Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1829-12-17

OscdStoncI bY an oruef OIL tlc late a1nulis-
tration ,.departing materially from the rules
which had previously prevailed. Consider
ing il an act of legislation, suspen led
its operation as soon as | was informed that
it commenced. Before this period however,
applications had been preferred, 10 the mum
Der Of one hundred and fiity-four or which,
on the 9th of March, the date of its rcvoca-
ton, eighty-seven were admitted For the
amount, there was neither estimate nor ap-
preparation; and besides this deficiency, the
regular allowances, according to the rules
which have heretofore governed the Depart
ment, exceed the estimate Of its late Secreta-
~, by about fifty thousand dollars: for which
an appropriation is asked.
Your particular attention is requested to
that part of the report Of the Secretary of
War which relates TO the money held in trust
for the Seneca tribe Of Indians IL will he
perceived that, without legislative aid, the
Executive cannot obviate the embarrassments
ocsasioned by the elimination Of the diyi
dends on that fund, which originally arnoun-
| ted to one hundred thousand dollars, and has
| recently been Invested in United States three
per ceRt. stock.
The condition and Interior destiny Of the
Indian Tribes within the limits of some of our
States, have become objects of much interest
and Importance. 1t has lorg been the policy
OF Government to introduce among them the
arts of civilization, in the hope OF gradually
reclaimins them from wandering life. This
policy bias been coupled with another, wholly
incompatible with It's success. Protesting a
desire to civiize and settle them, we have,
| at the same time, lost no opportunity to
purchase their lands and thrust them further
| into the wilderness. BY this means they
have not only been kept In a wandering state,
but have been led to look upon us as unjust
| and indifferent to their fate. Thus, though
lavish in its expenditures upon the subject,
Government has constantly defeated its own
policy; and the Indians in general receding
further and further 10 the West. ave retain
| ed their sarage habits A portion, however,
of the Southern tribes, having mingled mach
with the whites, and made some progress in
the arts ofcivilized life, have lately attempted
to erect an independent government within
the limits of Georgia aud Alabama. These
| States, claiming TO be the only Ssyereigns
within their territories, extended their laws
| over the indians; which induced the latter to
call upon the United States fer protection.
| Under these circumstances, the question
| presented was, whether the General Govern
| ment had right TO Sustain those people in
! their pretensions? The Constitution declares.
| that one new state shall be formed or erected
within the jurisdiction of any other state"
without the consent Of its Legislature. Ii the
| General Government is not permitted to toIe-
! rate the erection Of confederate State with
| in the territory of enc of the members Of this
| Union, against her consent, mach less could
it aflowsa foreign and Independent govern
| ment to establish itself there Georgia be-
came member Of the Confcderacy which G.
ventilated in our federal union, as a sover-
ciSn State, always asserting her claim to Ger
tain hmits,-whch, having been originally
defined in her colonial charter, and subse-
! quently recognized an the treaty of peace, she
has ever continued to enjoy, except as they
have been circumscr,bed by her own volunta-
~ transfer ofa portion of her territory to the
| United States, in the articles of cessien oi
1902. Alabama was admitted into the Union
on the same footing with the original states,
with boundaries which were prescribed by
Congress. There is no constitutional, con
ventonai, or legal provision which aIlows
them less power over the Indians within their
! borders, than IS possessed by Maine or New
York. Weuld the people Of Maine permit
the Penobscot tribe to erect an Independent
Government within their State? Would the
people OF New York perait each remnant OF
the six nations within her borders to declare
itself an independent people, under the DO
lection of the u. States? Could the Indians
establish separate republic on each of theil
reservations in Ohio? And if they were 50
disposed, would it be the duty Of this Govern
rlent TO protect them in the attempt If the
principle Involved IN the obvious answer OF
these questions be abandoned, 1T would fol
low that the objects OF this Government are
reversed; and that it has become part Of it.
duty to aid in destroying the states which il
was established to protect
Actuated by this view of the subject, In
formed the Indians inhabiting parts of Geor
gia and Alabama, that their attempt to esta,
blish an independent government, would not
be ceuntenanced by the Exec utive of the L
States, and advised them to emigrate beyond
the Mississippi; or submit to the laws of those
States.
Our conduct towards these people is deep
iy interesting to our national character-
Their present condition, contrasted witt
what they once were, makes a most power
fol appeal to orr syinpathies. Our ancestor:
found them uncontrolled possessors of these
vast regions. by persuasion and force, they
have been made TO retire from river to river
and from mountain to mountain, until some
OF the tribes have become extinct. and Others
have left bat remnants TO preserve, for
while, their once terrible names. Surround
ed by the whites with their arts of civiliza-
ton, which, by destroying the resources o
the savage, doom him to weakness and de
cay, the fate Of the Mohegan, the Narasan
sett, and the Delaware, is fast overtaking the
Choctaw, the Cherokee and the Greek. That
this fate surely awaits them, docs not admit
g L