Morning journal and courier., 1885-11-10
rHELAKE MoHoNk CONFER ENcE.
A Strong Appeal for Justice to the
 Indian.

A Strong Appeal for Justice to the
 Indian.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER:
 Those who have been interested in the In dian and in the attitude of our government towards him probably read with attention the brief reports that appeared in the daily papers of the Indian conference held at Lake Mohonk the first part of last month It is to be regretted that these reports were not fuller,-for the conference was a notable one in many respects and showed that men, and women too, from all parts of the coun- try were waking up to the magnitude and
 importance of the question which to-day stares us in the face. What is to become of the Indiana Wien men like President Rhoads of Bryn Mawr, President Gates of Rutgers, President Seelye of Amherst, Dr. Ward of he Irader,endent, Dr. Lyman A b. bott General Whittlesey, ex-Justice Strong of Washington, Hon. Erastus Brooks, Sena- tor Dawes, and others too numerous to men ticn-busy men with numerous engagements
 when such men as these make the time Gin some cases I know it to have been at the cost of much personal inconvenience to come on
 to such conference and give their earnest thought and careful consideration to the questions discussed there, one feels encour- aged tc hope that our country will not have
 another century of dishonor to look back
 upon.
 Who could listen to the eloquent words of
 Senator Dawes without being thrilled, or fail
 to be touched when Professor Painter spoke
 of the sufferings of the mission Indians those Indians that lay so heavily on the
 heart of Helen Jackson that even on her
 death-bed almost her last thought was for
 them. Those who have read Ramona know
 something of the sufferings of those Indians,
 for what is said there of the mission Indians
 is fact, not fiction.
 The hearts of the American people are not
 callous, and there is a deep-rooted love of
 justice and fair play in the American mind. All that is needed to rouse interest and re- move indifference is that knowledge of the facts should be circulated. Little sympathy is given to the words of sentimental enthusi asts, but when our people find that real in justice and wrong have been done and still continue, there comes with the knowledge 8 wish to right the wrong. It may not be widely known that general meeting of the Indian Rights association is to take place in this city on November 18th, the sessions to be held 1n CG0C0f C0ufcn, dt WHICH tlu10 du- dresses will be made by Senator Dawes, MT. Herbert Welsh, Professor Pai1ter, Miss Alice c. Fletcher and others. With such speakers there is no danger of the sessions being dull, and it is hoped that there will be a large attendance, not only of those already interested in the Indian question, but of those who know little of it and have hitherto been indifferent to it. One of the principal objects of the meeting is to affect public sen | timent and, through it, Congress at its next session, by clear exposition of the needs of l the Indians, and the action which Congress should take regarding them. Congress should be urged to take immediate steps to- wards putting every Indian child in school, and by means of the passage of the Coke bill to give all Indians the right to take land l in severalty. The Indians relation to law l and citizenship will also be treated.
 A word here as to the Coke bill. It is Gan act to provide for the allotment of lands in i severalty to Indians the various reserva- l tions, and to extend the protection of the l laws of the States and territories over the | Indians, and for other purposes" In the | abstract of the Coke bill prepared by the In | dian Rights association it is said: "For many years past those who have given earnest l thought to the best method of placing the Indian on a right footing among us, and pa 1 tient effort to accomplish this result, have united in the belief that the allotment of | land to individual Indians by secure title
 would prove one of the most powerful agen- | cies in the advancement of the race.
 sIt has been often pointed out that we have by our policy taken from the Indian the or 1 dinary and essential stimulus to labor. l While under our system of pauperizing Indi- ans by the issuing of rations, we deprive 1 them of the ordinary necessity for self sup 1 port by our refusal to protect them in the | possession of their land, and by our inces- 1 sant removals we take away the common mo- 1 tives for cultivating it. The great mass of 1 men work from the imperative necessity for 1 se1f-support, and from the knowledge that I the law will protect them in the possession | of their rightful earnings. We have so l alienated the Indian from the natural general conditions, we have placed him in such an
 artificial and unjust position, that he has neither the necessity for self support nor any proper protection in the result of his labor. i It is Q matter of surprise to all who fairly l consider all the elements in the case; not
 that the result is no better, but that it is not far worse. To give the Indian then a secure title to land, so that he may have the assu- | rance of reaping what he has sown, is the
 plainest justice and good policy.
 sThe thought and labor of those who have long worked for this end has taken shape in
 most carefully and skillfully prepared bill for the allotment to Indians in severalty of land on the reservations. This bill is the l outcome of long and intimate experience in
 the condition of the various Indian tribes
 the result of rare combination of practical
 knowledge and legal training. Its passage I will greatly affect for the better the lives o1
 nearly three hundred thousand human be- tings, besides the incalculable and yet wider