Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-10

be utilized; buy at market prices the
products Of the parcels Of land reserved
by the Indians from leasing; run their
own trolley lines out to the remoter points
in the leased district to facilitate the
movement Of the crops Of raw material to
the factory and procure from the steam
railway companies which traverse that
general region such sidinEs and branch
traCkage as may be needed TO bring the
whole neighborhood into transportation
relations with the great world outside
1t would be out Of the question, obviously
to undertake an enterprise as extensive as
this on no better foundation than the five
year leases now allowed by law; the lease
period would have to be extended to
twenty or twenty-five years in order TO
make the project commercially practica-
BILE; but, on the other hand at the end Of
this longer period the capitalists are pre-
pared to turn over to the Indians as their
own forever after, all the improvements
put upon their premises.
"Chronic white Leaser."
Let us see what this would mean to the
Indians. The ordinary Indian male adult,
able-bodied and in the prime Of life, own
ing eighty acres Of land in irrigation
country, has at least sixty acres more
than he knows what to do with, and in
saying this / am giving the Indian the
benefit Of a very liberal estimate Of his
competency. His wife and children are
Of course, INCAPABLE Of taking care Of
their farms, and would be unable to make
effective use Of their crops II they were
This leaves the head OF the family with
his hands. II the department says to
him. you must farm twenty acres your
self, but must lease an the rest he runs
some pretty serious risks, even with the
agent to help him, in finding tenants.
When he returns the land to its Indian
owner its sod cover will have been broken
IT, while the improvements he leaves be
hind him in the way Of buildings, fences.
wells, etc, will barely suffice to satisfy
! the technical terms Of his lease.
Now, suppose that the Indian, instead Of
| having to take his chances with tenants
| Of this sort could rent 500, 100 or 500 acres
OF his family's lands in excess Of what he
| is competent to till himself, TO a company
| with large capital who has set up within
a few miles OF his home factory for con-
/ verting his crops into commercial staple
which Is always in demand at good prices.
! Suppose that the company not only pays
him rent, but improves and extends his
| irriga ting facilities; puts his soil into rich
| condition and keeps il so by intensive
| farming; employs experts to show him how
| to do the same thing with his twenty
/ acres that 1t Is doing with the surplus:
i buys Of him what he raises himself hires
| family who can be spared from the neces-
| sary work on their little homestead; re-
| mains in possession for twenty or twenty
| five years and thus saves the need of find
| ing new tenant at the end Of each FIVE
and, finally, when its occupancy ends, turns
back in improved land, buildings, fences,
! irrigation extensions, etc, a vastly mor-
valuable piece OK property than il took
| over; can anyone question that he is perma-
nently better of, and better equipped for
the rest Of his struggle for a livelihood?
Teach Indian to Work.
But this is not all. Our first duty to the
| indian Is TO TEACH him to work. In this
process the sensible course is to tempt him
I TO the pursuit Of gainful occupation by
| choosing for him at the outset the sort OF
/ work which he finds pleasantest. and the
Indian takes TO beet farming as naturally
| as the Italian takes TO art or the German
to science. 1t has an attraction for hin
above all other forms of agriculture be-
cause 1t affords employment for his whole
family at once the wife and children, who
are 50 large factors in his life can worl
in the beet fields side by side with him
/ Even the little papoose. can be taught e
| weed the rows just as the pickanniny IL
the south can be used as a cotton picker
| am speaking by the card on this subject
for we send hundreds OF Indians into thu
| western beet fields every season to worl
as day laborers, apd my present proposi
ton has in view the utilization Of thest
same laborers and many more, whereve
practicable a their own homes instead o
at distance, and in improving their owl
lands instead Of the lands of other persons
Benefits of the Boss.
On the other hand, the boss hired b,
the beet sugar company for the same pur
pose goes in TO make his Indian gang pro
duce crops Of a certain weight and value
and he will not rest till he does II, becaus
he knows that the solid dollars waiting 70
him at the paymasters Office depend upo
what he can show TO his employers, o.
/ lucH SCdIts OF IN luetT DdIdIlCe sheet, a
substantial reason for their continuin
him in their service. Sordid as the old say
may look at the first glance, it is none
that moves the worldr1uoney, as inter
preted into such elemental terms Of Twin
as food, clothing, shelter. What make
| the capitalist invest in the corporation
the desire to make his accumulated wealt
earn him more Of the comforts and luXurie
| of life; what the corporation works 70
is to keep itself alive by satisfying the IN
weston: what the boss works for is to sup
port himself and his dependents by salts
flying the corporation that employs hin
and what the labOrer works for is TO kee