The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1792-03-07 00:00:00, page 2

who enlist on the regular efljbßih-}
spent —these latter being colle^ed k^
the heart of populous cities, where । 1
the face of an Indian is seldom f&n, jI
hardly know whether tteindi?n and }
his horse are not the fame animal — j
and when they approach the enemy,
at rhe very kill iheat,cven before
he is in view, they are terrified at
ibeidea of lavage barbarity, whichj
they have ever been taegfa to reflect |
on with horror and being incapable !
of refinance, they commit their fafc- _
tv to flight. Toprove the fuperiori
ty of the militia, gentlemen need on
ly contrast the dilpach and success of
the expedition conducted by General
Scot;, with the delays, .disgrace and
mortification which attended that un
der General Sc. Clair, and confider
the difference of the expeace on those
two occasions,. .; ~
The expense of such an army as
the bill contemplates, i^ an object
well worthy of serious consideration,
especially at the present moment
when there is scarcely a dollarin. the
treafery. Gentlemen.would do .well
to advert to the, progress, of this bu
fincfs, and confider where they were
like to flop, if they went on at the
p^fent rate at firft/ only a
single regiment had been raised, and
the expenfowas about 100 000 dol
lars ; a second was afterwards added,
which fwelted the. expenfejo about
3QO 000 dollars ; ,aad now a Landing
torce^cf 5168 men is, contemplated,
at an annual expense or a million and
a.quarter. Can Uris be jollified in the
present Rate of our finances, when it is
well known that the Secretary of the
Treafary, having been requeued by
the members from a particular slate,
to build a light-houfc on a par, of
their coast, declined the undertaking,
nod alleged'the want of funds, us the
rcafon? .„
Our refoorces however might be
made to answer for the fopportoffuch
a force as that, which was intended
for the service of the preceding year,
and there would be little complaint
erdiffatisfadion among the people
few murmorings were heard ag&inft
the former establishment; but such *
one as is now contemplated, will be
thought extravagant, will breed die
content among the citizens of the U
nited Stata, and perhaps afford our
neighbours in Canada an opportunity
to' take advantage of our divided fitu
a^on, and involve as in a war more
dangerous than the former which fe.
parated ns from Great-Britain.
Apprehensions (it was said) are en
tertained, that the objed contempla
ted in raffing chafe additional troops,
is net so much to punish and coerce
the Indians, as to have a Handing re
gular force, equal to whit the BrKith
have on this continent. This is said
to amount to abont fix thousand men,
including those in Canada ; but it is
to be remarked,that the British nation
has net above one thousand men within
the limits of the United States ; & yet
with this handful of troops, they not
only keep thelndians in awe, but
even, fn opposition to the withes of
the United States, retain possession of
those posts, which should have been
ceded to us putfuant to the terms of
the treaty. Why then is it necessary,
for the purpose of establishing polls &
garrifdning them, to eftcreafe the
finding force to so large a number,as
that contemplated in the tlaufe under
confederation ? During our late ardu--
ous draggle for liberty, when we had
to cope with the most powerful nation
under heaven,the commander in chief
bad never at any one time above ten
thousand men, under his own imme
diate command; and if with so fmali
a force,we were able to effed so glori.
ous a revolution, there can be no necef
fitv of going such lengths at present,
for the fa±e of establishing a military
character; Ris flange policy indeed,
to raise five or fix thousand
oppose a handful Os Indian banditti,
w hose utmost amo^f does not from
the documents On thtjable, appear
to exceed 12 hundred;
Wo are preparing to ftpander away ,
money by mn'.ienband no one,except
those who aie in the secrets of the ca
b.pct, knows for what re Ton the war
hac been carried u for 3 years-——,
but what finds are to defray the en-1
creased expense of maintaining such a 1
force asis now contemplated? Theex-1
cite is both unpopular and uriproduc-|
ti ve ; -—the import duties have
been raised as high as is confident
with prudence :< -to encreafe them
woold be but to open a door for
finagling, and thus diminish their
productiveness • ano ;f chose lourecs
of revenue fail,if our 'finances be thus
exhausted in unaeceffary ware, we
will be unable to fatisfy the public
creditors, unless recourse be had to
new taxes the confeqnences of.which
may, with just reason, be deplored ;
whereas, if we but keep out expenses
within bounds, if we nurse our finan-.
c~s, we will be rcfpedable among
the nations of the earth, nor will any
nation dare to insult us, or be able
to do it with impunity. ;:
During the course of these obferva
cions, an honourable gentleman afc
ed, whether this was a day feta part
for rhetorical flourishes, as the galle
ries were open, and he saw the Short
hand writers Rationed at their dif
ferent posts ? , r
Atan early Rage of (he debate, an
honorable gentleman had fuggefled,
that, inlUadol passing a law for rai
f:»g at all events the additional regi
ments? which for his part, bq did.not
.hink necessary, the hopfe (if they
finally determined the present ella
blifhment to be fufficient) would per
haps do better to appropriate a certain
sum of money, to enable the execu
tive to call in such additional aid, as
circumstances may require.
