The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-09
THE DAWES COMMISSIONS Les
SON.


SON.
While we should net have needed
the lesson in government conveyed by
the report of special investigators on
the condition of affairs in the Indian
territory. we ought at least not to miss
it. Could anything be more contra
dictory, more insanely optimistic, more
hopelessly absurd than the proposal by
this government to rule other coun-
tries and peoples far distant from it's
seat Of power without let and without
responsibility, and yet give them eff
cient, decent. orderly government?
Look at the Indian territory and learn
the answer.
Here is case where, If ever. the
authority of the nation might have,
been exercised In Clearly and help
full way, without the check of popular
responsibility. The Indian is historically
the ward" Of this government. We
are accustomed to dealing with him,
and a century of scandals have made
US somewhat wary. The tribes of the
Indian territory are very far advanced
in many respects. They are among the
wealthiest and the most intelligent in
this country. They are able, If any are,
to look. out for and protect their own
interests. Moreover, they are within
the focus of the public eye. Indian
territory is surrounded by states, is
within a few hours journey of one of
the greatest cities of the country, and
can be visited and examined from
| Washingl, in few days without the
slightest practical inconvenience.
The Dawes commission, on the other
hand, enjoys an ancient and not dis
honorable history. Upon it have served
many careful and conscientious men.
1t has had a high record to maintain,
it has had every incentive to honesty,
and it's members have been in receipt
| Of salaries and allowances so liberal as
! to have no need of replenishing these
funds by improper excursions. Yet look
at the result. The same memorable
examiners who delved into the postal
frauds have gone through proceed
| ings in the Indian territory. They find
| everywhere the trail of the CRATER.
They have unearthed irregularities and
| improprieties innumerable. They say
| that the work of the Dawes commits
sion is partly ineffective and partly
| bad, and were 1t not that it is ex-
pected to go out of existence naturally
within a year they would undoubtedly
recommend It's immediate abolition.
| Now this state of things is not due
| to individual frailty or political CHI
cane. 1t is the natural and inevitable
outgrowth of the conditions. Let us
| have a people, with material resources
worth appropriating, put at the mercy
| of another people, no matter how high
their mental and moral status, and
| just such abuses will result. There is
no escape from it, because the causes
are deep-rooted in human nature it
self. 1t is the old story summed UP in
the phrase SO familiar and so eternally
| true, that mo man is wise enough or
| good enough to govern another man
| without that others consent"
| What has happened in the Indian ter
ritory has happened or will happen
] everywhere, with the power to commit
abuses unpublished on the one hand
and people and a country open to
| exploitation on the other. The same
crop that we are reaping in the Indian
| territory is growing white for the har-
vest in Porto Rico, in the Philippines
and elsewhere. The best men and the
| best party on earth could not change
| the immutable law. Human nature
| being what it is, the exercise Of arbi-
trary power by one portion Of the COM
munity over another will breed tyran-
ny, injustice and theft. Yet with this
familiar story ever before our eyes,
large portion of our people are en-
| Enthusiastically bent upon extending the
area of that domain whose chief prod
uct is public plumber When shall we
learn the lesson taught by the Dawes
commission and the Indian territory?
Isn't it taking an unfair advantage
of a girl enemy to send her poisoned