The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-05-26

WEST AsHEvILLE, n. c.,
Nav II. 1S9.

Mr.. EDITOR:-In your issue of May
5th you have a column on The Blu
reau of Catholic Indian Missions, "
which ought not to be in The PROGRESS
SIvE FARMER, as it is the official organ
Of the North Carolina State Farmers
Alliance. You know our declaration
of purposes. We are nOn-partiSan, and
we do not interfere with any ones re-
ligiOuS views so long as he believes /
God. Our claws are reason and
equity" Our cardinal doctrines are
peace on earth and good will toward
men" Then, why bring such an az
ticle into our organ? If the article
which you copy from some bigOted
sheet was true, [ would say publish
it to the world; but as it is false and
misleading | wish to correct the evil
the article may do on the largest de-
nomination of Christians in this
try. The Bureau is a powerful OrganI-
zation, not supported by the nation
alone, but Catholic charity, such as
comes from the Drexells, Shermans,
clergyman societies, etc. 1t is an adj
mitted fact that since 1869 the Indian
policy of the government has been ad-
miniStered by, and in the interest of,
nOn-CathOIic churches. There is not a
single Catholic representative to be
found on the committee on Indian
affairs either in the Senate or the
House. There is no one authorized to
speak for the Catholic Indians in the
Board of Commissioners or Indian Blu
reau. On the contrary, the Indian
policy is controlled by bigOts noted
for their proselyizing tendencies. The
above was the condition of affairs be-
fore the meeting of the last Congress.
If they have done anything to do JUS
tice to the Catholic and the poor In
dian, l have not seen it.
You are we'll aware, Mr.. Editor. that
our Catholic fOrefathers discovered
this America of ours, and on this con-
tinent they also discovered the red
man" and they went right to work to
c~ivilize and christianize the Indians,
and they would have succeeded fully
if they had been left alone in their
work of civilization. AS it is the
Catholics have almost succeeded, as
there are only a few Apaches, Siouxs
and Grows not fully civilized. That
! your readers may understand this
question, | will give you a review Of
the record of ThOs. j. Morgan, how
he used his influence against Catholic
In1ian schools, and how he raised a
religious bUgbear to secure his cOnfir-
nation as Indian Commissioner about
1.-TWO years ago, as given by the Wash
ingtOn Daily Critic:
when Thomas j. Morgan was ap-
pointed Indian Commissioner about a
year ago, some very serious charges
were made against him, and his cOnfir-
nation was hung up for a long time in
the Senate. Among these charges were
the attack made on his military career
by certain Republican correspondents
and papers, notably those of General
BOyntOn in the Cincinnati Commercial
Gazette. Mr.. Morgan had a hard fight
before the Senate to get confirmed, and
a gentleman prominently connected
with the effort that was made to defeat
his confirmation this morning talked
interestingly Of the course pursued by
the Commissioners at that time and
since.
After detailing the charges against
MOrgan's military record, with Which
the public is familiar, the gentleman
said:
Instead of joining issue with Gen
eral BoyntOn and his other Republican
accusers, Morgan at once set up the
howl that
THE ROMANISTS WERE AFTER HIN.
To get the Catholics started, and thus
give color to his charge. he dismissed
every Catholic employee in the govern
ment Indian school service in the In
dian Territory, not even sparing the
one-armed veteran Republican soldier
superintendent at Kaw. These whole
sale dismissals of Catholics and Nor
CONS repeated interviews in the papers
in which he would charge the Jesuits
with opposing his policy, and his efforts
to extend the public school system to
the Indian service, had the effect of
drawing the fire from some of the
Catholic papers, and having succeeded
in doing this, his case was won. He
would take the articles Of the BOYLE
O'Reillys, the Fords and other Catholic
editors, who, in strong language were
appealing for fair play and justice, and
he would point these out as evidences
of the POpe'S interference in American
school matters.
He succeeded in diverting attention
from his own past record and this is
precisely what he intended to do. One
would suppose that so intelligent a
body as the United States Senate could
not be deceived by tricks so t%ranspar-
ent, and having Once been humbugged
in this way they would not permit
themselves to be fooled a second time.
But this is just what is happening.
The Catholics, whose great and sue
cessful work among the Indians forms
one of
THE FEW BRIGHT PAGES.
in Indian history, had erected at Black
feet, Mon, and Rensaleer, Ind, large