Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1892-11-17
OUR LAND INTEREST.
Chief Harris Views on this I'm
portant subject.

portion of the chiefs message
which relates to lands in severaity
and the public domain:
To the Indians, the holding of
land in severalty, is new system,
but it is urged upon him as the
ono necessary step to his highest
individual prosperity and his civil
ization as race. This is the sys-
tenn OF the people of the United
States, where it has been practiced
for more than a hundred years.
Under this system, their citizens
have entered as homesteads or at
a nominal price. hundreds of mil.
lions of acres of public land and
one might reasonably expect,
among so thrifty and enterprising
people, an earthly paradise. where
every man, at least every farmer,
enjoyed himself under his own"
vine and fig tree" Do we find it
SOP Far from it., more than half
of the people of the United States
engaged in agricultural pursuits
are landless, and their constant cry
is for more land Tor the homeless.
The source from which the supply,
to meet the constant growing de-
mand, the extinguishment of the
Indian S title, is now exhausted;
and the people of The United States
are now entering the threshold of
a period, when the aggregation OF
the lands, in the hands of the rich,
through mortgages will be greatly
accelerated, aud the countless
number of the homeless, be en-.
ormOusly increased. In the light
Oi recent statistics, this system
has proven failure so far rs pro.
viding homes for the majority OF
the people of the United States
are concerned, and its wisdom is
being seriously questioned by
some OF the best thinkers of the
times. The people of the United
States have no year of Jubilee to
look forward to, when there will
be Il redistribution Of the lands;
but when the lands shall be ac
cumulated in the hands Of the rich,
when the rentals shall be increas-
| ed, until the laborer can exc out
only a miserable existence, and
when the grievous burden can be
borne no longer, the system will
be wiped out in revolution.
The Cherokee system breeds no
millionaires, no land syndicates,
no mortgage. sharks. Land is not
degraded to the level of specuia-
tion. Every citizen, however poor
or humble, with. a little energy,
and by little physical labor, can
have a home of his own to shelter
wife and children. He is not ever
looking for place TO rest and to
exist 1t is to be deplored that
some of our people. delu led by
their fear of change in Our gov
ernment, or actuated oy their
greed, wish 70 change our lanl
tenure and adopt that of lands in
! severalty. This experiment is
now on trial among the Indians to
the west of ns, in the new territory
I of Okllhoma, where one Indian is
sandwlched on a quarter section,
/ between two white men, and he is
to be civilized into brother and
/ citizen by contact The result is
easily ioreseen; his white neigh-
bors will eventually own his lands,
and his children will be out-casts,
in the country their fathers once
owned. Prudence dictates that
we await the trial of this expert
ment and profit by their expert.
[ ence.
Some complain that we are dis
proportionately to wealth, taxed
in our invested funds, but to my
mind, the wisest provisions made
by our fathers, for their posterity,
was the dedication OF the use only
of the lands and the interest on
the invested funds, to each sue
ceeding generation. They were
not set apart for our benefit only,
but have been given to us, in trust,
to use and enjoy, and to transmit
unimpaired to those who may
come after us. The ownership Of
our lands in common, is the foun-
dation upon which our National
existence rests; destroy this COM
mon ownership, and the. bond that
holds Us together as a Nation is
destroyed. The fee simple title,
in the Nation, based upon an Act
of Congress, as il is, has proven
the bulwark Of the National cita.
del, and has successfully withstood
the assaults OF our enemies with.
IN and without. II rests upon the
same basis. as does the private
lands OF citizens, every where in
I the United States, and cannot be
destroyed by legislation in Con-
gress, without doing violence to
vested rights, and unset.ling the
tenure by which private lands
every where in the States are held.
1t is also complained that our
lands are being mOnopolized by
certain greedy citizens. The fra
mers OF our constitution knew the
power of greed in individuals, and
wisely provided remedy in the
fundamental law, TO prevent the
monopoly OF improvements, with
the view to speculation. You al
ways have the power. peacably,
To redress any wrong by the few to
the rights of the many, and | earn
estly invite your attention to the
extensive evil that is growing into
a monopoly Of the public domain.
through abuse Of the present per-
nit law. This is especially the
Delaware and CoOweescoowee dis