FEB. 1, 1837.] Indian Appropriation Bill. endeavor to subdue a fragment of the Seminoles? But what care of money? It is the sufferings of our own fellow-citizens, the lives of the brave men of our army and militia, perishing amid the pestilential swamps of that fatal region, the destruction of the deluded Indians themselves, the tarnished honor of our country, and not the treasure exhausted in the war, which I deplore. How many generals have left that field of war, baffled, if not defeated? Nay, is not the whole army of the United States thrown into distraction, and half dissolved, by the contentions of rank, the competitions of service, the criminations and recriminations, which have sprung up in such rank abundance, like some noxious growth of the tropics, out of the soil of East Florida? And if the desperation of a few Seminoles, either by their own efforts or the contagion of their example, can excite a war that shall summon to the field regiment after regiment of troops, to the amount, it is reported to us, first and last, of some twenty-five thousand men, what would be the consequence if injustice or mismanagement should kindle a similar flame among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and the great body of the emigrant Indians? God forbid that such a calamity should descend upon our beloved country. Dictates of duty in this matter are not less imperative than arguments of policy. The Indians are in our hands. They have been sunk to what they are, if not by us, yet through us. We have assumed the guardianship of them, and have pledged ourselves, by stipulation after stipulation, to watch over their welfare. I invoke the faith of treaties, I appeal to the honor of the nation, I demand of its truth and justice, if there be any sense of right in civilized communities, that we act decidedly and promptly in the execution of sone well-digested plan for the benefit of the Indians subject to our authority. Let us not speak to them only as conquerors, and in the language of relentless rigor; but to the vigor that shall overawe and control, conjoin the justice that shall command respect, and the clemency that shall conciliate affection. Mr. EVERETT said he felt called upon to reply to some of the remarks of the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. CUSHING,] to set himself right before the country. That gentleman had quoted a passage from the report of the Committee on Indian Affairs, presented by bim (Mr. E.) in 1834, in which it is said that the removal of the Indians to the west of the Mississippi was then the settled policy of the Government; and, from the general tenor of his remarks, it would seem that he relied on the quotation as an approval of the grounds on which it had been adopted, and as sanction for the manner in which that policy has been since executed. He desired that no such impression should go forth to the country. That report was entirely a business article; every topic was studiously avoided that might revive the angry discussions of the past, or give rise to them in future. The committee found the policy definitively settled by the act of 1830, and in progress of execution. That such was the settled policy of the Government is stated simply as a fact; and that being settled, naught remained but to carry it into execution. The controversy between Georgia and the Cherokees that gave rise to that act was then past, and the committee did not, on that occasion, desire to revive it; nor did he now, notwithstanding what had since occurred, intend to revive it; let it pass. Finding that policy thus definitively settled, it was the direct object of that report to carry it fully into execution. But, sir, by what measures, and in what manner? By measures consistent with the principles of good faith, and in manner consistent with the principles of humanity, and by such only. I have now nothing to say against the policy; my only complaint is solely against the measure by VOL. XIII.-97 [H. OF R. In re which it has been and is now in execution; I complain [Mr. HOLSEY called on Mr. EVERETT to state the evidence on which his statement "that the frauds committed on the Creeks were the cause of their hostilities" was founded. Mr. E. said that he was not aware that any one would, at this day, question the fact. For the evidence he would refer the gentleman to the documents published, and particularly to the famous Shorter letters, detailing the particular manner in which the forged deeds were obtained, and the extent of the forgeries. A band of from twenty to fifty Indians would be collected in the woods, who would personate the surrounding Indian reserves, and, for a trifling reward, give deeds of their lands. And, under such deeds, certified by a Government agent on the spot, the Indians were driven from their settlements. That such acts would and had produced the Creek hostilities, was his inference. Mr. H., after stating that the hostilities did not break out in the sections of the country where the frauds were committed, called on Mr. E. to designate the parts of the Creek country where the frauds were committed. Mr. E. said he thought he was entitled to call on the gentleman to state in what part of the Creek country the frauds had not been committed.] I will now call the attention of the House to the manner in which the removal of the Creeks is conducted. Whether they are regarded as friendly or hostile, they are entitled to be treated with at least common humanity. I say nothing of the removal of some thousand or more in irons; possibly necessity may require it-possi bly they may have been of the hostile party, or of those whom force alone could compel to leave their country; necessity may have required it-pass them by. I speak of the great mass of the population-of men, women, and children. Since the debate of yesterday, I have had put into my hands an appalling description of their sufferings-of what are probably their sufferings at this moment. The recital is enough to make one's