Arizona republican., 1890-06-03
THE INDIAN PROBLEM.

THE INDIAN PROBLEM.
 The government has expended mil. lions of dollars and years of labor on the Indians of the country and the problem is yet unsolved. Excepting the Chero. kees, Choctaws and other tribes in the Indian Territory the governments plan at civilization has been an absolute failure. The school system has been given fair trial and it's results have been disappointing. Even it's friends admit that under the present method o1 tribal government the school system cannot be made success.
 What then is to be done? If the schools are to be continued the children must be kept away from the reservations and the dirt, filth and barbarious con. ditions surrounding the same. This is not possible under present conditions, attendance at school being voluntary and the child being restored to his par ents before his education has scarcely been begun. To bring the Indian into the condition of civilized beings the in. fluen ce must be continuous, not only on one generation, but on three or four. Such system would give both the Indians and civilization show.
 The good people who gather annually during the summer season about Lake Mohunk, near Poughkeepsie, New York, are undoubtedly earnest, jealous and sincere. Lake Mohunk is delightful place. It is on topof high peak and the climate is delightfully."- cool and brac- ing. As retreat it is splendid place. As summer resort it is unexcelled. As place for the settlement of the Indian question it is probably the worst in the country. It is too near the Indian land pictured by Fennimore Cooper and toe remote from the real flesh and blood In dian. The Indian convention should be held in the Apache country and not at Lake Mohunk. It should be addressed by men who know the sneaking, cow ardly, murderous brutes. It should be conducted over the country that has been for years devastated and ray. ished by the cut-throats. The bleach. ing bones of their victims, the homes they have destroyed and the country they have laid waste should be shown these people. They should be taken to San Carlos and the troops be withdrawn for week. Then these well-meaning but self-deceived people would know something of the Indian as he is in reality, and not as he appears in the Leather Stocking series and other sentimental works.
 The West is not bent in the exter. imitation Of the Indian. There have been times when the cruel murders and the terrible mutilation of white set tiers by the Indians has caused the whites to arise in theil wrath and to destroy their con. scienceless and inveterate foes. and when they have felt that it would be we'll to kill every Indian in the world.
 A better feeling prevails now, and the people of Arizona simply ask that some plan of civilization be introduced and continued among these wards of the nation.
 Every effort will fail so long as the tribunal relation is maintained. To give them land in severalty will not help, unless education and labor are made compulsory and they are ruled with an iron hand for the next hundred years.
 The most sensible plan yet proposed is to break up the tribes and carry individual mem. bers or families East and locate on lands to be purchased for them in thickly. settled sections, placing them perma. nently under the care of Christian churches in spots selected for them This would bring them in direct contact with our best civilization and assure their retention hereunder.
 The cost of this plan would be nc obstacle. The government appropris. ation as now made, the cost of maintain ing schools and missionary labors would be ample for all needs. The lands now held by them might be thrown or the market and from it's sale splendid sustentation fund be created. Then what a saving there would be in abol. ishing the Indian bureau and in dis. pensing with all it's costly chiefs and attaches. The army could be with. drawn and it's costly campaigns saved It would be hard on post traders, con. tractors and subaltern officers anxious for death or promotion, but it would be gain to the country and forward movement for civilization.
 By all means move the Indians, es. pecially the Apaches, East.