davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

iotment away from her? Has he been
good husband and father? And so 1t
VIII go, until the learned commissioners
get their heads together over the final
probiem-considering his past record, his
associates and the advancement he has
made under the advantages he has had.
can this Indian be trusted to manage his
own affairs? If we set him adrift will
ne eaten the suckers or will he be swal-
ioWed by the sharks? Or will he paddle
ms own canoe safely between the Scylla
OF land grabbers and the ,Charybdis OF the
rum seller?
Then the final verdict At the end OF the
session Poor Lo awaits anxiously the form
al POSING OF the list which brands him
as sneep goat or near-goat-near-
a Sne.ep, II you will, for it's a hybrid 'twixt
Owls and Capra
In other words he is listed first. second
or third class. just like a steamship cabin
or european railway compartment. IL
the verdict of the majority of the court
upon full bench be that he is a first
class indian, II means that the judges
Iouho MIN so far advanced and SO well
aDIe 10 handle his own business as to
properly assume the full responsibilities
OF citizenship. including suffrage
II nsted as second class he is deemed
HaIuy competent, as yet, to sbe entirely
Ireeo from the protective influences OF
sovsrnment. and is placed on probation
penang further development But IL
nranded as third class the meaning is
that ne has been found to be a non-com-
petent-a non-progressve-with absolute
need OF every protection which govern
ment has to throw around him.
AND what does the'label carry with It?
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

hungry? These are the conditions of
millions OF Hindus- Suppose they exist
ed at home? Would we not have an un-
rest with a vengeance? 1 refer the ques-
ton to Brother Gompers for answer.
I have before me a list of the wages
the natives are paid. i take them from
the statistical abstract sent by the viceroy
TO the British houses of parliament, and
therefore reliable. At Calcutta carpen-
ters. blacksmiths and masons are now
receiving less than IS a month; and
that would be high average for me-
chanics throughout Hindustan In the
Province of Dude. they are paid less
than So. and at Agra only 81 more.
At Patna able-bodied farm hands re-
cefve less than 50 per month. For this
they work twelve hours a day and in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

OF the appointed reservation. this trib-
bunal will separate the sheep from the
goats, and then again, the near-goats
from the goats proper.
II will hale Poor 10 before II and
sound his business knowledge. his skill
at finance high and low, his ability to
cope with the land CRATER, the gold
brick artist and the green goods broker.
1t will also take squint at his morals
his ideas as 10 meum and teum, and as
TO the number OF wives of his bosom the
law prescribes. II will look him up and
down and crosswise and IL he gets
clean bill of health he will then be given
his allotment of the tribal land, in fee
simple and all that. with his citizenship
thrown in, which means that so long as
he remains sane and solvent In the land
that the Lord gave and the Lord took
away. he can attend to his own business
without the say so of the great White
father. or any of his minions who sit
upon the seats of the mighty I'm WASH
ington. II also means that he becomes
entitled TO the sacred and oft most profit
able privileges OF the ballot. save in one
or two states, barring his vote and an
other where he may run against the
grandfather clause aimed at the imase
of his maker I'm ebony instead OF "copper"
but yet operative against the latter as
well.
But. having been tried only to be found
wanting.Ah he must be listed as either an
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21
MAKING RED VOTERS-N1DIANS ARE TO OBTAIN CITIZENSHIP


necticut divide some 100 Indian votsss
about equally between them.
-.
New York has upward of 300. chiefly
Oneidas, who, within the past generation
have divided their reservation into shares
and have become agricultural citizens IN
contrast with the several thousands OF
Onondagas Senecas and Tuscaroras. who
still live upon their state reservations.
deprived of citizenship.
In. Pennsylvania some two hundred odd
aborigtnes have the ballot In scattered
communities including that of the Corn
planter Senecas OF Warren county. and
the other Indians admitted TO the polls
In the east include upward OF a hundred
descendants OF the Powhatans. near
jamestown. Va. and about 1000 Chero-
KEGS in North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama
and Tennessee. together with over 90
remnants of various tribes In Mississippi.
all Of these figures representing male
citizens of voting age. Louisiana's famous
grandfather clause dEfranchised about
100 of our copper coiored citizens.
With only $4,000 Indians non-citizens
remaining under national guardianship.
and with the competency commissions
about to sort these out by the interesting
process planned. the vexed problem or
the most wronged and most pathetic eie-
ment OF our population would seem 10
be nearing solution. Most Of the pros
pective non-competents, outside the ex-
tremely primitive settlements. are aged
braves and squaws. already so near the
end OF lifes trail that the campfire lights
OF the happy hunting grounds illumine
their furrowed brows. Until the Short
journey Is ended the poetry OF the
brooks. the lore OF the forests and the
spirit voices moaning in the woods will
ever interest them far more than petty
problems OF buy and sell. profit and loss.
Soon the generations farther back along
the way will see the last withered and
coppery finger OF warning pointed at the
row OF gaping Indian schools, OF which
there is one now for every day In the
year.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

