Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1891-02-05
THn oREAT CRY.

1--WE must allot," is the cry on
every side by "good men and
true" who have grown despondent
at the prospect before them. My
friend, did you ever stop and think
what it means2 Can you not hear
the cries Of poor people who are
being driven from their homes by
the very power you are inviting to
your doors by allotment Go
among your renters and to the
stranger within your gates ask
them-some of hem gray haired
men-why they did not stay in
the states, and thu answer will be,
III lost my farm by mortgage and
came here 10 make raise and if l
can make enough hope to be
able 10 get another home on new
land" !" Go to the depot in your
town any cold night and interview
the men and boys God pity them)
who esteem it great privilege TO
set by the warm stove at night
go look upon this crowd and think
to yourself, 81 am advocating
system that will place my child in
the same condition as these out
casts, with no spot on Gods green
earth that they can call home. I"
Do not shield yourself with the
assumption that you are too smart
to lose your lands and home by
debt, for men as smart as you are
homeless to-day, after working
half q lifetime TO provide one, that
these little boys you see a. tramps
might be reared and educated un-
der the home tree. God never in
tended, my friend, that any of his
creatures should wander, home
less, in the land He gave them,
and the conditions such as we see
To day were caused in the first
place by changing their land sys-
tenn and allotting, as you are now
advocating.
The greatest curse that could
-befallff He ttlhse -ehildreR>6f to-day would
be this allotment which you offer
as a remedy Tor every evil. When
ever you make it possible for a
parent to barter and sell the land
upon which his child should live,
You deserve the censure OF future
generatiohs-and if the prayers,
tears and curses of two million
homeless wanderers, together with
the pinched faces of starving in
nocents in the United States alone
is not warning enough for you,
your case is a desperate one in
deed. Divide your lands to-day
and in twenty years less than one
halt will own it all; forty years
from to-day perhaps ten per cent.
will own it. Then you and | with
our locks white with sixty or
seventy winters will be wandering
on the earth in search of just such
a spot as we once loved, but lost.
Our boys will occupy (many of
them perhaps) the depots on cold
nights and shower curses upon
our white hairs for depriving them
Of the right to a home. Is this
overdrawn 1t may be in your
case, but do you not know many
around you who will fulfill it lit
orally? Can you afford to live
wholly for yourseif2 If you advo-
cate allotment, under protest, for
God sake don't do it, for it either
bespeaks weakness, coWardice or
inefficieney, and either one is a
crime to your country. Let every
true man put his shoulder to the
wheel and let's get the old vehicle
out Of the ruts that are worn hub
deep by the constant travelling Of
the old wagon. loaded down with
cd party tricksters who have no
RENE DIV t1-Sger and have out-lived
their usefulnessA-haye DelbiRg-te-
offer us but the usual drunken cry
"we're all right Adopt a6nahs.
cial policy that will appeal TO
every honest man and give to
every owner of the soil q compe-
tency and we will have no need Of
allotment.