The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-09-04
|F0RCE HITCHCOCK
FROM The CABINET
e..,etary OF the Treasury Dis.
cover. Well Developed
Fight !. On.
.nln,Es ON HIS TRAIL
N ON HIS TRAIL
-xo,4 is Making to Diseredit Him Be.
..use Of His Handling Of tho In
dian Country Trust Monies
Tho Situation.

washington, Sept. 1.-Secretary
,,,,cbcock became keenly aware today
- the effort to drive him out OF the
oah,net. The second attempt to prove
,,,sa application of the Kiowa-Coman-
che funds was even more OF a tiasco
than the first. Whatever quarrel may
,risa over these funds must be directed
toward the treasury department. The
secretary produced a voucher today
showing that the money had been de-
rosited in the sub-treisury at ST. Louis
and that part of it had been paid out
for Improvements already made. So
lar as the secretary is involved in the
transaction, the situation is in nowise
disconcerting. He is the trustee under
the law for the people of the kiowa-
Co,nanche and Caddo countries. The
money, with the exception of such sums
rs have been expended on orders of
the secretary, are sim to his credit. The
responsibility OF the secretary end
with these expenditures. II the money
had been lent to private banks or dis
sipated in any way, the treasury de-
partment, and not the secretary Of the
interior, is responsible to the people
and the government.
Like tho Eristow Fight.
The concerted movement TO dis
credit Secretary Hitchcock is similar
in its methods and origin to the effort
made one yea ago to secure the re-
moyal of the fourth assistant general.
Mr.. Bristow. Postofice thieves had
plundered the treasury. Bristow was
known to be fearless and relentless. So
long as he remained in charge Of the
detective force OF the department ev-
cry official thief who had one into a
combination with contractors for a
share of the proceeds from p%ostoffice
supplies felt that he was in danger of
detection. Members OF congress, ig-
norant of the real condition Of affairs.
listened to supposed friends who came
to complain about Bristow. They p
pealed to the president for BrfstoW's
removal and were on the eve OF sue
ceeding, when the bubble burst n the
postofice frauds became a matter of
public knowledge. So it has been in
a measure with Secretary Hitchcock.
Whatever nave been the merits or de-
merits of his administration, there has
been no crookedness within his knowl-
edge. He stood between the home
steaders and he cattlemen and gained
the bitter, aggressive enmity OF SEN
wv aAla aSSiAei W
this powerful western influence.
Hitchcock's Integrity.
He caused agents to go to Oklahoma.
who exposed the methods OF contract
ors who coveted the $500, 900 to the
credit OF the people of the Kiowa-Co-
manche and Caddo countries. He de-
vised plans to outwit the lam grabbers
In the Indian territory who coveted the
rich farms Of the Indians. His meth
DDS and his ann Of doing business
In many cases have been so direct as
to be brutal. He has suspected In
dividuals who were honest and snubbed
persons who deserved consideration.
He has lacked diplomacy, but never in
tegrity and has become oversuspicious
because he has been forced to outwlt
the most cleye confidence game that
has ever been devised to defraud limo
cent homesteaders n helpless Indians.
Secretary H~itchcock's failure, II his
administration can be called a failure,
is because he has trusted no one. He
endeavored to personally s~traighten
out all the tangles. He has just permit
ted Indian Commissioner Jones to have
full swing and he took the responsible
ity on himself for expanding the kiowa
Comanche funds instead of passing the
entire matter owe to Ex-Governor
Richards, the land commissioner, who
understood the people and compre-
hended the conditions.
Lootins Plans Failed.
But the fact remains that the plans
for looting the public treasury and
robbing The Indians have failed. The
secretary has acted from the first with
the full knowledge of the president.
and il the conditions which now pre-
sent themselves are considered it will
be apparent that he has not gone far
wrong. In the Indian territory the
land grabbers have not secured an acre
Of land which belongs to any Indian
In IL n of the five tribes. In the
kioWa-Comanche country four-f1fths OF
the money derived from the sale of
town lots in Lawton. Anadarko and
Hobart Is In the United States treas
ury to be expended for public Improve
ments in the towns and country.
The secretary is not responsible for
the acts Of the members OF the Dawes
commission. That commission was
created by congress and it's members
We're appointed by the president.