St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-29
NOp TO BE STARVED.

II lnOSG tNclleu IIuiuilS are Tcdlly
hungry, and have been unable to get
enough to eat, the annual festival of
table laviShneSs is still near enough for
sympathy, even with such unattractive
objects as the Sioux. The impression
has obtained that the ratiopS afforded
by the government were ample for all
needs of generous subsistence. The
only arduous incident in the matter has
been taken to be the labor of consuming
ediDleS prepared by the more industrious
squawS. But it is now alleged that they
have been destitute and are made troub-
lesOme more by aching stomachS than
the abSurdities of superstition. They
have shared the i'll fortune of their
white neighbors in the loss of
and the rations of beef, flour, sugar
and coffee have been reduced one-fourth
from the stipulationS of the last treaty.
No explanation accompanies the state
ment in regard to the reduction of the
rationS. Gen. BROOKE, the commander
of the Platte, is credited with the dee
Iaration that the amount was INSULT
cient,a and neither Indian nor white could
live on it. The Indians at Pine Ridge
are spoken of as appearing emaciated
and showing the lack of food. The in
yeStigation ordered by Gen. SCHoFIEID
will bring out the definite facts in the
case. If the administration has pinched
the Indians to have more money for its
bIeached beneficiarieS, it is in measure
responsible for the present trouble.
While the Indians are in the hands of the
government they must be decently fed.
Treaty Stipulations should be as care
fully fulfilled as with the nations that
are able to compel their observance.
While it is the policy to support them,
there must be no lack of the means of
subsistence. The system is bad and
ought to be abandoned. but the Indian
must not be put out Of the human range.
The treatment of him in the past is very
largely record of fraud and bad faith.
Some of the earlier passages are re-
called by Father GENIN, very reliable
authority who had much personal ac-
Quaintanee with the circumstances. He
insists that all the outbreaks of the
Sioux have been due to the plumbers or
dishonesty of the agents of the govern
ment. AS an instance, the Minnesota
massacre in 1862 was melted by
the trickery of the Indian agent
who made the payments to them.
The treaty required that they
should be paid in gold. Greenbacks
were then at discount of 81 per cent.
Tho nOnnf cold crnlA 70 he 1-c
and paid the Indians with the treasury
notes at par. They were not SO ignorant
as not to understand the game of which
they were the victims, and in their fury
they went on the warpath. The same
party recalls quite similar and more eX-
tended operations by the faithless and
tricky representatives of the govern
ment that eliminated in the CUSTER
slaughter. The conflicts of the follow
ing year, also. Father GENIN says were
caused by the greed of men who,
holding power from the government,
used it to turn Indian and brave soldier
blood into money" He then submitted
to the government authorities written
protests that, if needed, would have OBJ
waited all future outbreaks. One of the
statements by this authority adds to
the ground for belief that Mormon in
fuence has been active among the Indi-
ans. He was at the time Informed by
SITTING BULL, BLACK Moon, LONG
Doc, LITTLE KNIFE and other chiefs
that the Mormon elders have been
preaching to the Indian braves to excite
them against the whites. They were
told that Messiah would come to them
who would make ashes of the palefaces
and restore the Indians to their old pos
sessions. This appears to be as anthem
tic as any account of the origin of the
superstitious fancies that seem to pre-
vail. The seed sown by the Mormons
may have taken time to terminate.
Still, whatever the palliation for the
present folly of the ghost dance, it will
not be without useful result, if it leads
to a reformation in the treatment of the
Indian, and the initiation of q policy
that will in no long time make HIM self
supporting.