blood H. OF R.] run cold. Indian Appropriation Bill. It is a letter from a gentleman at Fort Gibson, published in the Arkansas Gazette. The name of the writer is not given; but the letter carries on its face internal evidence of its truth; and we are relieved from all suspicion of its having been got up for political effect, from the fact that the Gazette is an administration paper. I will ask that it be read at the Clerk's table. "From the West. "Extract of a letter from a gentleman in the West to his friend in this place: "DECEMBER 25, 1836. "There is now arriving at Fort Gibson, and on the road between that place and the Mississippi river, near 14,000 Creek Indians, under course of removal, by the Government of the United States, to their new country on the Arkansas river. The removal is made by a com. pany of contractors, who receive a stated sum per head for each Indian delivered to the officers of Government appointed to receive them at the line of their new Country. "Those contractors are bound to subsist them on their journey; and the removal of the Indians is, to them, a matter of speculation. It therefore becomes their interest to rush them on, regardless of either comfort or convenience to the Indians. And, in fact, those contractors could not reasonably be expected to consult the comforts of the Indians to much extent, at their own individual expense. Therefore, the policy of removing them by contract is a bad one, as is well known to every one who is at all familiar with Indian removals. "Those people have necessarily, from the impoverished condition of many of them, to move slowly; and perhaps more so than was anticipated by the contractors previous to their starting; consequently, they may not be able, without incurring much individual expense, to extend to the Indians even the indulgence of time that common humanity requires; and whether they comply with their obligation in this case, or not, I am not prepared to say; bu, be that as it may, no portion of American history can furnish a parallel of the misery and suffering at present endured by the emigrating Creeks. They consist of all ages, sexes, and sizes, and of all the varieties of human intellect and condition, from the civilized and tenderly nurtured matron and misses, to the wild savage and the poorest of the poor. Thousands of them are entirely destitute of shoes, or covering of any kind for the feet; many of them are almost naked; and but few of them have any thing more on their persons than a light dress, calculated only for the summer, or for a very warm climate; and the weather being warm when they left Alabama, many of them left their heavier articles of clothing, expecting them to be brought on in steam. boats, which has as yet been only partially done. In this destitute condition they are wading the cold mud, or are hurried on over the frozen road, as the case may be. Many of them have in this way had their feet frostbitten, and, being unable to travel, fall in the rear of the main party; and in this way are left on the road, to await the ability or convenience of the contractors to assist them. Many of them, not being able to endure this unexampled state of human suffering, die, and, it is said, are thrown by the s de of the road, and are covered only with brush, &c., where they remain until devoured by the wolves. "How long this state of things will exist, is hard to conjecture. It is now past the middle of December, and the winter, though cold, is by no means at its worst stage; and when the extreme of winter does fall upon these most miserable creatures, in their present suffering and desperate condition, the destruction of human life will be most deplorable. The American people, it is presumed, are as yet un [FEB. 1, 1837. acquainted with the condition of those people; and it is hoped that, when they do become acquainted with the facts, the philanthropic portion of the community will not be found wanting in their efforts to alleviate, as far as practicable, their extreme suffering. They are in want of almost every article in common use in a civilized community, particularly clothing; and any thing of that kind would be highly acceptable--such as coarse gowns, shirts, coats, pantaloons, shoes, &c, which, if given du. ring this winter, might be the means of saving many lives. "It should be borne in mind that the Creeks now on their way have voluntarily removed from their homes, in Alabama, before the time at which they could be pos itively required to move; and that on promises made to them, some of which have not, and in all probability will not be complied with; and, after agreeing to remove, they left their country in such haste, that many of them were not able to make sale of their properly; and those who did effect sales, it is said, did not receive more than half value for the property sold. "It is thought, by many persons, that the Creeks now on their way, and arriving in this country, have been recently hostile to the whites, and that they have been removed by force of arms from the country east of the Mississippi; but such is not the fact. Apothlahola and his people, now under course of removal, have been, with but few exceptions, friendly to the whites, and aided them in the defeat and subjugation of Nehemathla and his two thousand five hundred followers, who were brought on to this country early in the fal', and who are at this time hostile in feeling, not only to the whites, but to Apothlahola's party. Furthermore, Apothlahola has with him the families of near a thousand of his warriors, now serving with our army in Florida. "If the removal of the Indians had been made by offi. cers of the Government, whose commissions would rest upon a faithful execution of their duty both to the Government and to the Indians, (as was the case in the removal of the Choctaws some years since,) the case would have been very different from what it has been in this case. The condition of the Indians would have been better, and the actual expense to