Gratitude to his Majesty for the Augmentation of my Sallary & my sincere thanks to your Lordship, assuring you that I should not desire it, longer than I was able to do real service & that as all my proposals have been directed with that view the same shall ever remain the invariable rule of my Conduct, thro' which I persuade myself of his Majestys favor and the Continuance of yr. Lordships Countenance. I have the Honor to be Endorsed, July 20th, 1768. &c. To the Earle of Hillsboro. Points out the Necessity of an add1. allowance for the Deptys MY LORD THE SAME TO THE SAME. Johnson Hall Augt 17th 1768. I had the honor of addressing a Letter (No. 2) of the 20th ulto to your Lordship, imediately after my return from the Sea coast, therein I took the liberty to offer some thoughts concerning the present Reform and Arrangements Some of which I flatter myself would prove Seasonable. Since I wrote that Letter a Chief of the Chipeweighs the most powerful Nation to the westward arrived here on an Embassy with Sev1. others, as he is a man of much Influence and can bring some thousands of his people into the Field, I took particular notice of him formerly at Niagara Since which he has behaved very well, and now came to be informed of my Sentiments, on the uneasy State of the Indians to the Westward, he told me that his people would quietly wait his return before they took any resolutions, Confirmed all the Accots I have received of the practices of the Spaniards and French, of the Assurances they give them of assistance from Europe, and of the Belts, Messages and presents sent amongst them, They are endeavouring to encrease the spirit of distrust Jealousy & Aversion by every means in their power, amongst the Inlians & it will be utterly impossible to keep them all quiet without silencing those Incendiaries who are amongst them. I wish the Colonies may act wisely in the management of the Indian Trade as a good deal will depend upon it at this time. This will require much pains & Expence, else they must not expect to send any Traders into the Indian Country, altho the Much greater part of those who go a Trading are men of such circumstances and Dispositions as to venture their persons any where for Extravagant gains, yet the consequences to the public are not to be slighted, as we may be led into a Gen1. Quarrel thro' their means. The Indians in the parts adjacent to Michilimackinac have been treated with at a very great Expence for some time past. Major Rogers brings a considerable charge agt. the Crown for Mediating a peace between some Tribes of the Sioux and some Chippeweighs which had it been attended with success would have been only interesting to a verry few French & others that had Goods in that part of the Indian Country, but the contrary has happened, and they are now more Violent than ever agt. one another, which perhaps is not an unfavourable Circumstance for us at this Juncture, but the Inds. on finding that they are to receive large presents for promising to lay down their Arms will never want occaisions of Quarrell with one another. I should inform your Lordship that agreable to a former Letter of mine to the Earl of Shelburne, the patentees of the disputed Tract called Kayadarosseras sent an agent to Treat with the Indians whom my Deputy summoned to attend for that purpose in the presence of Sir Heny Moore during my absence from home, but the Agent not having brought an Original Indian Deed, or a proper Survey of the Tract, they did not agree, Since my return having found an Orig. Indian Deed & had their Line run the Patentees, again applied to me, and the same was recommended by Letter from Sir H. Moore in consequence of which on the Arrival of their Agents they met the Mohocks who on Examining the Indian deed & Survey, & receiving a handsome sum of money were at length prevailed on to yield their claim to the Patentees in my presence, This will save some trouble, and Expence to the Crown as according to the opinion of the Lawyers there were not sufficient grounds to proceed agt. the Patent with any prospect of success in a Court of Law. In addition to what I formerly mentioned, concerning the Boundary Line on which I expect shortly to meet the Indians, I have only to express my desire of hearing from your Lordship concerning that part relating to the Province of New York Should I not be honored with your Commands previous to the Congress I shall endeavour to do it in the best manner I can-as I have all along conceived & as it is understood by the Commander in Chief, the Boundary is a matter of a General Nature, Negotiated on the part of his Majesty with the Indians & that whatever Cession they make is in Consideration of an Adequate present to be solely at the disposal of the King in all Royal Governmts & may be Granted by him to any of his Subjects by Mandamus or otherwise without farther purchase from, or treaty with the Indians, I am hopefull that this construction is the Sense & Intention of Government, as I believe it to be the most effectual means of preventing disputes, At the same time it is presumed that all those UnLocated Land at the Back of the Colonies which Shall be So ceded to his Majesty by the Indians will be added to and become a part of Such Provinces as have just claims, or pretensions to Comprehend them within their bounds, or with which they may be most naturally conected, but