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rializing the Secretary of War, on the necessity of removing the Winnebago Indians, beg leave to report :

That the committee, aware of the importance of the subject referred to them, and the very great interest our fellow-citizens, who now reside in the country, acquired of the Winnebago Indians, under the treaty, approved on the 15th of June, 1838, together with that portion of our citizens who reside on the border of the ceded country take in the immediate removal of the Indians, have had the subject under their most deliberate consideration. The delay of the general government in fulfilling that stipulation of the treaty, which provides for the removal of the Indians in eight months from its ratification, subjects not only our fellow-citizens who have settled in the ceded country, but those living on its border, to the inroads and depredations of a worthless and degenerate horde, who have lost all the pride of the native red man.

This delay may be mainly attributed to a counteracting influ ence exercised by the Indian traders, who, forgetful of the obliga tions which as American citizens they owe their country, use an influence which they have acquired under the protection and au thority of the government, to counteract its views, through a mer. cenary design of monopolizing the large sums annually paid to the Indians, in the shape of annuities, and to another consideration, that the country allotted to the Winnebagoes on the west side of the Mississippi river, known as the Neutral Ground, adjoins on the north, the country of the Sac and Fox Indians, with whom the Winnebagoes are now at war.

At the last session of the Legislative Assembly, a memorial was adopted to the Secretary of War on the subject, after the adoption of this memorial, and on the eve of the close of the session, a communication was received from the Secretary to the Governor on this subject, setting forth that, as the time specified in the treaty for the removal of the Indians had fallen upon a season of the year when the movement of troops would be tardy and expensive, and when the removal of the Indians would be attended with loss and inconvenience to them; that, therefore, the War Department had resolved to postpone carrying into effect the provisions of the

treaty, until the necessary means could be taken to ensure its ef. fectual and peaceful execution.

The Secretary further remarks, that the Indians have just cause for the reluctance which they express to a removal, which would bring them into the immediate vicinity of their enemies, and that it is, therefore, the intention of the department to send a deputa. tion or exploring party early in the spring, to select some more suitable place of abode for the tribe, south of the Missouri river, and then to take all the precautionary measures to remove them as carly as possible thereafter. The course here suggested, is not warranted by the treaty of November, 1837; by that treaty the exchange of the country allotted to the Indians and their removal to a country south of the Missouri is left to their option, and the suggestion of those measures by the Secretary, shows either a dis. regard to the terms of the treaty, or a want of knowledge of the Indian character, in supposing that they would at the more dictation of the Secretary, abandon the hunting grounds of their youth, and the graves of their fathers, for a distant section of the country. If your committee have been correctly informed, a commissioner and paymaster was appointed by the War Department to procure a deputation of the tribe to visit the country south of the Missouri, and although the persons selected for this mission were supposed to exercise considerable influence over the Indians, yet the attempt to procure a delegation from the nation proved an utter failure, and that stipulation of the treaty which provides for the removal of the Indians, which has become a law of the land, remains a dead letter.

Your committee have read, with some mortification, the laconic reply of the Secretary of War, dated on the 16th of March last, addressed to the Governor, and in reply to the memorial addressed him at the last session of the Legislative Assembly, communicated to this House by His Excellency the Governor, and referred to your committee. The testy reply of the Secretary to a memorial addressed him in respectful language, asking redress of grievances of which we might rightfully complain, suggests this question to our mind-If the Territory of Wiscon

sin had arrived at her majority, and taken her position as one of the sovereign States of the Union, would not the Secretary of War have treated the petition of the representatives of the sovereign State of Wisconsin with more consideration than he has deigned to confer on the petition of the representatives of a dependant Territory? We conceive that under the ordinance of '87, the inhabitants of the Northwest Territory have nearly all the rights secured them, which are enjoyed by citizens of the States; among these are the right of petition for the redress of grievances, and exercising this right in behalf of our fellow-citizens, we have, instead of a redress of the grievances complained of, or good cause shown why the government should not instantly have fulfilled a treaty stipulation, the non-fulfillment of which subjects our citizens. to constant depredations by the Indians, been informed by the Secretary, that "the Federal Executive must be permitted to adopt its own measures and designate the proper period for executing treaties with the Indians." This is an assumption of power, against the exercise of which we would most solemnly protest.

The ratification of the treaty with the Winnebago nation on the 15th June, 1838, makes it the law of the land, and your committee conceive that, under the constitution, no officer of the govern ment has the power to suspend the exccution of the laws.

Your committee would most respectfully submit for the conside. ration of the house the following resolutions :

Resolved, That the committee to whom was referred that part of the Governor's message, which relates to the memorializing of the Secretary of War on the removal of the Winnebago Indians, be discharged from the further consideration of the subject, and that a select committee of three persons be appointed by this House, to draft a memorial to the President of the United States on the same subject.

Be it further Resolved, That the Governor of this Territory be requested to forward one copy each, of this report and resolutions, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Secreta. ry of War.

Document M.

COMMUNICATION OF MOSES M. STRONG RELATING TO HIS DISBURSEMENTS AS LATE FISCAL AGENT.

To the Honorable the House of Representatives of Wisconsin Territory:

In reply to a resolution of your Honorable body, passed this day, in the following words

"Resolved, That Moses M. Strong be requested to report to this House, an account of all moneys disbursed by him as fiscal agent, and on what appropriations"-

I have the honor to state:

That, in pursuance of the act of appropriation, ap. proved Dec. 22d, 1838, and of that part of the act of appropriation, approved March 11th, 1839, which makes appropriations to myself, I have disbursed the sum of

And, in pursuance of a joint resolution of the Le. gislative Assembly, approved February 8th, 1839, requiring me to pay to William B. Slaughter the bal. ance of moneys in my hands, I have paid to him the sum of

1

$11,059 24

3,200 00

Making the sum of

$14,259 24

exclusive of my payments to Messrs. Collier & Pettus, disbursed by me, in pursuance of the acts of appropriation and resolution of the Legislative Assembly.

At the time of the payments to Col. Slaughter, in March last, I had not ascertained the precise amount of my disbursements, but paid him what was then supposed to be about the balance in my hands. Upon a subsequent correct computation of the amount of my vouchers, I have ascertained that there is still a balance

of a few hundred dollars in my hands to be paid over to Col. Slaughter, in pursuance of the resolution alluded to, corresponding nearly in amount with my claims upon the Territory.

It will afford me pleasure at any time to submit to the Legisla tive Assembly, or any of its members who may wish to see them, the vouchers for my disbursements.

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$400 00

July-To services and expenses, as fiscal agent, in pay. ing debt to Collier & Pettus,

Inexpedient at the present time to consider this account.

A. E. RAY,

Ch'm of com. on claims.

Document N.

STATEMENT OF A. A. BIRD, IN ANSWER TO THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

Whereas a majority of the committee appointed by the Legis lative Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, to inquire into the business of the public buildings, at Madison, have reported unfa vorably as to the course and conduct of the old board of commis.

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