The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-11-25
Sound Sense on the Indian
Question.

The Indian question is now getting
more sensible treatment than ever be-
fore; and even many army officers who
were wont to think that the only good
Indian was dead one are now dis
posed to admit that, under the proper
conditions, the wild Indian tribes of the
far West may be civilized and made
something of a blessing rather than a
curse to that region. In his annual re-
port, General Sheridan believes that the
Indians can, in process of time, become
self-supporting. But he says: 81
would recommend that each family be
given and located on the 800 acres now
provided for them by law in case of
actual settlement. The government
should then condemn all the balance of
each reservation, buy it in at S1.25 per
acre, and with the proceeds purchase
government bonds, to be held in trust
by the interior department, only giving
to the Indians each year the interest on
the bonds for their support. Let this
money, if you please, be disbursed the
same as the money appropriated each
year by congress. The practical work
ing would be about as follows: The
Crow Indians, for instance, have nearly
4,S00,000 acres of land. There are not
more than $500 of them, and counting
five persons to family-a large esti
mate-they could be settled separately
on 800 acres for each family and then
have over 100000 acres left, which
the government could buy of them
when condemned. If the proceeds
were invested in government bonds and
the interest used for their support, it
would be more money than is now ap-
propriated by congress for their yearly
maintenance. 1t would be their own
money, and take the question of annual
appropriations for them out of con-
gress. Take the Cheyenne and Arap-
ahoe Indians as another example. They
have nearly 100000 acres; 100000
would settle them in severalty and the
100000 acres remaining, if purchased
by the government in the manner de-
scribed, would yield an annual interest
sufficient for their support. The Ute
Indians have about 100000 acres,
which, if purchased in the same way,
would furnish a revenue adequate for
their support"
In a recent address in Worcester,
Senator Dawes showed the fallacy of
the idea that the Indian was destined
to become extinct, and said that there
were more Indians than there were
twenty-five years ago. The great ques-
ton is how to deal with him. The
plan discovered by Captain Pratt had
proved successful. Ten years ago Cap
tain Pratt had charge of seventy-two
warriors sent to Florida because their
presence was considered dangerous on
the reservations. Captain Pratt taught
these men to work and made them USE
full members of society. Out of his
effort grew the Indian schools at Hamp-
ton, Carlisle and elsewhere. The ma
tional government had adopted the idea
and had in the last year appropriated
81 100000 for the education of the
II 900 Indians now in the schools. SEN
ator Dawes alludes to the gradual hem
ming in of the Indians by the extension
of civilization in the territories, and
says: "In a few years, unless they can
be self-supporting, they will become a
band of paupers and vagabonds 100000
strong, as costly for the government to
support as an army of that size. Be-
You'd abstract justice, safety requires an
effort to make the Indian man. Edu-
cation is not all. So far as he develops
capacity, he is to be given land in sew
crafty and made self-supporting. He
needs something besides the land, how
ever. He needs money, seed, houses
and cattle and the help of Christian
men and women" He also said that
the Indians were improving in civiliza-
ton every year and he had faith to be-
lieve that, before the cattle kings had
grabbed all the land, the Indians would
become self-supporting citizens-all of
which is very encouraging to the peo-
pie who believe in righting, as far as
possible, the great wrongs that have
been inflicted upon the native race.
The English Liberals and Ireland.