8382. TERRITORY, Alienation of.—[further continued].
I considered [at a Cabinet
meeting] that the Executive, with either
or both branches of the Legislature, could not
alien any part of our territory; that by the
law of nations it was settled, that the unity
and indivisibility of the society was so fundamental,
that it could not be dismembered by
the constituted authorities, except, 1, where
all power was delegated to them (as in the
case of despotic governments), or, 2, where it
was expressly delegated; that neither of these
delegations had been made to our General
Government and, therefore, that it had no
right to dismember or alienate any portion of
territory once ultimately consolidated with us;
and that we could no more cede to the Indians
than to the English or Spaniards, as it might,
according to acknowledged principles, remain
as irrevocably and eternally with the one as the
other. But I thought, that as we had a right
to sell and settle lands once comprehended
within our lines, so we might forbear to exercise
that right, retaining the property till
circumstances should be more favorable to
the settlement, and this I agreed to do in the
present instance, if necessary for peace.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 137.
Ford ed., i, 219.
(Feb. 1793)
