It was well known to him, and to some who heard him, that their calls for protection on a very extensive and very turbulent frontier, had, till within these few years, always been repelled with reproaches, that they had never been any thing but an expense; were totally delinquent in bearing the burdens of the Revolution; that they had been carried through entirely at the expense of the other States; and that they ought not now to be protected any further till they were willing to pay requisitions. When this reproach was wiped off by the report of the General Board of Commissioners, on the settlement of the whole account of the old co-partnership of the Confederation, and the very small number there, at that time, appeared to have done the proportion of the whole number by the census which was the rule of the settlement, and to have reimbursed the great delinquency of the loan officers appointed by Congress, for which they were made accountable, still they were told they must protect themselves, for they wronged the Indians out of their lands, and this was the cause of their suffering. It appears now, in the result, that they have always discharged all their Federal obligations, and much more, and instead of getting away the lands from the Indians, the Indians have got away their lands, and they cannot get them back.
He believed there could not be much doubt left but that the principles contained in the report of the committee were just and proper. These had been to him for many years very sore objects; the position in which he considered them immovably fixed gave him great pleasure. His constituents had not sent him here to play the champion. He thought it could not be denied that there was some ground for them to triumph over those who had so long vilified and abused them. He begged leave still further to urge the measures recommended by the committee, from the consideration of the small expenditures which have been made on that frontier, in proportion to the others.
The accounts of the military expenditures on the northern frontiers, were now more than ten millions of dollars. This had been begun, and principally originated from a regular expedition to destroy a village of fugitive Indians, who committed depredations on the northern frontier; a similar village on the southern frontier, called the Chehaw, was also destined by the Government for a similar expedition; but the measure failed in the Legislature, and that frontier was left to protect themselves. This has been done; the fugitives in that village have been driven off by a party of volunteers. He believed the whole amount of military expenditures on that frontier, till the time of entire peace with the Indians, did not exceed a quarter of a million, and nearly one hundred thousand of that the militia had now been kept out of for four or five years; though he hoped and trusted they would not much longer have cause of complaint on that head. After the observations which he had made, he thought no apology was necessary for some apparent harshness in the language of the remonstrance.
As to the course which it is proper to pursue in granting relief on the subject, he had not much to say. He was confident the expectations of the State were not unreasonable; he was sure they would be satisfied with any result which could be considered as fair and honorable; and his confidence in the House forbade him to suppose for a moment that it could be brought to any other. The course recommended by the committee in their resolution now under consideration, is either to make compensation to the State for the land which has been relinquished, and for the damages which they have sustained, or else to repurchase that district or another district, on that frontier, of equal value. He said he had laid on the table a certificate from the Surveyor General of that State, taken at that time, as to the length of the lines enclosing that district, and the probable contents of it. If the report of the committee should be agreed to, a bill might be reported in conformity to one or the other, or all of those principles, as might be thought proper. He was contented in leaving it to the judgment of the House.
On the call of Mr. Brooks, the representation and remonstrance were read. After which,
Mr. Champlin moved that the committee might rise, with a view of postponing this subject till the next session of Congress. He thought the language of the remonstrance too violent and indecorous to claim attention from the House. This opinion was also supported by Mr. Dana. Messrs. Bayard and N. Smith wished this motion to prevail, because they doubted the propriety of the report, and supposed there would not be time thoroughly to investigate the business during this session.
On the other hand, Messrs. Pinckney, Rutledge, Harper, Gallatin, Venable, W. Claiborne, J. Parker, and Macon, were against the postponement. The objection to the language, it was said, was out of time. If made at all, it ought to have been made when the remonstrance was presented; that some allowance ought to be made for the language, as it appeared to have been drawn in a moment of passion; that if the claim was just, it ought not to be rejected because it was made in improper language, especially, since the Legislature of Georgia were not the only persons concerned, as the inhabitants on the frontier, while this subject is undecided, are suffering severely from Indian cruelties and depredations.
The question for leave to be given to the committee to sit again, was carried by 69 votes.