Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-03-22

gentlemen. il belongs TO designate iht
mode Of exercising that power: or TO POM
ont the difficulties by which its exercise
NIGH, h. impeded. and on this branch q
the suIisot. YOU have already been favor
Cd with very able argumen as W.
from your rste commissions as rom ;he
co. IN fro + ed,rIck To ne I seen
10 he of very little importane how tie
question nav be decided between them.
I am satisfied with knowing that u Inc 'e
Gersl courts can Apply remedy, IL hus'
be. bv tedious and expensive process,
operating on each Individual case anu
conducted through all the d'cuities, wh'ch
a proud, powerful, an interested, ana an
jrri,ated state can interpose hhd Is IL 20
such process that you would no" conS'gp
The author, OF your independence, your
hitherto forbearing creditors? After forty
wears of delay, Justified only by The ex-
irsmes, state ofnecessity, will you DOW ex'
noss them. 10 a questionable jurisdiction,
an uncertain remedy, 10 endless litigation,
and unavoidable expense ii such be
yonr determination. well indeed may the
,ngrs,itude oil republics be proyerblai; and
Won vii. have shewn that ingratitude Is
not the highest crime OF which a repub. C
&C s"'lty.
But YOU are asked, where you are TO
find a safer tribunal, than the supreme
cour, of the United States? And the gen.
tlemsn who asked the question, has &C.
companied it by an elogium on lbe federal
court, as eloquent, as 1t was Just. The
senate need not be'tolj, that yield to no
man. in the respect and unbounded ven
Grafton, which eatertain for that august
tribunal. Trsnscending the narrow Inn
It's, which the gentleman IRON FrederlcK
has prescribed TO bis confidence ! am
willing TO trust them, even on questions
connected with the extent OF their OVID
power. Nor 10 think my preference, on
the present occasion, tor the board OF COM
missioners, contemplated 10 that bill, at
ali inconsistent, with the feelings ! have
expressed. The inconvenience 0f re-
sort, by the holders of your military war
rspls, TO the federal court, have already
been pointed out. II is enough, that The
tribunal, which the bill proposes, will be
free from those inconvenience. Its JuriS-
diction will be certain. its decision spec
DIV, and its process sumnary-operatf Og,
not on individual cases, but on an entire
class OF claims, and 10 be enforced, not
against the will, but with the unqualified
consent of Kentucky. Looking to The in
reres,s of the claimants only, then, you
certainly cannot hesitate. They have gi-
ven every possible indication of their pre-
ference for this hoard. They have for
borne, for four years siace the ex,inguish-
nent OF the Indian title. resort to anT
OF the e1pedien's suggested by the gen
rleman from frederick. They have most
earnestly solicited of you, the very sort
of interference in their behalf, for which
that bill provides. And your proceedings,
during The last session. were conclusive
evidence Of the convictions of your Own
minds, that their prayers were reasosa-
bic.
And what considerations will now justi-
fy you in abandoning their interests? The
guarantee seems to constitute the only dill
ficulty. Ii is this, which our imaginations
have magnihed until our hearts have shrunk
within themselves, as from The contem-
plation OF "gorgons, hydras and chimeras
dire" And what, let me ask you, Sir, is
this dreadful guarantee? Simply a pledge,
on the part of Virginia, that 1t Kentucky
will agree to the organization OF the triou-
nal, that has been proposed, its decree
shall be final. and obligatory on her oppo'
nents, as well as herself Now, Sir, IS
there any thing unreasonable in this de-
mand OF Kentucky! Recollect the situation
in which she will stand, il this bill be
rejected She is in peaceable possession
Of the very land in question. She knows
that the claimants under your warrants
will not risk. and cannot find redress 10
her courts. She knows, that the JursdIc.
ton OF the federal courts, in the case, IS
by no means certain. and she knows m
fne, that it their jurisdiction should be
maintained, il is in her power to nterpose
difficulties, almost as inSurmouDtab'e as
the want of jurisdiction itself. ani yet all
these advantages, she is willing to forego.
In lieu of her own courts, where you can
not get, and indeed does not hope for JUS
tice-in lieu Of the doubtful, or at ell e.
vents, the troublesome and expensive Iu-
r,sdction OF the federal courts, where case
after case must be tried, and Judgment at
ter Judgment be had, she offers you tri.
bunal before which, your claimants, have,
at least, an equal chance o. justice with
herseli-a tribunal, whose jurisdiction
shall be undoubted; and who's decisions,
iembracirg not individual cases, but The
entire class of claimants, shall be final
and obligatory on berselt. All that she
asks in return, is, that it shall be OblIgato-
ry on the opposite party also. She does
no, ask it 1T them; because from their
numbers, aud detached situation, il is i'm.
possible thai they should give an answer.
But she asks of you. who appear as their
iriead, their advocate and their patron
And ought you, or can you injustice, Ell.
ther to Kentucky or to the holders OF your
warrants, refuse your assent?
If by it, you are to be involved in any
new rssponsibiity-if, in the language