The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-27

sally meander through any particular
~ fine clump of trees there may be in
The neighbOrhood. Then there is an
indefinite and highly elastic allowance
OF Hboom-stickers" for every million
feet of 'dead-and- down" These
'bOCm-stiCkS" are cut from standing
timber, and in the absence of proper
inspection, the allowance" is simply
enormous-frequentiy a picturesque bit
OF fallen wood massively framed in
green logs.
BARTER AT A PREMIUM.
Instead of handling the timber on
this reservation in a buslnesslike man
ner, as is done on the La Pointe ana
ether Indian reserves, it is thrown into
the hands Of irresponsible men, who
get signatures and contracts from
ignorant Indians. and, then, barter
them to lumber companies at a pre-
MUM. If the niddle-man makes what
he thinks he should, or is sufficiently
conscientious not to take all, he may
give few barrels of pork or a few
dollars to the Indian under whose right
ne has obtained permission to cut: but
he guards himself against loss. as the
Indians have to deliver their logs on
the bank under exorbitant charges, are
Obliged to pay enormously for supplies
ana submit to discount of 10 per cent
on their time-checks for IL Dor.
The manner of handling and dispos-
ing or the immense amount of timber
embraced within the limits of the
Leech lake reservation is a question of
great Importance, not only to the In
dams and the great numbering inter
ests, but TO the government itself. who.
unless all signs lie, will, in a compare
lively short time, have to make UP a
big deficiency in the income Of the
wards of the nation.
1t is the openly expressed opinion of
some Of the oldest, most experienced
and most conservative loggers that 1t
Is only question of a continuance of
the present Ubiquitous system for two
or three years in order that the reser-
walton should be completely denuded
of timber, and an estate of about So
100000, in woodlands alone rendered
vaiueleSs, a beautiful and fertile sec
ton Of great state permanently ruin
ed, thousands of Indians pauperized.
the trust and honor Of the nation be-
trayed, and the government plundered
And all this for what? To satisfy the
greed. the hunger for spoil, the lust
of gain of a handful of men who do
not represent the true logging inter-
ests.
WHO SHOULD HANDLE?
There is no shadow Of doubt that
the interests of the government, of the
Indians and the legitimate business en-
terprises would be best conserved I'M
der the direction of the war depart
ment, and in the immediate charge Of
army officers; and there is a strong,
healthy, growing sentiment in favor of
this plan among the best informed and
right-feeling people in this and every
other community where the manage
ment of Indian affairs has been mat
ter Of prominence.
There is no doubt in any sane, dis
interested mind that gross and cruel
advantage has been taken of the Chip
pewas in the handling Of their timber,
that unnumbered wrongs have been
committed against them; that they
have been frequently arrested on tri-
vial, trumped-up charges, and that
they have been dragged hundreds OF
miles from their homes as immaterial
witnesses in unimportant causes. The
late outbreak was directly attributable
to these causes, and the onus Of it rests
upon white shoulders far more than
upon red.
But like causes will produce like