The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-05-05
By G. W. BROWN & co,

bargains, and no fraud, deceit or misrep-
sentation is practiced upon him. The
man who denies this proposition l shall
not attempt to convince. He is welcome
to believe what he pleases, and l shall
undertake no such Quixotic task as to
supply his deficiencies of common sense.
With this preface, 1 assert that these
vendors whom you have probably led
the public to regard as wild, untutored
sayages, are, in fact, as competent to
manage their own affairs as you or l.
Louis Papin is white man-a shrewd
and intelligent Frenchman, who speaks
the French and English well, is quite at
home in all the ordinary transactions of
life, and so far from being an Indian,
that he has not the slightest admixture of
Indian blood, and cannot speak the Ian
guage. Aubrey is precisely the same,
and no more of an Indian than yourself.
Their wives are the daughters of Louis
Gonyil-a French trader-and his Indian
wife-quite as intelligent as their parent
age and station would indicate, and with
whom the French is their daily and do
mestic language. Joseph James is the
son of white father and Indian mother,
and with his brother, the United States
Interpreter, is among the most intelligent
of his tribe. He (as web as Papin, Bal
mard and Aubrey, } follows, ON moder-
ate scale, farming and raising stock, buy
ing and selling, when necessary, speaks
English, Indian, and think some French,
and is quite as keen and shrewd in his
bargains as though he were full-blood-
ed white man, instead of half breed
His contract with us was made after
several days reflection, and full consul
tation with his brother, the interpreter
Belmard is Frenchman who speaks the
French and English-is an intelligent
man, fully competent to all the ordinary
business of life, and with not the slight
est mixture of Indian blood, or any
knowledge of the language. His wife
Adele is a hslf-breed daughter of Gle
ment Lasette-a French trader-has all
the manners and habits of white, is
acute and intelligent, and converses well
in probably two more languages than
yourself. Indeed, if were allowed to
venture an opinion, should say that Mr..
and Mrs. Belmard are quite as compe-
tent to superintend your bargains as you
or your agent are to superintend theirs.
The prices fixed by all of them were
simply accepted by us, and are four and
five fold the amount which, in your treaty
with the Shawnees, you had Just before
agreed to pay for better lands; and I
have yet to learn that code of morality
which considers the Indian fairly paid
for choice lands at sixty cents an acre,
by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
and is shocked at the injury inflicted on
white man with half-breed wife, when
an individual pays him three dollars.
That these lands could have been sold
for little more, had they been hawked
about in the market, efforts made to get
purchasers, and the sale delayed till the
country filed up, is very probable; but
that proves nothing, and is common to
all contracts. The prices were more
than we had intended to giye-more than
had ever been offered before, although it
was generally known that the vendors
were anxious to sell-were fixed by the
owners themselves, after consultation
with each other and their friends, and
were all that any man could afford to
give at that time to make it desirable
investment. Three of the vendors, be-
ing white men, could have pre-empted
quite as good land at one dollar and
twenty-five cents per acre, and intend,
on consummation of those agreements,
to do so. No approach to fraud, deceit
or misrepresentation was practiced upon
them. The contracts were to have no
effect, nor any possession taken, till rat
flied by the Government, and the pur-
chase money was to be paid in cash when
the deeds were made.
But to return to the purpose of this
letter. Ny colleagues are absent from
the Territory, and | cheerfully assume
this defence upon myself. Your report
on these contracts makes, as | have
shown, fierce charges of fraud. If true,
am dishonest man if false, you are
slanderer. One of us, then, disgraces
the office he holds, and it is time to know
which is the man. In view of this, I
propose to you, sir, compact, that, if
you shall before the first day of October
next, make good these charges, to the
satisfaction of the President, he shall at
once remove me from Office; and if you
fail, the same penalty shall be meted out
to you. You have sown your gratuitous,-
inexcusable calumny broadcast over the
Union, and now solicit, l challenge, |
defy You to this test. If there is is a
spark of manliness in your composition,
you will not shrink from it. / desire to
goad you to its acceptance. Office, in
my estimation, is of little vaiue-reputa-
ton is priceless ; and my only fear that
YOU will decline this offer is based upon
the cogent evidence that your estimate
of these commodities is in an inverse ra-
ito to mine.
I shah make this letter public, and
await your early reply, addressed to
Easton, Pa. Hoping that it will be a
categorical, distinct and positive accept
ance or rejection of my proposal, without
any evasion of the point or creation of
new issues. Twill make no other issue,
and enter into no discussion with you,
until this is disposed of. and your reply,
if not published by yourself. viii be pub
lished by me. Respectfully, DC,
A. II. REEDER.
Maine and Anti-Slavery.
The Senate of Maine, on the 18th