Message from the President of the United States, in answer to a resolution of the Senate relative to the British establishments on the Columbia, and the state of the fur trade &c.

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[ 39 J 28 make this annual pl'i1~rimage arc the Ottawas, Potawatamies, Chippcwas1 Wyandots, Shawn e ~·e, 1\'Iiamies, Menominies, W inneha~oes, Sacs, and Foxes. Of these, the four last tribes reside west of lake Michi~an, and ex­tend to the Mississippi, and beyond it. Many of them take with them their finest furs, to exchange with the local traders. It is no part of our duty to investigate the right which a foreign power has of thus subsiclising, in effect, a body of men living within our territories; but we have no hesita­tion in saying that its practical operation is seriously injurious. lf presents are given, counsels also may be given; and th-:·y are given by persons with strong prejudices, in remote positions, and in languages which few civilized auditors can understand. That in many cases they tran~cend their instruc­tions, is very probable; but thut system must be radically wrong which necessarily lead15 to such results. The I ndians are kept in a state of excite­ment: they are taught to look to a foreign government for advice and pro­tection; and, above all, they believe that present be nefits on the one side must be repaid by future services on the other. Our traders haYe at length succeeded in diminishing some of this influence, and we may look to its termi­nation at no distant day, if the pfesent operations of the trade succeed, and if the gratuitous distribution of goods we have described shou It! be d i:5contin ued. The. British traders have two important advantages over ours: they pay no d~ttcs upon t!1eir goods, and they are allc"vcd a free importation of their furs 1nto the Umtcd States. The former enables them, in similar si tuations, ~o under~ell our traders, and the latter gi,-cs them a choice of markets. It IS well known that the value of furs is very fluctu:1tin0'. Accide ntal cir­cu_ msta.nces, sue~ as a war ~n E urope, or a change in someb prevailing fashion, will ratse. the pnce of p~rt tc ular furs; and tlwse prices will decline as rapidly as they nse. The uncertainty in the state t'f the market constitutes one of the principal_inconveniences of the trade. The supply is, from its own na­ture, .uncertam, and t~e demand not less so. It has happened in the history of this tr(fde, that shipments have been made to E ngland, which have been sold there at such a sacrifice as to leave some of the charges unpaid, and to sink the whole capital embarked. The Ind1ans ~re peculiar in their habits; and, contrary to the opinion generally entertamed,_ they are good juJges of the articles which are offered to the~.. T_he trade IS not ~h~t system of fraud which many suppose. The competition IS gener~lly su~Irient to reduce the profits to a very reasonable amount, and the Indian ~as1ly knows the value of the furs in his possession; he kno,~s, als~, the quahty of the goods offered to him, and experience has t~1:1ght h~m which a~e best adapted to his wants. A blanket forms his prin­~ Ipal article of c]ot_hmg, and when ex posed to the weather his house. ""'hat 1s called the 1\tlackma_c blanket, weighing about 10~ pounds a pair, is made expressly for the Indian m:1rket, and is admirably adapted to their situations. The strouds t hey use are also manufactured for them; and, in fact, all the go.ods sold to them are of an excellent quality, and prepared exclusively for thts market. T~ey are not .made in the United States, and no substitutes can be found which wou]~ satisfy the Indians. Their habits and experience eannot ~e safely broken 111 upon; and if our traders are unable to supply such articles as they have been accustomed to receive they will resort to those places where they can be supplied. ' ~ e are s~tisfied t?at the a\Terage profits of the fur trade are not in pro­port~ on t? the enterp:1se a~d. skill reqnired to prosecute it, and to the risk at­tendmg 1t. We beheve 1t 1s generally conducted upon as fair principles as 29 [ 39 j other branches of business in tlu' United States, and we know many of the persons en~aged in it, who are honorable, i ntelligcnt men. vV e a~e appre­hensive, unless some means can be devised to relieve their present emb:Ir­rassments, that the capital will be gradually withdrawn, and the business itself abandoned. \Vhat these means shall be, whether a drawback upon the goods sent into tl-te Indian country, a dnty upun imported furs, or any other .remedy, we must leave to the wisdom of the committee to determine. Very respectfully, Sir, \V c have the honor to be, Your obedient servants, l-Ion. THoMAs I-I. BENTON, U. 8. Senate. • CI-IAP. LXVI. W iVL CLARK, LE,V. CA~S. ,/ln act for 'regulating the fur t?·ade, and establishing a crirninal and civil Jurisdzction, within certain parts oj' .Plm·th .fbnerica. [J~dy2, 182 1. \Vhereas the competition in the fur trade between the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson 's 13ay, a1d cer­tain associations of persons trading under the name of ' ·The .Northwest Company of lVIontreal," has been found, for son1e year~ past, to be pro­ductive of great inconvenience and loss, not only to the said company and associations, but to the said trade in general, and also of great injury to the native Indians, and of other persons, subjects of his Majesty : And where­as the animosities and feuds arising from such competition hnvc also, for some years past, kept the interior of America, to the north ward and west­ward of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and of the territories of the United States of America, in a state of continued disturbance: And whereas many breaches of the peace, and violence, extending to the Joss of lives, and considerable destruction of property, have continually occurred therein: And whereas, for remedy of such evils, it is expedient and neces­sary that some more effectual regulations should be established for the ap­prehending, securin~, and bringi'ng to justicP all persons committing su~h offences, and that his Majesty should be empowered to regulate th~ ~a1d trade: And whereas doubts have bPen entertained, whether' the prO\'lSIOns of an act passed in the forty-third year of the reign of his late l\1ajesty King George the Third, intituled " An act for extending the jurisdiction of the courts of justice in the provinces of Lower and Upper Cana~a . to the trial and punishment of persons guilty of crimes and offences within cer­tain parts of North America, adjoining to the said provinces," extended t.o the territories granted by charter to the said Governor and company; and It is expedient that such doubts should be removed, and that the satd act should be further extended:" Be it therefore enacted, by the King's lVIostExcellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spirilu ~ l and tem­poral, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and hy the au­thority of the same, That, from and afler the passing of this a.:t, it s?al1 ~e lawful for his Majesty, his heirs or successors, to make gran{..j or gtve h1s