The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-01-08
The Plans of Mice and Men

L NV tSAstS VI tvuIOO oItu tvbOti
W. N. Jones, who came into prominenc
months ago as the war-like half-breed gov
ernor Of the Choctaw nation. has left tn
! territory and now lives in 1.-THE finest hous
| in Sherman" Texas.
| Jones recently submitted to an interview
| telling the woes of an Indian governor
He said: IAN Indian governor has hart
place to fill. He must be as watchful ant
| careful as a father with feeble, sickly
| silly child. He is the father and the nation
| Is his children. You have absolutely no ide,
| how many plots and schemes there are con
cocted by outsiders TO fleece US Of whateve
| money or property we may have. 1t is
common idea that anybody can cheat al
Indian, and so every rascal who has
scheme Of villianly which has failed Il
work on white people comes to practice 4
on us. A governor has to stand between
his people and this gang of buzzards and
coyotes
This would be bad enough, but the wa,
our own people do is worse. The Indians
especially the fuli-bloods. seem to love tc
be cheated. They get mad when you won'i
let them go into some scheme by which 8
white man wants to cheat them out OF
every cent they have.
Il used to not like it when people would
soy tAidt the 1iQldflS are Ddu men, Out HHcl
/ was governor I found out that some OF
them are pretty wild fellows. My worse
trouble, as, of course. you know, was
around Antlers. Some white men had built
them sawmill there and were paying some
individual Indians nominal sum for the
privilege of cutting timber. Now, the tim
Der belonged to the Choctaw nation. When
L was elected governor / said that these
folks had to pay for that timber. They
said they wouldn't do it. / said they must.
Locke and some other fellows built a
fort at Antlers and / ordered out the mill
tia. Some fulllbloods took sides with the
white men because the white men were pay
ing them few dollars for the privilege of
cutting the timber Then there was some
fighting and shooting and some killing. But
before quit l made them pay all the mon
ey they owed"
Many newspaper readers have a vivid
recollection as to how this was done. They
will readily recall those days and weeks
when little civil war was being waged in
the midst of this country. in which, how
ever, the country took no part The wards
above quoted give the substance of what
Mr.. Jones said, but not the dialect and they
fail absolutely to give the impression of
passionate sincerity which accompanied
their utterance.
Sorry anybody got killed." he exclaim-
ed with earnest gesticulations, "but me no
help it. Me never get no money from 'em.
They cut timber; timber b'long to nation;
they owe nation money; why not collect
money for nation?''
AS result of the putting down of this
resurrection $4,000 was collected and put
into the Choctaw treasury. Governor Jones
has heard that at the present time the ma
ton is actually in debt to this same ele-
ment of men, though how such a state of
affairs can have arisen he processes himself
utterly unable to imagine.
This episode was only one of Jones' Won
ders. During his administration he made
quite record as a veto governor Every
scheme that he considered calculated to
'nJure his people was promptly vetoed
Among these was one railroad scheme. 1t
passed both houses of the council but was
vetoed by the governor. His wishes to be
understood as friendly to railroads but not
on terms such as were attached to the
scheme in question. The fact that so many
bills of this kind passed both houses of
the council he accounts for by attributing
t to the rascality of the whites and the
,redulity of the full-bloods. The liberal use
u his veto powers increased the storminess
II his administration and on the whole Mr..
Jones is inclined to believe that it does not
pay to be an Indian governor.
In each Of his canvasses ii cost him 81, 200
to get elected" Just exactly what this
vas spent for he doesn't say For his ser
ices as governor he received 5000 1t IS
'vident that the $500 clear money is no
yreat remuneration for the work perform
ID, especially in the case of a man who al
eady possesses a fortune of more than
1c0, 600.
When asked as to his views on the sub |
ect Of allotment, Governor Jones ans
vered:
II am afraid It Is coming, but do not |
'eheve II is for the best. I would not be /
pposed to Il II It could be arranged Justly |
no tightly, but I do not believe that il |
ould be done. There are two reasons why
am opposed to II. One is on my own ac-
cunt and on account of a few Indians like
ne. When / was boy did not have a
ent in the world. My father left me moth
1g but my two hands. went to work TO
cquire an estate. set up little black
NTH shop. One day / saw plow went
work and made me another like IT, I
'anted good house, and so built me onA
Whenever l saved S l would buy me a
tile yearling. Soon / had q little herd of
attic. l fenced me in some land so as to
ave pasture for them. got up at night in |
ne rain and blizzard and attended TO nv
lock-
Shortly after the war, in the unsettled
ondition Of the country, los: all I had
'ade, which was $4,000. set to work TO
lake me another fortune. have succeed
1 in doing so. Now 1 am over 60 years
ID. II our lands are allotted will have no
lore after all my work than will the lazy,
liftless fellows who have done nothing
ut lie around and let their wives find what
'od 1t takes TO live on. Do you think this
ould be right?"
There's another reason why no favor
iotment, continued Governor Jones' as
s voice became fixed with the ortaory OF
al earnestness. God knows / love my
sople. I've spent my life tryin' help 'em
} better and be better. Full-blood amt
ot much sense. White man no cheat 'en
} much as full-blood cheat themselves |
'hite man bring long clocks. stove, any
Ing. an ask full-blood buy. Injun say
es, he want 'em. but no got money; buy
m on credit White man say all right
ext month white man come after money.
jun no got It White man take all In !
ms ponies. White man no cheat 'em.
oil full-blood jest cheat himself. Now,
oppose all lands allotted. FuIl-blood gets | ,
share. White man come along with | ;
netting 10 sell. Full-bIood buy Il; white
an take all his land to pay for 1t. VIVA.
I'm to become OF poor full-blood them
Alr. Jones takes great pride in the Choc-
W national schools. Ore of them IS known
Jones academy and was established
ITing his administration. The building
st ss,5oo In It 10 Choc;aw boys are
ught, fed and clothed az the expense OF
e Choctaw nation. There Is an appropria- I
m OF sl0o for each OF them The system 9