Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-14
SECRETARY sCHURZ,s DEFENSE

! nrSC
 rate assistant clerk
 SECRETARY sCHURZ's DEFENSE.
 The letter of Secretary Schurz to Cover
 nor Long, of Massachusetts, in reply to the
 latter's sharp criticism of the position of the
 Interior department in regard to the Ponca
 controversy is, of course, able and interest ing The Secretary remarks. in opening,
 that while the Boston meeting at which Gov
 ernor Long spoke demanded justice for the l Indians, not one of the speakers demanded
 that measure of justice which is due to the
 officers of the government whose names
 were connected with that deplorable (Ponca)
 affair. He now demands justice for them, and to help secure it reviews the history of the | case.
 The Secretary points out that all the legis-
 lation which brought about the removal of
 the Poncas. and the initiatory steps taken to
 this end, occurred before the present admin | istration came into power; that the Indian office had first recommended their removal to 1 the Omaha reservation, upon which action
 was taken while Congress did provide for
 their removal to the Indian Territory. The
 removal itself, in pursuance of the law quo
 ted, was effected very short time after he | took possession of his present position, when
 he still compelled to give his whole at | tention to the formidable task of acquainting
 himself with the vast and complicated ma chinery of the Interior department. Know ing but little then concerning Indian affairs, he | thought it best to accept the laws recently passed as the expressed will of Congress, and | to take the judgment of the then Commis- sioner of Indian affairs, the Hon. J. o. Smith. The details of the case did not come clearly to his knowledge until the Ponca chiefs arrived in Washington and told their story He then concluded that they had sui fered great hardship in losing the reservation originally conferred upon them by treaty, af- ter a so-called consent which appeared not to have been a free expression of their will. They had also endured many disasters on their way to the Indian Territory and after their arrival there were greatly afflicted by disease. and lost large number of their people by death. Then the question of redress pre- sented itself. On this point the Secretary says:
 They requested permission to return to Dakota. This request was denied, not with III. had in the meantime been removed to the Missouri river and occupied that part of their reservation which included the Ponca lands. To return the Poncas to those lands under such circumstances seemed Q dangerous ex- pertinent, not only on their account, but also because the temper of the Sioux at that peri cd appeared still very critical; and it was be- ieved that the slightest irritation might lead to another outbreak of that tribe, the most | powerful of all the Indian nations. Indeed, | military officers predicted that another and 8 | larger Sioux war was threatening and that | any untoward occurrence might bring 1t | about. In the consultations had upon that | subject the late MT. William Welsh of Phila- delphia one of the sincerest warmest and | also most experienced friends the Indians ever had, took an active part; and with his concurrence the conclusion arrived at | that under these difficult circumstances the return of the Poncas to Dakota would be too dangerous a venture, and that it would be best to propose to the Poncas a selection of | lands in the Indian Territory, which they might choose themselves. This they con- scented to do Had we then proposed to Congress the return of the Poncas, and ob- tained authority and money for that purpose, and new Indian war had ensued, which was not only possible, but, from the information | received from that quarter appeared prob able, the folly of such a step would have been more seriously and more generally con- demned than all the wrongs done to the Pon- cas are now.
 The Secretary shows that he has not been regardless of the wrong done the Poncas, but | that he has made several attempts to have | something done for them. He has not, how | ever, been anxious to have them go back to | their old homes, nor does he now believe | that return is desirable. He thinks that if | the point of right and principle in question | be fully and clearly established by act of | Congress; if the eeding away of the Ponca | lands to the Sioux be thus fully recognized | as wrong; if ample indemnity be paid for it, | and if the Poncas then are content to stay 1 where they are, thus avoiding a new removal, the breaking up of their present houses and farms and mills and educational facilities, and l the transfer to Dakota, where all these things | would have to be begun again from the be- ginning, avoiding also possibly unpleasant contact with the Sioux, and partial evacu- ation of the Indian Territory, which appears dangerous under present circum- stances would be the best solution of the difficulty.
 In summing up Secretary Schurz says: On two things you and are agreed. First a great wrong has been done to the Poncas. I denounced that wrong years before you did. Second, reparation is due them. This department asked for reparation long before you did The only question of difference between us is what that reparation shall be. You look at it from the standpoint of one who has the Poncas alone in view. look at it as one who has the responsibility for the of the affairs of all the Indian tribes, of whom the Poncas form but a small part You demand a reparation which, with that responsibility upon me, consider at tended with serious risks and difficulties. demand reparation which, in point of prin- ciple, is just as good, but which at the same time is to avoid all those risks and dificul- ties"
 The argument against the return of the Poncas is Q strong one, and if 1t is fact that they are growing contented in their exile the course suggested by Secretary Schurz will probably meet the approval of many of those who are striving to get justice done them. When the commission appointed by the Pres ident makes it's report weshall have still more light upon the matter. But whatever is done in this particular case the cause of the red men will gain by it.
 T.