Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1890-03-27
"MOVE ON, THERE


With regard to the Southern Ute In
dams the government seems to be adher-
ing very closely to the time-honored policy
OF hating between two opinions. Event
ualy, perhaps, it will do something, but
that sonnet ling is almost certain not to be
the right thing. This is the usual method
of government action on the Indian ques
lion. The Utes were long ago promised
that they should be transferred to larger
reservation in the mountains of southern
Utah. There are 1850 OF them all told,
and they occupy strip of land in south
western Colorado, which is fifteen miles
wide by 10 in length. 1t lies between
Durango and the northern boundary line
of New Mexico, and the Mancos, La Plata
and Animas rivers run through it. This
reserve is entirely surrounded By white
settlers and it is being constantly en-
croached upon. Several years ago the
Indians foresaw the trouble in store for
them and they became restless. The
government proposed to remove them to
a larger reserve in Utah, an isolated re-
giou lying between the Colorado river
and the western Colorado line and
north OF the San Juan river. A commits
sion Was appointed, and the conditions of
removal were all cheeriully agreed to by
the Indians. The government now wants
to back out OF the whole transaction,
and none are more disguised with this
sort of behavior than are the Indians
themselves. The so-called Indian Rights
association is at the bottom of the oppo-
sltion to removal. 1t has resorted to all
sorts OF petty tricks to bring Comr. Nor
gan around to its way of thinking,
and it seems to have succeeded 80 far,
but those Indians will have to 20 not
withstanding. The eastern idea in oppo-
sition to the removal is that as the coun-
try settles up and the white settlers
cluster their little homes on lands ada
cent to this reservation the Indians will
he educated up to American methods,
will after little ask for land in several
ty, break off tribal relations, insist on
paying taxes, send their children to the
public schools, and, perhaps, ask in mar
rage the hand of their white neighbours
daughter. This is the jng-handled prin-
cipe of human kindness which the eastern
theorists have pictured in their self-intlict-
ed task of solving the Indian problem
Could anything be further from the
truth? The class of white settlers crowd
ing into southwestern Colorado and
northwestern New Mexico are not look
ing for any educational job outside OF
their own families. They hate the In
dian and they will kill him to-day on
quite as small provocation rs the New
Englanders did a hundred years ago or
more.
There is just one way to educate the
Indian, and that is to take the children to
some good school not too far from the
reservation, where the conditions of the
soil and climate are the same as about
their wild home, allowing them fire.
quently to return and mingle with their
people in order that they may be inspired
to think of the truly degraded posi-
lion they must fill without knowledge
In this the government has made &
fairly good start; let it stick to the
,a~t III" "hita snttiars' methods in tn.
past have made it possible to adopt thi
better policy now, and for these service
the white settler is entitled to grea
deal more consideration at the hands O
the government than he'll ever get a
long as those selfstyled Indians Riyt :,
film fans are allowed to contro' Tho I,
dian bureau. What ii - o sat,,ers d
want the lands %Br' .,o IT.o roso,ya
suppose SF"s stock men up there need tn
Give it to them. Send the Ut'
to Utah and make room for II
american farmer.