ATTEMPTS TO CIVILIZE THEM. tion of the whites, as theirs, by immemorial possession. There was perhaps about one Indian to a square mile of wilderness. They had seen, and in their hunting excursions had roamed over a considerable portion of it; much of it they had never seen. The country to some extent around their wigwams, that where they had buried their dead, and that on which they had bestowed any cultivation, was theirs, by a title that could not be disputed. By the constitution, the charge of defcnding the frontier devolved upon the General Government, and as a necessary consequence, the right of regulating the intercourse, and of negotiating with the Indians. This charge was assigned to the department of war. The Indians had an utter aversion to a subjection to the municipal laws of the States within whose chartered limits they resided. They could but very imperfectly understand them. Their habits, and manner of life were all against such restraints. The policy adopted towards them, was in conformity to these views, to consider, and treat them as independent communities, having their own laws, customs and usages, subject to the supervision of the United States so far only as to protect them from imposition. Without controverting their title to the territory not in their immediate occupation, the object of the government was to purchase their claim to it, at its full value to them; and to pledge the public faith for the free enjoyment of their reserved lands. At the same time, efforts were made to bring them to some degree of civilization. ATTEMPTS TO CIVILIZE THEM. Their condition also at this period attracted the attention of benevolent societies in the United States. The first attempts were directed to sending missionaries among them to preach the gospel by means of interpreters, or such teachers as could be found, who imperfectly understood their language. It was soon perceived to be impossible to make a roving Indian understand the sublime truths of the christian religion by such means. Whatever faint impressions might have been made, soon wore off. A different course was then adopted; permanent missionary stations were established, where the first object was to induce the Indian to forsake his roaming life, and to cultivate the earth for a subsistence. Implements of husbandry were furnished them with this view. The savage being in some measure tamed, and induced to remain at home, more readily became the recipient of religious instruction. The government aided the exertions of the missionary societies, by annual grants of ten thousand dollars for the purpose of civilizing the Indians. These united efforts had considerable effect, and raised the Cherokee nation to a degree of civilization before unknown. They also had the effect of attaching the Indians more strongly to their homes, and thereby EXTENSION OF STATE JURISDICTION OVER THEM. counteracting the main object of the whites, that of ultimate possession of the whole territory. EXTENSION OF STATE JURISDICTION OVER THEM. In most of the States, civil jurisdiction was extended over the territory occupied by the Indians, as they diminished in numbers and im. portance, without question, and without objection on their part. If they injured a white man they were subject to prosecution and punishment by the state courts. If the Indians, for injuries done to one another, chose to resort to the state laws, they were open to them; if they chose to proceed according to their own usages, they were permitted so to do. If a white man injured an Indian, he was entitled to the same redress as a native citizen. Indeed, most of the state laws in relation to the Indians, were made to protect them from imposition. They found no fault with this state of things, and raised no question as to the right of the state to extend jurisdiction over them. Being left to themselves, their numbers gradually diminished to a few wandering individuals, and they ceased to be of any political consideration. In relation to the Indian communities of the south-west, some of the states have been disposed to extend jurisdiction over them, while they were of some importance and before they were willing to yield the right of self government, which has produced perplexing questions between the general and state governments, not yet finally settled. PUBLIC DOMAIN. The public domain, or land unappropriated belonging to the United States, consists of about two hundred millions of acres; being equal to a territory of six hundred miles square. It became the property of the United States, by cessions from individual states of portions of the vacant territory within their chartered limits, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the war by which it was acquired; and by the purchase of Louisiana from France, in 1803, and of the Floridas from Spain, in 1819. Up to 1832, there had been expended from the Treasury of the United States in these purchases, including interest from the time of payment, in extinguishing Indian titles, and in expenses in surveying, locating and managing the lands, upwards of forty-eight millions of dollars. The United States were also under obligation to pay permanent Indian annuities $142,525, equal to a capital of two millions. Within a few years past, the attention of speculators has been turned with great interest to these lands, and this circumstance has greatly augmented the amount recently sold. The Secretary of the Treasury in his report, December 5th, 1837, says― "the number of acres sold since the 1st of January, 1835, has reached the extraordinary quantity of thirty-seven and a half millions; and thus have the sales so widely departed from all precedents, and every ordinary principle of calculation, as to equal in less than three years, however incredible the fact may MANNER OF LOCATION AND SALE. appear, the whole made during the forty-five years which had before elapsed from the adoption of the constitution." During the year 1837, great pecuniary embarrassments began to be experienced throughout the country, and the sales of public lands since that time, have very materially decreased; the Secretary of the Treasury in estimating the receipts for 1838, calculates the amount to be received from lands at $5,000,000. Although the actual value of these lands to the settler may be estimated at as many dollars, as acres which he purchases; their productiveness to the treasury can only be computed upon the amount received from the sales, annually varying from one to three millions of dollars, and equal only to a productive capital of fifty millions. In forming an estimate of the future value of this domain to the United States in a pecuniary view, the future expense of a military establishment necessary for its defence, must be taken into the account; were it not for this, a considerable part of the present army might with propriety be disbanded; the expenses of surveys and sales are also to be considered. It has been a subject of debate whether the public lands should be given up to the states, within whose limits they are located, or sold at prices merely nominal; and it is an important question