New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-07-25
r,u,rSS TPEATUENT OF INDIANS

L1VLESS TREATMENT or INDIh'"
The exnosure of the treatment OF the Leo''
AXE Indians by Congress is not pleasant io''"
inc for honest men. The record OF CongicS
sinno, dealings with all the Indians Is mace"
So monotonously shameful that 1t can hardiy oo
said this last instance is pr,-@nlneE'ly pau o"'
certainly it is of piece with the generai iiii''
Which stains this page of the National his'o''
Several wears ago Congress authoflzed ,hc 'o,'
st,,,ct;on of the Leech Lake and WinneDagoSh-
;sh reservoir dams, making no provision lo'
aI,,nensotinp the Indians whose lands wouid NC
1ostrovod bv the resulting overflow. Before
tbo dams were built Bishop Whipple obtalne
f,on, Attorney-G enelal Devens an exhaustive
on;p;on to the effect that the taking OF ines"
lands for public use without compensation "N'
unlawful and unconstitutional Inc whoie Plo
ceeding was hwless. 1t was an outrage Du'
Il was none the less contaminated Inc utnS
ware buit in the teeth OF the law, ana 4o'ooo
acres of the Indian Lands were forthwith over
flowed The result was to deprive the Nhppe-
WAS of a large part of their subsistence anu u
iustify their discomfort
A. length their wrongs made them so mug
nm,t that their protests were heard, 10 the On
.,t &C onnointing a commission to examine ana
rono,+ unon fine damage caused by the overflow
This commission awarded $15,OOO-a ildlcu
lousIy inadequate figure-as the total amount
Of damage. Naturally and rightly the Indians
refused to accept this pitiful sum- Two yealS
LATER another commission was appointed, WHICH
,enorted that $4,000 year should Dc pald 'is
oomrops,tion for the injury done, besides
$40 600 for destruction of personal properly.
rbo Iuto,ior Department has ever slnce-that i
for the last three years-been asking Congress
=, nav, tlis money. There is no room for doubt
os 70 the iustice of the claim The dams were
hnilt in defiance of the law. The land OF the
Indians WIS taken and their subsistence de-
stroyed. with a high hand. And yet the repre-
s.rtatives of this great Nation i'll Congress as
sembled have refused, year after year, TO make
a,.v conversation TO the ln'lans, ana nave ny
tlcir callous dishonesty made the American peo-
nile RESPONSIBLE for this shameful proceeding.
Now il is reported that the Leech Lake III
| dams are. through semi Starvation, becoming
dangerous. and that they have begun to retiillate
| hv inning the forests of Minnesota. Before
tle dams were built they sublsted almost en-
| hIely on fish during the summer. Now they
| can catch none and the lands which formerly
| >u.plied them with crops OF Wild ice are All
|
oycltlowed. Had white men been 80 outrage
ouslv wlonged they would not have waited pa
tieptly five or six years before having recourse
to retllatoly measures. They would have Gu
the dams in the flst six months. The patience
of the much enduring ChlppcwaS, however, Is
reaily exhausted and the people OF Minnie.
apolis and st. Paul are beginning to ask what
would he the consequences to those citieS
of the cutting of the dams. dis
a, trous flood, many arprehond, and because oil
this danger there is now prospect That Con
cre,s will be subjected to political pressure by
American voters, and so for the first TINE a
po,sibiltv arises of justice for these abused in
dams. But for the agitation undertaken by the
Ninnesotans, however, there Is no reason TO De-
jeve that the interior Department would ever
have succeeded in getting any compensation ior
the Chippewas and this is so mlpable that IL
adds to the disgrace OF the whole Illuminating
| a,,i oIp