, 1869-05-31

HeSaitt.ncez rsay be h.d either BY drsf, t1press.
'os ofee orier ar in res<secd letserr at our dcsf
7rHxs TO C1I sEBse5nxns:
,sily delivered Sunday EIcEr1xr. 23 centa PEI wcek
DaIly delivered. Sunday INCLUDED, ccnta reF week
Address Tribune COMPANY,
@ icAsn+ ILL.,
THE CHEROKEE LAEDsAGA1N.
We publish elsewhere a letter from a
person i2lr. Hugh Cameron) who appears
to represent the settlers in the Cherokee
Neutral Lands. At MI events, he argues their
cause, and if he fails to argue it well it is
because the facts afe against him.
He insinuates at the outset that We have
been paid by Mr.. Joy to espouse his side Of
the controversy. As We have not espoused
Mr.. Joys side Of the controversy, aad have
never seen Mr.. Joy, and have never had
,:nv communication with him directly or in
directly, uor ever received any money from
him or the promise or sug-
<,.sstion Of any, it wonla seem that
Sir, Cameron makes an unfortunate begin
ming. Our sympathies are and have been
with the settlers Gil the time We hart
pointed out the fac. that they are under bad
leadership-a fact which Nr. Ca1nerou's-
letter is calculated to impress upon the pub
lie mind even more forcibly than before.
We have insisted also that they should keep
within the bounds Of law and abstain from
mob violence andassassination, unless they
we're prepared to see the sympathy and
favor VI tho pnbljo withdrawn from thenl
and enlisted on the side Of Mr.. JOY
The party which shall secure the
moral power Of public opinion in this con-
trure1sy will prevail in the end, whether
that party he composed Of one man OF
three thousand men, and whether it be
armed with parchment titles OF ball
cartridges And, as is usually the case, it
is Tor the parties respectively, by their own
acts, to mike or mar their own cause.
Newspapers can do nothing to prejudice
the claims Of the sett1er on the Cherokee
lands, even if they were disposed to do SO,
and we maintain that not one in hundred
Of the public journals Of the United States
would willingly hnrn hair Of their hoads.
What are the facts? These lands were
owned by the Cherokee Indians in fee SIM
pie, They made treaty with the United
States to sell the lands in certain way.
Tic United States, in this treaty, reserved
and guaranteed to all white settlers occupy,
ing lands at the time the treaty should be
finally ratified the title to one hundred anG
sixty acres each, under the redemption
laws. There is no dispute as to this class oi
settlers. The trouble comes from differ
the lands after the ratification 0
lie treaty, knowing that they has
10 rights there, and could acquire none e1
cept from the grantees Of the Cheroke
tribe Of lnainns, acting through the Seere
tsry of the interior. NJ. Cameron object
tu the phrase, 'sland stealers,' as applie
tu this class of settlers We said that til
~o-c:lled 'sLeaguers," commencing rs lanl
stealers. had ended by becoming mnrao,
srs-anl that Is the exact truth, if the statt
mcnt copied from the Lawrence (knnsas
7fi',t,r. concerning the hanging OF hellt
and Little, is trt,e.
Willie AIr. joys title to the lands &
those which were not actually occupied b
settlers at the time the treaty was ratihet
is good in point Of Law, it IS incumbent c
him 20 recognize the fact that the policy
the United Stntes is, and always has bee
opposed to land monopoly: and while tn
particular tract never was public land, pr
deuce. II nothing else, would dictate to hi
to make some arrangement with the NJ
settlers. in accordance with estabHshf
custom. The practice Of tho goTernme
has been to grant alternate sections
land to private companies upon condih'
Of their building railroads through the1
mud raising the price Of the remaining Ian
to pre-e.nptors to two dollars and ha1 /
acre I'll view oi the fact that A1r. Joy 4
tbvse associated with him in the land p
claast ARE l,1ilding Il railroad through
tract. which must be beueGcial to the S
uers, we have suggested that fair g
equitable settlement might be ulado uE
the basis of two dollars md n half |
..cre. II, after the grant Of lands had b'
rnnlc to the Illinois Central Railroad,
party Of sauMtters, 10 Iaaster how laE
had settled upon the sections belonging
tie railroad company, and claimed them
their OWL, they would have been put
very sun1marily. and by the State as,ths
ties, too. Much more SO, if they had
tempted to stop the building OF the 70
End had commenced lyncling those Of Il
number who preferred to pay for It
lands and acquire title in q lawful manr
Mr.. Cameron says that it is Mr.. Joy 4
has "sowed to the wind in order to 7
tie wLirluind." This is substantially VI
We told him in the besinning-as Z
ter of fact, not Of law. 1t I
not follow, however, that in
harvest Of whirlwinds he will be the :
reaper. It does not follow that be vii
reaper at all, if his opponents coutlnu
put themselves in the wrong, Us they l
hccn doing the past sixty days. Atthc
set they lad the advantage. Whether
hare it to-day may be seriously doubted
aIr. Cameron takes issae with the fol-
ing paragraph in Il former article in
paper:
Legally, their case has no retleening fca
Merl1.s, ii has none, s1,e that they are poor,
are s:chtne to n,,.atn homes for their famiiie
of ttc pubic domain. which, IN theory, hc1on
,Ee whole l*ople. and both In theory ana pra
,.tlones TO ins'Sidpuis on's, when tney have
1iicd with those forms of law. which these
itasut1s have noto.tousls dcncd and resisted
We suppose it is true that the settler
the Cherokee lands have complied with
forms Of law applicable to the public
main so far Us they could. As these !
never were part Of the public dor
lhaving been sold to the Cherokee Int
for five hundred thousand dollars
the year ls:s2), OF course it WAS imp
ble for them to so to Register Of
Land Office and prove mp their eli
That IS 10 say, there being no public
laws to comply with, they have
complied with any. What
intended to say was TINT p
seeking to obtain homes on
public domain mast 60 to the publit
main, mud if they settle upon private
esty. they must comply with the law
Iuca'le to private property. This il
legal aspect Ct the case, however mn
,nay lie modified b; a wise public pol
aprndent regard fo7 accomplished fac
NEW YORK AID CHICAGO