New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-18
WHAT PEOPLE THINK AND SAY.
THE INDIAN AND HIS LAND.


CRITICAL sIrUATIOE-FIRsT STEPS TOWARD
SOLUTION.
10 the Edifor Of The Trt6uns
SIR: The dispatch Fort Keogh stating that Agent
Williamson had ordered the cattle pasturing on the
Crow Reservation be driven Oh calls attention to
phase OF the perennial Indian problem which Is likely 10
present itself with uncomfortable frequency in the near
future The problem older than the Republic. and Its
solution has been postponed by pushing tribe after tribe
into the remote and unsettled West, and By making
treaties to be kept until the necessities Of civilization In
the opinion OF the ruling demanded that they should
be set aside. But last the tide OF emigration has
swept up TO the reservations and flowed around and be-
yond them and the time has come when the red man can
remain within tho limits prescribed for him and yet be
In the way The great herds OF cattle the oyertocked
plain ranges grazing other reservations besides that
OF the Crowa Trouble Is apprehended" the dispatch
runs the order Ia enforced" Trouble Ia always TO DO
Appreciated when the white plants his foot upon
the Indians land unless the Indian gives way When tho
white man comes he usually comes to stay
Many philanthropc persons have been bordering and
praying this question in their closets for fifty years.
bufew have made any searching study OF the elements
OF the problem the ground where trouble Ia appre-
hended The logical conclusion Of all thought upon the
subject seems 30 be that ultimately the individual Indian
must hold his land in fee simple "a does the individual
white But when this is admitted the difficult
ties OF practical just begin to in sight
III all Indians alike and all Indian lands were alike
the study Of few examples might furnish adequate
basis for the framing of general law But the funda
mental fact to be borne In mind Is that between the va
Gus tribes and parts OF tribes and between tie lands on
different reservations and parts OF reservations there Is
such an Infinite diversity In matters essential that any
universal rule OF action Ia not to be thought or
AND Just here lies the present danger The respassers
are now uniting with the philanhropsts TO demand that
the Indian shall have his ghts Give Indian his
snare at once Is their cryso that seze the re-
mainder The cattle kings whose Ovcrgrowu nerds nave
gnhwed the bare. demanding that 10 every
Indian shall be given 100 OF farm land or $40 acres
OF grazing land. But how productive Is this farm lana
And how many OF this grazing land where the
scanty tufts OF bualO stand yard apart are re-
qrcd TO support animal the round How many
white men could live 800 such acres How many
would take them gift If compelled TO fence them In
And what proportion OF the Indians are sufficiently
skilled In agricultural practice 10 succeed turned sud
Our Indian affairs plainly in critical condition and
they demand immediate attention but II Is not Oppor
tune time sudden violent changes in forms OF man
agement Indians still need direction. They need IL
especially in preparation for the personal ownership or
land. They will need IL than for time after
their lands have been allotted In severalty. And they
need to-day intelligent and sympathetic guidance
than they receiving from Mr. Iamars Mississippi
friends who have been sent out In such numbers 10 lhe
agencies. Men who have been doing or sulk1ng for
twenty-five years and who have taken note OF what
has been going in the world since the days befo the
wah not OF the stamp " administer affairs at the
reservations just g.
y etc- OTk, Dec. IL, 1886