The Irish standard., 1890-04-05
RVI.IN AS.

AS
Their Terrible suhe rtngs Described
BY Bishop Stanley
Scenes He witnessed During Visit
Among Them which Would Disgrace
Il Siberia-Ro bbesl of their Land BY the
Government. s5s #
The Right Rev. John Stanley, Bishop
OF North Dakota. occupied the pulpit OF
the Cathedral in Philadelphia Sunday
and told q pitiful story of the priya-
tions and sufferings Of the Chippewa
B Indians occupying the reservation at
the extreme northern part OF his do
cese. His object was to'secure assist
ance for their relief. He described
most wildly the condition Of these In
dams, as witnessed by himself during
the recent cold weather, when
the thermometer marked 40 degrees
below zero. He charged the
Government with having stolen
the II, 600, 600 acres of land this tribe
possessed when Dakota Territory was
divided between the Sioux and Chippewa
Indians. Eleven million acres stolen
boldly, and not one cent paid in return
for it" said his Grace, land the owners
sent to the northern border of the
State, tho coolest and bleakest spot in
the country, where two townships were
organized with 5000 acres of land. This
is filled with bad timber forests and
lakes. swamps, and rocks On these
5000 acres were put $3.50 Indians, who
are trying to make their living; these
wards of the United States living where
100 white mon could scarcely raise
enough to keep them alive"
His Grace then described personal
visit to these townships, where, he said,
he witnessed scenes that would have
disgraced Siberia. II spent over week
with these people, with the thermome-
ter registering forty degrees and some
times forty-four degrees below zero.
The Indian houses are log huts, con-
structed by the Indians themselves,
without flooring and with sheets and
quilts covering the window and door
ways. The crevices between the logs
are filled with mud that cracks and
falls out by the summer heat and Is
blown out by the northern winter
blasts, so that the occupants may as
we'll be sleeping outside. In these huts
1t is not infrequent to find six families
living. These 1880 Indians cannot
make their own living there. They
have never been supplied with proper
agricultural implements. Last spring
the director of the Catholic Indian
Bureau sent twenty-four plonghs to
these Indians, and with these they
managed to break 500 acres of this
virgin soil. But there was no rain, and
to-day they are absolutely destitute
no grain, no food, no clothing, no
money; 1880 Christians, 1880 of Gods
children, are living on this continent
to-day on the point of starvation.
"While visiting these people I on
tered the house Of an old Indian. There
was no food in the house that day, but
there were tears and desperation.
poor old Indian woman had puny,
sickly child IN her arms. She Wept for
iov when she saw me, thinking God
had sent relief to her children. She
showed me her child. There was not
pound of flesh on it's bones. l am sure
thatthe child is now dead. am not easily
moved, used as i am to scenes OF misery
in large cities, but could not but cry
on that occasion. In one corner of the
room there was a boy years OF age.
Another was crying by the chimney
place, trying to warm his shlverlng
form, while an old Indian was kneeling
by the fireplace muttering, probably
vowing vengeance on the white race.
cat another howell poor old man of
IS years of age was lying on the frozen
ground dying of consumption; no one
near him but his poor old wife, who
knelt over him with rosary in her
hands, praying for God to take her hus-
band. Night was setting in; no light
no candle, no one to say kind word to
the poor old couple, and this in
Christian country, in the United States
of America, the land Of the free, the
land of plenty. In another howell l
found the children without clothing
gathered around the fireplace, pluck
ing out the charred sticks that they
might roll in the warm ashes.
.'The United States appropriates SIS, 000
to these lndians--about $50 to each
one. This amount is spent in flour and
fat pork, and distributed among them.
The pork is sickening. myself would
not have believed the truth OF the
story il had not witnessed it. During
the eigh :een months previous to the
first of January, 1890, out OF 1,40o lndi-
ans, 100 died. During the month OF
January 81 died. These deaths are al
most invaria bly, starvation. The women
are almost universally clad in one gar
ment-a calico dress-to protect them,
and let it be said to their credit that
not one woman was missing from the
the little parish church on Sunday
The reverend speaker closed by ap-
pealing to the congregation to extend
to these poor people their unfortunate
brethren-a portion of their substance
for their relief.
The Centre Party In Germany.
Throughout the entire German EN-
pire the Socialists have succeeded in
n1acinp themselves as masters OF tho