Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1878-12-05
THE INTERIOR.

afford complete remedy and would involve al
expense at the present rate of salaries of no
more than sixty thousand dollars year.
THE INTERIOR.
ALL ABOUT INDIAN AFFAIRs.
| The annual reports of the Secretary Of tn
! Interior and Of the Commissioner of ludiai
Affairs presents an elaborate account OF iii,
| present condition of the Indian tribes and %
that branch of the public service which minis
tiers to their interest. While the conduct q
the Indians generally has been orderly an,
their relations with their ncighhOrs fricudl,
and peaceful, two local disturbances have Oc
Cured which were deplorable in thc
character but remained, happily. confined to
comparatively small number of Indians. TIL,
discomfort among the lannOcks which led frs
to some acts of violence on the part of som,
members Of the tribe, and finally to the nut
break appears to have been caused by au in
sutlicirnCy of food on the reservation. and thii
! insuilicloncy to have been owing to the made
quacy of the appropriations made by Con
gress to the wants of the Indians at
time when the Indians were prevented
from supplying the deficiency by hunt
ing. After an arluous pursuit by the troop,
Of the United States and several engagements
the hostile Indians were reduced tu subjcctur
and the larger part of them surrendered them
selves as prisoners. In this connection desIr,
to call attention to the recommendation made
by the secretary of the interior that a sufficient
fund be placed at the disposal Of the cvucutiv,
to he used with proper accountability at dis
crctiOn, in sudden emergencies of the Indian
service. The other case of disturbance was
that of
BAND OF NORTHERN CHEYESNES
who suddenly left their reservation in the In
dian Territory and marched rapidly through
the States of Kansas and Nebraska in the drec
tiUn of their old hunting grounds, committing
murders and other crimes on their way. From
documents accompanying the report of til,
secretary of the interior, it appears that this
dsorderly band was rs fully supplied with tn,
neccssares of life as the four thousand seven
hundred other Indians who remained quietly on
the reservation, and that the disturbance wa,
caused by men of restless and misChieyous dis
position among the Indians themselves. Al.
most the whole of this band have
surrendered to the military authOrtic-
and it il a gratifying fact that when some Oi
them had taken refuge in the camp of the Red
Cloud Sioux with whom they had been in
friendly relations, the Sioux held them AZ prs.
oncrs, and readily gave them up Ia the officers
of the United States, thus giving new proof of
the loyal spirit which, alarming rum0rs to the
contrary notwithstanding, they hnye uniformly
shown ever since the wishes they expressed at
the council OF September. 1871 had been com
piled with. Both the secretary Of the interior
and the secretary of war unite in the recon-
mendation that provision he made by Congress
for the organization of corps of
MOUNTED INDIAN AIrNTIIARIEs
to be under the control of the army and to be
used for the purpose Of keeping the Indians
on their reservations and preventingor rcprcss-
ing disturbance on their part. | lcarncstly con-
cur i'll this recommendation. II is believed
that the organization of such body of Indian
cavalry, receiving a moderate pay from the
government would considerably weaken the
restless element among the Indians by with
drawing from it number of Young men and
giving them cOngenial employment under the
government; it being a matter OF experience
that Indians in our service almost
without exception, are faithful in the
performance of duties assigned to them. Such
an organization would materially aid the army
in the accomplishment of a task for which its
numerical strength is sometimes found inSuili-
cIent. But while the employment of force for
the prevention or repression of Indian troubles
is Of occasional necessity, and wise preparation
should be made to that end, greater reliance
must be placed on humane and civilizing agen-
cics for the ultimate solution of what is called
the Indian problem. 1t may be very difficult
and require much patient effort, to curb the un-
ruly spirit of the savage Indian to the
RESTRAINTS OF CIVILIZED LIFE.
hut experience shows that it is not impossible.
Many of the tribes which are now quiet and
orderly and self supporting were once as saw
age as any that Mt present roam over the plains
or in the mountains of the far West and were
then considered inaccessible to cvilizing intlu-
ences. 1t may be impossible to raise them fully
up to the level of the white population of
the United States. but we should not
forget that they are the aborigines of the
country and called the soil their own on which
our people have grown rich, powerful and
happy. We owe it to them as moral duty to
help them in attaining at least that degree of
civilization which they may be able to reach
It is not only our duty but it is also our inter-
est to do so. Indians who have become agri-
culturists or herdsmen, and feel an interest in
property, will thenceforth cease to he a warlike
and disturbing element. 1t is also well au-
thenticated fact that Indians are apt to be
peaceable and quiet when their
CHILDREN ARE AT SCHOOL
and am gratiled to know from the express
sions of the Indians themselves and from many
concurring reports that there is steadily ILL
creasing desire even among Indians belonging
to comparatively wild tribes, to have their
children educated. ! invite attention to the
reports of the Secretary of the Interior and the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs touching the
experiment recently inaugurated in taking fifty
Indian children, boys and girls, from different
tribes, to the Hampton normal agricultural
institute in Virginia, where they are to receive
an elementary English education and training
tt,,ra har fall h.r
turned to their tribes after the completed
course, as interpreters instructors and exam
pies. 1t is reported that the officer charged
with the selection of those children might have
had thousands of young Indians sent with him,
had it been possible to make provision for
them. | agree with the secretary of the inte-
rior in saying that the result of this interesting
experiment, il favorable, may be destined to
become an important factor in the advance
ment of civilization among Indians. The
question whether a
CHANGE IN THE CONTROL
of the Indian service should be made, was at
the last session of Congress referred to a COM
mittee for inquiry and report. Without de
string to anticipate that report, l venture to
express the hope that in the decision of so i'm
portant question the views expressed above
may not be lost sight of, and that the decision,
whatever it may be, will arrest further agita-
tion of this subject, such agitation being apt
to produce disturbing effect upon the service
as well as on the Indians themselves
In the enrolment of the bill making appro-
priations for sundry civil expenses, at the last
session of Congress, that portion which pro-
vided for the continuation Of the
nor SPRINGS COMMISSION
was omitted, as the commission had completed
the work OF taking testimony on the many con-
flcting claims. The suspensionof their labors
before determining the rights of claimants,
threatened for time to embarass the inter
ests, not only of the government, but also of
large number of the citizens of Hot Springs
who were waiting for final action on their
claims before beginning contemplated improve
ments. In order to prevent serious difficulties
which were apprehended, and at the solicita-
ton of many leading citizens Of Hot Springs,
and others interested in the welfare of the town,
the secretary of the interior was authorized TO
request the late commissioners TO take charge
of the records of the proceedings and to
perform such work rs could properly
be done by them under such circumstances 10
facilitate the future adjudication Of the clsims