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The present administration, however, having determined to carry out the principle of the new policy they had adopted respecting the Indians, "orders were issued from the War Department not to pay the annuities as formerly to the Chieftains of the Cherokee tribe, but to distribute them among the nation, and paying to each individual his proportion. The number of Cherokees east of the Mississippi being between fourteen & fifteen thousand, the share of each individual would come to less than half a dollar, and as the tribe extended over a large tract of country, the expenses of each Indian's travelling to the agency would more than absorb the sum to which he is entitled. The effect of the order was, therefore, a virtual withholding of the annuity, & it was regarded as an additional violation of the treaties between that tribe and the Government of the United States. "The Cherokees generally refused to receive the annuities in this manner, & it consequently remained in the hands of the agents of the United States. "The withholding of the annuity and the encroachment, made upon their territory by the State authorities, did not in