Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1882-11-22
RObberics of the Indians.


1t was rather unfortunate for Mr..
Pierce, Commissioner of Indian AT
fairs, that his selfglorying report of
that bureau should have been pub
lished cotemporaneously with the dis
covery of Agent Tifany's embezzle-
ment, and of his completely in the re-
cent rising in Arizona.
The greatest frauds have been per-
petrated among the Indians under the
guise of philanthropy; and the great
est rascals among the agents have
been the canting hypocrites who pro-
tested against wise policy of econ
omy and of protection.
The worst wars have been notori-
ously melted either by the cupidity or
by the villany of agents of the Gov
ernment, and almost every massacre
of the whites may be charged directly
to bad faith of their own race in deal
ing with the red man. There are, of
course, vicious and savage Indians,
who must be treated according to their
deserts, and restrained with the strong
arm.
But the most intelligent, the best
disposed, and the noblest specimens of
the race have been transformed into
violent, vicious enemies by the
frauds, the iniquities, and the robber-
les of the very persons they were
taught to trust as representing the
governing power at Washington.
Legislation could not effect reform,
when the administration of the Indian
system was in the hands of venal pol
iticians. Therefore, all attempts in
that direction failed, and practically
made matters worse instead of making
them better. The Indian Bureau has
been little else than nursery of jobs
run by Ring, or field of visionary
experiment. One is nearly as costly
as the other.
The actual expense Of the Indian
service has increased in proportion as
the tribes have diminished in numbers.
This financial paradox is not at all
strange when the methods of man
agcment are considered, and when an
Indian agent with $1,000 per annum
in salary seeks the appointment ex-
pecting to make a fortune inside of
four years.
The Indians have been gradually
dying off. 1t is the boast of the bu-
reau that many tribes have been
brought into civilized life, that educa-
ton is spreading among them, and
that the wild nomads are fast falling
into small and scattered bands. In
fact, there would be no Indian ques-
ton but for Indian agents.
A comparison between the cost of
this service for the last twenty years,
with reduced numbers, and for the
preceding twenty years, with far
greater difficulties than now exist, tells
the whole story. Here are the official
figures for the last Treasury report:
INDIANS -ExpENDITUREs.
From 1912 TO 1861, inclusive .S46,722 ,797 II
From 1862 to 1884, ,S4S 245 IS
Difference of the two periods. 500, AL "a
The excess alone in the-last twenty
years was fourteen millions greater
than the whole outlay in the first
twenty years, while the Indians were
regularly reduced in numbers during
all this period of forty years. Before
the civil war, the Indian service av-
eraged something over two millions a
year, but since the advent of Grant
ism it has averaged over six millions
and quarter per annum.
Repeated investigations have proved
that millions of these appropriations
have been stolen by Rings, with their
headquarters in the Indian Bureau,
and with the direct completely of some
Secretaries of the Interior. This,
however, is one feature in the general
rottenness and corruption of the Re-
publican party.-New York Sun.