the Government would have been less; much more indulgence as to time could have been extended to them by the Government, than could be given by private individuals; they would have been more comfortable, and consequently less liable to sickness and death, and to the terrible suffering which they at present have to endure. "I will here remark, that to each separate party of four or five thousand of those Indians there is attached, as agent of the Government, an officer of the army, which officers have no doubt discharged their duty in the matter to the fullest extent of their power. At any rave, not the least complaint has been heard to have been made against any one of them; and they are said to stand high in the estimation of the Indians, and have had considerable turmoil with the contractors. "It is not my purpose to cast any reflection or censure in any particular quarter, but there is a fault somewhere. and it is to be hoped that the inquiring community wil look to the causes which have led to this great extreme of human suffering." On the statement made in this letter I shall make no comment. I make no charge against the administration as having intended or countenanced this state of this gs I fear, however, that they have not taken all prope precaution to prevent it. It is stated, and I am glad t know it, that the officers of the Government attending the emigrating party are not in fault. They, it se have done every thing in their power. The fault is i the contractors. I hope no such case will again occur It is our duty to prevent it, if possible. I would no seems place economy against humanity. I should be willing to treble the amount of the appropriation, if necessary, for the comfort of the emigrants. Abolish the removal by contract; subject them no more to the avarice of con. tractors. Mr. PARKER moved to recommit the bill to the Committee of Ways and Means, with instructions so to modify and amend it as to strike out all the general appropriations made therein for the Indian tribes, and insert in their place specific appropriations, founded on the estimates for which the money is required and stated to be due. And, on this motion, Mr. P. called for the yeas and nays. Mr. LAWLER was opposed to the recommitment of the bill, and was of opinion that the estimate was so perfectly plain, in all its details, that any amendment which might be necessary could be made in the House. He replied to the remarks of Mr. EVERETT, and contended that the Creek Indians, by their repeated acts of hostility, virtually annulled the treaty which had been made, and operated a forfeiture of that protection from the United States, which they would otherwise have receiv. ed. In relation to the statement which had been read from an Arkansas paper, the details therein set forth must come in a more authenticated form than in the columns of a newspaper, before he, (Mr. L.,) or the House, or the country, would give credit to them. Mr. HOLSEY said, the gentleman from New Jersey has moved to recommit the bill to the Committee of Ways and Means, with instructions to specify on the face of the bill a particular amount of appropriation for each item of expenditure for the removal of the Creek Indians. I am opposed to this motion on two grounds. First, because the details upon which the aggregate appropriation is founded have already been furnished by the Commissioner of the Indian bureau, printed, and laid upon the table of each member, before the bill was taken up in the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. Secondly, because the execution of the treaty stipulations being dependent upon facts which this House do not know, and cannot ascertain until the time of the actual removal of the Indians, it would not only embarrass, but even prevent the execution of some of the articles of the treaty. Upon the first ground, the House will perceive that it is not called upon to vote a sum total of the public money without a knowledge of the integral parts which compose it. They have been spread before us with a minuteness sufficient to satisfy the most scrupulous, and a certainty to which a nisi prius pleader could not take exception-a certainty not only to a common intent, but in every particular. There is a special Count per head for removal after the line of march is taken up; another for rations whilst in camp preparatory to removal; a third for rifles, ammunition, blankets, blacksmith, &c. [Here Mr. H. read from the estimates of the Commissioner of the Indian department the various details.] He said gentlemen had called for specifications. Tedious as they are, I have given them, because they were demanded, and will ask in return the measure of legal justice, a recovery secundem allegata d probata. But the gentleman from New Jersey is content with the items and their corresponding expenditure, but insists that they should be brought into the bill. glance at the treaty presents insuperable objections. By the 13th article, each Creek warrior is to be furnished with a rifle and ammunition, and each family with a blanket. As the number of these articles must necessarily depend upon the number of warriors and families at the time of executing the treaty, a specific amount for these purposes must run the hazard either of excess or deficiency. Again, sir: you insert in the bill a special amount ($28 50) per head, to defray the expenses of sub. A [H. of R. sistence and transportation. Shall your emigrating con. tractors have no less, or will you give them no more? The same may be said as to rations whilst in a prepara. tory state to removal. But I will not multiply instances. I have already enumerated enough to show that the executive department being charged with the execution of the treaty and the removal of the Indians, and these objects being influenced by facts and contingencies which the Legislature can neither know nor control, specific appropriations for particular items can only tend to clog or defeat the main end and design of the bill, the