The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-16
THE TWIN rnRR1ronrns.
The Organization and Government of
 Indian Territory.

By treaties negotiated during the ad.
 ministration of President Jackson. the lSncrokees. Creeks, Seminoles Chicka-
 saws and Choctaws surrendered their
 lands east of the Mississippi River and
 eisewhere, and emigrated to Indian Ter
 ritory This region. then uninhabited and
 greatly larger than its present dimcn-
 sions, the United States by various treat.
 les apportoned among these five tribes
 ceded to each it's share in perpetuum with
 the right of self-government, and guar.
 anteed to them all that they never should
 pc subjected to the Jurisdiction Of ary
 State or Territofy. Thus they lived with
 the whole West for their hunting grounds | and absolutely ungoverned except by their own customs and laws, until the war of the rebellion. when they ailIed themselves with the Confederacy. After peace was declared, instead of treatln9 them as enemies and confiscating tnelr lands. as 1t had the right to do, the United States recognized the old treaties as still in force. but did nevertheless, out of the necessities of the times, secure in 1866 additional treaties which, among other things. nulified all agreements made with the Confederate States; repealed ail confiscation laws; freed their slaves, who afterward were made members of the tribes and amply provided for; estab- lished United States Courts in Chicka- saw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations, which. however. were not to interfere with the local judiciary, and contained a further provision whereby each nation agreed to such legislation as Congress might deem necessary for the better ad- ministration of justice in Indian Terri tory.
 These tribal governments did not work well. They were weak, partisan, arbi- trary and corrupt Hordes of designing white men. h0th hv couptx,a rca o~a s..
 hance Of the Indians, settled in the Ter ritory and by marriage and adoption were made citizens of the different tribes.
 With their half-breed offspring they be- came chiefs and rulers; but they used | their power for oppression and fraud. They issued bonds and warrants for ille- gal purposes. robbed the treasurles, stole the taxes. sold rights and privileges for poodle, inaugurated a grand system of graft, appropriated the mines and the timber, segregated vast areas of pasture lands for their own use. There was great wealth among the few and want among the many. A veritable reign of tyranny, terror, and disorder prevailed. and the life and property of none except the most powerful and wicked were secure These outrageous conditions became intolera bie
 but the only remedy lay in a violation of the treaties. and this the United States proceeded In part to do. About half the lands which had been ceded as above described to the five tribes was taken away In 1890. placed under a territorial form of government called Oklahoma. Over the remaining portion a United States Court was established, with juris- diction both in criminal and civil cases
 There was ample Justification morally and legally for this drastic procedure The tribes induced or allowed thousands of American citizens to settle within their boundaries. An American government thereupon, as none other was possible, became necessary and inevitable. More- over. the Indians, by suffering individuals to appropriate large tracts of land out of their public domain, did of themselves violate the treaty stipulation. expressed or understood. In the case of all the tribes. which provided that every Indian shall have an equal right with every other Indian in each and every portion of the Territory" So much for the moral phase. Now. as a legal proposition, the Supreme Court has decided that, in point of law a treaty is of no more sanctity than statute. and that no prior acts of Congress can prevent 1t, at subso- quent session. from resembling the one or repeating the other. The Indians who are not citizens of the United States are regarded as in a condition of pupilage or dependency. and subject to the paramount authority of the Federal Government.
 Being satisfied with the morality and legality of Its control, Congress took these preliminary steps which signalized 1890 as the year of the new birth for Indian Ter ritory, Had all officials in charge since that date been honest and faithful thls legislation would have sped that which followed. and the land of the live civilized tribes would be ready today for a State or Territorial form of government. But politics and corruption have done their worst. Without exaggeration the greatest crime of this generation has been conn mitted in a neglected region in the very heart of the nation. Over 100000 white and black American citizens are living under a caliphate as arbitrary and as wrong in principle and debauched in fact as any in Turkey. Except within the cor poorate limits of towns and cities there Is no law by which taxes can be raised for bridges. roads, prisons. asylums, or schools. The guilty often escape because justice is handicapped The insane are shackled and chained like wild beasts to a stake. and thousands of children are growing up Tn ignorance and crime be- cause of the want of free instruction.
 Near 5000 Indian citizens, illiterate, half savage. with no business instinct and with all the weakness and vices of their race, are the helpless victims of agents, inspectors. commissioners, and tnSlT pdlS, many OL WHOHlt IT IcpollS uS true. ought now to be in the penitentiary. Some 20,0OOO0O acres of land of untold value. owned indiscriminately by infants, women, idiots and incompetent barbar- fans, are being filched from their possess sion by the connivance of many of the very men sworn to protect them. oil wells producing thousands of barrels a day are already gone The extensive coal fields are going, and even home- steads which were supposed to be in- alienable for twenty-one years rest upon shaky titles. If this fraud and great wrong Is not stopped it will not be long before the United States will have le- gions of paupers and an army of desper- ate warriors to take care of and handle. Last year Congress had to appropriate $l5O00 for the relief of indigent Indians living in the midst of wealth in the Creek Nation alone. This startling fact should serve as a warning.
 fn order to understand how injustice on such a gigantic scale can be practice ed, a knowledge of the form of govern ment existing at present in Indian Ter ritory is necessary. Affairs are admin istered by the Interior Department, the United States courts, and to some extent. by tribal authorities. The latter deal only with insignificant and peculiarly tribal matters. The courts are four in number and with their commissioners try all civil and criminal cases. The In- terior Department acts through an agent. an inspector, and the Dawes Commis- sion. The agent regulates trade and commerce under the law between Indians and whites, collects royalties. taxes, and payments due to the tribes. acts as