“The ends steadily pursued by it are: First, to set the Indians to work as agriculturists or herders, thus to break up their habits of savage life and to make them self-supporting; second, to educate their youth of both sexes, so as to introduce to the growing generation civilized ideas, wants and aspirations; third, to allot parcels of land to the Indians in severalty, and to give them individual titles to their farms in fee, inalienable for a certain period, thus to foster the pride of individual ownership of property, instead of their former dependence upon the tribe, with its territory held in common; fourth, when settlement in severalty with individual title is accomplished, to dispose, with their consent, of those lands on their reservations which are not settled and used by them, the proceeds to form a fund for their benefit which will gradually relieve the Government of the expenses at present provided for by the annual appropriations; fifth when this is accomplished, to treat the Indians like other inhabitants of the United States under the laws of the land.
“This policy, if adopted and supported by Congress, and carried out with wisdom and firmness, will in my opinion gradually bring about a solution of the Indian problem, without injustice to the Indians, and also without obstructing the development of the country. It will raise them to a level of civilization at least equal to that of the civilized tribes in the Indian Territory, and probably to a higher one, considering the stimulus of individual ownership in land. It will not take away from them by force what in justice and equity belongs to them, but induce them to part with what they cannot cultivate and use themselves for a fair compensation. It will open to progress and improvement large districts now held by Indians, which will then be of no real advantage to them and are now to nobody else.”
The Chinese.
—Last February, Congress passed the bill prohibiting Chinese immigration which was vetoed by President Hayes. The very next day the new anti-Chinese constitution was adopted by the convention in California, denying the Chinaman the right to land, to labor, to vote, or even to live in any town or city. Soon came on the other side a decision of the Federal courts, adjudging the queue-cutting ordinance to be an unconstitutional violation of personal rights; and another, asserting that the treaty with China, granting its people a right of residence, gave them also a right of labor, and forbade any State to prohibit their employment. Chinese merchants meanwhile, unwilling to give up the commercial advantages assured to them by treaty, are establishing a line of steamers from China to the Sandwich Islands, and a connecting line thence to the Pacific coast. This record of the year’s events is memorable and full of suggestiveness.
NEW APPOINTMENTS.
1879-1880.
The following list presents the names and post-office addresses of those who are under appointment in the Churches, Institutions and Schools aided by the American Missionary Association, among the Freedmen in the South, the Chinese on the Pacific Coast, the Indians, and the Negroes in Western Africa. The Theological Department of Howard University is supported jointly by the Presbytery of Washington and the American Missionary Association. The Berea College and Hampton Institute are under the care of their own Boards of Trustees; but being either founded or fostered in the past by this Association, and representing the general work in which it is engaged, their teachers are included in this list.