution, has long since been made to this House, and is altogether favorable to the objects embraced in the resolution. As a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs, I was, however, disposed to go much further than a mere favorable report. I was disposed to make ample provision for carrying into full effect the emigration plan, and did, accordingly, submit a report and bill to the committee, in lieu of the report which was made to the House. But the majority of the committee preferred the report made to the House, and I felt it my duty to acquiesce. VOL. IV-100 39 The Cherokee Indians, who principally reside within the limits of Georgia, have, in the course of the past year, renewed their often repeated declaration, that they will never-no, never-relinquish their present possessions, They have placed this declaration in a constitutional form; and, with all the formality of a sovereign and independent State, they have set up for themselves. They not only disregard Georgia, and the rights of Georgia, but they have actually enacted laws, and execute them, too, which are in direct violation of the laws of the United States. I have the highest authority for making this statement, which I will submit to the committee. [FER. 20, 1828. or for the section of the Union from whence he comesa specific right to all that portion of our Western wilds which lie north of a certain parallel of latitude. Sir, our unlocated territory, which lies out of the limits of the present States, is the equal and joint property of this Union, regardless of the latitude where it may be found. These lands are the property of the nation; and I wish the most eligible portion of it to become a permanent The Legislature of Georgia, at its last session, have ex-home and habitation for the oppressed and afflicted sons tended the jurisdiction of the criminal laws of that State of Ishmael. I trust, sir, we shall hear no more of secover the Cherokee country lying within the limits of tional claims, when we have in view a great national obGeorgia, and have added the country to the former coun- ject, which must and will be effected. ties of the State of Georgia. And, in the State paper of My debility (occasioned by my late indisposition) is Much reGeorgia, printed at the seat of Government, (Milledge- such, that I find my strength and voice fails. ville,) I, this day, see the proclamation of Governor For- mains to be said, but I feel unable to proceed further.syth, notifying all persons whom it may concern, of the [Mr. CARSox, of N. C., proposed to Mr. L. to move for provisions of the act of the Legislature, and requiring the committee to rise, report progress, and ask leave to obedience and respect to its provisions, and execution sit again, with a view of affording Mr. L. an opportunity from citizens and officers of every grade and description. of continuing his remarks. Mr. L. thanked him for his Now, sir, what must be the result of this anomaly of three kindness, but observed that he would prefer yielding the separate and distinct Governments, exercising sovereign-floor to other gentlemen who wished to take part in the ty of jurisdiction, under conflicting laws, enacted by three discussion, and accordingly took his seat. separate and distinct legislatures, over the same people, and at the same time? and, in some cases, these three distinct sovereign legislatures have enacted laws upon the same identical subjects, which laws do not harmonize in their provisions. Mr. WHITE said he felt great reluctance, at all times, in troubling the House with his remarks on any subject, and more especially at this moment, when its patience must be exhausted by the elaborate discussion of the bill under consideration. He would not have taken part in I will give you one or two cases, out of many, which the debate on the present motion, if the gentleman from actually do exist, and are in daily conflict. The United Ohio had not made some observations on the condition of States laws prohibit the introduction of spirits into the the Florida Indians, and suggested a mode of relief, nation, and, if introduced by a citizen, it is liable to con- which, in his opinion, it was not within the power of fiscation, with all his packages of goods, &c., the one-half Congress to grant. Before I go into that subject, howto the informer, and the other to the United States. The ever, said Mr. W., I will say a word or two on the singu Cherokee laws prohibit the introduction of spirits also, lar course of this debate. The Committee of Ways and under a fine or penalty of one hundred dollars, and a for- Means have reported a bill for the Indian service, which, feiture of the spirits-one half to the informer, and the among other things, provides an appropriation of money other half to the treasury of the Cherokee nation. The to enable the President of the United States to send exlaws of Georgia do not prohibit the sale of spirits in large ploring parties of Indians from the east to the west side quantities at all; and those who wish to retail, procure a of the Mississippi river, to examine the country. This license from the county court for that purpose. Another exploration may, or may not, be followed by treaties of similar case I will present to the committee. The Unit- cession of their lands on the east side, for lands on the ed States law prohibits peddling in the nation, or selling other. If treaties are formed consequent upon the exmerchandise at any other than the places designated by the amination made by them, it must be by their own conagent; and annexes its fines and forfeitures for a violation sent, so long as the United States pursue their present poof the law. The Cherokee law authorizes any citizen to licy. The two gentlemen from Ohio have discussed this peddle or trade where they please in the nation, on pay-question, not as a proposition to obtain information, by ing twelve dollars a year to the treasurer of the nation, this unfortunate race, to see whether their condition may and one dollar to the officer issuing the license. The not be bettered, by an exchange from their present deplo laws of Georgia admit of no peddling, without first ob-rable situation, to one more congenial to their nature, and taining a license, for which the applicant pays one hundred dollars a year, which entitles him to peddle and vend his goods any where within the limits of the State. This state of things cannot exist: something must be done, and the sooner it is done the better. It is high time these unfortunate people should know their destiny, plainly and positively. They should know precisely in what relation they do stand to the United States, and in what relation they do stand to the particular States in which they reside. A state of suspense is the worst of all cruelty that can be exercised towards this noble race of people. If they are to be resigned to the States and the State laws, I call upon this Congress to tell them so. If we determine upon their emigration to the West, the Booner they know it the better, that they may send their Calebs and Joshuas to search out and view the promised land: for, situated as they now are, and where they are, there is no rest for the sole of an Indian foot. better adapted to their habits of life. They appear to discuss it as if it were a proposition for their removal, without respect to their inclinations, or rights. One motion to strike out having failed, the gentleman who has addressed the House with so much zeal and ability, today, proposes an amendment that none of the Indians, South of 36 deg. 30 min. North latitude, shall be remov. ed North of that line. Sir, the gentleman well knows that the United States own but a small portion of Territory, if any, South of that line, which is not within the limits of the States and Territories. If he supposes that we do not understand that the object of his amendment is to destroy the effect of the appropriation, he gives us less credit for perspicacity, than we accord to him. We understand this, as well as we do the ultimate objects he has in view, in proposing the amendment. It would not have been mistaken, if something about the formation of new States and Territories, and the balance of power, Sir, it is with the deepest regret that I have witnessed had not fallen from him. The United States are acknow. such ardent exertions to defeat the best and most reason-ledged to be the undisputed owner of all the Territory able plans which can be devised for the salvation of the North of Arkansas, and West of Missouri, to the Rocky poor, perishing, and afflicted aborigines of this country. Mountains. Now, sir, if it should be ascertained that the I have been greatly surprised that any gentleman on this miserable remant of the Aborigines of this Continent floor should assume a claim for himself, his constituents, could find, in that extensive wilderuess, a home remote |