The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-07-31
NEW SYSTEM FOR
PAYING INDIANS
RIVALRY OF TWO TOWNS SHOWS
PRESENT PLANS DEFECTS -
WHITE TRADERS CHANCES.

The rivalry between two Oklahoma
! towns, which only recently became
public, together with the attitude ta-
ken 10y various Indian leaders, may
end in the entire change of the pres
/ pnt system of payment now in use
! by the government
The town of Hominy, possibly with
ont the knowledge OF all of its in
habitants, has started a movement
through Representative Bird S. Nc
! CURE of the First congressional dis
| trict. to have government Indian pay
ments made there, instead of at Paw
hnslla, present capital of the Usage
nation" or county, in which Hominy
also is located.
What action Congressman Mcclure
has taken, or whether he has taken
any action at all, is not known, but
Judging from the few facts that have
been brought back to Hominy from
Washington, the present system of
paving the Indians in one spot and
herding them together for the pay
ment. soon will be a thing of the
past.
The system now in use never has
been popular among the Indian lead
ers and the reasons are obvious. In
the first place, the Indian is inclined
to be a reckless spender, and where
he can obtain credit, is likely to use
It. AS long as he has TO go to some
certain place to collect the money
which the government sends to him
regularly, there will be shrewd white
traders who will trust him for what
he wants, and take their chances of
waiting for him at the place of pay
ment and there collecting what is
due them.
When these men wait at the gov
eminent station, the real" money
which the Indian gets, doesn't last
very long, as the experience of
trader in the Cherokee country near
Muskosee will show. This man, some
what backward about 'dunning" his
debtors, hung around on the farthest
end of the line of creditors, waiting
for those who owed him. As a result
Of his reticence. he collected less
than $1,000 of s21,000 owing to him
and within the next few weeks he
failed.
Many Of these traders are good men
and so into that line of work be-
cause il is good business, and an ac
comnOdltion to the indians. but no
matter how good their intentions,
dans, the system is bound to be
bud for the tribesmen, because OF
the tact that it initiates against any
disposition to save that members OF
the tribes may have.
One of the rhief opponents of the |
system up to the time of his death /.
was Quanah Parker. chief of the Com. /
anches. and one of the greatest Of !
the 'red-blanket' Indians. Parker |
pointed out that the indians desire |
to drink was whetted by the oppor.
tunity which such a great gathering |
gave for the display of good fellow. |
ship, and Parker's argument was
supported by facts.
More than once around the GOV.
ernment reservation in Comanche |
county. on which live the survivors
of the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache
tribes, times for payment have ended
in sort of general spree which
on The Indians or the system by
which they We're paid
The argument that such occur.
rences are out OF place in a dry
state is laughaDle. because despite
the efforts of government sleuths. the
buotlegeer will be present though
not so much in evidence. at every
Indian payment.
Many of the illegal liquor dealers
have been arrested and especially
We're times hard for them during the
'r2lmy' days before "Pussyfoot"
Johnson was transferred to Colorado
territory. but there is not yet record,
ed an Indian payment in which liQ-
nor did not play an important part
oklahoma.