The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-10-18
GENERAL MILES, REPORT.

| WASHINGTON, Oct 1.-THE annual re
port of Major General Miles, commanding
| the department of the Missouri, is mainly
an historical review of the Sioux war last
winter. its causes and results. Among
the causes that resulted in the Sioux out.
break he mentions the gradually increas
! ing poverty of the Cheyennes and Sioux
! the insufficiency of the rations issued by
the government, the failure of the crops oil
1889 and 1890, and the inability OF the In.
dians to emigrate to other points of the
country He quotes at some length from
the reports made by General Ruger to
show that the disaffection of the Indians
at Standing Rock was to be attributable
to the failure of the government to fur
nish sufficient rations. OF the Indians at
Pine Ridge much the same thing is said
by General Brooks in his report. Very
nearly a similar showing is made in the
report in regard to the causes of dissatis-
faction among the Indians at Rosebud
and Cheyenne agencies, and also among
the Yanktons, the general tenor of their
complaints being that the government
failed to provide sufficient rations.
General Miles, writing of the Messiah
craze, says that the superstitions of the
Indians were taken advantage of by disaf
fected and designing leaders to encourage
them to resume hostilities toward the
government and the white people. In con-
Guiding the report on the campaign, he
says; Notwithstanding the fact that the
volcano has cooled down, the fires of dis
cord still remain. Even while the hos
tages were at Fort Sheridan they received
communications from their friends in the
Sioux camps stating that they had not
given up the conspiracy of a grand sur
prise by the Indians and that the Utes
were ready to join the Sioux whenever
they were ready for hostiiities. Commu-
nications have been discovered going on
between the different camps, melting the
Indians to hostilities, and even now IRE
port dated Sept. 14 there is a delegation
from the Indian Territory absent, osten-
sibly to visit relatives at the Arapahoe
and Shoshone reservations in Wyoming.
They have, in fact, gone across the
mountains and are row in the abodes of
the supporters of the Messiah delusion at
Pyramid lake, Nevada.
''As we approach nearer the time of the
Worlds Columbia exposition, the most
important affair of that kind ever held in
the world, it seems advisable to take ad-
vantage of the occasion to mobilize or as
semble what is known AS the national
guard or state militia. The constitution
very judicIously and wisely reserved the
control of these forces to the various state
governments, but, as means to promote
the efficiency of the various organizations,
congressional enactment, with the ap-
proval and authority of the various state
governments in one national encampment
at least once in a generation.
"As there has been no gathering of that
magnitude since the armies dispersed in
1865, would respectfully recommend that
the militia be brought together at this
peace Jubilee 1t would also be beneficial
to the state organizations to be brought
together in one national encampment,
where they would have the advantage of
meeting those from other states AS the
general government makes yearly appro-
priations for the equipment of the militia,
see no reason why it should not provide
transportation for assembling in the en-
campment above proposed. A reasonable
reduction of rates, such as is given in other
countries for such movements of troops
and are frequently given in this country,
would reduce the aggregate cost, say for
80. 0O0 state troops and 10, 600 federal troops,
20 SS5,0O0, approximately, for that purpose
would respectfully recommend that
congress be asked to make the necessary
appropriation and provide the requisite
authority for such movement"