Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-06
URGES PENSIONS
FOR LIFE SAVING
SERVICE MEN

desirability of giving to the members
of the life saving service pensions such
as are given to firemen and policemen
In all our great cities The men In the
life saving service continually and in
the most matter of fact way do deeds
such as make Americans proud of their
country They have no political infiu-
ence; and they live in such remote
places that the really heroic services
they continually render receive the
scantiest recognition from the public.
1t is unjust for a great nation like this
to permit these men to become totally
disabled or to meet death in the per-
Torrance of their hazardous duty and
yet to give them no sort of reward.
If one of them serves thirty years of
his life in such a position he should
as fireman or policeman does, and if
he becomes totally incapacitated
through accident or sickness or loses
his health in the discharge of his duty
he or his family should receive a PEN
sion just as any soldier should. l call
your attention with especial earnest
ness to this matter because it appeals
not only to our judgment but to our
sympathy; for the people on whose be-
half l ask it are comparatively few in
number, render incalculable service of
a particularly dangerous kind, and have
no one to speak for them.
Indian Question
During the year just past, the phase
Of the Indian question which has been
most sharply brought to public atten-
tion is the larger legal significance of
the Indians induction into citizenship.
This has made itself manifest not only
in a great access of litigation in which
the citizen Indian figures as party de-
fendant and in a more widespread dis
position to levy local taxation upon
his personality, but In decision of the
United States supreme court which
struck away the main prop on which
has hitherto rested the governments
benevolent effort to protect him against
the evils of intemperance. The court
holds, in effect, that when all Indian
becomes, by virtue of an allotment of
land to him, a citizen of the state in
which his land is situated, he passes
from under federal control in such mat
ters as this, and the acts of the con-
gress prohibiting the sale or gift to
him Of intoxicants became substantial
ly imperative. 1t is gratifying to note
that the states and municipalities of
the west which have most at stake in
the welfare of the Indians are taking
un this subject and are trying to sup
nly in measure at least, the abdica-
tion of its trusteeship forced upon the
federal government. Nevertheless.
would urgently press upon the atten-
tion Of the congress the question
whether some amendment of the inter-
nal revenue laws might not be of aid
in prosecuting those malefactorS.
known in the Indian country as "boot-
lepgers" who are engaged at once in
defrauding the United States treasury
of taxes and, what is far more import =
ant in debauching the Indians by
carrying liquors illicitly into territory
still completely under federal jurisdic-
tion,
More Instruction for Indians
Among the crying present needs of
the Indians are more day schools Situ-
ated in the midst of their settlements,
more effective instruction in the in
dustries pursued on their own farms,
and a more liberal extension of the
field matron service, which means the
education of the Indian women in the
arts of home making. Until the moth
ers are well started in the right di-
rection we cannot reasonably expect
much from the children who are soon
to form an integral part of our Ameri-
can citizenship. Moreover, the excuse
continually advanced by male adult
Indians for refusing offers of remuner-
ative employment at a distance from
their homes is that they dare not leave
their families too long out of their
sight. One effectual remedy for this
state of things is to employ the minds
and strengthen the moral fiber of the
Indian women-the end to which the
work of the field matron is especially
directed. / trust that the congress will
make its appropriations for Indian day
schools and field matrons as generous
as may consist with the other passing
demands upon it's providence.