Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-01-04


duced in extenso:
No settled action appears TO have
been laid dcwn in regard to the means
to be resorted to in case OF non-pay-
ment CT the tax. We shall set forth
in the course of this report the acts of
violence of more or less serious ma
ture, either towards individuals or to-
wards populations, which have result
ed from the reason above stated. 1t
must be admitted that agents were
not sufficiently cautioned against ex-
cesses of the nature complained of. 1t
is quite true that the local govern
ment did not omit to send instructions
from time to time recommending gen.
tie and humane dealings with the
natives. But it has rarely happened
that more efficacious means were en-
played. The attractions committed in
the exercise of constraint have rarely
been submitted to Justice. The trl-
bunals, however, especially the higher
tribunal of Bona, have punished, in
conformity with the law, every act of
ill-treatment, every abuse of which
the natives we're victims"
The comm ssion continues its ex-
animation of the means by which the
constraint to work may legitimately
be exercised, and points out the alb
sence of definite instructions under
this heading. The amount of labor
is fixed at a maximum of forty hours
per month; but, as many villages are
at a considerable distance from the
local station various questions arise as
to the system of transit and the actual
amount Of labor required to produce a
given yield of material The native
suffers under many serious disadvan-
tages to a misapplication of the forty
hours rule, by which his labor is in
some instances trebled when judged
on time basis; and the commission
recommends some important modifica-
lions in the present methods of admin
istering the law. In regard to pen
alties attaching to non-fulfilment of la
Dor imposed, the commission gives
qualified approval to the system of
taking hostages, but points out that,
while the state forbids the detention,
as such, of women, the injunction is
not always observed, Even admitting
that women are often worse treated
in their own tribes than in a state
prison, it points out that in many
cases cruelties have been committed
b. sentinels, and that the rate of NOR
tality among the prisoners was con-
! siderable. These abuses, however,
which had been criticesd chiefly by
| English missionaries, have greatly de-
creased in the regions of Lake Leo
pcld H., Lake Turnba and in the dis
tricts of the Weile and Aruwimi.
Unfortunately, the improvement has
not been maintained in regions ex-
plotted by certain commercial socie-
ties, and more particularly as regards
the Abr Company in the Mongolia
district. In the different posts occu-
| pied by this company the imprison-
ment of women as hostages, fiosging
| to excess, and various acts of brutality
are not contested. 1t is the black
! spot on the history of Central African
settlement The evil is largely at
tributed to the employment of native
sentinels, many being of a degraded
and ferocious nature. The commits
SIGN while reserving its credence as
to certain witnesses, is fully satisfied
that the accusations against sentries
are based upon fact. In one village
the alleged number of murders COM
mitted in recent years was, on native
testimony, no less than 120; on the
other hand, during the last seven
months 142 sentinels have been MUIR
dered by the native population. The
director of the Abr had said, "The
sentinel is an evil, but a necessary
evil" an opinion which the commits
sion does not share. The state has
now made a great advance by. forbid
ding the despatch into the villages of
any native member of the public force
unless accompanied by white man:
and the commission now recommends
that the carrying of arms by native
sentinels should be abolished.
The remaining recommendations OF
the commission in this department re-
fer to the substitution of collective
/ for individual enforcement of the Ia
Dor tax, and INVOKING the cooperation
of chiefs by granting them certain
privileges. AS regards the CONNER
cial societies, it is proposed to sup
press entirely their rights to use force.
Which should be vested in the supreme
authority. Coming to (3) the question
of military expeditions, the commits
sion generally criticises the slackness
in distinguishing between pacific visits
of inspection and punitive expeditions.
The laws of the state guarantee per-
sonal liberty, but for reasons stated
the local government often contests
the right of the native to move from
one district to another The native
generally takes this step to avoid the
labor tax, but this, in the opinion of
the commission, does not justify the
use of force. In punitive expeditions
more discrimination is needed in the
system of attack, and many lives are
t.