The Press., 1889-01-10
ssuei Every Thursday Evening.

union, sent out about 1,5OO scouts and soldiers to fight for the lives of the white settlers imperilled by the hostile bands l; N also, to coniscate the monies due them for Hands purchased from them, amounting in all to @, ,944, 900, and when our attention had been called to the matter we asked them to meet us in council, rehearsed their good services and our wrong treat ment of them, secured certain other con- cessions, and then generously, afor and in consideration" of all this service rendered l us, and because of all this wrong done them, solemnly gave the portion of their all. Our army subsisted for fifty days on the crops of these Indians, and consumed, according to the returns of the commis- sary department, $12O, 900 worth of their food, for which they have not been able to collect anything. We sent surveyors to run the lines of their lands in Dakota, for which we charged them $45, 900, and they so run their lands, as comparis0H of the old and new surveys clearly shows, that about 46, 900 acres of most valuabIe lands were taken from them.
 Every appeal of these people for redress has been met by pointing them to the 3d article of the treaty of 1867, in which they admit that 'for and in consideration" of the confscation of lands and funds they have accepted what the treaty gave them. The bureau has said to them whenever they have asked for relief, 'sThere is your acknowledgement of receipt in hand for all we owe you."
 It so happened that I was in the office of the commissioner when the chief of the finance division brought to him, for his signature, the answer of the office to 8 re- quest from the house committee on Indian affairs for a statement of accounts with these Indians, bill having been referred to this committee for the relief of these scouts. Permission was given me to ex- anime it. All claims of money by these scouts, even under the treaty of 1851, were wiped out by the overwhelming footings of money paid them, and they were shown to be about $1, ,000, ,0O0 in debt to the gov ernment. Poor Renviile was dumb with amazement, as we'll he might be He was told that the third article of the treaty of 1867, acknoW ledged that he had been compensated for all his losses and that payments for and on account of the bands, they had been overpaid even if their funds had not been confiscated.
 | In reply to my question, "What the treaty of 1867 gave for and in considera- tion of the service rendered, and confisca- tions inflicted by the act of 1885," the chief of finance said, aeThe reservations de- scribed' in the treaty." These, I said, were theirs already. He said they were not, as the act of 1863 had confscated them. Our dispute over this question of fact was settled by @ reference to the act, which proved him wrong in his position. said this is the fatal blnnder with which this office has blocked every effort to have some show of justice done these people That treaty gives them no land which was not theirs before, and the act of 1863 did not confiscate their land in Dakota.
 Now let us look at this account which shows that they have received more than was due them. The first item of the &C., count is a charge for damages, $1, ,OOO, 900, another is charge for damages, 1928, All, another is a charge for damages, $241,- 963 for what and to whom were these damages paid The answer was, for prop erty destroyed by the hostilities of the outbreak of 1862. said, this is some what remarkable system of book keeping which wipes out the dues of one man by charging against him damages inflicted by another. These scouts, for whose relief the pending bill is introduced were in the service of the United States, fighting against these very people who committed these damages, and when they have suc- ceeded in conquering them, congress confscates all their lands and monies as an expression its goodwill and appreci- ation of their services; afterwards we were seized with remorse, and in solemn coun- cils gave them in lieu of, and compensa- tion for their service and loss, what was their own and now, when they come to congress for some relief from this hard feature of this treaty, you come forward and show by your books that they are really in debt to us, and do this by charg- ing them with the damages inflicted by the very men they were helping you to fight, and with the support of these same hostile bands since they were conquered, as the items of your accounts show.
 Commissioner Atkins seemed impressed with my statement of the case, and kindly asked me to take the accounts prepared for fuller examination, and make a re- port to him of the facts as I understood them.
 II found it impossible to disentangle the bands, as bands in the accounts of the de- partment so as to secure justice to the friendly ones, so amazingly had they been confounded by the department, and there fore did not attempt 1t. My report to the commissioner, which he incorporated in his answer to house committees, conceded as just and right the confiscation of the lands and friends of these friendly bands as if they had been hostile, but maintained that those who were in the service of the United States enrolled as scouts and sol diers, should be regarded as friends, and exempted from the act of coniscation, at least of their funds. The whole band was entitled to $73, 3,6O0 per annum, for fifty years beginning with 1862, of which 26 years have elapsed. said let us multiply the annual due by 26, substract from il all that has been paid for and on acconnt of, not the scouts, but the bands to which they belong, divide the remainder by four (4) because these scouts constituted only one.fourth of these bands, and give this amount, some SAYS, 400, to these scouts : and soldiers whose names will be found on the rolls of the army, and restore them al so to their rights for the remaining four. teen years during which they are entitled to this annuity, for their pro rata share. The commissioner accepted substantial. 1. ly the recommendation, only taking off the years of 1862 and 1863, because the appro priations had been made for these years
 though the Indians never received dollal of them. The house committee has re , ported bill for the relief of these scouts and soldiers in accordance with the recom