Daily national Democrat., 1860-02-24
Indian Bill.


The bill Of Mr., Warner, providing for the
future supervision of the Digger Indian
tribes by the State of California, instead of
by the General Government is a very good
one for the State, whatever it may be for the
Indians or the General Government. 1t
cannot be any porse for the Indians certainly
than the care O and protection () which
they have SO far received under the Reser-
walton system, and may be vast deal bet
ter.
The Till provides for giving the entire control
of the Indians to the State Government. The
Sherffs of the different counties are to sup
press Indian outbreaks and the Governor is
to aid them with the military, if necessary.
Indians, captured while in arms against the
whites. shall be sent to remote part of the
State from the point of disturbance and APP
prenticed to whites in such manner and un-
der such conditions as the Governor shall di
rect Indians residing in rancherias attached
to the farms of persons who have, with the
Indians consent, supervision over them, are
not to be molested. Indians, if orphans un-
der sixteen and Indians who are vagrants,
living neither in rancheria nor on o Reser-
walton, shall be apprenticed by the Board of
Supervisors of the county in which they are
found if orphans, until they are twenty five,
and if vagrants for ten years; the Board re-
quiring bonds for their good treatment and
specifying the terms under which they are
to be held. Indians may apprentice them
selves and their families, if they see fit, un-
der direction of the Board of Supervisors
The Governor, upon application of the Board
of Supervisors. shall remove Indians from n
county in which there is no Reservation, to
one where there is. The expenses of sup
pressing outbreaks are to be paid by the
county, unless the militia are called out,
when the State must pay them. Persons
who take Indian apprentices shall pay tax
of $40 per year into the County Treasury,
as an Indian Expense Fund, to pay for the
suppression of outbreaks among the Indians
The Reservations are to be leased by the
Governor for term Of not over ten years,
Conditioning that all Indians thereon or
who may be sent there shall be well sup
ported and taught to labor, and that in no
case shall the State be required to pay the
lessee any compensation, and that the reserve
including all the personal property and
halnnuinO sholl IL
turned to the State at the end of the lease in
as good order as when delivered to the lessee.
If the reserve cannot be thus leased, and if
the Board of Supervisors decline taking it
for the county without expense to the State,
under the same terms, the Governor shall ap-
point some person temporarily to take charge
of and protect the property and Indians on
the reserve until the next meeting of the
| Legislature. If the Legislature fail to make
provisions in the case, the Governor shall
continue the arrangement: and also author
ize the Supervisors to visit the rancherias
and reserves in charge of the State lessees.
and report bad management and waste, il
there is any, to the Governor, who is au-
thgrized, if he finds the report well founded,
to suspend the case or release the reserve"
The State will assume these responsible
ties, if the General Government will pay
all the expenses incurred by her and her citi-
zens up to this time cede all the Indian re-
serves to the State and pay annually into
her Treasury the sum of $50 900.
AS we have said before. this system would
be good one for the State and it could not
make the condition of the Diggers any worse
than it is now. The provision for apprentice
ing the Indians, under certain circumstances,
which are stated, will probably attract more
comment than any other feature of the bill.
With proper guards it might be we'll But
this kind of apprenticeship should be vigil
lantly restricted, lest it run into abuse, from
the inability of the ignorant Indian to pro.
tect his own rights and his consequent liabili-
ty is be imposed upon. There is no reason,
however, why the personal rights of the In
dian apprentice cannot be as carefully guard
cd by legal enactment as those of white ap-
prentices now are under existing statutes.
The apprenticing Indians found in arms
against the whites, we are inclined to think
looks little too eoercive TO be altogether
consistent with the clause in the State Con-
stitution respecting involuntary servitude
1t would be better perhaps to send such per.
sons to the Reservations. If the kind of ap
premiership we speak Of should partake too
much of the character of involuntary servi-
tude, the evil would be found to be very
considerable, because it would not be one
Indian by himself, here and there, who would
be found in arms, but whole rancheria or
tribe at a time would have to go into appren-
| ticeship.
From a necessarily quite casual examina
tion of the subject, we are disposed to view
the general features of the bill with favor.
DELEGATES FROM SAN FRANoIsco.-The dele
gates from San Francisco, twenty FIVE in mum
Der, to the Democratic State Convention have
been elected. The election, remarks the
Bulletin, resulted in an overwhelming defeat
of the Custom House and the chivalry wing
of the Democracy. 1t is understood that the
defeated faction designed to get control of
! the State Convention with a view to pass
ing resolutions (among others) implying cen
. l,o 7 La r