The Topeka state journal., 1905-12-05


park should be extended to the south
and east to takeein such portions OF
the abutting forest reservation as VIII
enable the government to project th1
elk on their winter range
The most characteristic animal OF
the western plains was the great sIlaS-
gy-maned wild OK, the bison, commonly
known as buffalo Small fragments OF
herds exist in a donestcated state @ mere
and there, few of them in the ell
lowstone park. Such a herd as thar on
the Flathead reservation should not Dc
allowed to go out of existence E.llleI E
on some reservation or on some AoISsS
reserve like the Wichita reserve ~ IL
for the preservation Of such q ilsl u u
l believe that the scheme Woulu " "
economic advantage, for the rops "a
the buffalo is of high market Vai4e'
and the same is true OF the rope u 1iiS
crossbred animals.
Life Saving Service.
7 call vo1lr especial attention to the
desirability of giving to the members
of the life-saving service pensions sucl
as are given to firemen and policemen
in all our great cities. Ihe men IL u
life-saVing service continually anu Al
the most matter of fact way DO oeeas
such as make Americans proud OF their
country. They have no political lnIiu-
ence: and they live in such remote
places that the really heroic services
they continually render receive ths
scantiest recognition from the public
It is unjust for a great nation like this
to permit these men to become totally
disabled or TO meet death in the per-
fOrmance of their hazardous duty ana
yet to give them no sort of reward. II
one of them serves thirty years of his
life in such position he should surely
be entitled to retire on half pay, as
fireman or policeman does, and If he
becomes totally tncapacitated through
accident or sickness or loses his health
in the discharge of his duty, he or his
family should receive a pension just as
any soldier should. I call your atten-
ton with especial earnestness to this
matter because it appeals not only to
our judgment but to our sympathy; for
the people on whose behalf ask it are
comparatively few in number, render
incalculable service of particularly
dangerous kind, and have no one to
speak for them.
During the year just past, the phase
of the Indian question which has been
most sharply brought to pubic atten-
ton 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 a party
defendant and in a more widespread
disposition to levy local taxation upon
his personality, but in a 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 intemDerance The court
holds. in effect. that when an 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
matters as this, and the acts of the
congress prohibiting the sale or gift to
him of intoxicaDts become substantial
" imperative. It 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
up this subject and are trying to sup
ply, in measure at least, the abdica-
ton OF its trusteeship forced upon the
federal government. Nevertheless
would urgently press upon the atten-
uon OF the congress the question
whether some amendment of the in
ternaI revenue laws might not he of
ald IN prosecuting those maIefactors.
known IN the Indian country as tshoof-
ieggers, who are engaged at once in
ueIrauding the United States treasury
OF IaXes and, what is far more i'm
portailI IN debauching the Indians bv
carving liquors illicitly into TERRITORY
ton. '-i ) VI i9eiic-
among the crying present needs. of
l ~ Ai.Uialis are more day schools situ-
more effective instruction in the $50,
trles pursued on their own farms and
a more liberal extension of the 7eId
nlatron service, which means the edl4ca-
Ion OF the indian women in the arts
OF nome making. Until the l71Ofhers . rs
well started in the right direction We
can not reasonably expect much from
the children who are soon to form an
integral part of our American citizen
snip moreover the excuse continually
= Hv~ ,~1l, p
IuslnS OFFERS of remunerative employ
ment at distance from their homes is
that they dare not leave their families
too long out of their sight One effect
uaI remedy for this state of things is to
employ the minds and strengthen the
moral fiber of the Indian women-fbe
end to which the work of the field
matron is especially directed I trust
that the congress will make its appro-
priations for Indian day schools and
held matFonS as generous as may CON
sist with the other pressing demands
upon its providence
The Philippines.
During the last year the PhiliDDine
Islands have been slowly recovering
from the series Of disasters which, since
American occupation, have greatly re-
duced the amount of agricultural pro-
ducts below what was produced in
Spanish times. The war the rinderpest.
the locusts, the drought, and the cholera
have been united a s causes to prevent
return of the prosperity much needed
in the islands. The most serious is the
destruction by the rinderpest of more
than rs per cent of the draft cattle. be
cause it viii take several years of breed
ing to restore the necessary number of
these Indispensable aids to agriculture
The commission attempted to supply by
purchase from adjoining countries the
needed cattle but the experiments made
were unsuccessful Most of the cattle
imported were unable to Withstand the
change of climate and the rigors of the
voyage and died from other diseases
than rinderDest
The income of the Philippine govern
ment has necessarily been reduced by
reason of the business and agricultural
depression in the islands, and the gov