The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-08-01
A ohristian Address.

suaded TO address the "Chrlsuan pupAAo
upon the condition of affairs in the Indian
country. and they ask ''careful and prayertui at
tention" to their statements. They inform US
in the first place, that the policy OF the Indian
Commissioners is "eminently humane and
Christian" and that not only every member
OF the Board, but nearly all of the eighty
thousand agents, have been appointed on the
recommendation OF religious bodies. They tell
us that their policy has been successful; that
the Indians fare taking on the dress, man
ners, habits and occupations of civilized life.
As to the charges against certain agents and
storekeepers, they are simply 'tloud-mouthed
accusations" unworthy of attention. General
Fisk and his friends have not learned of the
existence of any ring in connection with the
Indian service, although they wisely remark
that ''where there is q carcass the vultures
will gather" They inform the Christian pub
lie ''that much of the present clamor is raised
and promoted by bad men," and they wind up
by again affirming that the Indian service
''nas been and still is virtually within the
supervision and control of the religious bodies
Of the country" We have perfect respect for
General Fisk and the gentlemen who
form the Board of Indian Commissioners, al
though we must confess that this evangelical
rhetoric savors strongly of cant. 1t is no an
swer to the charges that have been made
against the Indian Department to say that the
agents and the Board of Commissioners are
members of religious denominations. When
men wear their religion upon their sleeve as
an evidence Of character they are always open
to suspicion, and the christian public" will
be apt to ask, not for professions of faith on
the part of the General and his friends, but
for an explanation of the extraordinary facts
that have been laid before the public in the
last few weeks. There can be nothing more
disingenuous than the attempt to dismiss
these revelations as 'Ioud-mouthed accusa-
tons" Let US see what these accusations
are. 1t is charged that in the management of
affairs in the Sioux country Indians have been
50 badly treated, SO thoroughly robbed, that
they have been compelled to eat their dogs
and ponies to save themselves from starva-
ton. II has been shown that the government
has paid large sums Of money for the support
of many Indians who existed only on paper.
1t has been demonstrated beyond question
that, instead of issuing fat and useful cattle to
the tribes, they have been giving poor, scraggy,
worthless beasts, which have been charged to
the government as in good condition. 1t has
been shown that the tobacco was rotten, the
corn and -four and pork unfit for hu-
man food It has been shown that
the men who perpetrated these frauds
upon the Indians and who are rich TO-
day because of their successful perpe-
tration are protected by the Department Of
the Interior, and it is not denied that chief
among the men who are prospecting out of the
Indians misfortunes is Orville Grant, the
brother of the President of the United States.
The evidence from which these charges are
made is to be found in reports of Congress,
in letters written by army officers in reports
of the old Indian Commissioners composed
of men like Felix r Brunot and William
| Welsh, who are entitled to as much
respect for Christian probity as Gen.
eral Fisk and his colleagues; in letters written
by trustworthy correspondents of the HERALD,
and in an elaborate statement by Professor
Marsh. of Yale College; and when General
Fisk and his friends deny their knowledge of
the existence of any ring or combination they
are met by Mr.. McVey, of Pennsylvania, who,
in declining to be appointed an Indian Com
missioner, calls the attention Of the people to
the fact that while the President himself has
always sought to do the Indians justice, Con-
gress, under the influence of this Ring, has
thwarted him. Now, to not one of these facts
does General Fisk address himself The
country calls upon him to answer the charges
of fraud made against the subordinates of his
department and to explain why the Indians
should be starving while the contractors are
getting rich, and the General simply responds
that he is dutiful follower of the Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, and that the Indian SER
vice, as q whole and in detail, is controlled
by ''the religious bodies of the country"
The persistence with which the friends Of
energy they show in endeavoring to protect
themselves from the fact of these accusations
are only evidences of the power of this COM
bination. The President knows the Indian
problem well. he knows, also, how much
truth and how much falsehood there would
naturally be in the accusations made against
the service. His first mistake in the Indian
policy was when he surrendered the old
Board Of Commissioners to the demands of
Delano. That was the end of the humane
policy. His second mistake was when he
allowed his brother to become trader in the
Indian region, for the country said, when the
old Board was dissolved, that Christian policy
which could not be carried through by Felix
r. Brunot and William Welsh could have very
little life in it, They say now that unless the
President rises above the cant of his Board of
Commissioners and the villsnous influence of
the Ring which controls them, as we'll as the
Department Of the Interior, he prefers the