Mr. Macon said if the bill was intended to be conformable to the title, the amendment ought certainly to be agreed to; as, if the United States undertook to establish a government at the Natchez, without the consent of Georgia, it could not be said to be amicably done. This, he said, was neither the proper time nor place of deciding to whom this territory belongs. The great object ought to be to get a government there, and not to talk about what had been done for Georgia. And if the consent of Georgia could be obtained previous to the establishment of this government, it was certainly desirable that it should be obtained. This would not injure the claim of either. When this was done, some mode might be agreed upon by which the dispute at present subsisting, might be settled. This course would prevent any difficulties, and the consent might be obtained by the time the government could take effect.
Mr. Otis said if the object of the present bill, could be obtained in a mode which would preserve the rights of all parties as they at present stand, such a course would be preferable to that which should appear to relinquish the right of one of the parties. It struck him that this might be effected by the bill as it now stands. The United States assumed their right to the land, yet they do not say they mean to turn a deaf ear to the claim of Georgia. But, if the amendment were adopted, it would go to relinquish the title of the United States, and this, he thought, would be an excess of complaisance to the State of Georgia. The only plausible reason given in favor of the amendment was, that if the bill passed without it, it would give offence to, and excite jealousy in, the State of Georgia. But how? Because Congress passes an act to settle the interfering claims, and directs the appointment of commissioners to give them a compensation for what we might take without it? Or, because we say we will enter upon the territory, to which we always laid claims, in order to preserve peace and order among the inhabitants, and to secure it against the attack of the Indians or of a foreign power? Gentlemen seem to take it for granted that Georgia has possession of this territory; whereas those who oppose the amendment, contend it is a vacant possession, and that we have a right to take possession of it, to hold it, not until an army is raised to take it from us, but until the legal question of right shall be decided. And it could not be said that there was any thing offensive in this. If a man, for instance, were to enter upon a piece of land, and say he would never give it up until he was driven from it, it would certainly be an act of violence; but if he enter upon it only to take care of it, until a legal decision can be had as to his right, such an act was perfectly justifiable; and this was intended in the present case.
Mr. Kittera hoped, if the bill passed at all, it would be without the amendment. This territory was never yet governed either by the United States or Georgia, but had been ceded to the United States by Spain, in our late treaty with that power, and we ought to retain possession of it until the title to it was clear. In this view of the subject, he could not see how the State of Georgia could take offence at our holding the territory until the existing dispute was settled.
Mr. Baldwin said it was to be regretted, as this was the last instance in which this question of cession could be presented to Congress, that the situation of the persons settled upon this territory was such as should seem to constrain gentlemen to depart from the course of their former proceedings on this subject. He was fully impressed with the situation of that people; but he thought little delay would be occasioned by the proposed application to the State of Georgia; nor would that consent weaken, as had been suggested, the title of the United States. Or, if there was any force in the objection, it might be guarded against by adding a few words in the section which speaks of preserving the claim of Georgia as it now stands.
Mr. B. said, gentlemen who had turned their attention to the map, would find that the territory in question is situate at the south-west corner of the United States; the southern boundary is latitude 31, and the western boundary the Mississippi, which is also the boundary of the United States. Its extent is about 280 miles north and south, and coming this way, about 400 miles. That part upon which this bill is bottomed, is little more than one-third part of the whole of that territory. The United States now reckon latitude 32-1/2 as the boundary of Georgia; but in the treaty, and till very lately, it was always reckoned to be 31, which is also the boundary of the United States. This was, at any rate, a new discovery—the official documents in support of which he had not seen. It was now supposed that West Florida extends to latitude 32-1/2, and not to 31, which is one degree and a half more than formerly supposed. If this were so, he wondered it had never before been discovered by England or Spain. Why was the boundary of the United States always fixed at 31? He feared, that since it became our interest to extend the boundary, we had suffered that interest to color our judgment. The instructions drawn out for our Minister by a former Secretary of State were, "you are to contend for latitude 31." The ground upon which he had stated this, Mr. B. thought irresistible, and it was thought we might risk a war upon it. Besides, this bill would not cure the evil for which it was intended. There might be inhabitants still further north; this bill provides only for such as are settled within what had been called the Province of West Florida. Mr. B. said, he had never seen the documents which authorized this extension. He had, indeed, seen the remarks of Mr. Chalmers, who, he believed, was Secretary to the Board of Trade and Plantations in London; but he believed he had drawn what he had said from the same document which was now reported, viz: the extract from the copy of the instructions said to have been given to Governor Chester; but the order of King and Council for extending it, the Attorney General says, in page 11th of his report, is not to be found.
