9204. YAZOO LANDS, Title to.—
I * * *
return the petition of Mr. Moultrie on behalf
of the South Carolina Yazoo Company. Without
noticing that some of the highest functions
of sovereignty are assumed in the very papers
which he annexes as his justification, I am of
opinion that the government should formally
maintain this ground; that the Indians have a
right to the occupation of their lands, independent
of the States within whose chartered
lines they happen to be; that until they cede
them by treaty or other transaction equivalent
to a treaty, no act of a State can give a right
to such lands; that neither under the present
Constitution, nor the ancient confederation,
had any State or person a right to treat with
the Indians, without the consent of the General
Government; that that consent has never
been given to any treaty for the cession of the
lands in question; that the government is determined
to exert all its energy for the patronage
and protection of the rights of the Indians,
and the preservation of peace between the
United States and them; and that if any settlements
are made on lands not ceded by them,
without the previous consent of the United
States, the government will think itself bound,
not only to declare to the Indians that such
settlements are without the authority or protection
of the United States, but to remove
them also by the public force.—
To Henry Knox. Washington ed. iii, 280.
Ford ed., v, 370.
(Pa.,
17911791)gt;
