, 1875-05-15

goods can bo bought for in st. Louis; md
my Inv To compel hcr poopfo 10 TO SO would
probably e1cito tho wrath oven Of our cor
respondent.
PLuNDEr OF THE 1fD1AN9.
Tho 1nilian population Of tho United stascH
does hot exceed perhaps 100000. This in
cludes men, women, nnl children. Those
Intlinns aro grouped by tribes upon reserra-
tions, mud aro not scattered like white scttlera
over large arca Of territory. The people liro
in llabitations OF their own construction.
Thoir wants md necessities ara primitive,
md confined to food and limited stock Of
clothing. In tho hunt they provide thcm-
selves with 1neat and llah, tho plains fur
nish tho food for their ponies, aud what
Tho Government has to supply thom with In
such additional food and such clothing as
may be necessary. As guide in estimating
tho amount necessary for this purpose, n
"ration" has boen established, and these
ra.ioua in tho aggregate constitute what
aro known o. lneian nupplies. It is claimed
that this ration Is n scant ono noverthc-
less it ia roundly nsserted that the unfortunate
oreaturos do not got even this. Tho Indians
are compelled to live within tue limits Of tho
reservation, and In tho winter, when they CON
get no gnme or othor food by hunting, and
the Government rations full, thoy must either
sit down md starve to death, or leave tho
reservation under penalty Of being troated "a
In AIMED hostility to tho Government.
Recently, "A large body Of Indians left On
agency, md their fight WIZ announced rs u
design 10 tako tho field in war. An o1plana-
ton, however, shows that these Indians Ind
bcon fed on short rations Ill winter that
thoro had been no meat at tho agency for
montbs and that it was TO escnpo starva-
ton that hey lad gone OUT to get food othor-
wiso.
It docs seem strange that tho Government
Of tho United States cannot successfully feed
100000 people with nrmy rntions Of food,
md n blanket. and Il fow cotton and woolen
garments for cach person. It is not like IN
undertaking to subsist 1iko number of white
persons, whose wants md necessities are in-
dnitely groatcr. These Indians principally
stand in need Of fresh beef; tho Government
persists in furnishing them with bacon, which
thoy datest. Tl,oy want meat and bread, md
the Government pays for liberal supply OF
both articles. Tlore ia no complaint that
tho Government docs not pny for enough !;
the difficulty is that tho Indiana do not got
what they are entitled to, either in quantity
OF quality. The Government, for instance,
pays for 1000 hoal Of cattle Weighing
1900 pounds each, delivered at certnin
agency, when, in fact, tho actual num-
ber Of cattle delivered will not exceod 750,
aud not weighing oyer 1900 pounds each.
Hero is clear robbery Of over 60o,0oo
pounds Of boof, moro than ono-third Of tho
whole. SO with the -four, and so with tho
various othar things furnished by tho Gov
ernnlent. Another OWL is that tho Indians
aro lbcrary supplied with bacon and sugar,
which they do not want, and trade them OF
for things which they do want, receiving
perhaps in exchange not over one.third Of q
fair equivalent. Thoy aro thus robbed nt
bath ends Of thoir ration; tho agencies arc
remote from supervision, tho Indians have
no means Of complaining, and arc thus plum.
dered and pillagotl In settlement Of white
persona no such things could DO successfully
porpetrated. There would DO m inatant CT
posure, and remedy would DO promptly mp.
| piled; but tho 1ndiana havo no such means O!
reaching the public, and have to suffer ir
consequence. They AFRO naturally improyi
dent; thoy have no idea Of saving for tho fu
ture; but this should render tho obligation q
dcaling with tham Justly the moro impora
tive.
It seems, however, to be an impossiblit,
for the Government to secure an honest nd
miniatratlon Of the Indian agoucioa aul con
tracts, In awarding contracts tho Commits
sioners carefully exclude all those who hay
failcd In tho honest performance Of prcviou
contracts; but, despite this prccaution, th
contracts invariably fall into tho sano hands
It ia difficult to uudcrstanl how these note
yious and disgraccful frauds can DO SO sue
cessfully perpctratctl yenr after year with
out some conniyanco in ofIlcil circles. poul
master JEwE11 recently uncarthed dishor
est combination among tho officers In hlg Dt
partmont, whereby tlu hitter wero found t
be in tho pay of contractors, a1I in
actually roaorted to forgery and to til
fraudulent use Of Tho Department sea
in tho interest Of their employer
Secretary I}n1arow, in like name
discovered that there were wholesale fra,,i
perpotratcd in tho informal Revenue Depnr
mont, and llo further aseertained tlat Il
aEairs OF that oil]co aud all its operations nj
movements woro regularly communicated
tic reyonuo robbers. uo discovered thnt
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