The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-11-12
FAIRLY PROSPEROUS.
Indians Are Not in as Bad Plight as
Some People Imagine.

from the Portland Oregoniau.l
The poor Indian" of whom Pope
sang somewhat patheticaly, may not
be more enlightened creature, speak
ing in a general sense, than he was in
that poetic time, but he is, individual
ly and in aggregate, possessed of too
much wealth to allow intelligent hui
mainly to regard him as poor in the
general acceptance of the term. While
| it is true in many instances that he has
been deprived of his ancestral lands by
no greater right than that of might 1t
is also true that many tribes have been
made wealthy by the payment of enor-
nous sums for the land to which they
had no better title than that acquired
| by occupancy as hunters and ferocity
! as warriors.
| 1t is pure imagination to suppose that
the entire American continent belonged
a few hundred years ago to the Indt-
ans. Their number upon the discovery
of the continent could not have exceed
ed one million, and they were divided
into many hostile tribes, warning con-
| tinually upon each other for possession
of hunting grounds. That such title
| in land is not held to be good even by
our indulgent government to it's citi-
zens, is fully attested in the law which
requires a man to ''live on and cult
vate'' for term of years designated
number of acres before he can acquire
a title thereto that he can defend N
law. The Indians, even when they
held undisputed sway had reduced but
| little of the great continent to possess
sion in any proper sense of that term.
Their wigwams and patches of corn
were occupied and cultivated one year
and perhaps deserted the next, and
| their title to the land thus occupied
was based solely upon force. More
| than this, claim to q continent, pos
sessing vast areas and resources await
ing the development of civilization,
merely as hunting grounds and battle
| fields, Is one that cannot stand for a
moment before reason.
Nevertheless the Indians claim to
such lands as he can occupy and use,
according to the estimate of civiliza-
ton, has been conceded and various
| tribes have been paid enormous sums
OF money in consideration of waiving
their claim of ownership. while other
| large sums are on deposit with the gov
eminent, bearing interest, against their
future need. Many of them receive "a
| tons in payment of interest on money
| invested for their benefit Some are
quite rich. and many now wretchedly
poor have squandered large sums paid
to them for the extinguishment Of their
| tO 10 H- whit ~, thau nStJJH
cupy.
The Chicksaws, for example, number
ing about five thousand have money
invested for them in Washington to the
amount of 81, sos, Cos and are accredited
owners of 1850, 900 acres of land, a large
portion of which Is arabic. In other
words, every man, woman and child OF
the tribe or nation has two hundred
and sixty dollars in money and nine
| hundred and sixty acres of land. The
Osages are richer still, while among
| the tribes of the great northwest mill
lions of dollars have been distributed
within the last 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 synpathies do not obscure
their Judgment must admit that it is a
great deal better in general than when
they depended entirely upon their
hunting grounds for sustenance and
held these only by the varying fortunes
of fierce and cruel war. To dispute
this Is to deny to civilization the meas
ure of success, even though 1t be small,
| that has attended it's efforts to smooth
the pathway of a fading race to inevi-
table Oblivion. 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 fit
test, the Indian has not Jared so badly.
Indeed, lit is no exaggeration to say
that. as a whole, the Indians are in far
better condition than they were before
they knew the white man.