Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-13
TIVE roR DECISIVE lcrioN.

TINE TUX DEJIbifE ACIION.
The condition Of affairs that prevails
in and about the Winnebago reservation
demands prompt. vigorous and decisive
action ut the hands of the Interior de-
partment. For a number Of years the
Winnebago Indians have been a source
Of enormous profit. for a syndicate Of
land lease spectators and land grab
bers banded together to enrich them
selves at the expense Of the ignorant
and helpless Indians. This systematic
and organized conspiracy to despoil the
Winnebagoes was made possible only by
the cooperation and connivance of the
Indian agent, who is presumed to act as
a guardian and protector of the Indians.
About five months g formal charges
were preferred against Charles p.
Mathewson, agent Of the Omaha and
Winnebago Indian tribes, supported by
abundant proofs to Justify his dismissal
from the servica 1t is a matter Of
~notoriety that Mathewson has a record
as an ~absconding bank wrecker that
should have barred him forever from
any office Of public trust. His appoint
ment through former Senator Thurston
scandalized the federal service and was
severely criticised by the press.
To put two tribes of Indians under the
supervision Of a man of this character
was as appropriate as would be to put
O wolf In charge Of a flock of sheep.
To retain such a nan In control of the
reservation in the face Of the notorious
fact that he is constantly In close touch
with the land spectators and land grab
bers would reflect discredit upon the de-
partment.
1t is a matter of record that fully
10000 acres of Indian lands have been
leased to and sub-leased by half a dozen
members Of the middleman's land syn
dictate. 1t is a matter of record that
the head and front of the land syndi-
cate was not many years ago indicted
for bank wrecking and swindling by the
criminal courts of Iowa. 1t is well
known to every man living in the neigh
borhood of the Winnebago reservation
that neither this man nor his confed-
crates could have secured control Of the
Indian lands but for the c%onnivance of
Agent Mathewson.
A very conservative estimate places
the profits of the land syndicate at $780,
600 a year, and that explains why it has
peer possible for the Indian land ring
to subsidize public officials and news
papers and buy certificates of character
from white men and red men.
The recent order Of the Indian bureau,
by which the heirs of deceased Winnie
bago Indians will be permitted to sell
more than $4,000 acres Of allotment
lands, affords the land syndicate a long
/ looked for opportunity for making q
rich strike. Under the rules Of the
| bureau, these lands are to be appraised
by the Indian agent, or three farmers
appointed by the agent, and their valua'
| ton will form the basis of the purchase
| With an accommodating agent 1t will
not be difficult for the ring to clean vi
| half a million dollars In the next sixty
or ninety days In the purchase and salt
of these lands.
Most If the Winnebago lands are
among the choicest and most fertile
lands in Nebraska and would regularly
sell at from $50 to $50 per acre. An ap
pralsement at $40 below their market
value would enable the syndicate to
declare a larger dividend on a smaller
investment than any concern In the
country. There is nothing to hinder
the land ring from carrying its --latest
plot into execution except the prompt
and decisive Intervention Of the com
missioner Of Indian affairs or the sec
rotary of the interior. That the depart
ment will take such action In the in
terest Of good government and for the
protection Of the Indians we entertain
very little doubt. When Secretary
Hitchcock realizes the shrewd game
of procrastination which the land graz
syndicate has been playing through iti
hackers in securing Investigations and
demonstrations to gain time for com
| pleting their big coup. we feel sure he
IN -,& m and IN n IN short meter.