The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1849-07-25
NUMBERso.

with that tribe, while remained 10 the War
Department.. 4 was the Commissioners on the
art of the United States, and, of course, &C.
knowledge MY responsibility FOR fs provisions.
Instead of freadirisg striPio begiTen TO the
Indians for their permanent abode, The Indians
re ceded to the United States, by treaty, part,
and most valuable part, without our ceding
an inch 10 them. The entire line was moved
westward, as faras Fort Smith. on The Afkapsas'
and thence by line due south to Red River:
Nor did it make The slightest change mthestitle
10 what remained to The Indians, or provided
permanent home for them, as he would baVe
you believe. So much for this charge and its
author. ,,fs.Ss - lsij1pgS-i
The next is OF kindred character. He
states it still more vaguely; so much 30, that l
am at loss to know TO which one or thesmany
treaties made with the Indians about the region
in question, he refers. He speaks Of slice
forty miles miGe and three hundred fong. g cut
off from Arkansas andIgiyen to the Indians;
THAT it was done by Indian .treaty-;reaty
made by prytrge of Mr.. Calhonns !" and
adds thai was Vice President at the time. but
gives no boundary, and avoids saning what
treaty it was, with what tribe Of Indians made,
or the name of the person he calls my pro.
trge." 1t is an Indictment without specification
of time, place, or circumstances, to which q is
impossible to make a specific answers. But
fortunately. such an one is not .necessarYto
repel it efeciually, without descending into De;
tails, which, it is fair to presume, were omitted
because they could not begiyen without expo.
sing the absurdity Of the charge. His adais.
sion, that the treaty was made while 1 was Vice
President, furnishes me with ample means foi
| that purpose. -
1t is sufficient TO repel it, to stale. that during
the whole period that filled the office of Vice
President, that of President was filed either by
Mr.. Adams or General Jackson, and that y
was my fortune to be in opposition to bot, ,sand
the object of their strong dislike, as must be
well known TO all. not only had no influ.
ence with either but was the object Of their per:
secuton. My support Of any measure Or re:
commentator of any individual, was sufhcient
to defeat the one, and reject the other; asdyet
Col. Benton, who is familiar with all this,
assumes, in making his charge. that liam
responsible for treaty made by either ouesor
the other Of them, il matters not which. III was
going far to make me solely responsible Tor the
acts of administration, Of which was no mem.
bcr; but il makes me responsible, not Only tor
them, but for The acts of those, that were deadly
hostile to me, is a piece Of eytrayagance beyond
the reach of any individual but the author OF
the charge. Even he, in this instance; seems
to have misgiving that he has gone too far'
and in order to give some color to 30 wiid,a
charge. adds that the treaty was hegofsatedby
protege of mine. He must have been9a Tor.
tunate man bearing that relation to me, tobaye
got an appointment from either of the two ad.
ministratons. have examined all the Indian
treaties, relating to the region in question, made
during their administrations, in order to aseer-
tain who this lucky individual could be-, but
have been unable to discover him. There is
not single treaty negotiated, during the period,
that was negotiated by any individual wheshad
any claim to be called prctege Of mines
But why charge me with being the author
ofa measure, by which these large tracts, sui.
fcient, as he says, to make two States, were
lost to The slave States, and given away 70 the
Indians, when the authors Of the measures yb
which they were given away, are knownto all,
and to none better than Col. Benton. They
were the measures of Mir. Adams and General
Jackson and their administrations. e'Oneorfho
other made ali the treaties by which besold
merely possessory titles Of the Indians TO their
lands, were converted over the whole territory,
into permanent right of possession, and pro-
perry, and made the permanent homet 81 the
Indians to use his own expression. Iherewas
no treaty made while | filed the War Depart
mcnt. in Mr. Monroe's administrations, which
made any such alterations in the title of Indians
to lands west of the Mississippi. or any where
else to my knowledge. The making of Indian
treaties, containing stipulaiions for permanent
titles. and their removal west of the Mississippi,
constituted large portion of the doings et those
administrations, and much Of that on which
they rested their reputation. Much the greater
mari was the work Of General Jackson's admin!
s,ralion, with which Col. Benton was intimate:
~ associated, and over which he had suffictent
| influence to make himself responsible Tor no
small share of its doings, especially as to what
related to the west. In attempting. now to
shuttle of his portion of the responsibility. and
that of the administration, and to place It on mc,
who was hostile to it, speaks badly for his m an:
illness, or regard for the character OF the az
mipis,ration of General Jackson, for which he
processes so much attachment and adnnrat,on.
| He would hardly have ventured in tho lhstime
Of the old Hero" to make the charge he has,
ac lins, measures, Of which he was the. .adthor,i
and on which he so much prided himself
In his cagerncss to assail me, he has lost, not
only his discretion, but his memory, In order
to make out that the anti.slavcry party of the
North duly appreciated the great service that l
ha done their cause, he says that they gave
proof of their gratitude, that was then cans
dida,c for the Vice Presidency, and became the
favoritc OF the North, beating even Mr.. Adams
himself on the free soil track" forgetting what
he had said jus, before, that I was Vice Presi::
dent at the time, when he well knew that
was elected for the first time Vice President
with Mr.. A,ams, and of course, the vote Of the