Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-03-18


ful to The kindness Of providence
that the day is past when men were
prohibited from speaking their
opinions and honest convictions of
public affairs, and their public men.
The increasing intelligence and ed
ucation of the Cherokccs will no
longer stand the domincering pol
icy of any man, or set of men. Mr..
Adair says "if the Cherokees had
been paid 1926 per acre for all the
lands that have been taken away
from them they would be the rich
est people on earth" +" which is very
true so far as it goes. If the Cher
okees had been paid s1.25 per acre
for the North American continent,
which was taken away from them,
indeed they would each be worth
double the combined wealth of the
Vandcrbilts and Rothchilds. There
is no denying the fact that the In
dian has received severe treatment
at the hands of his white brother.
And where is the remedy2 Does
the remedy lie in suppressing hon
est investigation in our ofiicials7
Far from it. No honest man would
object to the people knowing every
public act of their officials. And
the moment you hear individuals
going around yelling about the peo-
pie and their just rights, and deny
ing facts, you may note him down
as IAN individual of unusual stupid
ity, or sadly in lack of a common
school education. We are not
aware ofanyone in particular, who
claims we owe the other govern
ment anything, but to the contrary
the other government is owing us
more than six millions of dollars,
ifshe allows us 81 .25 an acre for call
the lands lying west of the Arkan-
sas river" Whether it will do that
or not is a question that remains
TO be settled in the not distant fu-
ture. And our humble opinion is
that the Phillips 7 1-2 per cent. con-
tract will extend into the sale of
the whole of the lands lying west
Of the Arkansas river. We have
heard it asserted, but not authori-
tatively, that the United States
government was willing to give us
s1.25 per acre for it. And lift does
Col. Phillips will come in for his
7 1-2 per cent, which will fill his
pockets five or six hundred thou
sand dollars deep. So it is plain
to be seen that the Z - per cent.
contract is farther reaching in its
consequences, than was ever antic-
ipated by our noble Legislature.
Some OF the Cherokees say we have
a patent to our lands, which is true,
but when we bargain and sell we
relinquish the patent, and every
other vested right we have in those
lands. Let the Cherokee peo-
pie wake up to a full realization of
their affairs. Mr.. Adair claims in
language noted more for its empha.
sis, than its depth, "that we don't
owe the government a dollar" No
intelligent individual claims that.
OF course we don't owe it, but it
owes us and has paid us $1,000
as the first payment on the unoc-
cupied lands lying west Of the Ar
kansas river. If il is an injury to
this country to discuss public af-
fairs, in order to arrive at a definite
and intelligent understanding Of
tit with all its money, and
population of 10000 inhabitants is
not worth saving from the greedy
grasp Of railroad kings, and land
monopolists. If we are in error on
this point, or any assertion made
in this article, no one is more will
ling to acknowledge it, or make
amends for it, when we see it in
different light. We don't favor any
change in the present form of our
government, but continuously hope
that il may "stand as long as grass
grows and waters run" but we do
favor honest government, honest
investigation, thorough discussion
and an intelligent understanding of
poor Los condition from beginning
TO end. j. II. BECK.