Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-10-28
;cn. vandevcr and the "Indian
Rinx.,,
EDITOR HERALp:-When men present

GDlIOh III ElSA Lii w lCu iICh SoehN
= <suselves for high and responsible po-
ms Of trust, and solicit the buffrages
the people. They must expect the
people to inquire as 20 the integrity and
itness of the aspirant. We have two
bandidates for Congress in the Los An.
geles district One, of long residence,
fully identified with all the interests of
he district and State. The other is a
carpet. bagger," whose residence is 50
hort, in fact, so recent that l very much
oubt if he has paid poll tax in the
State.
Mr.. Lynch has spent the best years
Ind energies of his life in Los Angeles;
ievoting all his time to the development
our industries and promoting the IN
erest of the district. Mr.. Lynch knows
bur every want; he is in every way iden'
flied with our interests, and thoroughly
Qualified to represent our district III Con
ress; while his opponent, Vandever, Is
ust The reverse. He is u stranger In our
midst, knowing little or nothing CT our
wants or interests, and therefore wholly
ntit--if for no other reason--to repre-
ent this district in Congress.
But there are other grave reasons why
Hr. Vandever should not be elected to
Congress. | charge from the record that
lr. Vandever was our Indian Inspector
xsing the existence of the notorious
.ndlan Ring" which robbed the people
Nd the Government of millions of dol
rs, and in many instances drove the
hdians on the warpath, spreading waste,
Murder and devastation all over the
tontier settlements.
i will now call the at ention of tax
Myers and voters to the Congressional
Records, and evidence taken before a
Committee of the House.
ia 1860, when we had much larger
Number of Indians than we have to-day,
{lS76), the cost of maintaining them was
but httle over s., 100000. La 1873, The
post of the Indian Department was lit
lie over $3,000.000; while in 1875,
kFandeyer aoas IRdion Inspector an 1879
Il cost over IS, coo, 900, with deficiency
bf 5000, 600. And yet the evidence shows
That not over 20 per cent. of this large
sum ever reaches the poor Indian. The
balance OF so per cent. goes to enrich
The Ring" The Indians being plum
dered, go to war, murder our frontiers
man and their families. Add the ex.
pense of Indian wars, and it foots up a u
|nually to many millions of dollars. The
Indians are defrauded by rascaily |
agents and rings" as the following ex-
tracts OF testimony will show. Chief
Fast Bear says in his testimony before |
|the Commission.
"The beef-cattle that the Great Father |
has issued to me no doubt each steer has
been weighed twice and called two, and |
3ke of them have been put away some-
where else; and | wish the Great Father
would track them up"
Here follows the testimony of Black
foot to the Commission:
q "We sell our lands and ,chat do Ue
get for itf We get a pair of stockings,
and when zoe pat them on they go TO
pieces. They get some old shirts and
have them washsd and giUe them TO us.
We put them on and oar eibo,os 90 right
through them. They send as tin kettles.
We go to get Water TO carry TO our lodges.
We dip the Dater up but all runs out
again. That is what ,ce get for our land.
The President and Congress send money
to as, but ace don't get q cent of it. We
do not knoD ,Ohere the nsoaeyo goes, but
every agent gets rich that comes here"
The testimony further shows that
worthless and useless articles were sent
by the "Ring" agents to the reservation
for the use of the Indians, while the
money was pocketed. For instance,
5000 pairs of ladies' elastic garters were
sent to the Indian maidens OF one reser-
walton, and it is an established fact that
there never ,oas pair Of hose or stock.
'ags on the reservation. In circumstances
ne cheapest horse blankets were pur-
chased for the use of the Indians, wort
two dollars per pair. These cheap
blankets We're cut into four pieces and to
government ,oas charged t,oelUe dollars
for each piece, Which BY the Ring acas
called pair Of blankets, Original cost
to agents and "Ring," 81; charged TO
Indian and government, $4S.
This is the character of testimony that
comes to us from those who have inves.
tigated this matter. "The agents get
rich" Although the salary OF AN agent
is but $500 per year, General Sheridan
and other army officers testified that if
the Indian Department was transferred
from the "Ring" to the control of the
army it would be a saving of $40, ,0o0, 900
annually to the government"
This, Mr.. Editor, is a specimen of the
way the Indian Department was run by
the "ripg." | will not charge that Van.
dever was a member of ihe ring. /
will give him the benefit of doubt-but
there is one of two things, and he ca
take either horn of the dilemma: lst,
he was knowing to the ''ring" trans
actions, or "a, if he did not know it, it
was his business as Indian Inspector to
have ferreted it out and exposed it. If
he did not know it then he was thor.
oughly incompetent as Indian Inspector,
and wholly unfit for the position.
Now if Vandever knew Of the ''ring"
steals he is unfit to go to Congress. II
he as Inspector OF Indian Affairs spent
years of time in the service, and was un-
able to discover these frauds and steals
by the 'ring" of millions annually, he is
wholly unfit to represent our district in
Congress. This being the record of the
man, is there voter in the district that
would select o man of his record to
transact an important matter of private
business for the voter, where large and
valued interests are at stake? Voters,
think of this when you approach the
ballot box ON the I'd of November.
Vandever is either dishonest or wholly
as shown from the records.
No, its better we make of the doughty
General "big Injun," clothe him in
quarter of cheap horse blanket and |
encircle his massive but antique limbs |
where the stocking ought. to be, with a !
war path, while we send Joe Lynch to /,
Congress to expose Indian ''ring" steals
and look to the interests of our district
which he has done so much to develop.
FROM ONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE
mn