To this it was objected, that it is
the duty of the representatives of the
people in all appropriations, of the
public money, to make them forcer-,
lain Specific purpefes „ —-to aft o
therwite on the present occafion,would
be getting a precedent, that might,
in its conferences, prove highly in
jurious: for,although the greatest con
fidence may fafely be reposed in the
virtue and integrity Qf him who now
fills the prefidentialchair,it is impos
sible to forefee what use may hereaf
ter be made of the precedent by his
successors, orhow far it may be car
ried.
Against the motion for ftfifcing out
and in favor of the proposed augmen
tation of the military establishment,
it was urged,
.That, as to the justice of war car
ried on against the Indian tribes,that
was a question which could not ad
mit of a doubt in the mind of any
man, who would allow that felf pre
servation and indifpenfible nccfffiiy
are fofficient causes to juftify a nation
in taking up arms :— — — if the present
war be not in every refped juftifiable
then there never was, nor ever will
be a just war: ityas originally un
dertaken, and since carried co, not
for the fake of conqueff, but to de
fend our fellow citizens, our foencs,
our dearest connexions, who are dai„
exposed, in the frontier Settlements,
to all the rage of savage barbarity, to
which they, with their wives and
children, must soon fall vidiims, cn
lefs we speedily fly to their affillance:
——and although there ate feme
people,who utterly deny the justice
of any war whatever, this dodrine
however fine in theory, will hardly
ever obtain in practice: for is it to
be imagined, that any set of men are
of such passive disposition, as calmly
to look on, whilst their friends and re
lations are butchered before their
eyes, and to refufe giving them every
assistance in their power ?
The murders and depredations,
which have, for years past, been re
peatedly committed, by the savages,
loudly call for redress ; Trom va
rious documents of unquestionable
authority, now in the hands of the
feeretary at war, signed and attested
by the executive and legislature of
Kentucky, by the diilna judge, and
ihc captains of the militia,:: appears
that hum the year 1783 to ' rp?,
there have been of the inhabianis
of that diftri^, or of emigrants on
their way thither, no less than fifteen
hundred persons either maflacred by
the lavages, or dragged into capti
vity ; two thousand rhorfes taken
away ; and other property plundered
or destroyed, to the amount of sis,
thousand dollars ;- and there is
good reason to suppose, that, on the
ocher frontiers of Virginia &nd Pchn
fyivdnia, the number of perform mur
dered or taken prisoners, during the
above-mentioned period, would fur
nim a lift of one thousand or fifteen
hundred more.
The white people, it is true, have
sometimes committed depredations
on the Indians : but the-instances
have been rare [the honorable gen
tleman who fpeke, did not recoiled:
above one or two] of their making
unjust attacks upon the savages, nor
did they tin those occasions com
mence hostilities against them, till
exasperated by the ftrengeft provo
cations, that could pcffibly ffimclate
the human heart : this circutoftance
may be jußly allowed as some palli
ation of the offence : .even in these
inßatoes, however, h few individuals
only we e concerned ; and when the
affair came to the knowledge of the
/late,afnple reparation was made to
the injured party :—the general go
v&ament too had shewn an equal
diipofiuon to do justice to the Indian
tribes ;.witnefs the affair of the Che
rokees : for as Toon as Congrhfs had
heard their complaints of an en.
erbachment made on them by feme
of the people from the frontier of
Carolina, immediate orders were is
sued for obliging the intruders to e
vacuafe the Indian territory.
