Los Angeles herald., 1890-12-04
Guns for Settlers or Food for
Indians.
The Senate Discusses the Indian
Question.
Voorhees, Says the Government Is
Starving the Savages.
Senator Turpie Makes a Strong Speech
Against the Elections Bill-Con.
gression al Proceedings.
Associated Press Dispatches.

toody hAicoh, III plcscullHS pctlllOu
for an amendment to the tariff bill in
relation to the rebate on manufactured
tobacco, said the conferees on
the part of both houses had agreed on
that section of the bill, but that it had
been omitted in the enrolment. He
had no doubt the matter would receive
early attention.
Cullom introduced bill to reduce
letter postage to l cent. Referred.
Hawley, from the committee on
military affairs, reported and asked
to have put upon its passage,
joint resolution authorizing the
secretary of war to issue arms and
ammunition to the states of Mon
tana and South Dakota.
Manderson moved to include the
state of Nebraska.
Voorhees, said if the proposition were
to issue hundred thousand rations of
food to the starving Indians, it would
be more consistent with Christian civ
ilization. He referred to the statement
of General Miles. in a published inter
view, that the Indians were driven to
revolt by starvation, and said it was q
crime on the part of the government to
stand by and do nothing except furnish
arms to the whites. The Indians had
been suffering for years in silence
There was the blood of outlines some
where in connection with it. The
hostilities into which the Indians of
the northwest are being starved would
result not merely in the destruction of
the lives OF many Indians, but the lives
of thousands OF American citizens and
hundreds of American soldiers. That
condition of things had been brought
about by niggardliness, parsimonious-
ness or a dishonest policy, he knew not
which. A policy had been pursued to
take the lands of the Indians and not
pay enough for them to keep the Indians
from starving when disposed of.
HawIey spoke briefly, saying he had
no objections to the remarks of the SEN
ator from Indiana, except that they
were perhaps little exaggerated.
Dawes of Massachusetts, chairman OF
committee on Indian affairs, very much
doubted if shortness of food was the
origin of the trouble, or that a supply
of food would be cure for it. The
difficulty with the Indian service had
OCCh tllC COlSUdnU CDdu2G VI pOllCE.
Heretofore for years it had been i'm
way to treat the Indian was to
starve him into self-support. 'Root,
hog, or die,'' had been the phrase put
over the door of those who administered
the affairs OF the Indians, and the policy
had been to cut down year by year the
rations required by treaties, and give
notice to the Indians that next year
they were to have so much, the differ
ence to be supplied by the labor of their
own hands. He thought it well to hold
out every inducement to the Indians to
turn from dependence on government
rations and supply their own support,
and that it was well to resort to all de-
vices within the limits of justice and
reason to induce them to do it.
As to the suggestion in the public
press that the government had failed to
keep the promises made to the Indians
by the Sioux commission, ETC.,
he said the commission had
made two sorts OF stipulation
with the Indians. One of them was
written out in plain language and en-
acted into law by congress, and that
stipulation the commission had taken
out to the Indians and asked them to
accept. The Indians had cause OF COM
plant because of the non-fultillment Of
agreements, and the commission told
them it had no authority as to those
matters, but that it would use its inhu-
ence with the government in the case.
When the Indian representatives came
to Washington and met the commission,
full discussion was had and an agree
ment embodied in the bill, which was
submitted to congress by the president.
The bill thus framed to complete the
satisfaction OF the Indians passed the
senate, but where it was now he did not
know. He knew, however, that the
skirts OF the executive and Of the senate
were clear of any attempt to depart one
iota from the assurances given to the
Indians by the commission.
He Dawes) saw the Indian troubles
with full apprehension of the danger,
and of the necessity OF some present re-
lief to bring about composure among the
Indians and extricate them from the
lead OF such bad Indians as Sitting Bull
and Red Cloud, who were bad and
curse of the tribes.
Voorhees, ''repelled the feeble attempt
at sneer," on the part OF Dawes, and
said the latter knew the situation as
we'll as he did, for General Miles had
told the public the Indians had been
made hostile and perferred to die fight
ing than to die of starvation.
These red men could enter the
field with six thousand fighting
men, armed, and with the advantage OF
knowledge of the country, could fight
six thousand American soldiers on terms
of equality. He asked the gentleman
from Massachusetts, to state whether the
Indians had enough to eat; whether
General Miles was right or wrong, and
whether the Indians were being starved
into belligerency.
Dawes said there was great difficulty
in dealing with those Indians who are
rebellious. They have nothing to eat;
they are away from their tepees; they
belong to that class of Indians who never
did days work in their lives.
Pierce of North Dakota said he had
sometimes wondered that the white
people in that region did not themselves
go on the warpath because they were
hungry. The Indians seemed to get
noble as we'll as hungry, the further the
people go away from them. He lived
near the Sioux reservation and visited
them often, and it was the first time he
heard it asserted that an Indian was ON
the warpath because he was hungry.
He saw the Indians every day in the
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