Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress Page: 643
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643
GALES fc? 8E AXON'S REGISTER
644
Senate.]
Indian Tribes.
[Feb. 22, 1825.
own safety. Now, this is too violent a supposition to be
the foundation of any objection which would require se-
rious refutation. The contemplated removal and settle-
ment of those Indians, therefore, will not endanger ei-
ther their peaceor our safety, while it promises to them
an entire exemption from all the causes of deterioration,
under which they now languish. That the civilization
and moral improvement of these people, must be the
necessary consequence of their removal and settlement
ai> this bill contemplates, I am not prepared to say. But
I do say, Mr. President, unless they are removed from
their present situation, and that very shortly, too, there
will be but few to require this experiment at your
hands—an experiment which, although it may fail, I be-
lieve to be more full of hope and promise, concerning'
the future prospects of this unfortunate race, than any
which has been heretofore attempted.
Thus much I have felt it my tluty to say, in reference
to the deep interest [ believe the Indians have in the
proposed measures. Rut, I have said these measures
w >uld also increase the wealth and power of the Union.
The removal of the Indians beyond the limits of the
states, would leave us in possession of all the lands they
now occupy ; and these, from their situation and extent,
must be very valuable. Almost all the Indian reserva-
tions have been of the best lands ; and surrounded, as
they are at this time, by a white population, and improv-
ed by roads, and other facilities of intercourse with the
adjacent country, they would command comparatively
a high price. Hut these lands form an aggregate of no
less than seventy-seven millions five hundred thousand
acres. Now deduct nine millions five hundred thousand
acres, as lands belonging to Georgia, when the Indian
title shall have been extinguished ; and one hundred and
forty-four thousand in possession of the Cahawba Indians,
but which, if surrendered, would belong to South Caro-
lina, and you will have sixty-seven million eight hundred
and fifty-six thousand acres subject to the disposition of
the United States! Suppose this immense tract sold at
only two dollars per acre, a fund would be created of
one hundred and thirty-five millions seven hundred and
twelve thousand dollars ! Which, after reimbursing the
Treasury for all expenses incurred in carrying into effect
the provisions of this bill, would not only be adequate
to the extinction of the national debt, but leave an im.
tnense amount at the future disposal of the Government.
Hut, sir, the wealth and power of the Union will be
still more advanced by the greater compactness of the
population, and the increased cultivation of the soil of
the states, which would be ensured under the operation
of the system. If the wealth of a nation depends upon
the qiftmtity of its surplus productions, whatever has a
tendency to increase these productions, must operate fa-
vorably upon the resources of the community. Ky the
plan proposed, an immense tract of land, now useless,
would be brought into cultivation, some of which will
produce the most valuable staples, either for use or ex-
portation. Within the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mis-
sissippi, and Tennessee, there are upwards of 33,000,000
of acres of valuable land, that would be redeemed and
brought into cultivation ! Most of this soil would grow
cotton, and swell the valuable export of these states to
an astonishing amount. But, sir, what shall I say of the
value of the population which this measure would ensure
to these states ? This Senate must be well aware that
it is not less the policy of the Federal Government than
it is the interest of these states to afford every facility to
the rapid increase of their efficient population. Situat-
ed at the most exposed point of the Union, as two of
these states are, with an entensive sea coast, incapable,
from the nature of its soil, of sustaining but a very sparse
population, they must rely, for their defence, principal-
ly, on the dense population of the interior. Florida, too,
with her immense maritime frontier, will look chiefly to
Georgia and Alabama for aid in time of war. And, as
New Orleans was saved in the last war by the power of
the adjoining states, so Florida, and the seacoast of
Georgia and Alabama, can be successfully defended
against future invasion only by the timely augmentation
of their physical power. It becomes, then, an object of
cardinal interest with the Federal Government, upon
whom devolves the high duty of national defence, that
everv portion of these states should be filled up w-ith an
effective population i and blind, indeed, is that policy,
which would continue to appropriate so many millions
of acres of land, thus situated, to the unproductive uses
of Indian occupancy, regardless alike of the wealth of
the nation, and of her means of defence ! But, sir, inde-
pendent of the general policy which so strongly recom-
mends this measure, its tendency to fulfil the'just ex-
pectations of Georgia, in reference to the cession of
1802, should ensure to it the most favorable reception.
Twenty-three years have nearly elapsed, since the Union
contracted, for a valuable consideration, to extinguish,
for the use of Georgia, the Indian title to all the lands
within her limits. Knowing the influence and pows-r of
the Federal Government, Georgia could not h . ve anti-
cipated the delays which have occurred, nor for; seen the
obstacles which they would have interposed to the ac-
complishment of her expectations. And, although fully
sensible of the pernicious effects of this procrastination,
in the abridgment of her wealth and power, such has
been her attachment to the Union, and resp?ct for its
Government, that she has hitherto repressed the full ex-
pression of disappointment, in the hope that every new
appeal to the justice of the United States would result
in the performance of their stipulations. Formerly, her
claims were postponed for the convenience of tile Na-
tional Treasury j and, latterly, by representations of the
difficulties of compliance. But now, sir, a plan is offer-
ed for your acceptance, free from all these embarrass-
ments. It is proposed to exchange lands beyond the
Mississippi for those tracts held by Indians within the
states. Should this plan succeed, it will enable the
United States not only to discharge their obligations t®
Georgia, " peaceably, and on reasonable terms," but to
confer a lasting benefit on the Indians thus remov-d, by-
giving them a. permanent home, for their present precari-
ous possessions. In his message on this sub ject, the Pre-
sident informs Congress, that a treaty with the Creek
Indians is now negotiating, and, " with a reasonable
prospect of success " Although no serious difficulties
may now present themselves to the acquisition of these
lands, yet, every day's delay is calculated to augment
such as do exist. The attainment of property by a few
individuals of mixed blood, (some of whom own cotton
plantations, worked by African slaves,) has given to a
small minority a controlling influence in the councils of
the nation. These men become, annually, richer and
more powerful, while the great body of the nation are
impoverished and degraded. Without game to subsist
on, and unskilled in the arts of civilized life, they are in
fact the menials of this aristocracy, who employ and sup-
port them j and who, fully sensible of all the advan-
tages resulting to their avarice from the possession of
this power and influence, will not easily be persuaded
to use either in support of a policy which, however it
may be calculated to subserve the interests of the mass
uf the red population, may ultimately deprive them of
the station and emoluments they now enjoy. Most of
the difficulties which have been experienced in treating
with these Indians, have been occasioned by the influ-
ence and intrigues of men of this description, who, hav-
ing no interests in common with the nation, could not be
expected to sympathise with them. The mass of the
red population have long been inclined to such a remov-
al and settlement as this bill proposes; and, should the
treaty with the Creeks succeed, the Indians will be re-
moved, at their o-cm request, beyond the Mississippi, and
settled upon lands to be given them as a permanent pas-
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Gales, Joseph, 1761-1841. Register of Debates in Congress, Comprising the Leading Debates and Incidents of the Second Session of the Eighteenth Congress, book, 1825; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30752/m1/326/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.