The Daily Texarkanian., 1894-05-09
THE INDIAN QUESTION
Report of the Senate Committee OF
the Five Civilized In
dian Tribes.

I uAon AAAuGns
Senator Teller, from the Senate
committee on the Five civilized In
dian tribes, has presented the long
looked for report on the Territorial
affairs of those tribes, giving the
result of the committees recent
investigation into the existing con-
dition of tribal existance in the In
dian country.
The report shows an anomalous
condition of society, and indicates
that many abuses have grown up
which it is necessary should be cor
rected It is not a final report,
however and while existing evils
are brought out in a manner that
must attract attention the remedy
for the entire trouble is only limited
at and is left to be formulated at a
later day, The report gives the
Indian population of the Territory
at 50,055, while the white popula-
tion, which, when the last census
was taken was 1O9, 1893, is now esti-
mated to be between 250, 900 and
300, ,000 In some of the agricultur-
al sections there are ten whites to
one Indian, and there are several
large towns composed wholly of
white people. These whites have
no right to citizenship, cannot be-
come the owners Of land, cannot
send their children to the common
schools and cannot go into the local
courts outside of the Cherokee Ma
ton. They cannot even organize
municipal governments, lay out
streets or provide for police pro-
lection. The report takes up all
these questions and declares that a
remedy must be provided.
Referring to the fact that treat
les made with the Indians by the
government of the United States
had provided against the intrusion
of the whites, the report says: eve
made it possible for the Indians OF
that section of the country to main
tain their tribal relations and their
Indian policy, laws and civilization
if they wished to do So And if,
now the isolation and exclusiveness
sought to be given them by our sol
emn treaties are destroyed and
they are overrun by population Of
strangers five times in number to
their own, it is not the fault of the
United States government but
comes from their acts in admitting
whites to citizenship under their
laws and by inviting white people
to come within their jurisdiction to
become traders and farmers and
to follow professional pursuits. 1t
must be assumed that the Indians
themselves have determined to
abandon the policy Of exclusiveness
and to freely admit white people
within the Indian Territory, for it
cannot be possible that they intend
to demand the removal Of the white
people either by the government OF
the United States or by their own
They must realize that when their
policy of maintaining an Indian
community isolated from the whites
was abandoned for a time, it was
abandoned forever We did not
hear from any Iudian the sugges-
ton that the white people there
should be removed.
The committee finds the judicial
system of the Territory especially
faulty. The whites are not admit
ted to the Indian courts and are re-
quired to go to the Federal courts
at TT. Smith Ark, Paris Tex, or
the Federal court in the Indian
Territory. The expense of conduct
ing cases in these courts by reason
os the distance to be Travelled and
the time consumed is enormous.
Parties charged with the smallest
misdemeanors are often taken 200
miles for trail The same is true in
civil suits, however small the sum
involved. The Federal court in the
territory is, they say absolutely the
only court Of final jurisdiction adj
ministering justice in matters large
or small in a territory as large as
the state Of Indiana for u people
numbering now at least 25O, 900 and
rapidly increasing.
The report continues at great
length and sets forth many needed
changes and reform in Territorial
affairs. The report is considered a
valuable one, and much store Is set
upon it by those interested in the
Indian question