Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-07
THE INDIAN BUREAU.
Senator Voorhees, Arraignment of tho Way
in which It II Managed.


By vote Of % to % the Senate Yesterday
afternoon. in considering the Indian appro-
priation BILL refused TO strike out tho House
proviso. which reads:
Provided. That from and after the passage
of this act the President shall detail officers of
the United States army to act as Indian agents
at all agencies where vacancies from any cause
may hereafter occur. who. while acting as such
agents, shall be under the orders and direction
OF the Secretary of tho Interior.
provided. further. That whenever the Pres
ident shall be Of opinion that the good of the
service specially requires ii, he may appoints
civilian
In the debate yesterday afternoon Senator
Voorhees, made the principal speech. He
quoted ex-Agent Gallagher of Pine Ridge who,
in letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs,
dated April IL. 1890. complained that the beef
ration had been reduced one half.
To this complaint the Commissioners re-
piled:
at is better to issue half rations all the time
than to give them three-fourths or full rations
during two months and none for the balance Of
the year"
CoLD-HEARTED sUoeEsTIoN.
None for the balance of the year; " exclaimed
the Senator. The cold-hearted, cynical sug-
gestion there Is in that SENTENCED 1t needs no
half rations. l tell you what would be better
than thst. 1t would be better to be- honest and
issue the rations as called for by law. This
government is not pauper. Wherever this
government has made promise let it be kept.
An officer from whom such a sintence as l
have cited could emsnate ought not to
| remain where he is. 1t is q suggestion
without heart, without humanity, without hon
esty. and without justice. There is nothing in
his reply recognizing the miserable condition
of gffaira and IN wing IL shOuId ba radr Ha
makes no reply saying he is astonished at the
scarcity Of food for the Indian, and that it
| should be looked into. No, simply that you
had better half starve the Indians than cut off
their supplies entirely and starve them to death
at once.
The commissioner further states in the same
letter that the Interior Department is able to
furnish such articles as shoes, shawls, blankets,
ticking. Bingham, &c, as an equivalent, in lieu
OF subsistence In lieu of parts Of the ration,
as fixed by the treaty referred to.
If you are hungry" he says to the Indian,
| ''you shall have pair OF shoes II you are
starving We will give you some ginghams. If
| you have no meat or bread we will give you
shawls and blankets in lieu of subsistence" are
the words here put down by this commissioner.
! Issue them blankets and shaws sin lien of sub
sistence" Who can stand by such system as
| this? / know not Mr. President, whether mill
tsry agents will be perfection, but do know
| that would cut loose from a system like this
on the first possible opportunity.
| MILITARY MEN DO NOT STEAL
Twill say further in connection with the mil
itary men that the rule is they are honest The
rule is they do not steal. Take the record of
| the American army. 1t is q proud one. I re.
| greet to say that this is not true as q general
thing Of the record of Indian agents. The men
! who hold offices at 81, 200 year and get rich
are never honest and never to DO trusted. nor
| is the head of the bureau who recommends
shawls, shoes and blankets. in lieu of
subsistence. Instead of saying 1--WE will for
| ward meat and bread to these perishing wards
Of the nation" to s:iis their hung er and placate
their rage, they were reduced to that phase OF
desperation wherein they were more willing to
die in battle than by starvation.
What does 'subsistence' mean. Mr.. Presi-
dent? 1t has a vital meaning. l have heard OF
armies perishing for the want. of a days SUBJ
sistence. Gen. George Rogers Clarke, whom
John Randolph styled the Hannibal of the
west was perishing with his army at Kaskaskia.
when a citizen Of Vincennes came to his relief
and rescued his army with n supply Of sub
sistence." The men had eaten their last ration
Of parched corn, and if q man had come for
blankets and ginghams in lieu Of subsistence, ~
they would have torn him limb for limb, and
ought to have done SO.
POLICY OF THE INDIAN BUREAU.
Yet that is the policy that emanates from the
Indian bureau as at present administered The
act Of Congress fixing the rations says: "And
for every 100 rations four pounds of coffee
| eight pounds of sugar The Commissioner per
haps might say IAN undershirt '-''and three
pounds Of beans or in lieu Of said articles the
equivalent thereof'-The equivalent thereo
is some thing to eat-''in the discretion of tn.
| Commissioner of Indian affairs such rations OF
so much thereof as may be necessary, shall b,
continued"
Now says this polite army officer. Gen
| T.. A. Il.
missioner interprets the words when tn
ration only is spoken of or in lieu of sai,
articles the equivalent thereof, to mean shoes
shawls, blankets, &C.. that the Commissioner
in error, and that the resultant reduction i
in violation Of the act of Congress
Now, let US listen little bit to America,
Horse:
. Il was speaker for the whole tribe L
, a general council signed the bill (the lat
Sioux bil) and $50 signed with me; the othe
members Of my band drew out, and ever sine
| these two parties have been divided. III
; nonprogressive started the ghost dance to dra,
from us. We were made many promises, Blu
! have never heard of them since"
: That is the unbroken wall of the Indian fror
= the time the pilgrim fathers fell upon thei
: knees at Plymouth Rock and then immediatel
= fell upon the aborigines. Laughter.l l d
: not wish the reporter to credit that as origina
1.-The Great Father says if we do what he d
. reefs it will be to our benefit. but instead
this they are every yeaT cutting down our r,
. tions and we do not get enough to keep
! from suffering"
'After We signed the bill they took our Ian
!, and cut doYn our allowances OF food.
= In other words, commented Mr.. Voorhee
? they took their pay, which was our land, an
. then lied to us and cheated us out OF the co,
y | sideration. After asserting that no people c
!. | earth paid as much for what they had to eat
= the Indians Mr.. Voorhees, said THE man WI
q would suggest that in lieu of subsistence, tn
: powerful word subsistence" he might ha,
a gewgaws and trinkets ought not to be long
!, an officer OF this government"
y ISSUING OF CLOTHING.
Reading from letter Senator Voorhees, wei
A on: Upon the 25th Of January, 1892 Only Il
d other day, the 25th o: January, nearly the la
st of the month. the winter was more than on
half over at this time. Upon the 25th of Jan
= airy. 1892 winter clothing and supplies we
issued to tho Cheyenne ard Arapahoe Indian
at the agency in the Indian territory. The
were about thirty-two days more OF white
nearly sixty days of frost and snow had glided b
Owing to the fact that the issues were mac
after the extreme cold of the winter weathe
the Indians had suffered much from extren
cold and were much dissatisfied Strange, is
not that they should be dissatisfied when
giving up their homes they had purchased
supply OF clothing for the cold, shiveri,
winter weather which came nearly as sprir
came! There Is no excuse for this kir
OF administration. There is fault in evel