Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-16
BOOK REVIEWS.
THE INDIAN AND HIS PROBLEM. BY

THE INDIAN AND HIS PROBLEM. b,
Francis K. Leupp. formerly Unitet
States Commissioner Of Indian AZ
fairs. New York: Charles Scribner'
Sons. Washington: Brentano's.
rF every voter in the United State
could read this illuminative work b,
the former commissioner of 1ndial
affairs, with a free mind and a de
sire to understand the Indian prob
lem in all of its aspects. and to apply
to 1t such remedies of solution as eX
perience suggests and common sense ant
humanity dictate, the new day of which
Mr.. Leupp tells. the day when there viii
no longer be an Indian problem. would
soon he reached. No clearer statement OF
the case has ever been presented to the
American public. No stronger argument
for considering the Indian as a man and
for treating him such rather than a
chattel a freak, or a pauper, could be
addressed to the intelligence of the Amer
lean people Mr.. Leupp has written Il
out of an experience of twenty-five years
of close-range study of the Indian. the
greater part of the time as an unofhcial
observer and an occasional worker in be-
half of the red man, and the latter part
Of the period as the head of the bureau
which administers the affairs of the
tribes.
1t is in an optimistic spirit that Mr.
Ieupp presents his observations He mas
high hopes of the solution of the problem
of what to do with the Indian and how to
do II. Indeed. he says it has now reached
the stage when the solution is almost
wholly matter Of administration. Mere
sentiment has spent it's day., says Mr..
7 he
pretty we'll settled themselves what Is
most needed from this time forth Is the
guidance of affairs by an Independent
mind, active sympathies free from maWk-
ishness an elastic patience and steady
hand"
Many mistakes were made in the begin
ming in the treatment of the Indian py
the white man, mistakes of judgment In
the main: mistakes, in some cases.
caused by fears, but largely of ignorance
of the Indian. his temperament and his
needs. The Indian problem began when
the white man first set his foot upon th1s
continent That it's solution is now ap-
preaching in terms so nearly meeting
the ideal of such clear-headed students of
the matter as Mr.. Leupp. after tour CEN
turtles have passed since the discovery or
America, is no less gratifying because the
Indians have now diminished, according
TO the best estimates, from an original
300 600 to a remnant of 100000.
The doctrine of Indian treatment advo-
Gated by Mr.. Leupp. and as far as the
laws have permitted, carried into erect
by him In his administration of the In
dian bureau, is based upon simple
principle that the Indian is man cap
able Of advancement to a certain meas
nre, adjustable to conditions If given a
fair opportunity and subject to no wider
range of tendencies inimical to the white
mans interest than Is the white man
himself in his attitude toward his own
kind. In other words Mr. Leupp sets
forth the Indian as he is in life, not the
overdrawn hero of fiction. the naughty
lord Of the plains. imbued with all the
higher virtues, that some enthusiasts
would portray him; or the degraded. i'm
moral. vicious. tricky. unteachable sot
and pauper that his detractors have pro-
Gained him to be. Mr.. Leupp sees the
re sees his virtues along with them. and
he decries any tendency toward unfair
generalization, which will heap upon the
Indian unwarranted abuse for failures OF
which he is not guilty as race, or ex-
cessive praise for virtues of which he Is
collectively innocent.
Mr.. Leupp's book is highly entertain
ing from beginning to end. apart
from its intrinsic power as a contribu-
ton to the Indian question. He sur
veys the field broadly. and yet touches
IT in detail. drawing upon his official
amples to demonstrate his larger
propositions. He gets down to the
fundamental basis at every point For
tomorrow is the boundary between
barbarism and civilization. and the only
way the Indian can be carried across
that line is by learning from expert
tomorrow unless today's surplus is
saved over night to meet tomorrow's
Of Mr.. Leupp's doctrine. that the In
dian must be taught independence or
self dependence before he can become
in full sense citizen Of the United
AotA nd
problem. The following paragraph
from the chapter on the working of the
Burke, law gives a clue to Mr. Leupp's
Il have had men of the highest char
acter and standing labor for hours at
time to convince me that was harm
ing the Indian by not giving him at
once whatever belongs to him and
throwing him upon his own resources:
ON the other hand. equally good and
thoughtful men have protested against
what they regarded as my too radical
bent in the opposite direction. He will
never learn to stand alone argued the
taken te hand of him. He is only a
child with mans physical growth. in
sisted the second. and to take your
and be destroyed Undoubtedly the
truth lies somewhere between these ex-
tremes Of opinion. My own policy was
indian as nearby goal. and work to-
ward it as fast as possible 1t is true
that the only way we can teach child
To walk is to let him walk: but this
does not mean that during his first
feeble efforts may not keep an
adul. finger within reach. where he can
clutch il if he feels that he is losing
his balance. So with the Indian, our
aim should always be to give him all
the liberty he can be trusted with at
any stage. but to keep superintendent
within easy call, who, though no longer
transacting all his business for him.
stands ready at any moment to adYise
him If he asks for such help
The Indian is learning these. lessons
that have been set before him, learning
them more rapidly as the processes of
his education become Intelligent and
are more fairly and more honestly ap-
Piled and he viii learn them still more
rapidly in the future as the good work
In correction Of past abuses and mistakes
tina, has been done by such men as
Mr. Leupp IL conducted at an accelerated
pace This volume. with its sound.
sane definition OF facts and portrayal
Of the Indian, will greatly help to ad-
vance the day when the Indian problem
will cease to be, through the assump-
ton by the descendants OF the
aborigines of the citizens burden OF re-
sponsibility.
PREDESTINED; Novel OF New York
Life. BY Stephen French Whitman.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Washington: Brentano's.
The first chapter. a book In substance.
opens the story with seeming excess OF
l.. <kA