removal of the Indians, and the fulfilment of the national obligations. But, sir, the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. EVERETT] has assumed positions in regard to our Indian relations which, as one of the Representatives of Georgia, I cannot permit to pass unnoticed upon this floor. While he admits it is the settled policy of the Government to transplant the aborigines beyond the Mississippi, he maintains that the portion of the Creeks recently removed to the West have been torn from their birthright and their homes, in contravention of the national faith, solemnly pledged in the treaty of March, 1832. He interposes the same objection to the passage of this bill, which pro vides for the removal of the remaining portion of the tribe; arrays the frauds perpetrated upon them in the sale of reservations by our own people as the causes of their late hostilities; and whilst pouring out the melting charities of his heart, the deepest sympathies of his soul, for the injuries and sufferings of the degraded sons of Ishmael, reserves for his own race the freezing admoni. tion that those who sow the wind must reap the whirl. wind; who unchain the tiger must abide his fury as he walks upon his destroying path. Sir, I beg leave to dif fer with the gentleman from Vermont both in sentiment and opinion. I boldly avow my attachment for the race from which I have descended, and with whom I have united in the civil state for the purpose of defence against foreign invasion. I have no tears to shed for the savage who buries the tomahawk in the mother's breast, and imbrues his hands in her infant's blood. I rejoice that American arms have been enabled to arrest the barbarians in their march of blood and conflagration, and to transplant them beyond the jurisdiction of the States. The honorable gentleman from Vermont has intrenched himself on the high grounds of the treaty, and opened his batteries upon the Government for a violation of its provisions, by removing the Indians against their consent. A single fire will dislodge him from his position. By the laws of nations, a state of war abrogates pre-ex. isting treaties. If the Government continues to fulfil the remaining clauses of the treaty, it is only from a princi ple of humanity, and not from any considerations arising from good faith to the Indians. If they have raised the tomahawk and scalping-knife for the adjustment of their wrongs, they cannot complain that the musket and the bayonet have been made the umpire of our differences. The treaty was therefore cancelled by the commence. ment of hostilities, and their removal a military operation essential to the peace and safety of the frontiers. But the gentleman from Vermont has said that he has evidence in his possession to show that the frauds committed in the sales of Indian reservations were the causes of the recent aggressions on the part of the Creek na tion. I demand not only the evidence of fraud, but proof that, if any were committed, they were the causes of hostilities. [Here Mr. EVERETT stated that his opinion was formed from the report of Col. Hogan, an agent appointed to investigate the allegations of fraud.] The honorable gentleman prejudges not only the charges of fraud, but how far they may have led to the war-subjects which are now under the investigation of H. OF R.] Indian Appropriation Bill. commissioners appointed under a resolution of the last In In spite of all your treaties, your justice, or your magnanimity, they will not tamely relinquish their soil to your possession. For it they will exact not only your gold, but your blood. Gentlemen are grossly deceived who imagine that in the absence of fraud this tribe would peaceably have emigrated beyond the Mississippi. The Bupposition betrays an entire want of knowledge of the Indian character, and of causes which have been operating for ages past. But, sir, my honorable colleague [Mr. DAWSON] has imputed this war to the Government as its author. This is a grave charge, and requires examination. Sir, I bad supposed that the Executive Chief of this nation was the last man upon earth on whom this reproach could be cast. The blood and tears of helpless innocence, whilst falling the victims of Indian barbarity, will never cry to Heaven against him. [Here Mr. DAWSON explained, by saying that he did not mean to implicate the President, but those through whose agency the clause for reservations in the treaty had been inserted.] I am happy to find my colleague disclaims all imputations upon the Chief Executive. The charge was [FEB. 1, 1837. made and reiterated against the Government. Now, sir, I am at a loss to find the Government in the formation of a treaty without the President. He forms the treaty, and the Senate approves or rejects it. When the Government is censured for the formation of an improper treaty, I take it for granted the President is implicated. But my colleague has disclaimed it, and I will press it no further. I hope, therefore, the motion of the gentleman from New Jersey will not prevail, and that the House will pass the bill. Mr. DAWSON said the course which the debate had taken on the bill before the House had made it his duty, as one of the Representatives of Georgia, to ask the indulgence of the House, for a short time, that he might be heard upon some of the facts stated by gentlemen, and briefly to reply to some of the insinuations, charges, and allegations, which had been made in relation to that part of the Union from which he came. The range of this discussion had been wide, and to his mind, Mr. D. said, in a great measure unauthorized by the objects of the bill; questions and subjects having but little connexion, if any, had been introduced. Gentlemen had spoken freely and sympathetically touching the policy pursued in relation to the Indians, and especially the Creeks, and had plainly intimated, if not charged, that humanity had been violated, and the character of the country blackened, by acts of cruelty to them; that the