The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-12-17

beys, and the gcntlsmen would thus BE-
cone = benefactor e the leaaan 49, 49,
earn lis 5000 year from the Gcneral
Government. Let d zee how much o
this has been accomplished. During the
flrst ycarof M. Howbcrt's adxdnistration
a agent OF this branch Of the NC ~ Ec41
Indians, he was hero several months a.
together. In the course q the past year
he has been here twice. Tor the purpose
Of paying his wards their annuity, and
aside from that individually he has not
paid any attention to them worthy of note.
Oh! but he will say my son E. p. Howbert
was there looking after their interest.
Yes, that is true and We will speak of that
after while. We must take into considera-
ton that Mr. Howbert SEN, was appointed
70 the position Of agent because of his Pc
cuIiar fitness for the position as Mission
ary and civilizer. Now ne do not b.
lieve that he ever mastered single sen
tsnce Of the Indian language and we are
credibly informed that he never made any
effort to civilize or christianize them
whatever, and from our own observation,
and knowledge We know that he never
made any such effort. Although N ap-
preparation Of $500 has been long since
made by Congress for the purpose Of
building school house for them, this be-
nevolent missionary has not taken one
step towards having such building eroct-
ed. The only edifice Of any character
whatever Ibis man Howbert has been In
strumental in building for them is small
shanty which We believe they called
tool hoxse which did not cost at the out
side more than $25. Has the missionary
drawn the $l2o0 which was appropriated
by Uncle Sam for . school house? II he
has, it has not been expended fo1that pur
pose, but is probably portion Of the
Bank Capital in the institution where the
degenerate offspring Of the mighty mis-
sionary now draws salary a. bank clerk,
while his pay as Indian farmer in Tama
county, Iowa goes on. Civilize and chris
tainize these Indians! Oh yes, certainly;
but he admits that he cannot report much
progress in this direction With but few ex-
ceptions. II there be any exceptions
who have improved in civilization
under the instructions of this agent
and his cub they have never been brought
to the notice Of any one in this locality.
Bosh!h never had any faith in ii; We do
not believe in it, and nobody else does,
with such tools ~ A. r. Howbert and
Son at the head Of the move. It il posi-
bic that such . thing might be done BY
constant effort on the part Of . teacher
but we doubt that very much.
For the past year A. r. Howbert has
not been here atall except on pay day, and
then his stay was very short. In fact at
the recent pay day he arrived at Toledo in
Tsms county at noon Of ono day paid his
Wards after fashion, regardless of who
it was that got the money, deposited large
amount in the Savings Bank and in CON-
pany with his hopeful son, the farmer, lit
out on the o'clock train the following
evening, and now we have no resident In
dian Agent. In his report he states that
they have 419 acres Of land-true, and as
he further states it is not very valuable.
But he also states that they cultivated
'about 10 acres" during the past year.
The assertion is false HE says nearly
all Of their land is enclosed with . sub
stantial fence" The last assertion is q
lie. The truth is that never at any time
have they cultivated oyer 40 or 80 acres Of
their land, and this has always been done
as in days Of yorc BY tho sQuaus. Again
we know of our own personal knowledge
that there is not tsoenty- 6se rods Of sub
stantial fence" belonging to the Indians
on tho whole reservation. He says most
Of the Indians have been located this sum-
mer, as last on from to 10 acres per
family, and have cultivated under the
dtrsction Of the farmer we'll, what was
assigned to them" What a base false
hood. It is well known that what land
they did cultivate was cultivated by their
women in their own way, without any in
tervention, assistance, assignment, direc-
t;o, nv not;n~ - 49, a- -Ii.o0i VI them
worked in harvest and haying but he does
not state that the number was very small.
It is fact that cnce in while an Indian
can be persuaded to work in the harvest
Geld, but Of this tribe such rs they are
very rare. Now comes the rub,-note the
statement-sThe statistical returns Of
farming for the year ending August 81,
1874, show the individual wealth Of this
tribe to be nearly $4,000 not including
their lands" Now then be it known that
If said Statistical returns of farming"
make any such showing as the result of
the farming BY these Indians, it 10
positive falsehood, and if sworn to, the
af1ant whoever he is, should he held to
answer to the general government upon
the charge Of perjury.
II the entire possessions Of this portion
Of the Sac and Fox tribe were inventoried
at cash valuation, the sum total would
fell short Of $4,000. In fact al that pOr-
ton Of the foregoing report which n,ludes
to the farming business is manufactured
out Of whole cloth. We can readily see
why the missionary desires to make a
good showing in the line of agriculture
for these Indians. Last winter Congress
reduced the salary of the agent to $500
per annum, and to avoid this reduction |
the Secretary Of the Interior finds by care
full search that there exists amongst the
statute books the authority to appoint a
farmer for the different Indian tribes II
thought advisable. So Mr.. +. p. Howbert
son Of the agent received the appointment
1t $500 per year, by this means slipping |
nicely around tho cdict Of Congress and |
making the salary Of agent $500 for self
$500 for SOIL 13O0-and all the stealings
that they could both make. Again take
the report Of Howbert, senior. We ind that |
thero we're enrolled ct last pay day $50 Of |
these Indians big and little.
Their semi-annual payment is 4. 5S7 50.
He paid them 415 head al around, S38x
415 equal Is, 07O the sum total paid out by |
the missionary at last pay day. $55s7. g
The semi-annual payment less $507O, the |
actual amount paid, leaves . balance in |
u y -