Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1898-07-07

the government; Whlie, In IN
meantime, the influx of white pee
S pie into the Cherokee country haC
e been so exorbitant that their pres
3 ence had begun much TO interfer
with the Indians in their enjoy
ment of their slil; and their re
: moval bad come to be, in thr
minds of the latter, an object o
= necessity as well as supreme de
sire. Hence it proved that tn,
most eniiciDg consideration which
the government could possibl,
offer fO- a ceSSion of the outlet
was a cordial renewal of its old
promise of 1885. Accordingly. ar
agreement was very easily reached
wherein the government covenant,
ed that the intruders should be
immediately elected from the re
served lands of the Cherokees. and
that their removal should be re-
garded as consideration, in part
for the territory acquired. Afte,
the deal had been completed. how.
ever, and the government had got
control Of the land and disposed
of il to white settlers, the Chero-
KEGS were notified that the remov.
al of the iniruders was, on account
of the greatness of the number of
people involved, an undertaking
too difficult and expensive to be
seriously contemplated. As a
result of this remarkable default on
part Of tte government. the Cher
okees lost their land. a princely
domain, and no indemnity has as
yet, ever been heard Of
This singular ease with which
the obligations contracted with
an Indian tribe are wont TO rest
upon the public conscience was
subsequently, illustrated with much
force in the words of the chairman
of the Indian committee of the
senate. The Cherokee delegation
were insisting, at an interview
with the committee, upon the
fulfillment of this late double
decked engagement against intru-
sion, when he replied curtly to
their remarks: Gentlemen, the
] government has never fulfilled
that agreement; and it never in
tends to do il" There was no
explanation given and the Indians
were left to surmise whether, or
not. the whole truth might not
have been more completely de-
clared, had the honorable senator
been pleased to put his verbs in
the past instead of the present
tense. Can it be that the govern
ment never intended to make
good that agreement?
At the moment the Dawes COM
mission waited upon the Cher
KEGS, in the minds of the latter,
! the very last spark of confidence
in the words of the government
had been thoroughly extinguished.
The overtures of the commission
looking to the stipulation OF new
treaty were answered by them
unanimously in the negative.
"What is the use," they said,
"of making any more treaties,
while the many which we have
already made are allowed to lie
sleeping in the books forever un-
iulfilled?"
The Curtis bill had been pre-
pared with 4 view 20 the accom-
plishment of a two-fold purpose.
The Cherokees had been duly
warned by the Dawes commission
that, in case they should fail to
treat with them, the incident would
be regarded as an offense of sufii-
cient gravity to call down upon
them the hot displeasure of con
gress. Now, while it is not rea-
sonable to imagine that the effects
of such Il derelection could really
pervade the congressional MEM
bership in general to much eX-
tent, 1t is nevertheless pretty Ger
tain that. in the Indian commit
tee of the lower house, where the
bill originated, it proved to be the
occasion for giving the measure
very clearly something of the ma
ture of penal sentence in addi-
tion to its avowed purpose as
civil regulation. 1t had not the
moral courage to repudiate, in
terms, all treaties with the Chero-
KEGS; it simply proceeded just as if
they had never existed, at the
same time discriminating severely
against the Indians. and decidedly
in favor of the intruders and all
other outside classes that chose
to interest themselves in the ques-
tion.
In the meantime, the senate
chamber was well nigh deserted.
In the congress of the United
States. justice and right are not es-
timated according to their own in
trinsic merit; but with reference
rather TO the circumstances with
which they come environed when
they knock for a hearing.
America shed rivers OF tears
over the downfall of Poland She
also wept bitterly over the woes
of Hungary, and lionized her exil
ed hero from ocean to ocean. And
today her fleets are abroad upon
tie seas OF both hemispheres, at
an expense of millions per day, in
defense of the Cubans against
Spanish wrong; but right there
upon the floor of the American
congress, was proceeding to con-
summation an outrage equal TO eth
er OF these in enormity while, at
the same time, there were nine
tenths of the members of that body |