with this I apprehend I have nothing to do, and that my duty is solely to treat with & obtain a Cession for, and on behalf of the Crown of a Tract of Country along the frontiers, the rere of which is to be the Boundary Line between the English in General, and the Sev1. Indian Nations, agreeable to wch I mean to act, according to my best judgment, and as correspondt. as possible with the Line described on the Map Transmitted by your Lordship, hoping that the Commissioners from the Governments who attend the Treaty will be enabled to give the Strongest & most Satisfactory assurances to the Indians that no Encroachments Shall be made by any of the Inhabits on their Lands beyond that Line, and this cannot be too firmly Guarded & secured for should it hereafter be invaded, and the agreements violated on our parts it were better they had never been entered into. In my last I took the Liberty to observe to your Lordship concerning the Slender provisions made for the Expences of my Department which had been always considered as the most consid erable & by much the most important of the two Superintendencys, That no mention is made of my Depys or of Interpreters without whom the business of the Department, could not be conducted, that the former were officers indispensably necessary for the managem1 of affairs in the Distant & Different Quarters for many years past, and existing long before any Plan for Trade was adopted, & that the Interpreters, must be always considered as wanting. The Commissioners were the only officers appointed for the Management of the Trade & their expenses far Exceeded that of all the rest of this Departmt. occasioned principally by our havs. newly got possess". of the out posts and they are now to be discontinued but a due consideration of the importance of the other dutys to be performed by the department, and of their Multifarious Nature will evince the Necessity there is for some proper Subordinate Officers & Interpreters, which cannot be provided for out of the sum allotted, one thousand pounds p ann of which being for my Sallary, the remaining £300, will I fear be found an inadequate sum for Ann1. presents to three large Confederacys of Indians, & other incidental Expences on which the public Tranquility here does in a great measure depend, without a possibility of applying any part of it to the support of such Officers & Assistants as I have repeatedly Shown the Necessity for. But to Manifest my Zeal & readiness to carry on the Management of Indian affairs on a New Arrangement in the manner they ought to be Conducted, I presumed to propose an addition of £1000. p Ann for the Sallarys of 3 Depys & Interpreters, and Small as the other Sum may appear resolved to endeavor my utmost that it should answer the purposes of promoting Tranquility & Extending his Majesties Interest, with this View I transmit to Gen1 Gage Commander in chief an Estimate of the Expenses & application of the Sum proposed on the New Arrangement wherein I have proposed the addit" of £1000 p ann for 3 Depys 4 Interpreters & a Messenger In this (besides the Sallarys & expenses of the Commissaries now to be discontinued) there is no provision made for a Secretary, Clerk, Storekeeper, Smiths, charges of Transportation of Goods &c., and one Depл. is Likewise omitted because as my 4th Depy. has been very lately instituted by direction of his Grace the Duke of Richmond for the peculiar province of Nova Scotia the necessity of his continuance is submitted to your Lordship, as to a Secretary he cannot be dispensed with, the Entrys of proceedings and preservs. the Records of all Indian Transactions being as necessary as it is troublesome, but I have not included. his Sallary it being usually paid out of the Receiver Generals Office of the Provce of N. York at the rate of £100 Ster p ann to wch I generally procured an addition, as no man properly Qualified will undertake that troublesome duty in this Country on Such a Sallary. My Depys considering their respective dutys, the Expences to which they are liable & that there is no allowance for Travelling charges &c. will find 200 Ster p ann a very Slender provis" for them, & every other Sallary is rated as Low as men can be procured Qualified for their offices. So that I flatter myself your Lordship will find that the Moderate addition I propose wch will make the whole Ann1. Expence but £5000 Ster including my own & officers Sallarys, is a very trifling Sum for conducting affairs of Such publick importance. From my sense of the State of Indian affairs I humbly recommend it to your Lordship, and I have only to wish that it may be found sufficient for preservs. peace and order, and promoting those objects of publick concern that depend on the Establishment of proper men, & the pursuit of proper measures in the discharge of the various dutys appertaining to my office. I have the Hon". to be &c. Endorsed To Ld Hillsborough 17 Aug. 1768. SIR, LORD HILLSBOROUGH TO SR WM. JOHNSON. Whitehall 12th October 1768. The experience the King has had of your ability and zeal for His service, in the department of Indian affairs, will always induce His Majesty to give attention to whatever you may think fit to submit upon that subject. His Majesty has therefore fully considered the remarks you make in your letter to me N° 2, upon the present state of the service under your direction; and it gives His |