DISCUSSION OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
We rejoice in the continued agitation of the Indian problem. It is only under the shelter of popular indifference that wrong and revenge become the order of the day—with murders, wars and boundless expense. Under “the sunlight of publicity” the wrongs are detected and the remedies are projected and applied. Just now we are favored with three valuable papers on this subject. In the first place we have the report of the Committee of Indian Affairs, giving a very encouraging statement of the progress of the Indians in the arts of civilization. We have next the elaborate report of Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, in which, with a frankness as rare as it is commendable, he acknowledges the change of views and policy of the Administration in relation to Indian affairs. He then with great clearness outlines its present policy, and takes occasion to speak minutely of the case of the Poncas. The injustice done to them in their original removal from Dakota is admitted, but it is also clear to him that it “would be contrary, alike to their own interests and to those of the country at large, to remove them from their present homes. This conclusion is arrived at by reason of various considerations, such as the fact that their present condition in the Indian Territory is prosperous; that they do not themselves want to return North, and also because if they are removed back to Dakota, the other Northern Indians now in the Indian Territory would be made restless with a desire to follow their example. This would, in all probability, result in an extensive evacuation of the Indian Territory, and of that part of it which contains the lands coveted by the intruders, and which lands are held against them on the ground that they are reserved for Indian settlement. It is obvious,” says the Secretary, “that the evacuation by the Indians of the region held for Indian settlement, and defended on that very ground against intruders, would be apt greatly to encourage and stimulate the projects of invasion, which, although repeatedly repelled, are pursued by evil-disposed persons with persistent activity.” The last of these papers is the President’s message, in which he endorses and briefly recapitulates the views of the Secretary of the Interior in regard to the Indians. We clip from this a few paragraphs presenting the attitude of the Administration:
“It gives me great pleasure to say that our Indian affairs appear to be in a more hopeful condition now than ever before. The Indians have made gratifying progress in agriculture, herding and mechanical pursuits. The introduction of the freighting business among them has been remarkably fruitful of good results, in giving many of them congenial and remunerative employment, and in stimulating their ambition to earn their own support. Their honesty, fidelity and efficiency as carriers are highly praised. The organization of a police force of Indians has been equally successful in maintaining law and order upon the reservations, and in exercising a wholesome moral influence among the Indians themselves.
“Much care and attention has been devoted to the enlargement of educational facilities for the Indians. The means available for this important object have been very inadequate. A few additional boarding-schools at Indian agencies have been established, and the erection of buildings has been begun for several more, but an increase of the appropriations for this interesting undertaking is greatly needed to accommodate the large number of Indian children of school age. The number offered by their parents from all parts of the country for education in the Government schools is much larger than can be accommodated with the means at present available for that purpose. The number of Indian pupils at the Normal School at Hampton. Va., under the direction of General Armstrong, has been considerably increased, and their progress is highly encouraging. The Indian School established by the Interior Department in 1879, at Carlisle, Pa., under the direction of Captain Pratt, has been equally successful. It has now nearly 200 pupils of both sexes, representing a great variety of the tribes east of the Rocky Mountains. The pupils in both these institutions receive not only an elementary English education, but are also instructed in house-work, agriculture and useful mechanical pursuits.
“The interest shown by Indian parents, even among the so-called wild tribes, in the education of their children, is very gratifying, and gives promise that the results accomplished by the efforts now making will be of lasting benefit.
“I concur with the Secretary of the Interior in expressing the earnest hope that Congress will at this session take favorable action on the bill providing for the allotment of lands on the different reservations in severalty to the Indians, with patents conferring fee-simple title inalienable for a certain period, and the eventual disposition of the residue of the reservations, for general settlement, with the consent and for the benefit of the Indians, placing the latter under the equal protection of the laws of the country. This measure, together with a vigorous prosecution of our educational efforts, will work the most important and effective advance toward the solution of the Indian problem, in preparing for the gradual merging of our Indian population in the great body of American citizenship.”
We have never doubted the honest purpose of President Hayes’ Administration to deal justly and wisely with the Indian problem, and the plan it now proposes must meet the approbation of all good citizens. The great question still remains: How far will the Nation insist on the necessary legislation by Congress to carry out these plans? It is in this point of view that we hail with gratification the continued agitation of the subject, even if it should involve differences of opinion among the warmest friends of the Indians. And there are such differences. For example, it is said that the claim of great improvement among the Indians, as shown in their making demand for lands in severalty, and in their progress in agricultural industries, is mere rhetoric, for it has been repeated over and over again for years, in the reports of the Indian Department. “Fine words butter no parsnips” for the Indian, any more than for the white man. Give to the Indian his patents and secure to him his rights. The doing of it is the thing demanded.
Then, too, Mr. Tibbles and Bright Eyes are still on the war path, with a following so earnest and respectable as to command attention. We do not pronounce on the justice of their claim, but we do welcome the agitation. The great thing to be dreaded is the relegation of the Indian question to indifference and neglect. It has many aspects, and its permanent and righteous settlement is the immediate and imperative duty of the nation.