, 1880-02-11
THE PoNCABt, CASE.


tween himself and Mrs. Helen Hunt Jack
son (bctter known by her literary nom dc
plume Ut III. u.') relative 10 tho efforts Of
the Ponca Indians to secure sufficient funds
to prosecute their c1alnls aRninst the Govern
Ment. II, licr first letter, dated Tie 9th ult.,
Mrs. Jackson statcs the case Of the roncns,
and intimatps to him that, II lie approves
these suits and will make tint approval pub
Ill, there will bo no difficulty III collecting
the remainder Of tho funds necessary to cra-
ble them to prosecute the claim to their lands,
willie II lle does not approve of them sllu
courtcous!y nsks him to give the reasons.
A week later Secretary Scllatrz replied, set
ting forth TINT the P0ncas cannot nlaintuin q
suit agninst the Government, hence 1t is TIN
necessary to waists any mol,cy in employing,
counsel His first reRson Is that m appeal
from Judge DnNdy's hubcas corpus decision
can proceed only from the Government md
not from tho Poncns, for the simple reason
that tho decision was III fayor Of the Indians.
His second renson, which concerns ulctrrlght
to their old reservation oil tic Missouri, Is
that the Supreme Court las repeatedly de-
cidcd that NIL Indian tribo cnntlot sue the
United States or Il State III tho Federal
Courts. Instead, therefore, Of collecting
money for thing which cannot 10 done, he
attaches "1nuch more Importance to the pas-
sage Of Legislation providing for tho settle
nent of the lnslians In scyeralty, Md giving
tlle1n individual lille in fec SIMPLE the resit|uu
oftheir lands. not occupied by them, to be dis
posed Of for their benefit, than to all tho
efforts, however welt Intended, to prpcuru
'"u4e'n, uee""a "''c"' AS h!fe shoWlls
call1lot 30 Aaa." Airs. JACKSON replies to this
letter III peculiarly feminine wny, by ask
lng tho Secretary multitude Of uuesttans.
avrry mn nf which ia s.tt1ni bv {1,o nou}ito,,
t,,..,, ~, c,.u.,..,, SAL. S,,~ Ie't
As.' =, u.eio.s oonu'A' 5"e uesi.eo
.ioto steun'e atis"et' alas IN lAa 1hce OF tlle
1hposslblllty OF 111stltut!ng tlle suit, asks tho
following curious question: "If your only
objection tn this movement n thu nnn obfrc
tion which yol, 1,ave s,atna.-fc = thnt,t ,vnut,1
r., f,tt1, -,o,, ,.,,, 49, 49,, .,.. t. ,s,.....s
.t,n.1.s w. :, a ,ua ~. sas .nt ), AWyofs Vi
,',",.,', - ~ i1s w *aho t'io ense' soA
"ou!a w sM'l u sly Ine auempt M matte III the
coalts A1au tac Qliestlon eettled!'
Secretary Schufx wasted no time II, answer
ine Mrs. Jnckson. nnd In answering so nm.
n,,nttco,1v that n ardot, t,,o oor,oo,n.,,,o.,
w. .....s ~ H., 49, ,,
"oq"o'o .l9". !'1s nast "olu Lug lolloW-
spirit:
rWhot 10 ooh,eot tn In tim cn,1cct,on n, ,,orov
from ph,lantbr.,nln nnd n,,h1ic.ar,rltod ,,.rs,ns
oston.It.v FIR tho honotIt ~ tbo in,,tnn. h,,t ~
fnot. for Tho hcno,t nf attnr,rv, nr ,thor. 49,,
mn II In nn,1 tor amin toat,n,. s,as.,s,. s,a.
has been tested moro thau once, and has been
decidcd by tue Supreme Court 90 clcafly a1,l
cothpfeaensiseiy that 1nrthor testing soems
~ s,., .,,, %a ss .n nns taeso are a"yefs
ousn. or co,,rsc th"S, nro ym,. "a, A., low o
yers Of skill a1,d standing tn undcrsake for n
good feo any cnse. huwcvcr hopeless. Tint Is
their bnstness. but am by no means OF your
opinion that, Wncthor II oc futilo or not tho or-
~. 49,. ~ a" o"eo !nose, nha 'oe
furthcr mnc,',rooe t. oannos =" .,a,, ~ ,,,s W.
case that ii tho attempt viii not ilo1p It vii, not
hurt. Thore socmB to 10 II most genuine and
active interest In tho In'llaa question springlng
s'E,. up: Aans Sincere friends OF the Indians aro
t,n ~ te ~ spo,u to ,u ,oney LOT tno promo
aT"at eaci - sIsos .t,"a =, .,'o ,,."na e' 10
attalnablc pb1ccts. but II It be- ~, con,,,,ct Tint
1t can rcssat only In putting monry Into ths
pockets Of private indvlduRs without any ben-
eht to tho Indians, tho collapse will bo aa hurt
~ ,a' ~ !. seo5's 10 os aesnaolo !twll! not only
.I ,r,ah+ @ h", .o,o1',a ,.a,s. NJ a.et.-
,[otcr Tho sincere friends Of the fnd,nns Who ~o
contributed their nloans In tho hone OF accom-
plishtng something, from further efforts of thnt
kls'a, 10 tAat "e tray hnd 1t very dla@utt, for n
tn vs unu ~ 'os'' ~ e'saso to's aeISo sympa-
3'
4n W." " .i'e circumstances aa s'ateA by
oec,cta y oc'urz, tnere eah Do o1lt one prac-
''ca1 uhS"er 10 tne e1orts OF theso we'll
lAEHAlHk HuL 14luKlEnk D3lifN0f1TOUt3tS. ann