Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-10-02
NEW POLICY NTH |NDIAB9'
Senator Qnarles and Congressional
Party Have Been Making Some
Investigations.
Believe a New Policy Should be Adop.
ted for the Advancement Of the
gs Indians.


officials who have been looking over.
the northwestern agencies, stopped ii.
Jamestown recently. while Commits
sioner Jones and other members ofsthe
party went o. to Mandan to look over
the proposed site for an Indian school
there. Senator Quarles believes there
Should be a change in the manage
ment of Indian affairs and in CONVEX
sation with an Alert reporter at James-
town said: ~
We are making an inspection OF
the various Indian agencies Of the
northwest, such as we have time to
visit, and studying the Indian question
in all its phases, for the information
Of congress. We have acted in the
past insthe dark on many Of the ques-
tions that effect the Indians and the
people of the west most vitality, and
want better information for the fu-
ture. We have been travelling in all
sorts of c~onVeyances, going on to- the
reservations and seeing the Indians
with Jul own eyes, and I think that we
will have gathered some valuable in
formation. We visited the Red Lake
Indians in Northern Minnesota, and
find that their reservation, for instance,
contains some 213,ooo acres Of good
farm land that is nottused. This land
as well Is that Of other reservations,
should be opened TO settlement and
give the American farmers and those
who are anxious cultivate it, a
chancesto do so. The timber also on
the above reservation is excellent and
there is a great deal of it, and we pro-
pose to establish a saw mill at points
where it is necessary to cut the pine,
and begin the work OF letting the white
people into the country. Lei the sun
light il, I say. a saw mill IS a civil
izer. It brings development to the
country and gives the white people
chance to utilize the natural resources
OF the region which the Indians, un-
der the present tribal relationship,
never will. The tribal relation is a
relic OF barbarism at best. Ut keeps
the Indians in state Of dependency
more than anything else, and teaches
him habits Of idleness. We propose
to break 1t up and make the Indian,
who is able bodied, arm his living as
well as anyone else. know this will,
run contrary to the wishes of the In
dian agents and OF many political in
fuences that have been and are power
;fulz in congress-, but the time is past
when these great regions can be ex-
cluded from the rest of the United
States and allowed to remain ID unpro-
5ductiVe idleness, as the present sys-
tenn Of dealing with the Indians n
tails. s*sS
went on n Of four trips in
Minnesota In house boat on d lake
drawn BIZ tugs, and have travelled in
carts and wagons through the forests,
and on the prairie. We have been
studying the nature OF that country
geographically and the Indian, from
the n social and ethnologica1 side as
we'll a from the point OF view of the
duty Of the governmental him as an;
individual. We have been greatly
surprised At many things NE have.
found and at the ignorance We have
been In when we have il the past.
acted laws regarding the Indians and
the Interests that the question involves;
to the great west eIndians; on the
Indian reservation IN the south are
getting into the Waysof the white maj
butthe Red lei of the North are not
nearly as advanced
There no progress under the
present system. The reservations
should have been opened long ago and
youcan safely 4 that congress Is
gofng % change the old policy and
Place Indian on adiferent basis.
we will take care 81 the aged, the
weak and the infirm, but the able bod
led Indianmust do something b aliv-
ing besides drawing his government
rsations. w have found that there ii
no incentive fortheI indian To farm, or
% raise stock, when ne knows hewill
get his living anyhow from the gov
erntlent whether he works 81 We
6nd that he has been given cattle BY
the government and traded Them I'll
Eonies Other abuses have been found
and the committee III nov dong d prac-
teal work In actually Investigating
these things that should have been
done Ion before III IL Id he Inter-
/ ests % the people of the nation that
the InaiaI, policy should be changed
ana the tribal relations broken up.
Tse American Boy.
Even I'D trying circumstances, eYef,
when serious misfortune oyertakss the
youthful American, his aplon,b, Ids