Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1884-10-31
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From dur Regular Correspondent.

In q iOrmbf letteE ToioEIou W 49, W
condltioa of the Piegan lndi- II
ans, whose reliance for subsistence has y
depended entirely upon the Govern D
ment. There are no less than four "
thousand FIVE hundred of these unfor- :
tunate creatures, for whose care and , ,
comfort Congress appropriated last =
year 1900. or less than two cents per +
day for each Indian! Their reservation |,
ia entirely non productive &c far as
game is concerned, and the Govern f
ment has never attempted the encour- /
agement of this particular tribe to arts
of husbandry. The Indian Depart
ment cauno:. be and ought not to be
held responsible tor the terrible condi-
ton of these indians, except for its ad-
herence to q rule which limits the
agent to furnishing supplies for each |
week TO one fitty-second part Of the |,
amount OF subsistence tor full year
One can readily imagine then
the actual suffering that these people
have already endured. when tour thou
sand human beings were compelled to
lsubsisu On an allowance OF food as lin.
ited as that OF the Greeley part in its |
most desperate strait. And now with |
our Treasury bursting with money ana
. t be gran ries OF the country Vroanin
. under the magnificent crops Of the past
. season, 1t has been determined to keep
these poor people during the approach
ing winter on half rations! Il is no
wonder that the Piegan considers his
own civilization superior to ours.
The" Consience Fund" Of the Treas
> ury is matter that is worthy of lit
e tie study. 1t is fund composed Of
If small amounts generally. and large
o amounts rarely. In fact 1t is matter
=. of surprise that SO many eonsciences
a should be disturbed by so small sum
= of money that their owners have eu-
l.. chred the Cover nment ont of. and so
= few that large stealings have been able
~ to make an impression upon. The back
pay salary grab, / believe. was not
~ credited to the conscience fund, and
II. rightly so, because it was the fear of
ut results rather than remorse which
ne pr ompted its return the Treasury. The
e records of the Treasury tail to show
h. that any of the gigantic plunderers OF
r. the Government have ever exhibited
=. remorse OF conscience enough to cover
VI a cent of their doodle IN the Treasu-
81 ry. but here is poor crank OF a chap
10 taking the pains to send one cent
p stamp to make up the postage that he
'er thought he had swindled the Govern
al ment out of, when in fact the Govern
Cd ment had never forwarded his letter al
ms all. Yesterday S39 was received from
.s an Individual down South who had be
come converted, and desired to remov,
~ this s39 burden from his soul. A Chi
" cago man, forgetting that nobody hat
VS. ever gotten into Heaven from Chicago
thought that he might squeeze through
lin by returning the 81 he had wronge,
ire Uncle Sam out of IN a whlskey deal
lie, The largest sum that has ever bee
lis credited to the conscience fund wa
ing 100 from a Salem Mass, postmaste
,ck away back in days gone by, but eve
,rt. in this case the Government declare
:. that his accounts we're correct, and hi
money was returned to thin.
I'LL see that the lobby has already CON
~ menced to rally at the hotels, wit
'ui, Congress six weeks off and the Pres
se, Dental election yet to come. Some {
ian these third house chaps have an offic
ing in view, some are in the interest {
tier a Government grab. but good majol
me ity are tor extra appropriations fo
its public buildings in different portion
IN. OF the country, and have simply com
on IN advance of Congress to enlist til
'"' good Offices OF the heads of depart
ely ments. Here is a fellow from ont
en- horse town in Florida who has got
ure $4,000 appropriation, but ne wants
do quarter of a million. Little Nevad
ges with scarce population enough to emit
,ck tie her to Congressman, wants 10000
zen post Office building for one of its sowr
that never had or never will have 4,0C
use people. Proctor Knots Duluth ha
the 125,00O, and wants more for POI
inc Office, when the town is going bacl
~ ward with twice the CELEBRITY that
ms, ever came forward. AS q matter
me absolute business, three quarters of tt
public buildings that were authorize
ien to be constructed at the last Congres
ere were entirely unnecessary, but the
h I furnished magnificent opportunitl,
for corner lot owners to rake in fol
nic tunes, and building contractors t
. in quarter themselves on the Treasury Il
are an indefinite period. Don PEDRO.
The St. Joe Saturday Democrat, OIL
al. of the ablest Democratic organs
bod northwest Missouri, gives the follow
hat ing among other sensible reasons, f
ced refusing to support Marmaduke: al
II whole candidacy turns upon the sent