whether it would be proper for the government to adopt either course. MANNER OF LOCATION AND SALE. The course early adopted and uniformly pursued, has been to divide the territory into convenient districts; and to establish territorial governments, composed of a local legislature, and of an executive appointed by the General Government; and as soon as any district of a convenient size and location for a state, became sufficiently populous, to admit it as an equal member of the Union. Ohio was the earliest and most important of the new states admitted from the public domain. The principles then adopted, formed the basis of all future proceeding on this subject. They were, that the public lands should remain the property of the United States until sold by them, and remain free from taxation until after the expiration of five years after they became private property. That the land should be surveyed, and divided into townships of six miles square, and each township into thirtysix sections of one square mile each, or 640 acres; and each section into quarters, eights, and sixteenths, the lowest subdivision containing only 40 acres, thereby giving to settlers of limited means, the opportunity of becoming freeholders. Land offices were established in convenient districts, where the lands were offered for sale in these divisions, first at public auction, and then at a minimum price of two dollars per acre. One thirty-sixth part of each township conveniently situated was set apart for the use of schools for the common benefit of the inhabitants; and one fifth part of the net avails of all the sales is AMOUNT SURVEYED AND SOLD. PUBLIC DEBT. appropriated to the making of roads leading to and through the state. As matter of further encouragement, there have been given to the new states at different times, and in different portions, upwards of three millions of acres for internal improvements, colleges, and seats of government. AMOUNT SURVEYED AND SOLD. About eighty millions of acres of this domain have been sold; a further quantity has been surveyed, and brought into market; and the Indian title has been extinguished to other large quantities which have not yet been surveyed. That there might be no want of encouragement for pioneers to go as far west as they chose, a principle has been adopted in relation to the unseated lands, that whenever they are brought into market, a previous settler shall have the right of preemption at the minimum price. The objects of the government in adopting this liberal system, were to encourage the emigration of the redundant population of the old States, by placing within the power of every industrious and frugal man a freehold sufficient for the support of a family; and to prevent the accumulation of large tracts in the hands of individuals who had no other intention than to hold it for the purpose of speculation. Under this system uniformly practised from 1800 to 1830, the four States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, have come into existence as such. A considerable portion of the unsold domain is within the limits of these States, and in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, and the territories of Florida and Wisconsin; but much the greater part of it is west of the Rocky mountains; and beyond the limits of any white settlements or located territory. PUBLIC DEBT. The public debt at the commencement of the government in 1789, amounted to seventy-five millions of dollars. It consisted of debts due for supplies furnished, services rendered, and moneys borrowed of foreign governments, and of individuals, for the purposes of the war of the revolution, and of State debts assumed. By the funding system, as it was called in 1791, the domestic debt was converted into three species of public stock, one bearing an immediate interest of six per cent.; one bearing the same rate of interest, commencing in the year 1800, and the third, bearing a present interest of three per cent. In 1804 it amounted to $85,353,532, being its highest amount previous to the war of 1812, having received an addition of fifteen millions by the purchase of Louisiana. At the commencement of the last war, it had been reduced to forty-five millions; that war augmented it to one hundred and twenty-three millions. On January 1st, 1835, the whole public debt had been paid off, except a small amount, which by its terms, could not be paid before that time, and for which, funds were seasonably provided. The whole amount of expenditures and receipts from CURRENCY. the commencement of the government to 1840, exceeds one thousand millions. The money has been raised principally by duties, varying from fifteen to one hundred per cent. on the consumption of foreign articles. The public debt being discharged, these duties have been greatly reduced. The receipts in the Treasury for the year 1840, were, The expenditures in the same year, were, Leaving a balance in the Treasury on the 1st of $28,850,S20 44 27,863,475 41 $987,345 03 During the year 1840 there were more than five and a half millions of treasury notes issued, and a little more than four millions redeemed. CURRENCY. For the purpose of commercial intercourse, or the interchange of property between individuals, a common measure or standard is requisite, with which the value of all property the subject of exchange can be compared. As the comfort and convenience of mankind require an interchange of commodities, not only between individuals of the same nation, but also between those of different nations, it is requisite that this standard should be of universal application; and among all nations arrived at any considerable degree of civilization, gold and silver, by common consent, have been adopted as constituting this standard. The value of all contracts, and of all property, is estimated according to the quantity of these metals which they will command. They are denominated precious metals, as though their intrinsic worth was equal to their current value; but such is not the case; for any other purpose than that of a common measure, they are not as useful as several other kinds. Their principal value consists in this, that they enable the holder to procure a given quantity of any article which he may wish to possess. But though gold and silver are the universal standard by which the value of all property is estimated, they by no means constitute the whole or the greater part of the medium of commercial intercourse. Credits, or obligations, written or verbal, by which one individual assumes to pay another a given sum in gold and silver, constitute in fact, the greater part of this medium. These metals do not amount, in the United States, to a hundredth, and perhaps not to a thousandth part of the value of the contracts that are made and discharged in the course of a year, and the greater part of what there is, lies dormant in the vaults of the banks. It appears in the character of an actual currency, only in small sums as change. Notwithstanding the small amount of precious metals, as they are called, which is to be found in the country, the value of all paper depends upon the |