New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-17
GENERAL MoRG4A'S CONFIRMATION

1t will be public misfortune III the innu-
ences at work in Washington to secure the re-
lection by the Senate of General Morgan S
nomination to be Commissioner of Indian At
fairs succeed in their object. The coun-
try is at last in possession of an Indian admin
istration which is proceeding by common-sense
methods TO secure common sense results. Gen
eral Morgan has brought policy into the In
dian Bureau, and he is rapidly putting his ideas
into facts Naturally, he has stirred up the
luminosity of people who want to see the pres
ent state of things let alone. To these people
General Morgan is an unsatisfactory man to
have at the head of the Bureau. lie stands for
reform, and they don't want reform. lie stands
for the progress and enlightenment OF the In
dams, and they want the Indians to remain
savage and dependent on public bounty. lie
stands for the opening of all reservations and
for the absorption of the red race into the cit
izenship of the country, and they want the
reservation system continued and the red race
kept as aliens in the commonwealth.
SO they have preferred charges against Gen.
eral Morgan, by which they hope to get him
out of the way They claim that he was not
good soldier twenty-five years ago, perhaps
ignorant of the fact that he served under Cen
eral Harrison. upon whose recommendation he
received signal promotion. They claim. too,
that in administering the affairs of the Bureau
he has Disseminated against the interests of
certain religious bodies and in favor of certain
Others and that he has removed good officials
and appointed poor ones. The facts are di-
rectly the reverse of such allegations. General
Morgan has been in specific acts entirely faithful
to his benefcent policy. His removals have all
been based on evidence which shows that they
came none too soon in any instance, and his
appointments have been invariably wisely and
well chosen. lie has made few changes, any
how, for he is an advanced disciple of Civil
Service reform and has been true to his prn
ciple of applying fitness as the one test OF Office
holding lie has removed no one because of
politics or religion, and has left politics and
religion out of the question when considering
the qualifications of applicants. All persons
who are unseliishly interested in Indian affairs
testify to the excellence Of General Morgans
work and to its freedom from bigotry or par
tisanship.
1t is true indeed, that he favors the gradual
abandonment of the contract schools and of all
sectarian education supported by Government
appropriations and in this as in his policy of
placing the Indians upon their own homesteads
he follows the best judgment of the best friends
of the Indians. Contract schools have been
hitherto the most feasible method Of carrying
enlightenment into the tepce of the savage, but
they have no place in the policy of the future.
Vhe public school system should be extended
with as much rapidity as possible into all the
reservations and the contract school system
with all other contract methods should be abol-
iShed-not suddenly, not in a manner calculated
to retard seCtarian missionary enterprises, but
in the way proposed by General Morgan. as
soon as the better substitute is sufficiently fur
nished. So far, then. as the opposition to Gen
eral Morgan comes from removed ex-oflcials, it
is dictated by personal motives. So far as il
comes from politicians, it is An attack upon
genuine Civil Service reform. So far as it
comes from religious organizations, it is either
mistaken as to the facts or hostile to the non
sectarian policy of the Republic In any
event, it is an attack upon an Indian policy
which is wise and benclcent. in the interest of
the red mans progress and welfare, and in the
interest of Western settlement and the utiliza-
ton of lands now idle and waste. 1t is an at
tack upon an administration both pure and
effective, and such, we have no doubt, will be
the view taken of it by the Senate.