The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-10-06
Mr.. Harlar, and tho Cherokee Lands.

Mr.. Harlan, and tho Cherokee Lands.
MIR. Harlans contract with the Connecti-
cut Emigration Company, in relation to
the "Chcrokec neutral land" is getting
him into ineNtricable difficulties. He is
openly and on all sides charged with fraud
The price at which he sold to the Com oanv
was S800.000-Sl per acre the payments
to run through period of nine wears. 1t
is said that the Cherokces paid the Go
vcrnment $500, 900 for it, thirty-onc wears
ago.
The Constitutional r4ion, in its issue of
Saturday, distinctly charges tins transac-
ton as 4 t'aSrant fraud, and devotes two
columns to its exposure We make the
| following extracts from it:
On the 30th dav OF August 1866 the
last dag bnt one that Hon. James Harlan,
, eX-Sccretary of the Interior. held the port
| folio OF that Department, he executed by
virtue OF his official authority. Il contract
on the part of tue United Statos, through
himself or their representatives. passing
the title of the reserve lands of the Chcro-
kee Indians, i'll the state of Kansas. to the
Connecticut EmiGraut Society 500. COO
acres o. the best land in the State of Kan
sas-for $500, 000 one doNu' per acre in
regular instalmcnts as below with the pri-
vlieSc to the Company of taking the whole
receiving the deed upon payment Of The
stipulated funds.
Now, the qucstionnaturally arises. ,rhy
did Secretary Harlan make this contract on
the last day bat one of his official posi-
ton?
1t will be seen that the price paid for
these lands by the Cherokee Indians. in
1875. was S500,o in gold. equal at the pre-
| sent time to nc.rlv 5000, 900 1t will be
remembered that thirty y-onc wears ago land
IN Kansas was worth about one-tenth of
what 1t Is noW-in five years it will be ~orth
ten times what it Is worth now. What
| capitalist but would say that that land now
IS worth $40 per acre:
! Here, then. is tie question of fraud.
| which We, with the evidence before us. in
our Judgment. pronounce to be fraud
upon the American people; and worse than
fraud-a glarlng imposition nfi-
nous transaction to the detrimcnt of our
| fellow-citizcns, the Cherokee Indians.
This appears to us the most coll-bloodcd
sWlndlc, and the most tlagrant violation of
the spirit and obvious intention of sacred
| trust, that has lately ct1nc under .our OBJ
servation. 1t will bc seen from the date
that this disSraccful contract was one of
! the last official acts of the late Secretary OF
the Interior. 1t is of itself we'll calculated
to arouse serious suspicious of the honesty
! OF The transaction. In view of all the
! facts, we think the contract should be set
aside as illegal, unjust and contrary to the
| plain intent of the treaty.
| The tnton charges that he committed
this fraud for his own benefit
Thc.New York Nerairs despatch ON the
same subject thus closes:
1t Is allegcd-with how much truth
make no prctcnsions to knowing that Mr..
Harlan Is interested in the Connecticut
Emlgrant Society. The matter is now
undergoing legal examination, and it is
probable that the contract OF sale will be
set aside.
COINAGE IN EUROPE The London Times,
of the Sth, notices at length Il most impor-
tant step in the progress OF European
civilization. The Times says:
lit is a monetary convention between
Franco, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.
and 1t amounts in effect To an announce
ment that i'll the course of two or three
years the coinage of half continental Eu-
rope will be absolutely Identical. The con-
vcntlon appears equivalent to an agree
mcnt on the part of Belgium, Italy and
Switzerland to assmilatc their coinage.
with the exception of copper money, to
the French system. The gold coinage will
consist OF five, ten, twenty, fifty and one
hundred francs. The highest silver stan
dard will be the tive-franc piece, and the
smaller coins will be thq two-franc piece,
oHc-lllNc. llltN ccntlmcS ana twenty cent
lines. The silver coinage, therefore, will
descend to the value of two pence, and the
maintenance of Il distinct copper coinage
will consequently be of very little impor.
tancc. The range of the coinage will be.
IN fact, extremely convenient. The 100
franc piece will be Il convenient form for
carrying sums of money, and will answer
all the more considerable necessities of the
traveller, while none but the most insight
ticant transactions wonld require a coin of
smaller value than the twcntv-ccntimc
piece"
GEN. BEAtREGARD.-W heartily welcome
the return Of the gallant and brilliant
BeaureSard to our shores. He went abroad
on business connected with the railroad
over which he presides, and VIC are happy
to learn that he was successful in accom-
plishins the objects of his visit While
abroad, 1t Is said that tempting offers of
wealth and titles We're made to him it he
would accept foreign service. He is repre-
sented to have declined all such offers, and
to have SAID that the services of his life.
whether in war or peace, in prosperity or
adversity, were due and would be dcdi-
Gated to his native South. There is about
this gallant and picturesque man the en-
chantment of romance. All that he does.
all that he says. is embellished with grace
peculiar to himself. TO qualities the most
sohd, and requirements the most useful.
he unltes the brilliancy and fervor of the
Pa!adln. His name is often before the
public-himsef seldom. He has more
than the usual degree of reserve, and
retifes before the curiosity and admiration