The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-04-18
NEW SERIES-NO. 1856.
MEMORIAL OF BISHOP wHIPPLE TO THE
PRESIDENT.

The Washington correspondent of the
New York Evening Post says, what to do
with the Indians has become very import
ant question. Bishop Whipple, of Mime.
sofa, has sent very interesting and inn
portant communication to the President
upon the subject. The Minnesota Indians,
be says, are in sad condition, while pre-
vious to their treaty with the United States
they were as favorably situated as an unciv.
ilized race could we'll be. They had abund.
ant game, and the traffic in furs supported
them we'll. The Bishop describes the dete-
rioration of the Indians in the subjoined
forcible language:
"From the day of the treaty rapid de-
terioraton takes place. The Indian has
sold the hunting grounds necessary for bis
comfort as wild mac; his tribal relations
are weakened; his chiefs power and inau.
ence circumscribed and be will soon be left
helpless man, without a government,
protector or friend, unless the solemn
treaty is observed.
of the honor and faith of the government
are generally selected without any reference
to their fitness for the place. The Con-
gressonal delegation desire to reward John
Doe for party work, and John Doe desires
the place because there is a tradition on the
border that an Indian agent with fifteen
hundred dollars year can retire with an
ample fortune in four years.
"The Indian agent appoints bis subor~
dinates from the same motive, either to re.
ward his friends service or to fulfil the bid.
ding of his congressional patron. They are
often men without any fitness, sometimes a
disgrace to christian nation; whisky sels
lers, bar room loungers, de5auchees, select
ed to guide heather people. Then follow
all the evils of bad example, Of ineficiency,
and of dishonesty. The school sham; the
supplies wasted; the improvement fund
squaDdered by negligence, or curtailed by
fraudulent contracts. The Indian, bewil-
dered, conscious of wrong, but helpless, has
no refuge but to sink into depth of british.
ness never known to his fathers. There
have been noble instances of men who have
tried to do their duty, but they have gener.
ally been powerless for lack of the hearty
CO operation' of Others, or because no
one man could withstand the corruption
which had pervaded every department of
Indian affairs"
Thefts, murders and rapes are common,
says the Bishop, and can count up more
than a dozen murders which have taken
place in the Chippewa country within two
years past" The reforms proposed can be
summed up in few words. They are first,
honest Indian agents; second, real protec>
tion for the Indian; third, the means and
appliances OF civilization--implements of
labor, stock and schools; the prohibition of
liquor selling among the Indians; and finally
a concentration of scattered bands upon one
reservation.
1t seems that Bishop Whipple has tried
before to call the attention OF the govern
meot to this subject, but in vain. He sent
note to Mr.. Lincoln, calling attention to
his communication, of which the following
is part Il would not add feathers weight
to the heavy burdens of your heart, but I
must plead to some one for my poor hea>
then wards, who have none else to plead for
them. Where shall Christian Bishop
look for justice, if not to you, whom God
has made the chief ruler of the nation
wrote to your predecessor, but no notice
was taken of it. Will you not take half
hour to read my plan, and go instruct the
department that something like justice may
be done to people whose cry calls Tor the
vengeance of God" The President never
turns deaf ear to such plea, and be at
once requested the Secretary of the Interior
to look carefully into the matter, and this
having been done the Secretary recommends
several important reforms.