Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-08-18

the DIN, WITCH IT'S iutc was unCcftuln, Wncn
it hung in doubtful suspense, and the
troops of the presidents household were
busy in drilling and animating his waver-
ing friends, Mr.. McDuiiie is reported to
have said, that Georgia had taken her
stand and would not reccde, and that the
blood of civil war would stain those who
defeated the bill. The question was
thus put. Georgia will not and the Uni
ted States must recede /! And the Uni
ted States did recede, by the vote of lO2
members against 81 The interposition
Of the people alone can now save the
honor, the justice, the faith, and the hui
manity of the nation from the stain of this
most iniquitous measure.
A full view of its whole cruelty, and
enormity can only be had by taking into
consideration some circumstances which
preceded and some which accompanied
its passage. Up to the commencement
of gen. Jackson's administration, one
fixed, uniform, and established principle
had regulated all our intercourse with
the Indian tribes. That principle was,
that the Indians had right to govern
themselves, to live under their own laws
and to enjoy the benefit of their own
usages, consecrated by familiarity and
hereditary transmission; they had right
to the protection of the general govern
ment in the peaceable possession of their
lands and their laws, not only against in
dividuals but against all states and pow
crs foreign and domestic. They only
could not sell their lands to any but to
thA h. II
This established principle pcryades lnore
than hundred treaties-is to be found
~ every volume of the statutes of the
United States, and has been pro-
claimed to Europe in one Of the most
itical periods ofthc republic in the nego-
Citations at Ghent Under its operation,
and urged by our precept and our exam
pie, some ofthe tribes have made encour-
aging advances in the arts of civilization
and of government, and in the Christian
religion, and were rapidly gathering a.
round them the comforts of civilized life.
The annals of our government attest how
often, in the annual messages of the pre-
sident, the picty and humanity Of the ma
ton have been felicitatcd on the success
ful progress of the Indian tribes.
During the administration of Mr.. Adj
ans, when Georgia threatened to take
possession of the Indian lands and to cx-
tend her laws over them, she was given
distinctly to understand, that the pres-
dent, charged with the duty of executing
the laws of the union, would perform that
of protecting the Indian in the peaceful
possession of their lands. Georgia pout-
ed, firtcd, and recedcd The United
States, at least did not then recede.
President Jackson, early in the COM
mencement of his administration, in the
vacation of congress, and without consult
ing it, rashly undertook to overthrow this
long established policy Of the nation. He
had right to legisatc for them, and that
he would not prevent it. He told them
that they had better go away. That IS,
the president, in effect, declared that the
Indians were bound by laws in which
they had no voice; laws which they
could neither read nor understand, and
which had not the slightest adaptation to
their condition. And he, the great faith
cr of the Indians, (tor SO every president
10 atSSNd ny tiltNl
could not and would not perform that du-
ty Of protecting has children, which the |
constitution, treaties, and laws of the u.
States solemn!y enloin. This was all
that Georgia wanted. Give her the I
power of legislation over the Indians,
and she will thank nobody to remove
them. We know, and it was acknowl-
edged on the floor of congress, that the !
Indians canno! live under Georgia laws /
They must therefore fly or die. If these
laws be enforced there is no alternative
Georgia is preparing to enforce them;
and their operation Is to commence, it Is
believed, with this very month of June.
Other states, similarly situated in refer
ence to the Indians, have caught the
contagion from Georgia, and have passed
similar laws to rule over these helpless
people, dependent upon our mercy and
justice.
Such was the state of Indian affairs
when congress met at its late session.
The president, by his precipitatc admis-
sions of the power and rights Of Georgia,
found himself in an awful dilemma. If
congress did not interfere, Georgia would
proceed to enforce her laws, the Indians
would be crushed or driven from their
homes, and the president will be liable to
reproach ifnot impeachment, for failing to
perform the duty which had dcvolved
upon him ofprotecting the Indians. To
escape from this perpIexing dilemma, the
president recommended his famous In
dian bill-that monstrous measure, COM
pretending "a gross violation of the