The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-13
THE INDIAN CONFERENCE.

Among the many conventions and
conferences of the past month, the
conference of the friends of the In
dams at Lake Mohonk is notable and
deserves record in our columns. 1t
was meeting of earnest men and
women who had been brought together
to confer, not on the particular needs
and best methods of work of one branch
of the spiritual Zion, but on the neces-
stiles and interests of large number
of human beings whose right to a ma
terial existence has been for more
than two hundred years invaded. Since
the cruel, unjust, and illegal ejectment
of the Poncas from their homes, and
their enforced removal to the Indian
Territory, Eastern humanitarians, aided
by an occasional Western force, as
manifested by Mrs. Jackson and by the
people of Omaha, have been directing
earnest and strenuous efforts toward
the amelioration of the wrongs of the
Indians, and the securing, by legislation
and otherwise, of their 'sinalienable
rights" A band of devoted men and
women in Boston; the schools at Hamp-
ton, Carlisle and Philadelphia, and the
the yearly conferences at Lake Mohonk
have been the centers from which have
flowed influences of increasing depth
and power, not only into the Indian
Reservations, but also into the hearts
and heads of the American people.
Heretofore the ignorance of the mass
of the people as to the treatment of the
Indians both by the Government and
by individuals, has been the great
est obstacle to the success of efforts
that have, from time to time, been made
in their behalf. Evidently the educa-
tors and others who are engaged in
this work of redemption, believe that
when public opinion is formed and in
diligently regulated, there will be such
an uprising of sentiment in favor of
right and against wrong, that the law
makers and the Executive willnot be able
to Withstand it's force. The questions
brought before the Lake Mohonk Con-
ference were practical; and, if the pub
lie opinion of the country can be brought
to their support, feasible. Civil Service
reform, which will give to the Indian
Saruina aoanto uho aro aoonaintad NTH
the work; the passage of the bill known
as the Dawes Land in Severalty bill; the
adjustment of the Reservations, which
will follow the enforcement of the
Dawes bill; the education of children
and adults in Eastern boarding schools,
and in day schools on the Reservations,
and the pressing needs of the Mission
Indians of California-these topics were
discussed as the most important and
immediate measures to be considered.
Among those present at Lake Mo-
honk, we may mention Senator Dawes,
of Massachusetts, Mr.. Allen, of the
Boston Advertiser, Austin Abbott, of
New York, Pres. Gilman, of Johns Hop
kins University, DR.. Strictly, Mr.. Ma
bic, of the Christian Union, Mr.. Edward
Pierce, of Boston, and the chairman of
the conference, Gen. Clinton B. Fiske,
of New Jersey. Mrs. Quinton, Mrs.
Crandell, and Mrs. Hiles, of Milwau-
kee, were also present. The last named
lady, who is now presenting the history
of the Mission Indians in a series of
articles in THE UNIvERsALIsT, made
one of the most telling addresses at the
conference. The correspondent of the
AdUance says:
1.-THE Mission Indians of California,
reduced by heartless oppression since
1884, when the Mexican government
''robbed them by the wholesale of their
''titles to land under the Spanish crown,
''from 10000 to 5000 at the present
were presented to the sympathies
'of the Conference by Mrs. Hiles, of
milwaukee. So great an effect was
produced that a subscription of So, 900
"was begun and literally supported at
"Once, to secure the services of the
"ablest attorney who can be found, to
defend them in the courts of Califor-
mia"