The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-07-27
fGbe enquirer.
RICHMOND JULY 81. 1910.
FOR THE EMQUIRER.
YAZOO FRAUD.

maxims of municipal jurisprudence ought
not, and Cannot. be applied. 1, is from great
hrst principles. to which the patriots of Geor-
ga 50 gloriously appealed, that we must
look for aid in such extremity. Yes, ex
tremc cases, like this, call for extreme rene
dies. They bid defiance to palliatives, aud
1t is only from the knife, or the actual caute.
ry, that you can expect relief. There is no
cure short OF extirpation.. Attorneys and
| Judges do not decide the fate of empress
/ Such were the words of Mr.. John Ran
! deiph on the floor of the III. of II. on the
" h January, 1S05-aod most wonderful
to tell, Cif aught could be wonderful in the
revolutions OF SYch a genius,) the Supreme
Court or the y. States have pronounced their
decision. aud yet the thunders of MIR. RS
Indignation sleep! On one occasion onIy.
! (as TAR as my memory extends) has he ven
tured to touch on this subject, in Congress
and certainly,there were then no marks
OF indignation or fear: He can shoot his ar
rows AT the President of the u S.-but the
Chief Justice of Che u it seems, is an object
too sacred for attack. -..
! what Is, really, astonishing is, that SO lit
tie notice has been publicly taken of the de
! cision OF the Supreme court. The press
seems TO have slept, amidst the peri!s of
the countrywide those perils are no longer
speculative or distant--events are now ra
pidiy approaching, when ignorance ceases
to be innocence and apathy becomes crime,
Mark the lessons of experience.
On the very instant, that the opinion
OF the Supreme Court was proclaimed i'm
, Boston, the YaSoo Spectators were on tip
toe.
Notice was given in the papers, that a
| meeting was to be held on a certain day and
in Boston, by all the Yazoo claimants. with
the view of taking advantage of the opinion
! OF the Court. The Divan assembled and
committee was appointed to draft out the
best course OF proceeding The Report was
not puolished-because prudence, of course
suggesie ed its conceament But from that
moment to this, the subject has been wrapt
+, up IN darkness-one solitary ray, however.
Tor the first time, now shoots from the gloom
and even this glimmers in such medium,
as Is not very likely to attract much of the
public attention. 1t is not couched in the
form OF proclamation, of manifesto a -.
| gainst the u. 3, Of a law, or even a resoluti
on OF the iazoo board-but in the more
modest guise Of an Advertisement, and from
private Individual. This advertisement. is
however real manifesto against the rights
OF the U S.--And that individual is MIR.
John Peck. he doughty defendant to the suit
before the Supreme Conrt
L his advertisement CLEANS in the National
lntelligencer---and l am sorry to see.
that it appears i'll such respectable paper,
without one qaaim of conscience, one warn
ing whisper TO rouse us, or one protest -
gainst Its principles .----From this paper.
the printers OF certain papers in Georgia,
Tennessee. Kentucky, North and South Car
DINA the Mississippi and Orleans territories,
are requested to copy it." Their bills
shall be paid to their order by Jim Peck 4"
FRIENDS OF the Country is II not time to
awaken from the slunbers, in which you are
entranced The enemy is at your gates.
A band OF greedy SPECTATORS, with cor
rupIon III their front, and the semblance
Oh justice In their rear, are marching in tri-
umph over the PROSTATE ruins OF public vir-
tue. They proclaim, to us, that the Su-.
preme court of the U. S is their friend and
ally; that the u. S. are usurpers, who are
surviving to rob them of their rightful posses
sions' Millions OF acres are the prize of the
victors. Friends of the u States-friends
OF public virtue--will you sleep on-and
VIII yon suffer almost an. Enpire--the
Whoie fazoo country--to recompense the
fraud OF rapacious spectators?
MS advertisement speaks, for ITSELF
Ii is addressed as CautiOnary Noice" to
settlers and all persons contemplating ma
kihS purchases of lands in the Mississippi
territory, granted by the Legislature of the
state OF Georgia by their act passed the 7th
day OF January 1875" 1t tells them. that the
10y vi thS treasury idlu Report De-.
tore Congress OH the 15Sh December last,
comprising letter from John Brahan. receiv
er OF the public monies in which &c he has
endeavored to diffuse the most erroneous
| impressions, relative to the title of those i'm
dIviduals, who claim under the aforesaid act"
In this letter, Mr.. b. thinks it expedIent
to have the authority of the Sec. of the
reas. to inform the settlers who may pur
chase (under the u. So that if the lands
they purchase should be taken from them
by better claim (than that of the u. >
mat government will remunerate the pur
chase money, together with interest, and
also compensation for improving the land"
" esuming that this error may be general
WIN all the individuals around him for his
and their information," Nj. Peck most gene
ousiy comes forward " to communicate the
following extracts from the opinion of the
supreme Court OF the u. 5 in which the
merits OF the Georgia grants have been full
| iy discussed; the title to the purchasers un
der the act OF 1875 adjudged Uaitd, and the
resembling act Of the state OF Georgia of 1896
decided null and void
FLETCHER VS. PECK.
In the Supreme Court. held al Washington,
February term, 1910, Hon. John Marshall,
| Chief Justice, delivered the opinion of the
Court from which the following is an ex~
| tract
1t is then the unanimous opinion of the
court that, in this case, the estate having
1 - Il