The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-12-06


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secretary tnat tne CONSTRUCTION or egnt armored
shira, three gunboats and nve torpedo boats he
authorized
An appalling calamity befell three Of our naval
vessels on duty at the Samoan islands In the
harbor OF Apia, in March last, involving the loss
OF four officers and forty seven seamen Of two
vessels, the Trenton and the VaDdalla, and tho
disabling OF a third, the Nlpsic. Three vessels Of
the German navy, also In the harbor, shared with
our ships the force OF the hurricane and suffered
even more heavily. While mourning the brave
odjcers and men who died, facing with high re-
solve perils greater than those OF battle, IL is
most gratifying TO state that the credit of the
American navy for seamanship courage, and
generosity was magnihcently sustained In the
storm beaten harbor Of Apia.
(The president here speaks at length of the
rroo.reas and condition of tho Indian on nov.
srn,nant rossrvation. ond rofars 90 ,ho
So, 4, SrLa.'s,,ao .s,,..s.t..,sN W 'A'
OiouA anu Snei iVAee hes""aViohsJ
The Opening OF Okiahoms.
Under the agreement made between the tJnited
States and the MusooRee (or Oreeh) n0tion OF
indians on the 10th day of January lssq an ab.
solute title was secured by the United states To
about three and A half millions OF acres of land
eeotion fq Of the general indian aptronriatlon
act approved March g. 1859 made provision for
the purchase by the United States from the Sem
mole tribe OF a certain portion OF their lands
The dpexates of the Seminole nation. having
FIRST duly evinced to me their power TO act I'm that
behalf delivered a proper release and convey.
ance TO the United States Of all the lands mon.
toned In the act which was accepted by me and
certified to be in compliance with the statute
BY the terms OF both the acts referred 10 all the
lands so purchased we're declared 10 be a part of
the public domain and open 10 settlement under
the homestead law. But Of the lands embraced
in these purchases being In the aggregate about
fye and half million acres three and a half mil
lion acres had already under the terms Of the
treaty Of 1896 been acquired by the United States
for the purpose Of settling other Indian tribes
thereon and had been APPROPRIATED to that pur.
pose The land remaining and available for set-
Element consisted Of SS7 Ta6 acres surrounded on
ali sides by lands In the occupancy of Indian
tribes Congress had provided no civil govern.
ment for the people who were TO be invited by my
proclamation TO settle upon these lands except as
The new court which had been established at
Muscogee, or the United States courts in some Of
the adjoining states, had power 10 enforce the
In this condition of things was ouita rel,,ctant
20 onan tho lands To settiernent Rut IN vievv Of
Tho faot that several thousand persons many Of
than, with their families had gathered upon the
bordars of the indian Territofv with n visvy n
aeo,,rinp honesteads on the ceded lands and that
daIay would involve them In much loss and suffsr
inT I did on tha 2sd dav Of March last issue a
proclanation declaring that the lands therein de
scrihad would ba omen 10 settlement under the
nrovisions of the law ON the o2d dav of Apri fol
lowing Mt 10 O'Clock noon Two land districts had
baen established and the offices we're omen for tha
trarsaction OF business when the apuointed time
arrived
II ia much 70 the credit of the settlers that thew
very Generally observed the limitation as to the
ti,,e when tbev might enter the territory Care
will he taken that those who entered I'm violation
~ the law do not sec,ire the ADVANTAGE tbev mn.
Fairly sought There was a good deal of annre.
hansion tbat the strife for locations Yold result
II
authorizations were not realized Il is estimated
a., tlars ara ro,v Il, tha tarrit,-v about en- O0f
neonle and several considerable towns have
snring nm for which Temporary municipal gov,
arnrnents have been orgnnized Guthrie Is said to
have now a nopulation OF almost 600, EIever
schools and nine churches have been established
and three daily and Eve weekly newspapers are
n,,blisbed in this CITY whose charter and ordi
ponces have onlv the sanction of the voluntary
ocouiascanca ~ the raorla from day 10 dav
6kiaboma C,,v has a nonnlation Of nbout ev.
thousand and is proportionately as well provided
as Guthrie with churches, schools and newspa-
pers Other towns and villages having popula-
tions of from one hundred to a thousand are scat
tered over the territory
In order 10 secure the peace of this new COM
munity in the absence Of civil government ! di-
rected Gen Merritt, commanding the Department
Of the Missouri to act in conjunction with the
marshals Of the United States to preserve the
peace and upon their reausltion to use the
troops to aid them in executing warrants and in
auieting any riots or breaches of the peace that
might occur He was further directed to use his
influence to promote good order and to avoid any
conflicts between or with the settlers Believing
that the introduction and sale of liquors where
no legal restraints or regulations existed would
endanger the public peace and in view of the
fact that such liquors must first be introduced
into the Indian reservations before reaching the
white settlements, further directed the general
commanding to enforce the laws relating to the
introduction of ardent spirits into the Indian
country
The presence of the troops has given a sense OF
security to the well disposed citizens end has
| tended to restrain the lawless In one instance
the officer in immediate command of the troops
went further than | deemed justifable in sup
porting the de facto municipal government of
| Guthrie and he was so informed and directed to
limit the interference of the military TO the sup
port of the marshals on the lines indicated in the
| original order. very urgently recommend that
| congress at once nroyde n tarritorial govern.
ment for these people. Serious questions, which
l may at any time lead to violent outbreaks are
awaiting the institution of courts for their peace
l full adjustment. The American genius for self
government has been well illustrated in Okla
| homa but it is neither safe wise to leave these
| people longer to the expedients which have tenn
/ porariy served them.
Provision should be made for the acquisition Of
i title 10 town lots in the towns now established in
Alaska for locating town sites and for the estab-
4 lishment of municipal governments Only the
mining laws have been extended to that territory,
and no other form Of title TO lands can now be OBJ
tanned The general land laws were framed with
reference to the disposition Of agricultural lands
| and it is doubtful IL their operation In Alaska
| would be beneficial.
In the administration Of the land laws the policy
o, Iaciitathg, s . IN eVery proper way the adjust
49,, ~ iII ,, VI lo'Niuun se'tIgIs re
number Of pending cases had during the preced
ihs auiillhlstration oeeh greatly increased undeI
cue oPeIa1ion oi oruers LOT TIME suspehdlhe
hhaA acuon III d large part OF the cases orlgl
e natne III lhe west ana northwest ana hy the SUD
| seIuei' uSo " unusual mietnous OF examination
OllS those VINO are iainiiiar win the conditions
tai Miion our aellcultural iahus nave been set
Uieu can appreciate ule serious ana often rata
| 10 'ne settler OF polcy that put
nS tNie uluer Suspicion OF delays tine issuance
oi nIs patent Nhlie care Is taken 10 prevent an'
UeAPose Hauu' II shouid not Dc imputed withou
|
| o Aeiiiiest purpose oI the homestead ah'
p'.Puou iaws was 70 promote the settlemen
VI 'ne Puone u~iilaih oy persons having ooni
| nue in'eIt @ W MAKE nome upon the selecte'
~ ~,anus, Wnere TINS intent mas been wei estab
~ nsheu anu the requirements OF the law have oeel
suossantHhy computed ~ltl' the claimant Is en-
Steu 70 Il prompt ana friendly consideration o
nis oise' pu' "here there Is reason TO bellev
ena' ehe Siiihiaht Is tie mere agent OF another
/ WIN Is Seeking 10 eNaue a law intended To prOmOt