, 1873-06-05
Rnaet sdt@ aispateh.
A Pioneer Settler Robbed by
Government Mercenaries.

| Oefy Vi L. "A. VcDclCA py au cASICiSe
of arbitrary and unauthorized power
we would recall attention to Mr.. Gar.
field. S letter to the Indian Departm mt
He says: The extension of the reserv
alton breaks up valuable trading post
where tt Indians from both sides oi
the Straits of Fuca were accustomed to
congregate, and where former Agent
was in the habit Of furnishing them
goods in the name of another" This
allu,ion furnishes clue to one of the
designs of the conspirators; it was to
break up Mr. Webster's S valuable trading
post in order to give the monopoly OF
the trade to one Boscowitz, a foreigner
residing in Victoria. who has an exclu
sive permit to trade with the Indians
upon the reservation; privile ge denied
| to Mr.. Webster, who had established
his trading post there years before the
reservation was occupied b. the Cow
ernment. The moral Garfelde further
says: This of course, produces i'll
blood, and Mr.. Gibson suffers accord
ingly. Added to thi*, Mr. G. (who is a
married many has introduced certain
i moral and social reforms upon the re-
serve which are the cause of great IN
dignation among those who have been
accustomed to frequent that locality. y
| The malicious inuendo here cast at Mr..
| Webster, every man who knows the
object of it will certify is as false as the
heart Of the false and cowardly wretch
who invented it--infamy cannot reach
more extreme comparison. 1t Is not
only gross slander upon Mr.. Webster.
but upon hundreds of the most refined
virtuous ladies and gentlemen upon this
coast who have resorted to his place and
enjoyed his elegant and bounteous hos
pitality without discovering anything
in or about his establishment offensive
to the most rigid notions OF propriety; a
gentleman of elegant culture, refined
tastes, gentle manners and scrupulous
neatness, his personal depoltment and
habits are a perpetual protest against
moral and social offences of every kin !.
He never permitted intoxicating drinks
to be brought upon his premises. never
conntenanced RIGHTEOUSNESS of any kind
and during his agency gave preference
to mai ried men for employment. Now
the wife of The Agent is the only white
woman upon the reservation; Mr.. Spit
tall, the list married man employed
there, was transferred to the Trlalip
reservation.
We have before us copy of letter
from Edward P. Smith, Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, to the Secretary OF
the Interior. dated April Is, 1878. from
which We extract the following:
1.-The extension thus made takes in
certain improvements belonging to ii.
A, Webster, who, as appears from a
report of Superintendent Milroy. dated
the Gtn December last, took possession
of the land on which they are located.
us pre-emption lain, during the time
he was U. S. Agent for said Indians;
hat the said Webster is the handspring
of all the trouble and difficulty that the
Agent has to contend with; that he.
with other lawless men who pretended
TO take claims on the addition to the
reservation are unmarried, were all his
former employees, have for years CO.
hablted promiscuously with the Indian
women, endeavored to prejudice the
Indians against Agent Gibson, have de-
fed his authority AS Agent and often
thrt atened his hfe."
If Gen. Milroy is correctly quoted
as thers is no reason to doubt-he has
pl ICED himself in most unenvlable po
sition by giving the weight OF his Off
cal endorsement to statements OF which
be knew nothing, and which hundreds
of equally reputable gentlemen know to
be unquallfiedly false; and this, too. at
the instance of VIGOROUSLY disreputa
BILE ring of spectators in Government
offices and jobs, to the serious detri.
ment of the private character and pecu
mary interest Of "a citizen against whom
no lawful remedies have been invoked
for any of the offenses secretly charged
against him. The exceeding lenlency
of the party press towards Gen. Milroy,
uad not prepared as to believe that he
would lend him elf to a corrupt ring to
become the Instrument to perpe rate su
foul robbery.
The statements be makes are falae in
whole and in every essential particular.
Webster held possession OF the land he
now occupies nearly SIX years prior to
ais appointment as Agent; he employed
nOre white men Win Iamlues uurinS
lis Agency than have ever been EN-
loy.d by any other agent on that reser
vation. So far from foluenting any diff
Iiculty or disturbance, his successors
nave availed themselves of his influence
with the Indians, who bold him IN high
regard, to quiet disturbances arising
from other sources, and the last time We
met Mr.. Webster, not two months ago,
ne expressed himself kindly towards
Mr.. Gibson, who he then believed WAS
personally friendly to himself. He ht-
lie thought then that thus man, instiga-
ted by the desire to occupy his house