Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-05-25
uruRrR OF ASSOCIATED PRESS.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE INDIAN

$3.50
WHAT TO DO WITH THE INDIAN
"What to do with the Indian is
question that has long engaged tQe
attention and interest of public men
and sociologists and the recent book
of Major Mclaughlin on my Friend
the Indian" has given new interest
to this old topic. The book has been
raceived with interest through all
parts of the country, and the Boston
Transcript, in a recent comment
dwells upon that part OF the book
which deals with the best method OF
dealing With the Indian and his af-
fairs. The Transcript reviewer says:
"Maior James Mclaughlin is one
of the best friends the Indians OF
North America ever had. He was
formerly agent to the Sioux at Dew
ills Lake and Standing Rock agen-
cies in North Dakota, and he has
taken an important part in the gov
ernment's relations with the Indians
for the last thirty-eight years. He
holds the confidence of the Indian
people, and is proud of it, as he has
right to be. His book, in which
he has an intensely interesting story
to tell, is plain recital of his deal
ings with the Indians during this pc
Rod. He deals with the Indian char
acter, with the last great buffalo
hunt, with Sitting Bull, with the bat
tie of the Little Big Horn in which
Custer and his men met annihila-
ton, with the making of Indian trea-
ties, and last, but not least impor-
tant, gives his views on the relation
of the government to the Indians.
The work is handsomely printed and
is we'll illustrated. One is tempted
to quote whole chapters, for the
frank, outspoken manner in which
the book is written contributes some
thing new to our knowledge of the
Indians. This, however, must be re-
served to the reader, and the book
cannot be too widely read, for it Is
the most important book on the Am
ericaa Indian which has appeared
since the writer knew Major Nc
Laughlin at Standing Rock agency
during the ghost dances of 1890. In
the 416 pages of the book there is not
a dull line. The final chapter OF the
book, which deals with the govern
ment's present relations to the In
dian, is commended to the attention
of our national lawmakers. The SIN
gle quotation from this must suffice.
"The treasury of the United States
holds something like thirty-six mil
liam dollars in funds belonging to the
Indians. The fund, as it stands,
might be described as an endowment
for the creation of paupers and the
perpetuation of the present state Of
dependence among the people TO
whose credit it stands In addition
to this fund, the government holds
for the Indians a vast amount in
landed property, the title to a great
deal of which property will pass to
the Indian in rs years after he &C
cepts an allotment. The issuance of
the patent in fee may be expedited by
any Indian who thinks we'll enough
of his heirs to betake himself to the
happy hunting grounds; for in that
event, the land may be sold for the
benefit of the decedent's family. 1t
is quite impossible to value the land
even approximately, but it is worth
many millions of dollars. And, rest
ing as he does under the weight of
this burden OF wealth, getting enough
of it from time to time to keep the
life in his body and prevent him
from exerting himself to any great
extent on his own behalf, the Ameri-
can Indian is fated to die in state
of unthrift and Indulgence, a sort of
half starved ward in chancery. 1t
appears to me that it is the duty of
the government to make some provi.
sion presently for the emancipation
of these unhappy victims, to deliver
them from the evils that guarantee
a future OF ungentle paupery, by Civ.
ing to the Indian his portion and
turning him adrift to work out his
own salvation.
IA This is the problem that confronts
the white man: How is the Indian
to be. saved from himself and his
riches?
ITO me the question admits but one
answer. Give the people the money
they have coming; give it to them
az soon as possible. So soon as the
proper official declares that an In.
dian is competent to administer his
own affairs, let that Indian have his
portion Of the fund, also a patent In
fee for his allotment, and let him
shift for himself. This procedure
would relieve the government of the
care Of these funds and build up