But notwithstanding the difpofiti
cn that prevails as well in the legif
latures of those Rates whose frontiers
are most exposed, as in the general
government, to cultivate peace and
amity with the neighbouring Indi
ans, that desirable obje& is become
utterly unattainable at the present
posture of affairs :—The frontier In
dians have killed a number of
whites ; the whites, in their turn,
have made retaliation—both parties
are in the highest degree exasperated
against each other,and likely to conti-
Ihue so, in fpitc of every endeavor that
can be made to effect a reconciliation
, — with minds thus irritated, it is
vain to hope for peace, as long as
they continue in each other's neigh
borhood ; it"is therefore necessary to
form a strong barrier, to keep them
asunder, unless indeed the advocates
for a cessation of hostilities would o
blige the frontier settlers to abandon
their lands—but by what new-inven
ted rule of right should the inhabi
tants of Kentucky, and the other
frontier settlements be laid under a
greater obligation, than any other
citizens of the United States, to re
linquish a property legally acquired
I by fair purchase ?—were it even pro
-Ipofed to pacify the savages, by pur
ckafing the lands anew, such a mea
fme would answer no other purpose,
than ib^t of precurirg a temporary
peace, which would soon be inter
rupted by a wa.r> that would repro
duce the neceflity of again having re
course to the fame expedient—we
would have to purchase the lands a
gain without end ; by thus fqcander
ing the public money year after year
we would only swell the national
debt to an amount, that we cannot
pcffibly ferefee— better at once to
mike a vigoious effort, to a& in a
manner becoming the national dig
nity, and to maintain cur ground by
war since we cannot obtain a dura
ble or an honorable peace.
Attempts have at various times
been made to effed treaties of peace
with the Indian tribes, with whom
we are now at War —and although
these efforts, have constantly proved
inutlcausl, they \ev sh w :bat nd.her
the United States nor the dare of
Virginia were backward cn ther
p?rt, to adopt conciliatory mrafincs ~
and to do away that afri^cfey wnica
had commenced^ on the parr of :n:
savages at an early period cf the late
war with Britain, and had cununut^
to break Out at intervals ever finoe.
In the years 1785, 84,-85537, 83,
and 00, cfFefs'o; peace were made 10
them —on the lad mentioned oecafi
00,when a..treaty- was proposed at the
Miami Village, the Indians at fifth
reiufed to treat—they next required
thirty days to deliberate —and in the
interim, the inhabi.ants of Kentucky
were exprefsiy prohibited by the Pre
sident of the United S ates, to carry
on any effenfive operations .against
them ; yet notwithstanding this for
bearance on the part of the whites,
no less than 120 parsons wire-killed
or captured by the savages, and seve
ral prisoners roasted alive,during that
(here period, at the expiration of
which the Indians refufed to give a
ny @nfwcr at all.
On another cceafen, the Indians
not content with rejecting our offers
of peace, proceeded even so far as to
infolc us,by telling u,s, we have lands
within theßritifhFciis.&afkingos why
we did not go and take Fcih ffrcn of
them? Will it be faid,that we are un
able to do i'?—is this language to be
used within the United States ; —no!
— : we are able, abundantly able to do
it, whenever we please—and if we
would retrerch our expenses in feme
instances, which might well admit of
a reduction, our ability would Rill
encreafe—our foatces are notquite so
insufficient as feme pettlemen ftercjo
imagine, mor so easily deranged—we
are flill able to prove that the beaded
efficiency of the general government
is something more than an empty
name—se can raise both men and
money Efficient to defend the nation
from either injury or insult.
[Th remain ier in the fourth page.)
A MURDER of the meft barba
rous nature was committed
(aft Monday night, on a Mr.. Joseph
Ward and wife, in Seneca, Montgo
mery county. The perpetrator of
this infernal aa is fupptled to be a
black fellow that lived in the hoefe.
and who, after the family had retired
to bed, and all was dark and fileet,
got up, furnished with an axe to com
fait the horrid deed, and Role qu e&
ly to the bed-fide where Mr. Ward,
his wife, and little daughter (they
being all the family) lay—the for
mer of whom he flruck firft, on the
head, with the axe, and then his
wife, repeating his blows until he
had deprived them of their existence.
Be then took a chunk of fire and
threw it into the garret of the house,
among a quantity of tow, where it
kindled in very little time. In the
mean while the little girl made her
escape to a neighbouring house, at
which place the negro arrived imme
diately after, to inform that his mat
ter's house was on fire ;on hearing of
which, the neighbours went immedi
ately, and the negro with them, to
try, if pebble, to extinguish the
fire. When they arrived at the house,
the flameshad not got as far down
ar the lodging room of Mr, And Mrs.
Ward, (neither of whom was to ba
seen) it was conjeflured they must
not have awaked, whereupon they in-
Rantly rushed up flairs to apprise
them of their danger, but to their
aßonifhmtDt, they found them in
tieir bed murdered, the marks of
violence being fufficient proof of the
fpppofition 4 The negro is, at pre
sent, confined in Montgomery goal.
American Advices.
GEORGETOWN JAN. 7.