tative Chambers so secured by transparent veils, as will preserve them from dust or other detrimental causes, and that he pay for the same out of the contingent fund.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby resolved, That from and after the passage of this resolution, Achols Daniel, of the county of Crawford, be, and he is hereby relieved from the operation of any execution or other process which may be had against him, in consequence of his having failed to pay his tax in the county of Crawford, he having paid the same in the county of Monroe.

IN SENATE, Dec. 15, 1831.

The committee on Finance, to whom the Governor's communication concerning a report of Col. Joseph Jackson, agent for the State, to inquire into and report on the actings and doings of the Commissioners of Pilotage, for the port and city of Savannah, (there being no other documents submitted,) have had the same under consideration, from which it appears, that the said Commissioners have deviated from Legislative enactments, and as no explanation has been rendered by them, with a view to justify the course they have pursued, your committee offer the following resolution:

Resolved, That the prosecuting officer of the State, for the Eastern Circuit, proceed to a judicial investigation of the conduct of the Commissioners of Pilotage for the city of Savannah, and report the result when the business is completed.

The committee to whom was referred so much of his Excellency the Governor's communication, as relates to the enforcement of the law, making it penal under certain restrictions, for white persons to reside within the limits of the Cherokee Nation: together with the documents in relation to that subject; have bestowed upon the subject, such reflection, and given it such investigation, as-its importance merits. It does not appear to your committee, so far as the people of Georgia are concerned, at all necessary, to enter into a defence of this measure of the Government. Our people with

one accord, your committee believe, approve both the policy of the law and the manner of its enforcement. The policy of the State toward the Cherokee tribe of Indians, in regard to the unsettled lands within her limits, and particularly in reference to the missionaries who have made themselves obnoxious to the penalty of the act of the last Legislature; has been and still is already [abroad] the subject of misrepresentation, and the theme of vituperation. We have been represented, as usurping rights, which belong to the Indians, as exercising dominion over a people, free and independent, and as disregarding the sacred character and holy functions of the missionaries of the Cross. A regard to the moral sense of the people of the Union, and a just respect to the character of the State, your committee believe, require, that, upon this subject facts should be exhibited, and the principles of action, which have governed the State should be well understood.

By a law of the State, passed at the last session of the General Assembly, all white persons, except agents of the United States, are prohibited from residing within its territory, occupied by the Cherokees, unless authorised by license from the Governor or his agent, upon taking an oath to support the constitution and laws of this State. The right of the State to pass this law, results as a necessary conse-. quence, to the right which she has to the soil and jurisdiction, over the Cherokee lands-Her right of jurisdiction is co-extensive with her chartered limits, and embraces the persons and things, within those limits. No enlightened jurist of the present day, no one familiar with the custom, which has governed all the states of the Union, who have had Indian tribes within their limits, or who is conversant with the policy of the Federal Government, since the. administration of Mr. Monroe, will for a moment doubt, the right of the State, to extend her criminal laws over the whole of her chartered limits this is not a vexed question: at all events, its elucidation does not constitute a part of the duty of your committee upon the present occasion.

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The reason and necessity of the law, are as obvious as the right to enact it. A leading object with the General Government has been, for many years, the removal of the Cherokee Indians West of the Mississippi. This has been held by the most benevolent, and also the most distinguished of our statesmen, the only means left to the Government to save the wretched remnants of this once numerous and powerful nation, from moral ruin as individuals, and total extinction as a tribe. Year after year, the tribes within the states, have been seen to decrease in numbers, and to sink lower and low

er in crime, depravity, and sin. The parental arm of the Government has been extended to their relief, and the Federal and State Governments, have united their efforts to remove them from their present habitations and locate them beyond the Mississippi. There, under the protection of the Government, and free, alike from the crimes and the cupidity of the white man, to live in their own peculiar way, the happy and lordly masters of the Forest.

It was an object of peculiar interest to Georgia, to acquire a speedy possession of her Cherokee lands. Too long had the Government delayed to liquidate the Indian possession. She had become justly jealous of her rights, and her people had become impatient of the restraints imposed by the delay of the Federal Government to fulfil her treaty obligations. The Cherokee tribe had assumed the attitude of an independent nation, with government and laws distinct from, and independent of the State authority. The discovery of immense mineral wealth, within the limits of the nation, acting upon the avarice and cupidity of men, had brought into the territory, a numerous body of men, lawless, abandoned, and hostile to the policy of the State. These circumstances imperiously asked of the State decisive and prompt action, and on these accounts she enacted laws, abrogating the Cherokee Goverment, making it penal to dig gold, and punishing a resident within the territory, unless the resident would take an oath to observe the constitution and laws of the state. The exclusion of all white persons from the Cherokee lands, was the dictate of policy and necessity. It was well ascertained that the efforts of whites resident in the nation, were directed to a prevention of the removal of the Indians. They dissuaded the Indians from emigrating, encouraged them in their ideas of independence, misrepresented the policy and intents of the Government, and thwarted, by all the means within their power, the views of the state. It became necessary, therefore, that the state should abandon her policy and cease her efforts to remove the Indians, or rid herself of the selfish and corrupt whites, who had settled among them.Hence the passage of the act, making it penal to reside within the limits of the land occupied by the Cherokees, with out a license, and without taking an oath to observe the constitution and laws of the state. The oath and the license, it was thought, would be a sufficient protection of the policy of the state, from any attempts to defeat it, by such as might think proper to remain. To such as were well disposed to the benevolent views of the State, the oath would he no stumbling block, whilst it would exclude such as were hostile to her interests and her policy. And the fact of permitting a

residence there, upon such terms, proves conclusively that the law was intended to operate upon such only as were defeating the gteat objects of the state. Removal of the whites was not so much desired, as the destruction of that influence, which was at war with the interest of Georgia.

It is worthy of remark, that the Federal Government, acting "in loco parentis" to the Indians, delegated to her Indian agents more power over whites, resident in the nation, than Georgia seeks to exercise, in the enforcement of her law. They were instructed, by order from the War Department in the following words: "You are to allow no white person to enter and settle on the Indian lands within your agency, who shall not on entering present to you, approved testimonials of his good character for industry, honesty, and sobriety; nor then, without the consent of the Indians. And if, after permission is given under such testimonials, the person or persons to whom it is given, shall become lazy, dishonest, intemperate, or in any way setting vicious examples before the Indians, exciting them against each other, or inflaming their jealousy and suspicion against the General Government, or any of its acts towards them, or attempting to degrade in their eyes the agents of government, thereby destroying their influence over the Indians by false accusations or otherwise, you will forthwith order such person or persons out of the Indian country.' It is here seen, that Georgia in her sovereign character, and in the exercise of an indubitable right, has scarcely assumed as much power over these persons, as the Federal Government thought proper to commit to her agents, who were to a great extent irresponsible. Both governments had mainly in view the same object, in the suppression of any influence among the Indians, adverse to their benevolent designs towards them, and yet not a few of those who admit and justify the measures of the General Government, condemn and reprobate the law of this state. Your committee are of opinion that when this matter is understood, it will be admitted that all which Georgia has done, was inade necessary in order to effect the removal of the Indians.

Let those too who clamor so much about Indian rights, and who weep so much over Indian sufferings, know, that this law was necessary to the protection of the persons and property of the Indians from the violence, the intrigues, and the corruptions of the whites. Here it is well understood, that white men are the greatest enemies to the Indians, whether in the character of the selfish, avaricious and ambitious resident within their limits, or the character of the political