Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Mass.) 1828-1830, 1829-12-22
MISCELLANEOUS.
FROM THE NATIONAL INTELLIGLNcER.
PRESENT CRISIS in THE CONDITION OF
THE AMERICAN INDIANS.
NO. XXX.

From the preceding investigation it is
manifest that the Cherokees can plead
against the claims Of Georgia, not only
that best Of titles, immemorial occupancy,
fortified as it is by the solemn guaranty
of the United States, in which guaranty
the faith Of Georgia is pledged with that
Of every other State in the Union; but
they can plead, also, the repeated and
solemn acts of Georgia herself, as an in.
dependent State-acts, which stand forth
as most convincing proof, that the national
character of the Indians was acknowledg.
ed by the State, and their rights of terri.
tory regarded as indispntable.
1t is commended however, that the Unit
ed States are bound to e1tinguish the In
dian title to all lands which are now
claimed as belonging to Georgia. This
obligation is supposed to be derived from
the compact of 1902.
In one of my previous numbers it was
stated that controversy existed, at the
close of the revolutionary war, in regard
to the question, whether the United States,
in their federative capacity, or the several
States, in their independent character,
had the most equitable claim, to lands,
which had never been settled by whites,
and which lay within the chartered limits
Of the States respectively. This claim,
as preferred by either party, was merely
the right of purchasing lands of the In
dams, to the exclusion of all other pur-
chasers except the claimants, with the
right Of jurisdiction over the territory df-
ter it should haze been thus purchased. If.
however, there were any lands, which had
never come into the actual possession of
whites, and which did not belong to any ma
ton of Indians, such lands would be, in
the strict sense, unappropriated, and the
possession Of them and jurisdiction over
them might properly be assumed without
delay, by the United States, or the sever
al States, accordingly as the claim should
be settled between these parties.
have nothing to say Of the merits of
this controversy. As between the United
States and Georgia, it was settled by the
COuipdCI VI iCUS, WHlChA VIII uoW uCoOiioo'
James Madison, Albert Gallatin, and
Levi Lincoln, commissioners Of the Unit
ed States, and James Jackson, Abraham
Baldwin, and John Milledge, commission
ers of Georgia, executed ga deed Of arti-
cles and mutual cession," April "a, 1902,
Of which the following provisions are all
that are material to the present inquiry =
The State of Georgia cedes to the U.
States, "all the right, title. and claim,
which. the said State has to the jurisdic-
ton and soil Of the lands" which now
appear on the map as the States OF Ala
bama and Mississippi.
The United States engage to pay Geor-
gia 81 ,25O, 900, from the first net proceeds
Of said lands, " as consideration for the
expenses incurred BY the said State, in
relation to the said territory" l..
"The United States shall, at their own
expense, extinguish, for the use of Geor'
gia, as early as the same can be peacea-
bly, obtained, on reasonable terms, the In
dian title to the country of Talassee," &c.
&c., &C and the United States shall, in the
same manner, also extinguish the Indian
title to all the other lands within the State
of Georgia"
The United States cede to Georgia
whatever claim, right, or title, they may