Kansas City daily journal., 1895-10-06
Lo, THE wELL-rIXED INDIAN.


From the Morning Oresouian.
The poor Indian" of whom Pope
sang somewhat pathetically, may not be
more enlightened creature, speaking
in a general sense, than he was in that
poetic time, but ne is. individually and
in aggregate, possessed Of too much
wealth TO allow intelligent humanity TO
regard him as poor" in the general ac-
ceptance OF that term. While II is true
IN many instances that he has been de-
priVed Of his ancestral lands by no
greater right than that Of might il is
also true that many tribes have been
made wealthy by the payment OF enOr-
nous sums for land 10 which they had
no better title than that acquired by Oc-
cupancy as hunters and ferocity as war
riOrs,
1t is pure imagination to suppose that
the entire American continent belonged
few hundred years ago 70 Indians. Their
numbers upon the discovery OF the con-
tiuent could not have exceeded 100000,
and they We're divided into many hostile
tribes, warrng continually upon each
other for the possession of hunting
grounds That such a title in land is not
held 10 be good, even by our indugent
government, 10 its citizens, is fully at
tested in the law which requires man
10 live on and cultivate" FOR a term of
years a dcsi guated number of acres be-
fore he can acquire u title thereto that
he can defend in law The Indians, even
when they held undtsputed sway, had re-
duCcd but little OF the great continent to
possession in any proper sense of that
term, Their wigwams and patches of
corn We're occupied ana cultivated one
year and perhaps deserted the next and
their title TO the land thus occupied was
based solely upon force. More than this,
a claim 10 a continent, possessing vast
areas and resources awaiting the devel-
opment of civilization, merely as hunt
ing grounds and battlefe!ds, IS one that
cannot stand for moment before rea-
son.
Nevertheless, the Indians claim 10
such lands as he can occupy and use
according to the estimate of civilization,
has been conceded. and various tribes
have been paid enormous sums Of money
In consideration Of waving their claim OF
ownership, while other large sums are
on deposit with the government, bearing
interest against their future need. Many
OF them receive rations in payment of in
tercst on money invested for their bene-
fit. Some are quite rich, and many now
wretchedly poor have squandered sums
paid 10 them for the eXtinguishment of
their titles TO lands which they could
not occupy,
The Cnickasaws, for example, number
ing about 5000, have money invested for
them in Washington to the amount of
81 30S COS, and are accredited owners of
4,dj0,00o acres OF land, large proportion
OF Whlch is arabic. In Otner words, every
man, woman and child of the tribe or
nation has $500 in money and $50 acres of
land. The Osages are richer still, while
among the tribes of the great Northwest
millions Of dollars have been distributed
within the past few years for wide areas
of land that they could not use.
The condition of the Indian Is not all
that the humanitarian desires still, they
whose sympathies do not obscure their
judgment must admit that it is a great
deal better in general than it was when
they depended entirely upon their hunt
ing grounds for sustenance, and held
these only by the varying fortunes OF
fierce and cruel war. To dispute this Is 10
deny TO civilization the measure of sue
cess, even though It be small, that has
attended its efforts to smooth the path
way OF a fading race to inevitable OBJ
lvion Considering that he is a savage
and overmatched at every point and
that he, in common with other races and
peoples is amenable to the great law of
the survival of the fittest, the Indian has
not Jared so badly, Indeed, II Is no ex-
aggeration to say that, as a whole, the
Indians are in far better condition than
they were before they knew the white
man.