Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1891-03-12
THR CAUSE AND THE CURE.
w. L. Trott Talks Plainly of the
Nations Affairs.

NISITA, i. t., March G, 1891.
PUBLISHER CHIEFTAIN:-Permit
me to suggest the following reasons
why, in my judgment, we should
lay aside our party fights and act
in unison: There is no issue be-
tween us, and a house divided
against itself cannot stand. Such
is the case in the Cherokee Ma
tion to-day; our estate is in bad
shape and demands our undivided
attention. However honest and
Jealous our leading men may have
been, they have evidently failed
for the past twenty years or more
and TODAY they all stand in the
same shoes, without anything to
come before the people with.
Have they been deceived these
long years? If so, then will they
: be honest enough TO admit it2 The
people have undoubtedly been de.
ceiyed ;Ethinsshs-zs bs.o~..r,sei-e
from bad TO worse and 1t is now
nlsip to es -SS.--an that If they have
not been Gc~olt ed they have been
deceiving the peopIo and lodging
the real issues that are now star
ing us in the face.
We can look back and see men
dodging from first one party to the
otEer, seeking position and entire
ly losing sight of the pressing
needs and appeals of the people.
Tk.s ;u f,,1l,r IapnnpgfrotoI -, tla
way our coGiI0ifs A~a-s L@As -ll.--.-
died. How often is it the case
the man who rides to victory on
holding up before the people the
faults and rascality OF their oppo-
nents, reward them with the best
in the gift of coun-
Gil, thus restoring them. This dis
position seems to run from the
executive chairs down to the COM
mon fire makers. Hence we hear
the politician saying to the people,
"You lose and win, or l win and
you lose" and such is our condi-
tion to-day, that our polls are con-
trolled and handled to a great ex-
tent by money and whiskey. with
outside capital; our councils have
been influenced by outside corpor-
ations and individuals, and by in
side schemes, trades and trickery.
Those cases that are freshest in the
minds Of the people are the grazing
and mineral laws that passed our
last council. Since the u. S. gov
ernment has removed from the
Cherokee outlet that great inhu-
ence which has affected us for
years, it now commences from the
inside and comes nearer TO our
doors. In these two laws the
plans were all well laid, the cap
tains selected, the trades made, the
obligations secured and all were
well executed. THE cattle men
engineered this grazing law, while,
as rumor has it (and no doubt facts
can be secured TO establish its
truth) J. Milton Turner, a colored
gentleman from st. Louis, handled
the mineral law and it passed just
as he said il would when he was
selecting his locations and making
his contracts, long before council
met. We can better tell in she
coming campaign who the trades
were made with. But we do not
blame Mr.. Turner nor the cattle
men, for it matters not With us
who influences our council
whether it be individuals or cor
porations-it Ia evidently done to
the detriment Of the people or they
would be apprised of what was be-
ing done beforehand and not kept
in the dark. The question arises,
have our representatives done what
they could2 DID they fully ac-
quaint themselves with the wants
of their constituents and endeayor
TO secure them7 IL so, then they
evidently failed, and 80 y has been,
failures year after year until now
things have become so complicated
that il will take united effort Of
the people to straighten them out
and secure 10 our citizens their in
terest in the estate. To-day we
find ourselves confronted with ey-
cry discouraeement imaginable; we
find ourselves in debt and paying
interest; our paper far below par;
oar treasury empty; our high
schools closed; ourcowmon schools
our landed interests are
being severed frQie a. as or eeyons .