made citizens of all members Of the Five
Civilized Tribes In Indian Territory. now
Oklahoma. which new state thus got
about III 600 Indian citizens.
This fall about 1890 Indians will have
a vote, 81, 800 OF these casting their bal
lots in Oklahoma, where most OF the
redskins are democrats.
This privilege of the ballot liz one that
only the states can confer. but Indians
to whom the competency commissions
award citizenship and their lands in
severalty will thereafter have no dif7culty
in voting save In New Mexico and Ne
vada,. which bar all of their race from the
polls. and in Louisiana. where the grand
father clause. refuses the ballot to citi-
zens whose father or grandfather were not
entitled to vote on January 1, 1867. Only
nine other states make any suffrage dis
tinctions as to Indians. Those which
have not severed their tribal relations
are barred from the polls in Michigan,
Montana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin,
while Maine and Washington exclude In
dams not taxed. and Michigan. together
with North Dakota. bars those lacking
the customs of civilization.
New England has some 400 voters OF
aboriginal blood, chiefly the Penobscot
and Passamaquoddy fishermen. basket
makers and guides of Maine and the
Varsity and Herring river tribes OF
Massachusetts,. Rhode Island and Con-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21
1t Had to Be.
JOHN ELFRETH wATKINA

&c IR LAUDER RUNTON. the Eng
- lish specialist. believes that the
prevalence OF appendicitis is due to the
new method of grinding wheat. Well.
he may be right"
The speaker. a Philadelphia physician.
smiled and resumed:
His belief is certainly sounder than
the belief that appendicitis is fad and
fake. good many people. because
few OF their friends have been operated
on, hold that last belief. And they like
to tell the story OF the consultation that
once heard Sir Lauder Brunton tell In
Caxton Hall.
He said a millionaire lay very Ill. and
the family physician called in a special
list. The specialist, after his examina-
ton. said:
appendicitis, I'm inclined to think
Is an operation necessary, professor
the family physician asked.
Necessary cried the professor, ana.
laughing heartily. he led the other 70 the
window. Necessary? he repeated, why.
man, look at that whizzy old motor car %
mine down there. It's 1905 model
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21
~B\QrG the
fiINDUS

some cases have to take grain for their
wages. The average income for all
Hindustan is only about cents a day.
Not long ago there was famine in
southern India. during which the gov
eminent relieved the people by giving
them labor on public improvements. 1t
paid cents to. the diggers and 3
cents to the women who carried the
earth from one place to another in
baskets They worked from daylight
TIL. dark The children were paid 2
up the clods and smooth over the
ground.
The truth is the. Indian empire Is
largely an empire Of paupers. and that Of
paupers surrounded by plenty. Tantalus-
IKE, they are up to the neck i'm the wa
tiers OF poverty. with rich fruits of all
kinds hanging over their heads. When
they grasp for the fruits they vanish.
ana they strive and strive and strive in
VAIN. was struck by this at Calcutta.
Inat capital Is known as the CITY OF
faiaces, but 1T Is also city of novels
IL mas It's thousands Of splendid carria ges
ana automobiles, with coachmen and
chauHeurs In the most gorgeous liveries
III mas rich Engifshmen and native ra iahs
and nabobs who are loaded with Jewels:
out with them Is want so keen that ii
cuts to the heart There are thousands
upon the street who go almost naked
The dress OF the common people is such
that the legs OF the women are often
bare to the knees and of the men to the
thighs. The bones are clad only in sinewS
and skin. There is not enough meat on
the legs to tempt a hungry dog. They are
as straight as a pipe stem, the swelling
OF the calves being absent The arms
show nothing but bones. The poor Ben
gall corresponds to Kipling's description
OF the woman who was "a rag, a bone
and hank of hair" save that there is
now and then stringy muscle thrown in.
These people work almost naked and
their whole forms may be seen 1 have
spent some time watching them bathing
in the Ganges. The water Clues the
clothes to the skin, and you see thou
sands of skeletons bathing and praying.
And then the homes of the people. Out
side the mansions of the rich, which face
the Madam and the fine buildings of the
government, and the palaces of a few
rajahs, the native quarters of Calcutta
are largely composed of homes no bigger
thgn packing cases. The stores are mere
holes in the walls. Whole families live
in one room, and even Gun. In the country
the huts areSso small that the beds are
set outside In the daytime.
/ have Travelled extensively among the
farmers of many countries, but l know
of no place where they work so hard for
so little. This is an agricultural nation
Two-thirds Of the people rely upon farm
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

