The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1853-03-17
Irrom the nnnton tournnl.l

State of Ohio feel it due TO myself as i
Democrat, due to my native State as a Buck
pve. and due to the cause of morality, to il
present to the country a briet chapter in h
hat mans history which should call forth I
the sevcrrst r~epehensious and Indignation a
Of every honest man. am myself a demo- Q
crat, | never voted for a Wing, and never
expect to; but when bv q system OF political :
legerdemain, a man whu has been publicly
proven 10 be un~principled-a man publicly
10 be d~ishonorablc and dishonest, is
forced upon the party for the first Office with
in their immediate gift, il is time TO pause
and ask ourselves whether any party %consld-
%erations should induce ustO lring disgrace
upon our State, rcproach upon our party ana
even upon our consciences! To those VINO
would answer in the uiii fnatiVe, i nave
nothing to say, to those who are Wiling 10
reason and to be governed by the higher mo-
lives of morality and Patriotism, present
for their consideration the following cx'raclS
from speeches delivered in Congress Oy, tne
Hon. Graham N. Fitch, of Indiana, ana the
Hon. Robert w. Johnson, OF Arkansas,
both Democratic members OF Congress ~
the first distinction. Their speeches. VIII oe
found in the proceedings OF the house VI
Representatives of July 10Th, 1909 as pup
lished in the Congressional GlObp' VOL ga
part 3:
MIR. Fitch said, 81 desire to call the atten-
T ton of members fromOhio 10 my subsequent
remarks mon this subject, because, in pur-
suing its history, as detailed in the report OF
the commissioner of Indian Affairs dated
April 10, 1851, | shall necessarily be COM
PEELED to say some hard things, and allude
to charges of a grave character against a
gentleman of that State, and desire to avoid
even the seeming Oft Disposition to prevent
his friends here, in his absence, from max
{ inc such defence of him as thu y may think is
required. The gentleman to whom allnde
is Mr.. Medill. He was Commissioner oil In
dian Affairs in l64S, and was detailed us a
Special Commissioner 10 negotiate a treaty
with The Mrnominces.
2 ave have seen that he (MedilD went to
81 Wisconsin with the knowledge that he was
. to treat for at least three millions twenty
three thousand eight hundred acres We
will now proceed to prove that by his own
admission, he discovered while there the
possessions of the Mcnrminees to be four
, million acres. In his report to the Score
Z tary of War, dated December IL, l845, he
suvs:
"But | ascertained, while in the country
' that there was an error in the map which
; was before the Attorney General, in relation
: to the location of u small lake that determin'
, ed the course of one of the boundary lines
. and which, if 80 corrected as to conform ia
!. the representations therein made, would
probably increase the number of acres which
" was authorized to recognize as belonging
to the Indians to about four millions"
" Sand in his report for l84S-'49, to Con
gress as Commissioner of Indian A%fairs, he
SPEAKS Of the treaty MS one by wlicf
- the McnomineGs "cede all their lands IL
~ Wisconsin, containing about four millions o
. acres"
"With these instructions, aud this knowl
~ edge of the amount Of lnnd he was about t.
purchase, let us next see what it is in proc
~ he told the Indians. Gle repeatedly tolt
y the Indians that their tract of land contain
:, ed only about sirteen hundred thousand acres
" that he was Offering them more Tor the sam
'o than he was instructed by their great fnthe
y to pay therefor" And that "the s%peeche
70 of said Medill in said councils were file,
~ with threats an d menaces towards said lndi
." ans, by which means Gin part) he was abb
It to obtain Gas he did) a signed treaty" An
further, that che told the nation he woul
b. not give them more than the $350,000 70
II said land, and threatened them with the au
=. thority of the United States, and its powe
Gu to remove them at its pleasure, If they di
IT. not sign the said treaty"
We "He threatened to degrade those Of the
he chiefs who opposed the treaty, if they di
~, not CONSENT to the terms which he proposed
" and declared it they persisted in refusing
an sign it he would REMOVE them and appoir
,u' other chiefs who would sign it. Thus b
m induced some of their chiefs to sign sal
do treaty from fear, and because they suppose
the United States would force them off the
VIC land il they did not willingly sell and GET
Ills them"
rk. ."And of the Indians II is in proof til
,ut they "signed the treaty of October lS, 1874
under The belief that, should they refuse, Il
'' Government of the United States would '
me olale their repeated pledges of p%rotectio
to and send troops to force them to leave The
the homes"
ion Aud that "OSh Kosh, the head chief 50
to his fellow chiefs then in council: n
friends we cannot do otherwise; we are for
ub- ed into IL"
full "Mr. Sweetzer.-l hope the gcntlemI
es. will permit me to put u question to him.
desire to know upon what authority the &c
E tlemun makes this statement!
"Mr. Fitch.-Upon official authority fro
the Indian Bureuu, made up in part of a
WV cord left by Mr., Medlll when he left the Il
reau. | qaote mostly from such autho
lp- ~.
ICY "Mr. SweetZcr.- Il am notacquuiGtcd "
en- the facts. | only ask that question. yT
"Mr. Fitch.-DesirIng not to consume
&C. much of the time of my friend from Arkh
sas, Mr.. Johnson, | have condensed the h
m, tory of this matter us much us possible; |
ne, have ofic:al authority for all the siatemeI
ar | have made In relation to it-authority |
ng, side upon Mr.. Medill's word, the affidavit
ing fourteen Witnesses, the written statement
The one reverend gentleman, and of two me
for beers OF the society of Friends The CORE
ness ofthis authority can scarcely be douI
to ed-the credibility of the witnesses appel
res to be unimpeachable, and the facts as relI
the ed appear to be incontrovertable, thou
oge there is n denial Of the charges against n
pair Medill. This denial consists OF stHtemen
not g0idauitS, OF five persons. To this de-
~ Ia al may again refer, time permitting. y
testimony to sustain the facts | have brie
H., mentioned and the statements | have qut
~, ed, is, in the language of the present Co
DgT missioner of Indian Affairs, "full and expl
al. itupon all the alleged points of wrong u
Wv ~" grievance OF which the Menominees col
'"' plain.
"What is exhibited by the state of ia,
lHN. H., 81 ~ 40 H., l..,lo-olI -