The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-22
Daily R Easle
NJ. NJ. MURDOCH. Editor.
THE INDIAN MUST GO.

the present status of affairs in the lndi-
an Territory should not be permitted 10
continue longer than may be needed TO
effect change, is unquestionably rlght,
and right without reference TO the aHi-
ON that the rights of the Individual
must be made subservient to the inter
ests of the whole. After being kicked
about from post to pillar for genera
fions. and until the dissemination OF
their ranks attracted the attention OF
numanitarians and statesmen, and until
after the remnants of many tribes had
been located in the Indian Territory,
under the solemn pledge and promise
that rf1ey should be disturbed no more,
and that here should be their perman-
ent abiding place and home, General
Grant inaugurated his Quaker policy.
We all know the result. The Indian
was just as much in the way as ever.
Had territory been cut out Of the ard
regions including the western third OF
ii.
and the western third of the original
Indian Territory, together with the Pan
Handle of Texas, and all the Indians
of America located on such grass bar
rem. sooner or later the result would
have been the same. The cattlemen'S
interest, or that of some corporate Or
speculative scheme of the white man,
would have demanded REIMBURSEMENT
by the Indians. Congressman and
statesmen may protest, and the Ameri-
can people, individually, or as a whole,
may regret and resolve, yet, and not
withstanding, the Indian, who was
doomed from the outset, must go. He
must get off the earth, or under it.
There is no spot on its surface where
he can live unmolested under his an
cient customs, or with his family or
tribal relations. He may even educate
himself and intermarry with and adopt
the customs Of the whites, as far as pos
sible. as have the Five Tribes, still his
extinction cannot be ayerted. If the
army and the white settler fail to crowd
him out, Dawes and like commissions
will not
These are the cold facts, the disagree
able phase of one side of the Indian
problem. There is another side, which
Is the white mans side. and therefore
The side which must stand as the right
side. The original ideas held and the
continents entertained by the country
touching the rights of the Indian, when
the tribes were assigned tribal homes
in the territory, have been defeated by
circumstances which belong to the
realm Of the inevitable, circumstances
which the government of the whites
nor the claims of the Indian could cir
cumvent. So the destiny of the dissem-
mated hands occupying the western
part of Oklahoma is irrevocahly fixed.
AS for the Five Tribes, on the east, their
reservations are fall Of whites. There
are more whites than Indians. But
the white majority being deprived by
the Indian minority of school and other
privileges, such as warranted property
etc. troubles have arisen which can ter
inmate in only one way. l. e., in the de-
feat of the Indian, who for the most
part. boasts much white blood in his
veins. To settle these misunderstand-
ings and to incidentally nullify and de
throne tribal government was the
Dawes commission Instituted. The aim
If the commission has been to abolish
tribal ownership of lands and TO parcel
the reservations out in severalty, there
by necessitating the Indians TO become
men. in each of the tribes, have siren
uouSly fought the attempt, falling
back upon the guaranty of their treaties
respectively. The answer Of the COM
mission, practically, has been that the
rights of the nation are superior TO those
of mere Indian tribes, or of any group
Of individuals; that congress. being su-
perior 10 treaties, must also obey the
behest of the people, which is that the
Indian, as such, must go; that while the
CightS OF the Indians are not denied,
Shey are standing in their own light,
and in the way of their own progress,
and being more the wards of govern
ment than independent nations, they
must not only heed, but obey, the man
dates coming from Washington, with
cut any reference 10 treaties which
were made under entirely different con,
diti0ns than those existing 1T present
which altered conditions have been
brought about by the Indians in admit
sing white men 10 tribal relations, etc
In short, admitting every claim put for
ward by the Indian for his rights grow
Ing out of his tribal relations and
treaty stipulations. still they are infer
jor 10 those of the nation. and 10 the
demands OF progressive civilization.
CIVIL SERVICE PENSIONS.