The Daily Tombstone., 1885-11-21
THE FRIENDS OF THE RED - '"' MAN.
A Visit 10 Ihe E'rcsiden: and
 What W sax Sa id and Done.


 O.; t4,e friends of the Indians, held at 'Mohonk lake, N. Y last month, called 5n the President yesterday, with Act fhg Commissioner oi Indian Affairs 'Upshaw. Hon. Erastus Brooks. oi New York read an address to the President, embodying the views of the Conference on the best method O! i'm proving the condition Of the Indians; !; urging that the latter be'treated fairly and honestly ss wards of the govern 'rnent, and their education and civil i1at:on' promoted with .. view of their Ultimate citizenship, as advocated by the Presidents inaugural address. Mt Brooks also recalled the words of Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson in her death. bed letter to the President, in which she said :'"I am dying happier for the belief that it is your hand that is destined to strike the first steady blow toward lifting the burden Of in- fanny from our country, and fighting the wrongs or tie Indian ~ace."' The questions. Mir Brooks said. which seer,ed to them to demand the most immediate attention are those relating to land ard education. houes and families: He outlined the history of the seizure of Indian lands from the original settlements. and contend cd that the welfare of the Indians had always been matter of secondary consideration What IS now needed m regard to lands, he said, is severa,ty and individuality, with the protection of law fo- persons and families This would result ir settlements, in homes aid land cultivation, and in that way make the Indian seli-supporting citizen, endowed with all the rights, privileges, and duties of citizenship. Most of the wars and disturbances among the Indians in the past 100 years were caused, said Mir. Brooks by Ire seizure of their lands by white men and the want of law and power to protect the Indian in his own pos of .l. the Indian to work profitably for him. self and for the government is found, faid he, in the fact that those who are the most civilized now have under cultivation more than 230 900 acres of land, upon which in one year was raised 100000 bushels of corn. l lOOO- OOO bushels of wheat, and nearly 100000 bushels of oats and barley. besides 100000 head of cattle, IOOO,- 900 sheep, 235,O00 horses and mules, and 6sOOO swine.
 These figures, he said, do not in cludc the products of 6O,OOO civilized Indians ready for territorial govern ment. The speaker dwelt eloquently on the evil effects of the lack of laws to protect the Indians, and said they needed just what the white man has the force of law in theIr behalf and the freedom of the ballot. To secure these ends it was urged that the tribal relations and reservations be abolished and the diffusion as speedily as possi- ble Of the Indian in the United States encouraged so that he may secure by association with his white brethren pure civilization and full citizenship.
 When this is done," said Mir. Brooks, "the civil magistrate will take the place of the soldiers and the money now paid to support an army will be more wisely expended in the peaceful pursuits of industry, in moral and mental education, and in the set tlement of great public questions, which for century or more have dis turbed the peace of the nation at cost of hundreds of millions in money and in countless numbers of lives. These and kindred questions" said the speaker, fare left to the President Tn the belief that it is possible by wise legislation and firm and humane ad- ministration to emancipate, natural Ize, and Christianize those whom he has declared to be the wards of the nation,' and as such entitled to honest treatment with a view tn rI,;r,.ta c;,