conduct of the citizens of Georgia and Alabama to these Indians had given origin to the late war, which, it seems, has not yet entirely subsided, and, in its consequences, the butchery of men, women, and children, depredations, and desolation of property. It is Mr. Speaker, permit me (said Mr. D.) to say these allegations contain not the true causes of the war. a mistake, a very great mistake; it is not so. Truth and justice unite, and deny that Georgia and Alabama were in fault in this matter to such an extent as to justify so grave an allegation; and in their vindication, and especially those of my constituents who have been denomi nated the people of the frontiers, and against whom it has been said the dire calamities which were perpetrated on the eastern and western banks of the Chattahoo. chee river, during the last spring and summer, were partially chargeable, I may say, without being influenced by State pride, a more honorable and high-minded population inhabit no portion of this Union, and for the fulfilment of their duties as good and worthy citizens, politically and morally, are not inferior to any other portion of the confederacy. The charge that their conduct forced the Indians into a state of desperation, and caused the bloody and savage acts which they committed, is not true or just, nor can it with any propriety be made. Sir, the people of that section of the country are benevolent and generous, and possess, at least in an equal degree, every sympathy common to our nature, and which excites noble and honorable acts, and would extend the influence of these virtuous feelings as far as any people on earth. And here, in all kindness and good feeling to the gentlemen from Massachusetts and Vermont, who, on yesterday and to-day, addressed the House with so much sympathy in behalf of the aborigi nes, and who depicted, with so much pathos, the op pressions and cruelties which had been inflicted on that race, I can say no man indulges a more sincere desire to alleviate their condition, and improve their minds and their morals, than I do; and the gentlemen will pardon me for reminding them that the tide, the first wave o which began to flow on the landing of the Pilgrims a Plymouth, (1620,) and beat on that rock which now oc cupies, as a curiosity, the centre of the town of Plymouth and is to this day respected as sacred, is still flowing and will finally urge this race beyond the Mississippi without leaving a remnant behind. The waves of thi On tide have, in its floods, left the remembrance of oppres- I trust the House will pardon me for alluding, at this time, to the legislation of Georgia, and her course towards these people. Her laws, when understood, will be approved; her statute books will show the protection and securities guarantied to the Indians. Their persons and property are as inviolable as those of the whites; personal wrongs committed on them by the whites are punished by the same law, and to the same extent, as if committed on a white man. [H. OF R. kindness and generosity to the Indians, sir? Which of To return to the causes of the late war. It has been Hence The 3d article says: "These tracts may be conveyed by the persons selecting the same to any other persons, for a fair consideration, in such manner as the President may direct; the contract shall be certified by some person appointed for that purpose by the President, but shall not be valid till the President approves the same; a title shall be given by the United States, on the completion of the payment." Who cannot see, at a glance, that this treaty, concocted, arranged, planned, and ratified here, in the city of Washington, threw open, wide and broad, the doors for speculation, fraud, and corruption? And, sir, I have no doubt one of the contracting parties saw it, and knew it, and, it seems, endeavor. templates a sale, says "these reservations may be sold, for a fair consideration, in such a manner as the Presi dent may direct; the contract shall be certified by some person appointed for that purpose by the President," &c. Georgia nor Alabama did create this mother of so many evils: no, sir, it took its origin in the city of Washington, and was the production of one of the departments of this Government. And who should be answerable for the dreadful and heart-rending calamities, frauds, speculations, and infamous combinations for un worthy purposes, growing out of it? The answer is palpable. As to the indulgences towards the Indians, the patience with which Georgia awaited the fulfilment of the compact of 1802 will show. And it is worthy of remark that, notwithstanding the various tribes which have resided in that State from the Revolution to this day, her history is not stained by a single act of cruelty towards that people; nor has an Indian suffered the penalty of the law for its violation, which a white man would not bave suffered for the same offence. Nor has the policy of Georgia, within the last forty years, (and I believe never,) nor have the acts of any portion of her citizens, involved this Government in a single border war. But, air, for a few years past, individuals, and perhaps numbers of very good men, have labored under a delusioned to provide against it; for the 3d article, which conand belief that Georgia had acted towards the Indians within ber limits with great rigor and oppression. This is not true, to the extent alleged; in fact, every act of the State had been justifiable, and demanded by the state of our Indian relations. No State, Mr. Speaker, (said Mr. D.,) in this Union, has exhibited more magna. nimity and indulgence towards the Indians. How long have the Cherokees been in the peaceable and quiet eccupancy of the lands of Georgia, within her constitutional limits, and guarantied by the General Government in the compact of 1802? More than half a century, sir! What has arrested the growth of Georgia for so many years, and kept her in the rear of the old thirteen? Her And, sir, who has not heard it and seen it in the pub |