Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1849-12-08

ana VINO morally, III nOI ieSdHy, oHollu
be considered as purchasers, is compare
lively very limited. In despite, then, of
this decided evidence of right ownership,
the Legislature has subjected all the pro
pricors to an annual charge upon their
lands, which hold to be unequal and
unjust, and probably unconstitutional:
unequal, in reference to rent and take,
unjust, because poor lands pay more than
the rich; unconstitutional, for the reason
that it mnuiS written contracts.
lfpublic spirited and Industrious citi-
zen who now halls from that interesting
division Of South Carolina, had been pre-
vented By considerations of insecurity Of
title from constituting it his home, the re-
suit would have been loss to the State
of over three thousand farmers, all the
advantages flowing from their ag,icultu-
raj enterprise, the labor of a large black
population, and very considerable rcv-
cnuc derived from the tax on slaves. TO
constraiu him therefore to remain in his
present unsatisfactory situation would be
maeifrstly inexpedient and impoltic.
Barriers which create avoidable distnc-
tons, especially in relation to pccuniary
burdens, ought not TO be allowed in a
republic; but if, from any cacse, permit
ted, they should exist only so long as the
public interests impcrously demand AT
this period too of difficulty and alarm, we
should rigidly abstain from the enforce
ment Of any meas ure that by possibility
might interrupt the current ofharmo-
nious feeling which now SO happily per-
vadcs our borders
The difference between half a cent
per acre, and the tax that would be lev
led, if the lands were assessed in the or
dinary way, is too small to warrant the
exercise by the Legislature of a question
able power Virtually, equality in the
payment of the State taxes would not re-
move tho lien on the possessions of the
proprietor, out by diminishing the yearly
rate, only extend the period of the debt,
for which his lands by statute are pledg-
ed.
Influenced by these views, recon
mend that the bonds given in pursuance
of the requirements of the act of '3S, in
number %, and amounting in the a-:grc-
gate to 81 ,22G "a, interest and principal
be cancelled; that the lands within the
Catawba territory be classified and val
ued, with view to the payment of taxes
by their owners; and that the State dis
charge the remainder of the debt due to
the Indians from the public treasury.
BY the treaty of 1870, South Carolina
agreed to cxpond five thousand dollars for
the purchase of land in Haywood county,
or in a mountainous or thinly settled coun
try; to pay for the outlay of the Indians
two thousand five hundred dollars; and
afterwards, fifteen hundred dollars annu-
ally. A true construction Of this clause
of the agreement, perhaps "arrants the
conclusion that, whether or not the cmi-
grafton Of the tribe should take place, the
State was bound to pay the respective
amounts, and at the periods specified. So
far is this from having been done that,
from the report of the commissioners, on
ly an amount Of nine thousand two hun
drcd dollars of the debt, that was to be
liquidated i'll 1851, has been cancelled.
1t is TO be inferred from the evidence adj
duccd, that many of the Indians in North
Carolina have received either no part, or
legally an insufficient portion of their an
nuity, and wi tn regard to the majority,
that its apportionment has beeh made at
times irregular, and without reference to
any established rule. For this result
acquit the agent of all ccnsurc In the
prosecution Of his responsible engage
mcnts, believe him to have practiscd all
proper zeal and fidelity.
The terms of the treaty not having
been complied with by South Carolina,
how and when the remainder of the debt,
81 900, is TO be paid, is aqueslion of
Legislative decision. In aid of your la
bors on this subject, | desire to bring a
few facts to your notice. The present In
dian farm, within the old Catawba boun-
dary, was purchased for $4,000. Only
one family of six pcrsons--a mother and
her young children reside upon it; of the
other members of the tribe in this State,
forty eight lead a wandering life; nd fif-
ty-cight arc in North Carolina. Strong
efforts have been long perscveringly but
fruitlcssly used to induce those who form
a part of our population to live on their
own land The rnport of Mr. Massey