Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-19
THE INDIANS INTEREST
OPENING OF THE ANNUAL CON-
FERENCE AT MoHoNK TODAY.
$50 Delegates in Attendance-Chas. ].
Bonaparte Presides and Speaks
Gen. Whittlesey's Report.

| AWFUL IJU utteSdltS were pTeSeut tOudg
when the twenty-second annual Indian con-
| ference was called to order. Charles J..
| Bonaparte, member of the board of Indian
chairman.
In his address Mr.. Bonaparte quoted at
I some length from the report made to the
/ Secretary of the Interior last March by the
| special commission. of which he was a mem
| ber appointed by President Roosevelt to in
| vestigate the allotment of lands belonging
to the five civilized tribes of the Indian Ter
| ritory. Referring to the condemnation WIS.,
| tied In that report upon the white men who.
1t was held, had taken advantage of GER
| tain regulations adopted by the Dawes COM
! mission in the selection of lands to defraud
the Indians of their rightful property.
| Mr.. Bonaparte said 1t would have been
| quite impossible for an impartial and rea-
| sonable person to reach different con-
| clusfon from the facts brought to the
knowledge of the special commission. After
| reviewing the wrongs and injustices suffer-
| ed by the indians under the operations of
| the present laws, the speaker quoted from
that paragraph in the report which says:
| Despair Among Indians.
'In view of these facts 1t is not surpris-
| ing that profound encouragement and
| feeling akin to despair should be widely
prevalent among the genuine Indians.
| Comparatively few complaints are heard
! from this part of the population; usually
| they grieve, and pine In silence; but we be-
| lieve there is grave danger lest, within the
space Of a generation, all that will remain
/ of the Indians to whom the United States
solemnly guaranteed the perpetual enjoy
ment Of their lands. well protection
| from domestic strife, from hostile invasion
| and from aggression by other Indians and
white persons in opposition to their jurisdic-
| ton and laws. may be a few thousand
| hopeless and degraded paupers and va
4 grants, objects of contemptuous charity in
the country thus assured to their ancestors
| forever
In conclusion Mr.. Bonaparte said: 81 am
overcharitable to official sins. but the in
| vestigation L conducted last winter has left
| me convinced that our President and our
Secretary of the Interior are earnest and
| unselfish friends of the Indian, and on the
| whole l found few public servants to con-
denim and comparatively venial faults to
| lay to the charge of the most among these.
| Individual delnquencieS undoubtedly exist
and add to the evils flowing from more
| general causes; but I believe that we shall
| better serve the interest of the Indian if We
| try to see ourselves and have the people
| see, and, having seen, remove the latter.
| than If we give overmuch OF our time and
| thought to the former"
Whittlesey's Report.
| Gen. E. Whittlesey of the board of Indian
commissioners gave resume of the years
Woih ohioiiSo thS 1huietAo> ~hAhoh6 Oe4fNA
| things, the report says:
| During the year the number of allot-
| ments approved is 49, and 1856 patents have
| been delivered to Indians. Allotment work
| is still in progress.
Nearly 400 leases of allotted land have
] been made within the year. aggregating
| 10000 acres at rates varying from 3 cents
! to So an acre. No adult Indian is, how
| ever, allowed to lease his entire allotment
| unless he is making livelihood by some
other occupation Forty acres must be re-
served from each lease.
| Under the law of May %, 1902. authoriz-
| ing the sale OF inherited lands, the Indian
| is parting with his inherited estate at the
| te,-of about 5000 acres a. month. over
| 10000 acres were disposed of in fifteen
| months ending last JuHe at an average of
| nearly SIT per acre. The lands are bought
i by spectators. rather than those seeking
| homes; and as for the Indian himself the
| prices secured are reasonable. the purchase
money by one while or another is rapidly
transferred to the white mans pockets and
more often than any other way by the route
| of dissipation. To check this demoraliza-
| ton ruling has just been made that the
/ Iodian heir who petitions for the sale or
| his inherited lands shall agree to have the
proceeds deposited in some nearby United
| States depository subject to the check OF
| the Indian owner to the extent Of not more
than $40 month and only with the consent
OF the agent Endorsed on the check; or If for
more than $40 month, with the specific APP
pr oval of the Indian Office.
Indian Education.
THE enrolment of Indians in all schools
has been brought up to 29,47s, an increase
IF t0e7 pupils over last year. The average
attendance is % 1O4 an increase Of 722 over
last year. The increase is all in boarding
schools and mainly in government schools
off reservations. The day schools show a
slight falling off. About 81 per cent (9300)
Of the attendance in government schools is
gathered in schools off the reservations.
Congress legislates such schools into exist
| ence against the judgment of the Indian
office, which advocates more stress upon
| schools nearer the homes of the Indians.
| Tie five civilized tribes are not included
| in the above figures.
''The great need for education in the In
dian territory is among the $4,000 I'M
| schooled white children and thousands of
freemen. Under existing law school taxes
| can be levied only in Incorporated towns.
No public schools therefore. are supported
| in country districts, and only very few
subscription schools. The Choctaws. Cher
okees and Creeks admit white children to
their day schools, but not to their acad-
efnies, on a payment of 81 per month.
The Chickasaws exclude them. A very
small beginning toward supplying this cry
ing need was made last spring by an APP
preparation of 100000 to be used for en-
| largtng tribal schools, for placing in those
school children who do not belong to the
tribes, and for establishing new schools.
management OF Agencies.
"Only twenty-five agencies are now un-
der politically appointed agents. Indians
formerly under forty agencies are now
under fifty-six school superintendent and
six farmers and other officials. The d.
vision of large agencies into smaller tracts
of supervision has given the Indians the
benefit of closer contact with those into
whose hands their interests are intrusted.
and those in charge have a much better
opportunity to know what the Indians need
| and how best to. supply 1t. whether it be
helping prodding.
"Sales of liquor to Indians still go on
with little check, partly because Congress
has not granted the request of the Indian
Office for an appropriation out of which
the cost of employing detectives and OBJ
tanning evidence against liquor sellers
/ could be met With only the insufficient
funds of the Department of Justice to
draw on. first offenses are overlooked and
| only the more fragrant violators of law
are prosecuted
Commissioners Jones' Address.
Commissioner Jones Of the Indian bureau
spoke of the good results of the abolition of
the free ration system and of other reforms
instituted in the Indian service. ''The
blanket, the feathers and the long hair