to 1t during his administration not only
that the Indian agents were put out or
business, but that the wards of the ma
tfon should not receive citizenship until
deemed competent to exercise property
rights and receive fee-simple patents to
their allotted lands. For several years
the Indians competency has been passed
upon in individual cases. but lately the
applicants for the test have been SO
many that another expedient had to be
devised. So the commission experiment
was recently tried among 200 OF the
Omahas, $40 of whom were listed as
first-class. 200 as second-class and only
100 as third-cfass men. Thus a majority
got their citizenship and now another
competency commission is about to ex-
anime the Umatilla reservation, in Ore
gon. Ultimately each reservation con-
tanning a reasonable number of progress
i've Indians will be sorted out in the
same manner.
We already have 162, 129 red citizens.
they tell me at the Indian bureau. This
means that less than half the 1904 In
dams of the country remain wards of the
nation. About 10000 got their citizenship
rights under the general allotment act OF
1887. and nine years ago a special act
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

In addition there are small dishes for
curry and condiments. All eat with their
fingers. and the men always first.
1t is a weIl-to-do family that has two
good meals a day. / am told that not
one-third Of the natives can afford to eat
rice, and that the majority live on flour
made OF coarse grains, which they cook
up into unleavened cakes called chup-
PATHS
1 have never eaten with the Hindus.
They would not tolerate my touching
their food, for this would make them
lose caste and lead to damnation-
The whole nation seems to live from
hand to mouth, and the result Is that a
short crop always causes a famine. This
has been so for centuries. One hundred
and forty years ago a famine in Bengal
caused the death of ten millions. and
seventy-odd years since eight millions
starved in one province Famines are so
common that the British government
keeps fund in reserve which II adds to
every year, and it has a regular system
of taking care of the people by employ
ing them on public works at such times.
During the famine OF 1896 more than
one million rations were issued each day,
and notwithstanding that almost a mil
lion people died of disease or starvation.
The people live so closely that they have
no reserve force, and when their food is
cut down they drop off like sheep. In
some parts of India the population is SO
dense that 1t does not increase from year
to year, the natural growth, which goes
on over the rest Of the world, being abb
sent.
A striking evidence of the poverty OF
India is the absolute lack of comforts
which is everywhere seen The peasants
live more like animals than men. They
will sleep anywhere. see them lying on
the floors of the railway stations with
nothing but thin piece of cotton between
their bones and the stone. In the towns
there are public lodging places, where the
accommodations cost from 1 to cents a
night. The ordinary farmer saves his
cent, and camps outside. The most COM
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21
MIS NAM GETS ONE CENT PER. Hour

fifteen feet square, without doors or win
dows. The floor is plastered with cow
dung, and the furniture is q rope bed and
a few pots and pans. The house is usu-
ally matched with straw. and its interior
is as bare as a barn. II seldom has more
than one room, and in this the whole
family accommodates itself as 1t can.
The stove is a fireplace made of three or
four bricks set on end, and the cooking
is done in pots and pans. There are no
chimneys. and the smoke finds its way
out of the door and from under the caves.
of such huts. In riding across India you
see these everywhere dotting the land
scape. They are built along mud roads
and have none of the surroundings or
conveniences Of American towns. There
are no big schoolhouses or churches. no
street lamps. no cutters and no sidewalks.
There is an absence of painting and
whitewash. the only outside decoration
being Jumps Of brown cow dung of
the size and shape of fat buckwheat
cake. These are the fuel of the people,
plastered upon the walls of the hut to
dry. This stuff is picked up by the wom-
en- and girls. who follow the cattle. They
carry the droppings to their houses and
mix them with dirt. pattingpthem into
shape with their bare hands. Such fuel
is used all over India. and the women in
variably collect it,
The Hindu peasants have made feeding
will suffice to keep them alive, and they
eat little more. They save everything
and cook just enough. Their diet is
chiefly beans. millet and coarse grains,
with chilli peppers and other condiments
They seldom have meat, and the castles
of many of them are. such that they
would die rather than eat beef or pork
They consider the COW holy, and would
as soon think of chewing their grand
parents as a tenderloin' steak They use
rancid melted butter called ghee.
The Indian farmer. rises at daybreak
and takes with him a snack of cold food
to the field. At noon his wife brings him
a hot dinner. He eats first and she takes
what is left. At home the people eat
off the floor. II they. are rich they have
several large dishes; If poor one or two.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

