The Evening critic., 1881-11-16
OUR INDIAN POLICY.
what Secretary LAKEWOOD RECON-
mends.

Secretary of the Interior Kirlwood's re-
port to the President was completed yester-
day. An interesting portion of 1t relates
to the Indians. After giving history of
the peculiarities of the red men he says II
earnestly recommend two things in case the
present number Of reservations shall be
maintained: First, that existing reserva-
tions where entirely out of proportion to
the number of Indians thereon, be, with the
consent of the Indians, and upon fair and
just terms, reduced to proper size; and Sec
ond, that the titles to these diminished re-
serves be placed by. patent as fully. under
the protection of the courts rs are the titles
of all Others of OUR people to their
land. j would not, in reducing the
reservations so reduce them as to
leave to the Indians only an area
that would suffice for an equal number of
whites. Their attachment to kindred aud
tribe are stronger than among civilized men,
and l would so arrange II that the Indian
father of to-day might have assurance that
his children as well as himself could have u
home. / would also provide in the patent
for the reservations that so long as tho
title to any portion of the reservation re-
manned in the tribe, adult Indians of the
tribe who would locate upon and improve
certain parcels of the reservation should
have an absolute title to the parcels so i'm
proved by them, and | would provide
against alienation either by the tribe or the
tribal title, or by individuals of their per.
sonal title for n limited time. AS an addi-
tional induccment for heads of families to
take land in severaty and engage in farm
ing provisions should be made to aid such of
them as do so in building houses thereon.
The sum of $50 carefully expended by n ju-
dicious agent, will enable an Indian on many
of the reservations with his own labor to
build house rs comfortable as those occu-
pied by many of our frontier settlers, and
much more comfortable than the lodges in
which they have been accustomed to live,
and when so situated in his own honse, on
his own land, with beginning made in
the way Of farming, n feeling of personal
ownership and Importance will be devcl-
0ped and produce good results. And in
building houses preference should be given
to those who have selected land in sew
crafty and made certain amount of i'm
provement thereon, and the offer of such
aid should be held out as an inducement so
to do. If a liberal sum were placed in the
control of the Indian Office every year, to
be expended for this purpose exclusively,
the effect would be excellent. A wise lib
erality in this direction would, in my ,judg-
ment, be true economy. There are now in
bnC DltttS uuu ltIIltoTlco WcSJ VI tUc MIS-
sissippi River one hundred and two reserva
tions, great and small, on which are located,
on round numbers, $4,000 Indians.
1.-THE numbers on the different reservations
vary from q few hundred to several thou.
sand There are attached to these reserva-
tions siXty-eight agencies, each with its
staff of employees. There are also estab-
lished near them, for the protection alike of
the whites and Indians, thirty-seven mill
tary posts, with larger or smaller garrisons.
The transportation of supplies to so many
and so widely-scattered agencies and mill
tary posts is very expensive, and our army
is so small that the garrisons at many of
the posts are not sufficient either to pre-
vent outbreaks or to suppress them
promptly when they occur 1t is my duty
to say, and l say it with great pleasure.
that the military authorities have, when
called upon by this Department, always
responded with promptness and efficiency
but it must be apparent to all who have
had occasion to note their operations that
they have been seriously embarrassed in
their efforts to concentrate speedily Mt
particular points sufficient force to
meet emergencies Tho peculiar condi-
tions attending the transaction of public
business for some months has prevented me
from giving this subject the attention that
in my opinion it deserves, but am strongly
inclined to believe that if all the Indians
west of the Mississippi were gathered upon
four or five reservations our Indians affairs
could be managed with greater economy to
the Government and greater benefit to the
Indians. In view Of the facts stated as to
existing reservations, / recommend that
Congress be asked to create a commission of
three or four eminent citizens to visit dur
ing the next year the reservations west of
the Mississippi River for the purpose of
recommending to Congress, if they shall
deem it wise to do so, the concentration of
the Indians on four or five large reserva-
tions, to be selected in different parts of the
West, on which the different tribes shall be
located; and if this SHALL in the Judgment
of the commission, not be wise, then to rec
ommend the concentration of existing small
agencies where that can properly be done,
and the reduction Of the area of others to
dimensions proportionate to the number of
Indians now located thereon"
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