The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1899-03-01
DAWES COMMISSION GIVEN A DE-
ClDED SETBACK.
Department Officials Have Tired OF It's
System of Doing Business-SprInRer
VIII Stay Until December Dennis
and the Car,
Special to the Ardmoreite.

labors, so far as this session is con-
cerned. Little has been accom-
plished for the Territory aside from
the passage of the regular annual
appropriation bill containing ap-
preparations for the various Indian
Tribes. The two most impOr-
tant measures to the Terri
tory - the ratification of the
Cherokee and Greek treaties-has
never even been considered. This,
however, is not the fault of Con-
gress, but is directly attributable
to the makeshift, illogical, not to
say the dishonest treaties framed
| by the Dawes commission with the
Cherokee and Creek tribes. These
treaties were so nOtOriously at
variance with common sense and
common fairness that in one case
the Interior department refused to
send the work Of the Dawes com
mission to Congress for cOnsidera-
ton, and in the other case, the
committee on Indian affairs of the
Senate without a dissenting voice,
refused to. submit the Cherokee
treaty to the Senate for considera-
ton.
Two more notoriously bad treaties
We're never drafted by any man or
set Of men. 1t was evident on their
face that they were designed with
the one object in view, of placing
in the hands of the Dawes commits
sion absolute and complete iuris-
diction over all affairs III the two
nations. Both treaties contained
obnoxious townslte features, and
leaving it with the Dawes commits
sion to settle all disputed cases
where the townsite boards were not
a unit in their decision upon
questions arising before them.
Instead of decision Of major
ity of a townsite board prevailing,
under the Greek treaty in all cases
where the board was not a unit,
the question was referred to the
Dawes commission whose decision
was final. In other words, the
Dawes commission was to occupy
a supervisory position over the
townsite board. In the Greek
treaty it was manifestly plain that
it had been drafted solely in the
interests of the half-blOods to the
almost utter exclusion of the full
bloods. Both treaties had the APP
pearance of jobbery and corruption
from start to finish, and | have
been asked by numerous Senators
how it happened that the Dawes
commission ever considered for
moment that Congress would rat
ify treaty so impregnated with
rottenness as the Cherokee treaty,
the only one which found its way
to the capitol.
1t is looked upon here as a hu-
initiating defeat to the Dawes com
mission to have two treaties draft
ed by them and approved by them
igEomlniously rejected in the man
ner these two treaties were. 1t
would not have been so bad had
the Senate considered them and re-
jected them; but to have the Inte-
riOr department refuse to even sub
NIT one treaty to Congress, and
the committee on Indian affairs of
the Senate refused to even report
the other to he Senate, was plainly
indicative of the contempt with
which the officials here treated the
products of the Dawes commission.
The truth is Congress and the In
terror department are rapidly los
ing confidence in the Dawes com
mission, if indeed, it ever had con-
fidence in the commission.
So many complaints have been
made of fraud in connection with
the commission that the PROPOSE
ton has been seriously considered
at various times of subjecting the