During the winter of 1859-'60, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
believing that a survey and subdivision of the Cherokee national
domain, and its allotment in severalty among the members of the tribe,
would produce an effect favorable to their progress in the cultivation
of the soil, submitted the suggestion for the consideration of their
lawfully constituted authorities. John Ross, as principal chief of the
nation, in replying to this suggestion,[553] declined on behalf of the
nation to give it favorable consideration, (1) because it conflicted
with the general policy of the Government through which the Cherokees
were removed from their homes east of the Mississippi River; (2)
because it was inconsistent with existing treaties between the United
States and the Cherokee Nation; (3) because it could not be done
without a change in the constitution of the nation; and, finally, that
it would not be beneficial to the Cherokee people.