The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-08-04

hunt OF snail iall 10 pay HIM on any other account
the Government will indemnify them by III
first treaty hereafter made with them
Tins would not appear 50 unreasonable, II tn
advance or profits upon the outlaws were not s.
cNorbitant and so exactng But the injustice D
such calculation Of profits IN business will b.
manifest when the House IS Informed, as III,
Committee have been, by the evidence befor,
them, that the general habit Of the traders is (,
sell or furnish their goods 10 the Indians al sucl
an advance upon their cost as will allow them
handsome profit after deductng the amount
which long experience has shown 10 be fail
average loss upon the credits given 10 Indians
IN any series of years Far in the interior, two
hundred per cent. is the usual advance upon The
cost, at which goods are supplied Among the
tribes bordering on the States and Territories,
one hundred per cent. is the common advance
and among those tribes where the risk is less,
seventy-iiv per cent is the charge beyond the
cost.
Upon looking into the treaties in which large
sums have been appropriated TO the payment of
Indian debts, II will be found that the most nu-
merous class OF debts are composed of old ba-
lances of credits which, until recently, were
never regarded as Of any yalue--so little that no
books or written memorandum of any kind
were kept of them. In many cases the payment
OF these old balances would secure TO the trader
profit Of one hundred per cent. on the amount
Of the supplies furnished the Indians Ii will be
readily admitted that cases may exist, and
doubtless there are many such, in which the
trader has been uniformly unfortunate, ana in
stead of making any profit he has met with con-
tlnued losses. To pay such debts might be mere
torious and just enough, but the misfortune is,
that il is usually the successful trader only who
retains any great degree OF influence with the
Indian; and when provision IS made for the
payment OF debts, they are but too likely To en-
gross the whole
Fit shall be said that these allowances for the
payment of debts are at last but the price which
the Government has to pay for the influence of
the traders IN cfiectlng treaty, il will be suff-
Client answer TO say that this influence may. and
will soon come to be- held too high price for the
convenience and resources of the Government.
II IS an old maxim i'll the management of lndi-
ans, : those who furnish their supplies, govern
their councils !" and this now appears to be true
in the case Of all the wild tribes upon our Dor
dcrs. Great efforts will be made by traders to
increase this source Of wealth by extending their
influence with the Indians, and in time it will
come TO be so, II II Is not SO To some extent al
ready, that the established policy of the traders
will be to allow the Indians 10 dole out their
lands in small parcels, at such times, and upon
such terms only, as will best administer to the
necessities and wants of the traders themselves.
But the injustice that Is perpetrated by this
policy upon the Indians, as well as its demoraliz-
ing tendency upon the traders, should cause the
United States 10 discourage il by every means
in their power What firm and strict admins
iraton OF the laws and policy of the Govern
ment IN the regulation of the Indian trade might
do perhaps, has not been tried TO any great ex-
tent That much might be done, by proper
care and attention, 10 put down these mpositons
both upon the Indians and the Government, in
the future negotiation and execution OF treaties,
cannot be doubted.
The Committee has already remarked, that
il would be no great matter whether the debts
provided for in these treaties be just or not, il
the public is concerned 10 any considerable ex-
tent in making. 81 treaty which ammo, otherwise
be effected than by appealing 10 the avarice OF
the traders but IL Is to be regretted that too
many of these treaties have been, and may yet
be- entered lnto under the influence OF this pas
sion in the traders, artiully and successfully
brought TO bear upon the Government, without
the slightest regard to any substantial public oh
FEET or interest, Nay; sometimes, as II will APP
pear clearly IN the case of the Wlnnebago treaty
under examination that treaties have been made
IN direct opposition to the.interest of the Govern
ment and people OF the United States. And all
such treaties are but another mode of taxing the
people for the benefit OF class who have the
least occasion for the public bounty.
In reference 10 the indian traders the Com
mitec would not be understood as attrbuting 10
them, as a class, aud without exception, the alb
scnce Of all patriotic feeling and principle nor
would they represent them all As incapable OF
Just and fair dealing; and that there are not IN
dividuals among them distinguished Tor justice
and strict honor in their intercourse both with
the Indians and the Government. That there
are such is well known; but, unfortunately for
the public service, they are not the persons who
usually thrust themselves forward and become
the agents for the Government in making and
executing treaties. In the opinion OF the Com
mttee, ii would be better on every account that
such persons should be selected and these Inn
portant trusts committed To them, instead of en-
ploying the less scrupulous traders or their agents
To operate upon the Indians, as is often done
The practice Of providing large sums for dis
tributon among half -brecds has also led to great
abuses aud frauds in the execution of treaties.
If ii be really necessary to do something of tins
kind, in order TO effect a treaty. the abuses so
manifest of late should be- guarded against by
more specific provisions The policy should
be, as in making appropriations by law, TO spe-
cfy--to leave as little as possible TO the discre-
ton of the Government agents in making the
distribution The amount and character OF
fraud pcrpetrated in the execution of treaties in
which such provisions, TO any extent in the
usual form, have been made, are revolving to the
feelings Of the inquirer. No mode or device could
be inventedior the introduction of more odious
system of Partially, iavoritsm, and fraud, il
proportion to the sums of money TO be distributed
than the form in which these stipulations in behal
of half breeds are usually made
The committee will now proceed to illustrate
and establish the correctness of the views al
ready presented, by a brief reference to the cir
cumstanccs, under which the Winnebago treat,
of lst November, 1897, was made, and the man
ner in which il has so far been executed.
Ely treaty made with the Winncbagoes, a
Fort Anthony on Rock Island, in 1882, they
coded to the United States all their lands lyins
north and east OF Wisconsin and the Fox rive
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