Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-11-14
WASHINGTON,
INTERESTING NEWS EROM TIE NJ
TIONAL C4PITAL.

INTERESTING NEWS ERON TIE M
1I0NAL CAPITAL.
Salient Features in the Report of Gen. sher
acknowledgement Review of the India,
0uestton---Important Recommendation
and Hearty Praise of the Army--Transfel
of Securities Proposed by Secretary Sher
observation-disclosures Capital Notes.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13.-Gen. Sherman ha
submitted his annual report to Secretary Nc
Creary. In it he refers to the reports of differ
ent commanders of military departments, ane
invites particular attention to that Of Gen
Sheridan. His command, says Gen. Sherman
embraces eight Of the ten regiments Of cavalry
and twelve of the twenty-five regiments of in
fantry which comprise tho entire army and
although he states this force to be entirely in
adequate to perform the duties required, yet il
Is impossible further to reinforce them without
stripping the seaboard or abandoning other
territories to the same danger which
he so graphically describes. His
territorial command is 1,500 miles long and
1,200 miles broad. This vast region has in the
past ten years undergone radical change from
being the pasture fields of millions of buffaloes,
elk, ETC., affordlng abundant food for the In.
dians; it has passed into farming country.
.traversed by many railroads. The game is
nearly all gone and the Indians have been
forced on small reservations. Nearly all Indi-
an treaties were made on the theory that this
change would occur more slowly, and that the
government would haveto furnish partial food
fnr he, Ind {t,o%I I,
or a quarter OF the necessary meat by hunt
ing.
Again. 1t was favorite theory that the
Indian would sec for himself a reason why he
should cultivate the ground like white men.
but his progress in this respect is scarcely per-
ceptlble, except in remnants Of tribes like the
santees, Pawnees, Cherokees, etc., while the
sioux, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, etc,
seem to prefer death to the common toll of the
farmer. Beyond question, it was hunger
which drove the Bannocks and Cheyennes to
war this summer, and similar escapades will
occur each year unless these Indians be kept
quiet with more food.
It seems idle to expect that the enterprising
white race will cease till every aero of this con-
tinent is susceptible OF cultivation. 1t is not
to be expected that these pasture fields can be
used by the two races without everlasting con-
hicS. The reservations already set apart for
the Indians are large enough, and should suffice
Tor them to raise meat and grain necessary
for their subsistence, but meantime they must
have food or else they will steal and fight. To
convert these indians into a pastoral
race IS the first step in the upward
progress Of civilization. That of culture must
be the next stage, though slower of realization,
but In this direction is the sole hope of rescu-
ing any part Of the Nomad Indians from utter
annihilation. This end cannot be reached by
means of the present peace agents, because
is wasted on an Indian. There must
not only be a show of force, but actual force
and subsection used. Force will be necessary
TO compel the Eomad to cultivate his own
ground. There is q wide distinction among
tribes, and each tribe must be dealt with &C
'ording, to It's natare. Large discretion
lent or somewhere else. Starvation will each
year cause wars such as occurred this season
With the Shoshones and southern Cheyennes.
The army cannot foresee or prevent these wars.
All 1t can do after t he Indians break out, plum
Ter or steal and kill harmless families, is to
pursue and capture them in detail after Infinite
oil, then conduct them back to their reserva-
ions and turn them loose to return to the
ame game, ad libitum. Congress can alone
provide q remedy, and If prevention be wiser
han cure. money and discretion m sst be lodged
somewhere in time to prevent starvation.
The reports of Generals Mcdowell, Howard
md Wilcox describe the condition of affairs in
Pacific ocean. These Indians are collected by
ribes and families on small reservations, well
part SO that Indian wars on a large scale, re-
Iulring concert OF action, are not probable,
ret the Nez Perces war of 1877, and the Shes
lone war of this summer, show, however, these
mall bands Of Indians did large amount of
lamage and caused great CONSERVATION.
IN fish for subsistence, and the
of fisheries on the lower Column
)ia is fast cutting off the supply. Unless suit
.ble regulations are adopted salmon will be-
come extinct and the Indians driven to stealing
ind consequent war with settlers.
Reference is made to the danger of hostilities
between Indians and settlers in Oregon and
Washington Territories, and also in Arizona,
owing to trepasses by whites. The army is
oowerless to act in either case, having no con-
.rol right to interfere except after hostilities
Ire actually begun.
The general repeats that Che Indian problem
9 not single problem but many as many al
most az there tribes. Measures which
you'd be wise in one instance will be folly in
another, and whatever department OF the gov
eminent is charged with it, must be armed not
,nly with force, but large discretion and au-
5hority to furnish food in emergencies. One
regiment will probably have to go to tho from
tier in the spring from the division of the At
lantlc. II would be well if there could be held
at the points Of Atlanta, Leavenworth, St. Paul
and Omaha in rotation, a full regiment OF in
tantry or cavalry for instruction, but hitherto
this has been impractica5le.
Gen. Sherman doubts the wisdom of collect
ing and preparing in advance, as recommended
by Gen. Hancock, posts and camps in the South
against yellow fever.
The artillery school at fortress Monroe is kept
TO high standard, and is fast becoming a post
graduate course for officers.
The general concurs in the recommendation
Of Gen. Schofeld that the September appoint
ments Of West Point be discontinued, and fur
Their suggests that new cadets be examined by
the academic board in June. and that no cadets
be examined after the first Of July. He ques-
Gons, however, the recomm endation that the
standard for admission of cadets be raised. He
thinks that an erroneous impression is conn mon
that the academy will graduate more officers
than are needed for the army, but experience
has shown that vacancies annually occur in the
army to at least the number of sixty, which is
more than the average graduating class.
The report shows that there are 1929 enlisted
men in the ten regiments of cavalry in the
army, $3.50 men in the FIVE regiments of artil-
lery, and II, 2o5 in the twenty-five regiments of
infantry, making total Of 21,664. Besides
these, there are an engineer battalion Of 100
permanent and recruiting parties. music boys
and recruits in depots, 1,l2l enlisted men de-
tached on general service, 372 ordnance de-
partments, 3A4 West Point detaehments, 100
prison guard, II hospital stewards, 1873 ord
names sergeants, III commissary sergeants,
Indian scouts $40; total of 1908; making the
whole number of enlisted men in the army
"a ,761.
The report concludes as follows: In con-
clusion beg to state that from personal in
spection and from official reports, I am sure
the army is well and economically supplied.
Its discipline and instruction are as good as
could be expected from it's scattered condition,
and from the vast amount of labor necessarily
imposed on it; that it has met cheerfully every
call OF duty and hardship, and it has accom-
plished an amount of work which, as Gen, Sher-
idan has well said, mo other nation in the
world would have attempted with less than
10000 or 70, 600 men,"