Letter, 15 January 1827, written by Gov. John Taylor (1770-1832) from the Executive Department, Columbia, S.C., to W[illia]m Smith (1762-1840) and Rob[er]t Y[oung] Hayne (1791-1839), “Senators in Congress from the State of South Carolina,” forwards a “Copy of the Act of Assembly enacting certain articles, to be binding on the State of South Carolina when the same should be ratifyed or enacted in like form by the State of Georgia.”

“It is understood that this has been done by our Sister State,” Governor Taylor writes, “but that a Treaty made between two States of our Confederation, to be valid & completely binding must first be sanctioned by the General government. If this consent is to be made & expressed by the Treaty making power of the U.S. Government you gentlemen ex officio become our Diplomatists, & if the Consent is to be made by act of Congress, then It is hoped you will become our advocates in your own Body, & will also give the measure such furtherance in the other Branch of the Legislature as it may require.”

The “Act of Assembly” to which Governor Taylor refers may have been that enacted in December 1825 “To declare the assent of this State to a Convention between this State and the State of Georgia, for the purpose of improving the navigation of Savannah and Tugaloo Rivers.”