St. Paul daily globe., 1885-07-27
THREE CONGRESSMEN.
Messrs. Holman, Cannon and Ryan of the
Indian Committee Arrive in
st. Paul.
The ScQpe of Their Work Among the Abo-
rigines and Touching the Ma
tional Park.
Indtana's Great Objector Talks at
Length Upon Many Matters
of Interest.
HeIO's Last Visit at the
Capitol.
Another Indian Commission.

Another Indian Commission.
Three members of the national house
committee to investigate the affairs of the
Indian agencies of the country arrived In
St. Paul yesterday noon and took rooms at
the Ryan. They were Congressman Will
lam 5. Holman of Indiana, chairman; Con-
gresham Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois
and Congressman Thomas Ryan of Kansas,
and were accompanied by Sergeant-at-
Arms Leedom and j. C. Courts of Tennes-
see. The party spent the afternoon in look
ing at various portions of the city, and in the
evening Congressman Ryan and Cannon
were taken for drive by prominent st.
Paul gentlemen. The entire party were
seyerally interviewed by GLOBE reporter,
all of them giving something of the work
and scope of the committee and being
pretty unanimous in the expression that
they had a gOOd-sized job on their hands
for the summer months. The committee
exists, as they explained, by virtue of a
clause in bill passed among the last at the
last session, and has before it the
examinations into the general affairs
at nearly all the agencies of the
country. The committee is in no way con-
nected with the one that visited st. Paul
early last week, of which Senator Harrison
is chairman, and its work is of an entirely
different character. In a general way 1t
is to
INVESTIG ATE THE EXPENDITURE
of the public moneys at the Indian agencies,
with reference to education and general adj
vancement, to look into the benefits derived
from the distribution of herds of cattle, to
report on the progress of the tribes in agri-
cultural pursuits, to gain whatever knowl-
edge is at hand relative TO the wishes OF the
Indians to retain their reservations. and to
learn their sentiments on giving up
certain of these to the government, and
accepting in return land III Indian Terri
tory: to examine into the conduct of the
agents, to look after the progress of the In
dian schools and the character of those In
dianS who have been educated by the
government away from home; in short, to
gain whatever information is to be had of
general and specific nature OH the tribes,
particularly those that make no claim to
living in villages, but are wandering from
place to place about the reservations.
CONGRESSMAN HOLMAN
was Just going to tea at the Ryan last
evening when a GLOBE reporter tackled
him.
Our committee has been down visit
ing the Indians at the Rosebud
and Pine Ridge agencies" he be-
gan, at the same time beginning
on dish of raspberries and cream, land we
had peculiar, not to say interesting, time.
And want to say right here that l think
the commission of 1882, known as the
Teller Commission was
ONE OF THE GREATEST MISTAKES
that was ever made in all our dealings with
the Indians. That was, don't you know, a
movement to take the lands from the Sioux
to practically defraud them of them, and
they resented it. As a result it is impossi-
BILE to attempt any arbitration with the
Sioux for some years to come, for they
look upon any visit of COM
mittee as another attempt at fraud. Some
of the Sioux we have met, and the first
question they asked was: What are you
here for?' They regarded us with suspicion
and it was impossible to deal with them.
All this is due to that unfortunate Teller
commission, and it will be years before
they will get over it.
LAS an instance of their suspicion, one
of these Indians we visited rather caught
me. | had told them through an inter-
prefer that we did not want their lands;
that we wanted to see their homes, how
they lived, what they had to eat, how they
were provided for, if they treated the
women well and if they were making good
sc of all the presents that the great father
at Washington had given them. L had no
sooner ceased talking thau young buck
named Black Elk, arose and said:
''If you want to see my home, why don't
You come To my tent? If you want to see
if have plenty TO eat, why don't you come
to my table and see if eat good beef or
iackaSS meat? If you want TO see if l use
my Squaw well, why don't you ask my
squaw?' and So he went on enumerating
each thing / had said with a wonderful
memory. and closed by saying that we were
not acting in buSineSs-liSe manner if we
really wanted what we said we did"
Mr.. Holman said that the famous ''Young
Man-Afraid-of-H -His-HOises,' had addressed
the committee at meeting at which there
were fully l, 900 Indians present.
HE is one of the most fOrcible and logical
speakers 1 ever heard" said Mr.. Holman.
He wears white mems clothes, and in
appearance. gesture and infection is per-
feet fac simile of eX-GOv. McLane of Mary
land, who was at one time regarded as one
of the most eloquent speakers on the floor
of the national house. His resemblance to
the ex-governor was so great that it was
1.-The Indians there have made little use
of the herds given them by the govern
ment," said Mr. Holman. SAT Rosebud
where 400 cattle were placed some years
ago, there are now 410. L have figured up
the
LOSS To THE GOVERNMENT
on those 400 cattle: 1t cost So, 900 yearly
10 provide hay, and salaries had to be paid
lor hat falr infn
present value of the cattle, the loss to the
United States has been exactly 81, ,942. At
the Pine Ridge reservation the 400 cattle
have been diminished to 103,. and L have
estimated the loss on this herd at
S11, 1,000."
''Why is this SOP"
because the Indians have no ambition
in the matter. They do not care what be-
comes of the cattle, and they know that
the government will have to take care of
them. The same may be said, in general
way, of their school privileges. Many
have been educated by the gov
ernment, and the great major
ity of these when they return to
their reservations, keep not only all their
old Indian ways and vices, but all the bad
things that they have learned they at once
proceed to put in practice. The farming
at the two reservations / have mentioned is
on a very small scale. They ought to raise
potatoes potatoes the finest l ever saw
grow in that country, and no care is nee
essary and no labor save to plant them. If
they plant corn they plant dozen kernels
in hill and leave it to grow without culti-
vatiOn, and of course it is of no account"
I'VE had four hours meeting with the
Indians on one of their reservations and
speeches were made by Red Cloud, Little
Chief of the CheyenneS and others,
THE CHEYENNES
are by far the most energetic and have the
greatest capabilities. In the speech of