Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-28
Indinn TERRITORY Situation.


To the Editor of the Journal.
While the minds Of all are preoccupied
by matters of local interest, it is sincerely
hoped by the moral and more progressive
element of the people living in the Indian
Territory that some force or influence may
be brought to bear upon their nobler feel
inss with such force that their attention
may be attracted to the undesirable social
conditions that now exist in the Indian
Territory. The time has long since passed
for a continuance of these conditions, and
the assistance of the moral and law-abiding
people, who favor education, refinement
and the higher plane of moral character
should be appealed to when it is a known
fact that the number of boys and girls that
are growing up to manhood and woman
hood without proper educational training
reaches into the thousands.
The non-citizens have come into this
country upon invitation and have. by their
energy. thrift and enterprise, and by the
expenditure of money, Drawn and intellect,
developed many of the latent powers OF
this country. They have, by permission,
built up homes and prosperous towns, and
now feel so keenly the need of better pro-
lection of life, liberty and property and
educational facilities that they are
holding public meetings for the purpose Of
discussing the situation and devising plans
for getting the matter before the law
makers at Washington. We are thorough
ly satisfied, from our knowledge of the
situation, that a general allotment bill
would be satisfactory to majority of the
Indians and would be hailed with delight
by all who have nobier purpose for favor
ing the change than that of personal gain.
While majority of the more advanced
Indians favor allotment, there are powers,
such as land grabbers. filchers of the In
dians' public funds, a few fullbloods and
the lawless element that are strenuously
opposed to any move that would be calcu-
lated to check their career in their chosen
ways of accommodating this worlds goods.
If it were not for the oppositions as above
mentioned aided by the sentimentalists
who know nothing of this country further
than what they have read in newspapers
and magazines, and written by writers who
have never been in this country, we would
have no trouble in securing the passage of
any measure that would be for the better
ment of the entire people living within this
beautiful Indian Territory.
From observation, we are forced to the
conclusion that the Dawes commission has
outlived its usefulness, for so long as this
commission continues to exist just SO long
will the different nations continue to vacil-
late from one proposition to another.
The idea OF sending commission to this
country to treat with intelligent people
as the Indian of the present day seems
preposterous to those who are acquainted
with the situation, and the more we think
of the idea the more absurd it becomes.
1t is quite amusing to hear some of the
leaders of the different nations tell of their
great love for their governments and their
brother More especially is this true when
II is known that they have inclosed, In
pastures and farms, from 10000 to 10000
acres of the public domain, and are PEN
sioners (suckersl upon the public crib of
their nation.
In this small country we have five sep
arate and distinct governments, popula-
fion of 40O, 600 people, yet these five govern
rnents are the governments of only about
$1,000 people.
The Indians and whites are so ointerwoven
by marriage and business relations that
2 they are Indispensable to each other, and
the only thing necessary to complete
eradication of the remaining differences is
the dissoIving of the tribal governments
and the establishing of a general territor-
ial government in conjunction with allot-
ment With a general allotment bill crime
would greatly diminish, the people would
better homes would be built all over this
country, school and church bells would
soon be heard ringing in all directions.
foundries. factories and other public en-
terprises and necessities would spring up
as If by magic, Inc wheels of commerce
would be unclogged, the rich and varied
resources would be developed, and within
few years this country would be trans
formed from an Indifferent mixture of IL
centiousness and uncertainties to one of
the most happy and prosperous divisions
of this grand republic of ours.