Gentlemen had said, why does not the State of Georgia manifest a disposition to make some arrangements respecting the territory in question. They had done so. After the Revolutionary war in 1783 or 1784, when there was an expectation that the forts would have been evacuated, they laid out a county there, and all the titles were declared good, and where there was no other title occupancy was declared to be sufficient, and warrants were to be issued accordingly. When he first came to attend his duty in Congress, the Minister from Spain arrived about the same time, when he put in the claim of Spain to this territory, which prevented any thing further from being done; and as soon as it was found that the arrangements made by Georgia gave umbrage to the Spanish Government, they were given up.
In the year 1788, the State of Georgia passed an act for making the cession of this territory to the United States. This act Congress referred to a committee, which reported that Government ought not to accept of the cession on the terms proposed. He believed the same disposition to make the cession which always had existed, now existed. He believed the disposition of the government of Georgia was as favorable to the interests of the United States as that of any other State. He did not rise to speak their praises; but he could not sit to hear them blamed without notice.
If the proposed government was proceeded with without the consent of Georgia, it would be a dereliction of principle. He thought some sort of regulation might be made among the people for their own government, until Georgia was applied to. This was not a new case. There had been great settlements in several parts of the country long before any government was provided for them. Mr. B. said, he did not mean to undervalue the claim of the United States; they had always a claim in every case of cession, but he hoped, except there was an absolute necessity for it, the usual course of proceeding would not be departed from.
Mr. Gordon said, the gentleman from Georgia complained that a different course was proposed now to be taken than had been adopted heretofore. In answer to this, it was sufficient to say, that where the circumstances of cases differed, different courses were necessary. With respect to the merits of the bill, he thought it stood right at present. The situation of the people in the district alluded to, was such as required immediate attention. If gentlemen were not convinced of this, he saw no necessity for going into the business before the subsisting dispute between Georgia and the United States was settled. He believed, however, there was no doubt of the fact; and surely the gentleman from Georgia would not wish that these people should live under a military government for any length of time. Being satisfied of this point, he wished the bill to pass without the amendment, as that might defeat altogether the purpose of the bill. The claim of Georgia he looked upon at least as doubtful; and as he considered the United States as bound to protect all its citizens, he thought they would not be justified in returning these people for answer, "we cannot attend to your wants until we have settled our dispute with Georgia." Georgia might refuse to negotiate the subject, and by that means protract the business in a manner which would be very inconvenient, and perhaps drive the people under another government. Besides, if Georgia should refuse its consent to the establishment of a government in that quarter, it would, nevertheless, be proper to establish one. The United States, Mr. G. said, came into possession of this territory by treaty. But suppose it was now in possession of a foreign power, would Georgia attempt to drive them from it? Certainly not. It would amount to the making of war on a foreign power. Suppose Georgia had a title to this territory, had not the United States the power of depriving Georgia of it? Suppose, in their treaty with Spain, the United States had surrendered to Spain one-half of this land, or the whole of it, Georgia would have been bound by such an act; and having got this territory by treaty, they had certainly a right to establish a provisional government over it, until the dispute, as to the title, was settled.
The question of this amendment was put and negatived by 46 to 24.