PY Brand-New Process
- Competency Commits
sions to Sort Various Res
ervations Into Competents,
Non-Competents and Proba-
tioners-Will Sit as Courts
and Examine Each Adult
Questions to Be Asked-In-
teresting Course of Sprouts
for Practitioners - Will Be
Fast Educated for Citizen
ship-New Solution of Vexed
Indian Problem Promised
Public Wards to Be Rapidly
Observation-Disclosures of In
dian Voters This Fall
Thousands in the East Little
Heard Of.
Copyright. 1910. by John Elfreth watkins,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

u rdcllitate the erSt-
while slow and
tedious process of
making citizens
and voters out OF
the nations cop
perry wards the
Indian bureau has
hit upon the idea
of the "competen-
cy commission"
Sitting a m 1 d
the brisfIing taneea
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

ing as their principal business. and this
means about 200 OOO, 600 There are more
than 100000, 900 here who work In the
soil. and there are 100000 men, women
and children who actually farm. If every
man, woman and child in the United
States should go out in the fields every
day to dig up the land or harvest the
crops. yoI would have the farming sit
uation in India. In addition. there are
some millions engaged i'm stock grazing
and two or three millions who take care
of domestic animals of various kinds.
The wages of these farmers are low
beyond American conception. The en-
ployes are often paid in kind. getting. in
some cases, their food and a small per-
centase of the crop. Where money is
paid. the wages do not averages g. %
per month, and nowhere, except in As
sam. do they rise to 81. In the valley
of the Gauges, where the soil is as fat
as that of the Nile. the average wage is
$50 monthly. and in the province of
Dude IL is SIPS. In addition to this,
some of the, laborers are bond servants,
who get only their living. and a cent
now and then for a feast.
The farmers who have their own lands
are mortgaged up to their eyes, and the
money lender and the tax collector give
them no peace. The government levies
on real estate have been advancing. The
agitators claim they are Ax0rb3tantly
nigh In. comparison, and a cstrrent book
on India states that one-eighth of the
entire farming population OF Madras has
been sold out of house and home within
less than decade. Not only their farms.
but their furniture and personal belong
ings, have been taken for taxes. On the
other hand, 1t is claimed that the tax
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

Sosays - AopSiSSS Va
A circumspect triumvirate will be his
Judges-men well learned I'm American
ways aboriginal and well posted on the
problem OF the red man. practical and
theoretical In the center of the bench
viii sit the reservation superintendent,
that overload of the tribesmen, who came
TO them by running the gauntlet of the
civil service examiners functionary Sc
lected on his merits to replace the old
time Indian agent" chosen because of
political pull and all which that implies.
This chief judge knows them all by
name and deed and reputation. His judg-
ment will be from the standpoint Of a
father.
On his one hand will be seated a special
agent of the Indian service, an official
with a broad knowledge Of red men In
general, whose duty has taken him up
and down the great western trail many a
time and oft, and who can accurately
measure one tribe against another He
will judge from the viewpoint OF a critic
And on the other side will sit the lay
member of the tribunal. a private cifi-
zen from the near community, who has
an intimate acquaintance with the tribe
and who is familiar with its reputation
among the whites with whom IL deals
His viefooint will be that Of neighbour.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

alton today is less than IT has ever been.
and that IT is lighter per head than the
taxes of any other country of the world
We pay thirteen times as much taxes
per head as the Hindus. The Russians
pay eight times as much and the Eng
lish twenty times as much.
Indeed, we shall have to look outside
the government for the causes of India s
poverty. We can find one in the nature
of the people, which leads them to bor-
row whenever they can. and in the money
sharks who lend at usuriouS rates upon
their crops and lands. In many such
cases the interest is taken In kind, the
shark having his agent on the ground
and grabbing share OF the grain as IT
comes from the threshing. The usual
rate of interest is "a per cent per annum.
and many foreigners are paying per
cent month and upward. In the in
terror of India the banks charge as much
as 10 per cent per annum, although the
government itself has recently been lend
ing the farmers something like 100000
at ) or per cent.
There is no country where banking Is SO
much of business. There are castles
here who thoroughly understand the
breeding value of interest. and there are
altogether in India 400, coo bankers and
money lenders of whom more than 10000
are women. Much money is loaned upon
real estate mortgages, and from this the
bankers are getting hold of the land. In
some provinces much as 6S per cent
of1the scountry belongs to them. and in
Others 40 and 30 per cent.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

nNE Hundred Million
ers and What
They Get-Carpenters and
Blacksmiths for Two Cents
an Hour-India Has Eight
Hundred Thousand Shoe
makers and a Million Bar
bers = How the Peasants
Live - Their Homes and
Their Starvation Diet-The
Money Sharks Who Charge
Twenty-four Per Cent-Poor-
ly Paid Government Clerks
The Factory Hands at Bonn
bay and Elsewhere.
Copyright. 1910 by Frank G. carpen.er)
Special Correspondence of The Star
ALLAHABAD. 1910.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21
1910.

HE unrest OF India
is largely a mat
ter of wages.
Suppose you had
to work for 1
or 2 cents an
hour? Suppose
you could have
only one square
meal every day,
and night after
night your family
should go to bed