The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1881-12-17

body have preferred to await such leglsla-
ton as In your wisdom the occasion may seem
to demand. 1t may perhaps be thought proper
to provide that the setting on foot within our
own territory of brigandage and armed ma
raudlng expeditions against friendly nations
and their citizens shall be punishable as an Of
Tense against the United States. I will add
that in the event of q request from the terri
torial government for protection by the United
States against a domestic violence, this govern
! ment would be powerless to render assistance.
! The act of 1875, chapter SO. passed at time
when territorial governments received little at
tenticn from congress- enforced this duty of
the United States only as to state governments,
but the act of 1907, chapter 80, applied also to
| territories. This law seems to have remained In
force uetil the revision of the statute, when
| the provision for the territories was dropped.
l am not advised as to whether this alteration
was intentional or accidental, but as it seems
to me that the territories should be offered the
protection which is accorded to the states by the
constitution, suggest legislation to that end
1t seems to me that whatever view NAV pre-
vail az TO the policy of recent legislation by
| which tie army has ceased to be a part of the
! posse cOnlitatLS, an exception might well be
! made fer permitting the military to assist the
civil territorial authorities to enforce the laws
! of the United States. This use Of the army
would not seem to be the alleged evil against
| which that legislation was aimed. From the
! sparseness of population and other clrcun-
CIVIL
/ posse IN places where officers OF justice require
| assistance and where military force is within
easy reach.
UNITED STATES COURTS.
The acting attorney general calls attention to
| the necessity of modifying the present system
of the courts of the United States, necessity
| due to the large increase of business, especially
! in the supreme court. Litigation in our fed
| eral tribunals became greatly expanded after
~ no nlr nf tI,n lot 4l0a-.
! panse might be attributable to the abnormal
| condition III which the community found itself
| Immediately after thereturn OF peace prudence
required that no change should be made in
| the constitution of our judicial tribunals;
! but it has now become apparent that an i'm
! mepse increase of litigation has resulted from
the wonderful growth and development of the
| country. There is no ground for belief that
! the business of the United States courts will
ever be less in volume than at present; indeed
that it is likely to be much greater is generally
! recognized by the bench and bar, and in view of
the fact that congress has already given much
| consideration to this subject, / make no sug-
! gestion as to detail but express the hope that
your declarations may result in such legislation
as will give early relief to our overburdened
| courts.
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.
| The report of the secretary of the interior,
! with accompanying documents, presents an
| elaborate account of the business of that de-
| partment. summary of it would be too ex-
tended for this place, but I ask your careful at
! tention to the report itself Prominent among
| the matters which challenge the attention of
! congress at its present session is the manage
mcnt of our Indian affairs. While this ques-
| ton has been a cause of trouble and embar-
| Tassment from the infancy of the government,
1t is but recently that any effort has been
| made for its solution, at once serious,
! determined, consistent and promising success,
| it has been easier to resort to convenient
/ makeshifts for tiding over the temporary diff
culties than to grapple with the great perma-
/ nent problem, and accordingly the easier course
! has almost invariably been pursued. 1t was
| natural at a time when the national territory
seemed almost ilnnitable and contained many
millions of acres far out of the bounds of civil
hzed settlement that a policy should have
| been initiated which more then aught
| else has been the fruitful source
! of our Indian complications. refer, of course
to the policy of dealing with the various Indian
! tribes as separate nationalities, Of regulating
! them by treaty stipulations, to the occupancy
/ of immense reservations in the west and of en-
! couraging them to live undistTubed, by any
earnest and well-directed efforts to bring them
under the influence of civilization. The unsat-
isfactory results which have sprung from the
policy are becoming apparent to all. AS the
white settlements have crowded the borders
Of the reservations, the Indians some
times contentedly and sometimes against
|
| other hunting grounds. from which they
have again been dislodged whenever their new
! found homes have been discovered by the adj
venturous settlers. These removals and the
frontier collisions by which they have often been
preceded have led to frequent and disastrous
conflicts between the races. 1t is prOitless to
discuss here which of them has been chiefly re-
! sponsible for the disturbances whose recital oc-
| cuples so large space upon the pages or our
history. We have to deal with the appall-
ing fact that though thousands of lives
| have been sacrificed and hundreds of millions
of dollars expended in the attempt to solve the
| Indian problem it had until within the past few
| years seemed scarcely nearer a solution than
it was half a century ago; but the government
| has Of late been cautiously but steadily feeling
! its way to the adoption of q policy which has
already produced gratifying results and which
in my judgment is likely, if congress and the
| executive accord in its support to relieve us ere
| long from the difficulties which have hitherto
| beset us
For the success of the efforts now making to
introduce among the Indians the customs and
pursuits of civilized life and gradually to absorb
! them into the mass of our citizens, sharing
their rights and holding to their responsibilities,
there is imperative need for legislative action.
| My suggestions In that respect will be chiefly
| such as have been already called to the atten-
| ton Of congress and have received to some
| extent its consideration: First, | recommend
| the passage of an act making the laws of the
various states and territories applicable to Indian
within their borders and extending the laws of
| the state of Arkansas to that portion of Indian
| Territory not occupied by the five civilized
| tribes. The Indian should receive the protec-
ton of the law. He should be allowed to main
| tain IN court his rights of person and property.
he has repeatedly begged for this privilege.
Its exercise would be very valuable to him IN
his progress toward civilization. Second, of
even greater Importance is the measure
which has been frequently recommended by
| my predecessors in Office and In furtherance of
which several bills have from time to time in
troduced III both houses of congress. The en-
/ actment of a general law permitting tie allot-
ment IN severalty to such Indians at least as de-
sire it of a reasonable quantity of land secured
| to them by patent and for their own protection
made malenable from twenty or twenty-five
| Is demanded for their present welfare and their
| permanent advancement. In return for such
| conslderate action on the part of the govern
ment, there is reason to believe that the Indians
in large numbers would be persuaded
to sever their tribal relations and
| to engage at once IN agricultural
pursuits and admit that their old ways are
over and that 1t Is now for their best interests
to conform their manner of life to the new
order of things. By no greater inducement
than the assurance of permanent title of the
| soil can they be led to engage in the occupa-
ton of tilling it. The well-attested reports of
| their increasing interest IN husbandry Justify
the hope and belief that the enactment
| of such a statute as I recommend would
| be at once attended with gratifying
results. A resort to the allotment system would
| have direct and powerful influence in
! dissolying the tribal bond which is the prom-
nent feature of savage life and which tends so
| strongly to perpetuate it. / advise iber-
| al appropriation for the support of Indian
| schools, because of my confident belief that
such course Is consistent with the wisest econ
| Omy, even among the most uncultured Indian
| IL tn no ri