The herald., 1897-12-07


food for the large number of people who
are wintering there without the means
| of leaving the country are confirmed in
such measure as to justify bringing the
matter to the attention of Congress. Ac-
cess to that country this winter can be
had only by the passes from Dyea and
vicinity, which is most difficult and per-
haps an impossible task.
However, should these reports of the
suffering of our fellow citizens be furth-
er verified, every effort at any cost
should be made to carry them relief.
INDIAN TERRITORY
For u number of years past 1t has been
apparent that the conditions under
which the FIVE civilized tribes were es-
tablished in the Indian Territory under
treaty provisions with the United States,
with the right of self-government and
the exclusion of all white persons from
their borders, have undergone so COM
plete q change as to render the continu-
nnce OF the system thus inaugurated
practically impossible. The total num-
Der of the five civilized tribes, as shown
by the last census, is 45,494, and this
number has not materially increased,
while the white population is estimated
at from 100000 to 250.O00, which by per-
mission of the Indian government has
settled in the Territory. The present
area of the Indian Territory contains
%, ,694, 564 acres, much of which Is very
fertile land. The United States citizens
residing in the Territory, most of whom
have gone there by invitation or with
the consent of the tribal authorities,
have made permanent homes for them
selves. Numerous towns have been
built, in which from 500 to 5000 white
people now reside. Valuable residences
and business houses have been erected
in many of them. Large business en-
terprises are carried on In which vast
sums of money are employed, and yet
these people who have invested their
capital in the development of the pro-
ductive resources of the country are
without the title to the land they oc-
cupy and have no voice whatever In the
government, either of the nations or
tribes. Thousands Of their children, who
were born in the Territory, are Of school
age, but the doors of the schools of the
nations are shut against them. and what
education they get Is by private contri-
button. No provision for the protection
of the life or property of these white cit
i2ens is made by the tribal governments
and courts.
The Secretary of the Interior reports
that leading Indians have absorbed
great tracts Of land to the exclusion of
the common people, and government by
an Indian aristocracy has been practi-
cally established to the detriment OF the
people. 1t has been found impossible
for the United States to keep it's citizens
out of the Territory, and the executory
conditions contained in treaties with
these nations have for the most part be-
come impossible Of execution, had 1t
been possible for the tribal government
to secure each Individual Indian his full
enjoyment in common with other In
dians of the common property of the
nations. Friends of the Indians have
long believed that the best interests Of
the Indians of the five civilized tribes
would be found in American citizenship,
with the rights and privileges which
belong to that condition.
BY section 16 of the act of March 3,
1898, the President was authorized to ap-
point three commissioners to enter into
negotiations with the Cherokee, Choc-
taw, Chickasaw, Muskogee Cor Creek)
and Seminole nations, commonly known
as the five civilized tribes in the Indian
Territory. Briefly, the purposes of the
negotiations were the extinguishment of
the tribal title to any lands within that
territory now held by any and all such
nations or tribes, either by cession Of
the same or some part thereof to the
United States, or by allotment or by the
division of same in severalty among the
Indians of such nations or tribes re-
spectively as may be entitled to the
same, or by such other method as may
be agreed upon between the several ma
tions and tribes aforesaid, or each Of
them, with the United States, with a
view to such an adjustment upon the
basis of justice and equity as may, with
the consent of the said nations of the
Indians, so far as may be necessary,
requisite and suitable to enable the ul-
innate creation of a State or States of
the Union which shall embrace the lands
within said Indian Territory.
The commission met much opposition
from the beginning. The Indians were
very slow to act and those in control
manifested a decided disinclination to
meet with favor the propositions SUBJ
mitted to them. A little more than
three years after it's organization the
commission affected an agreement with
the Choctaw nation alone. The Chick
asaws have refused to agree to it's terms
and as they have common interest
with the Choctaws in the lands of said
nations, the agreement with the latter
nation could not have been with the
consent of the former.
April 23, 1897, the commission effected
an agreement with both tribes-the
Choctaws and Chickasaws. This agree
ment, 1t is understood, has been rat
flied by the constituted authorities of the
respective tribes or nations or parties
thereto, and only requires ratification by
Congress to make it binding.
On the 9th of September, 1897, an
agreement was effected with the Creek
nation but it is understood that the ma
tional Council refused to ratify the same.
| Negotiations are yet to be had with
the Cherokees, the most populous of the
five civilized tribes, and with the Sem
inoles, the smallest in point of numbers
and territory.
The provision in the Indian appropria-
tion act, approved June TO- 1896, makes
| it the duty of the commission to inves-
tigate and determine the rights of ap-
picants for citizenship in the five CIV
ilized tribes.
The commission is at present engaged
| in this work among the tribes and has
made appointments for taking the GEN.
sus of these people up to and including