The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-20
WOES OF OLD BUG
BEAR ISLAND OUTBREAK DIS
CUSSED IN THE REPORT OF
COMMISSIONER JONES
SERIOUS CHARGES MADE


Vogue of Estimating and Selling
Their Ptne-"Dead and Down"
Law Criticised - Allegation That
Standing Pine Has Been Set on
Purchasing of Tribes Mt Hand
! WASHINGTON, Nov. 19-The outbreak
of the Chippewa Pillagers at Bear island,
Minnesota, last fall is discussed in the
annual report Of William A Jones. the
commissioner of Indian affairs, made pub
lie today. Mr.. Jones says:
For many years Chippewas have been
arrested and taken from their homes to
st. Paul and other points as witnesses or
as Offenders chiefly in whisky cases.
! Often wholesale arrests have been made
solely for the fees which would accrue to
the officials. Indians have been helped to
obtain whisky by the very ones who ar
rested them for using 1t. In some cases
Indians carried off to court have been
| left to get back home as best they could.
The whole matter of arrests by deputy
| marshals had come to be a farce, a fraud
| and hardship to the Chippewas and a
disgrace to the community
the outbreak. When delegation of Chip
pewas visited Washington last winter
their most bitter complaint was about in
justice in the use of their funds and
frauds in the disposition of their timber
Without going into details it is suf-
| ficient to say that in 1889 the Chippewas
were with difficulty induced to cede to the
| United States large tracts of valuable
pine lands on the representation that the
sale of the pine would bring them in
| fund of several million dollars. AS is
always the case many Indians were utter
ly opposed to the negotiations A commits
sion was appointed to make allotments
| on coded and reservation lands and to Sc
cure removals to White Earth of those
who were willing to go there.
"Estimators were appointed to appraise
the Chippewa pine The expense is
| charged to the fund of the Indians. The
expense of the commission up to date has
not been less than $500, OOO,. most of it in
salaries. The work of the estimators
proved wol thless, and a second set of
estimators was appointed with no better
results, and third set of men was as
signed to the work. Up to date about $780,
OOO has been charged to the Indians for
| estimating. Meantime large tracts of
pine, which had been estimated at from
one-fourth to one-half their value, were
sold, and that loss also fell upon the In
dams.
Again, under authority to dispose of
dead and down timber, contractors have
cut large qualities of green standing tim
Der. There are also strong indications
| that considerable timber was fired to
bring it nominally under the head Of
dead timber. This was another loss to
the Indians. All this and other minor in
fuences wrought together to produce the
general feeling Of oppression and distrust
and evaporation which found expression
when the arrests were undertaken by the
commander of military forces"
PASSING OF TRIBES.
Mr.. Jones urges more schools, more sys-
tematic methods, and study Of individ-
ual traits in Indian schools. The entire
| educational system of the Indian office
he says, is predicated upon the final abol-
| ishment of the anomalous Indian reserva-
! ton system.
There are now 2O,522 boys and girls in
| attendance on the Indian schools and an
| enrolment of over q, 900. The Indian pop
| ulation from which these are taken is
| 1f1,C0O. While the population has remain
! ed stationary there has been such a
/ steady increase in the number of Indians
! being educated as to warrant the opinion
! that the next quarter century will witness
not diminution Of the Indian population
but an extinguishment or Indian tribes
! One discouraging factor, however, is
! disclosed by the unsatisfactory results Of
the past nine years trial of co-educatio
of the Indians with the whites in
the public schools. The report says
| the results of this co-educaticn are
not commensurate with the expendi-
ture; that the idea, theoretically, is an
| hTao IN
| dlces and civilizing the Indians, but the
| figures show it is not an unqualified sue
cess. The full blood, who needs such con-
! tact most, is rarely secured and the
! ground work at least of Indian education
| must be laid under the government aus
! pices and control.
Stronger measures for forcing the at
! tendance on Indian schools are urged
There are 1852 employees in the Indian
service, and the policy is to employ In
dams in every position to which they are
adapted by nature and education
thorough and exhaustive investiga-
! ton Of the Seminoles in Florida has re-
suited in the discontinuance of the offices
! of industrial teacher and other employees
and no school will be established for them
| at present, their real and fancied wrongs
| having embittered them against govern
| mental assistance.
| Concerning the Indian territory the re-
port severely drCG4gnS lack OF manage
| ment, demoralized conditions and q de-
plorable state Of affairs generally In ad-
| ministering schools and orphan asylumns
| Out of twenty-one boarding schools not
more than four Of the superintendent
are reported competent to teach the ordi-
nary English branches, and financial mis-
| mana cement Is especially complained Of
Mr.. Long Returns.
| WASHINGTON Nov. 19.-Secretary and
| Mrs. Long returned to the city TODAY
! from Colorado Snrinos Col urharn +Ios-