New-York tribune., 1876-02-21
ENnIR WIIlGu EIIEf
MR.. soHIEiCHTR On TRANSFERRING THE INrfANs
TO TIE WAR DEPAETMFSr-wnY ARMY OFFICERS
WILL MAKE THE BEST INDIAN Agents.

MR. sCHIEICHrR On TRANSFERRING THE ISr'ANs
ToTIIE WAR DEPAETMKSr-wnY ARMY OFFICERS
WILL MAKE THE BEST INDIAN AGENTS.
lrRou IHE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF I'll TRIBUNE
WAsuINGT n, Feb. 20. - Representative
Sci lecer has addres before the House Committee on
In ian Affairs the subject Of the Transfer OF the Indian
Bureau from the Interior the War Department, gave
thr,e nrncpal rcasOus for advocating this measure.
The fret was that tie Indians aud all other savage
people ought 10 be dealt with by set Of officers, TO
whom should he intrused the power both OF reward
ing and pGnshng them He said that having resided
Oh the frontier Texas since 1si7. and having
been constantly brought into contact with The Wild
trnos such as the Kio as, COmanches, aud Apacber.
he was convinced that the division OF power ana author
ty now existing not caeily compfchchded by tue In
dams and II conducive TO good understanding De-
tween them and the Representative of the Government
on the one La they aud hate the army, while on
the other ey generally feel great contempt for the rep
rrsenfaIvcs OF the Ind Bureau; and while they
pretend to the most ftcnllv trrms with tbem they
Will all kinds ot deception IN order 10 secure
extra supplies Of provisions and OF clothing the duty
Of dsbursIng all appropriations made by congress 'or
the benefit 0f lie Iusans ia intrnsod To TIE same on
GERS who called upon o punisi them whrnevcr they
disregard their treaties or leave Their reservations, the
ds,iplme among the Indians will he greatly improved.
The second reason believing that the transfer VIII
be beneficial 10 the service s bascd the lie tenure ~
officers ~ the army AMI the espr du eorps existing
among them supposng the men upon whom the duties
actually devolve equally honest aud capable under
botn systems the PRIDE which army officer feels In biz
proaon the knowledge that he viii retain his position
for life Il h behaves properly and the fact that hc does
moi feel the necessity for providing aga nst tie
miimitics OF old age, remove from hI- pathway
many OF the temptations which civl onicer
holding his position for short time only encOnH
tore. The rcmotcness of many of the reservations
and the mpos ibility of watching an Indian agent 40
mt watched
greatly increase the necessity for securing especially
honest aud efficient service.
Mr. sohlechers third reason for advocating TN" re-
form was that IL would be economical This opin
ion fortified, first, b. saying rat thc army system uh
der the qual and subsistence" departments Ia
the result Of the experience Of many years. ana II Tar
more perfect than any civ system for performing tie
same duties that has been devised; secondly, army
officers trained from you In the aimnlstrh'ich o
this system and, therefore, guprosng them to De III no
way superior cvi ppponters tcy are better qualified
10 administer tnis kind OF duty; thirdly great number
of army officers are unemployed. Our army IN lts
present reduced condition Is little more than skeleton
while both i,s line and staff corps araivcly
large Mr. schleclcr believes the policy Of educating
and maintaining largo nlnber Of oAircr-, 80 that III
eosc Of an ergcncy an army might be- quickly raised
il wise one but IL also very desirable tha' These
officers should he given employment In time Of ace
He thought that the whole body OF Indian superinend
cnts and agents might by the transfer OF tho Bureau TO
tho War Department be dspcnsed with, and that the du
Ties they now perform might be turned over to officers OF
the army without the payment OF a single additional
army salary by the Government
Mr. Tnrockmorton also cale the attention OF the Com
mitce certain improper practices prevalent among
Indian agents. Among these he enumerated the pur
chase Of women and children who had been captured by
the Indians and held for longer shorter time. He
also said that he had known of cases where the agents
allowed the purchase purchased themselves OF the In
dians for arms ana ammunition, horses which had been
stolen from the citizens Of Texas In this way wild In
daps secured superior arms and ammunition, 30 that IN
several Instances where the United states troops had
met the Indians 10 battle the lattcr better armed OF