Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-04-05
T INDIAN WAR
TOLD OF BY HASKIN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskip

WASHINGTON, April 4.-Should
the Indian be converted into a good
American, who goes to school and
church, wears a coat and vest, works
hard and makes money, or should
he be allowed to remain a plctur-
esque aborigine, wrapped in a blan-
ket, holding wierd pagan ceremon-
ials older than history, going the
way of his fathers and incidentally
serving as an object of interest for
scientists, artists and travellers?
This question really lies at the
bottom of the hot battle of words
waged In the last Congress over the
Pueblo Indian Land Law, which will
be taken up again in the next one,
with much discussion in the mean
time.
The argument became so hot at
times that the main issue was al
most smothered under a vigorous
exchange of charge and counter
charge. The subject of dispute was
the lands of the Pueblo Indians of
New Mexico. These Indians num-
Der between eight and nine thou
sand and they live in about twenty
villages or pueblos. They own farm
lands which they obtained several
centuries ago by grants from the
Spanish crown These grants have
been confirmed by the United States
government and the supreme court
has held that the Indians cannot
ALLEVIATE their lands.
None the less, in one way and
another, large parts of the lands
have been %alienated. Americans and
Mexicans have squatted on them. In
some cases whole towns have grown
up on them. AS a result the Indians
have, in some of the pueblos, not
enough land to ra1se the food they
need. In no case is there sufficient
land to provide for much increase of
the Indian population. Young In
dians have had to go outside the
village to make their livings. These
have often contradicted diseases,
especially tuberculosis and tracho-
ma, and have brought them back
to the pueblos with them, in some
cases causing great havoc.
A measure was introduced in Con-
gress to settle the differences be-
tween the Indians and the squatters
on their lands. 1t soon became ap-
parent that this measure would tend
to deprive the Indians of a part of
the land they still had, and would
hasten the day when the pueblos
would be broken up altogether.
Friends of the Indians in the West
charged that the whole thing was a
plot of land-grabbers, and they also
implied that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs was friendly to the policy
embodied in the bill. The Commits
sioner Of Indian Affairs, the secre-
tary of the interior. the chairman
of the House Committee and others
replied wrathfully to these charges,
characterizing them as insidious
propaganda" A great deal of irri-
tation was aired and much white
paper covered, AS a result, no bill
at all was passed and the issue re-
mains to be decided in the next Con-
gress.
Compromise Suggested
It seems to be recognized by both
parties to the dispute that all of the
squatters cannot be elected from
the Indian lands, and the Indians
| themselves do not ask this. They ask
| for the passage of a measure, intro
duced by Senator Jones of New Mex
leo, which provides for the reclama-
ton for arid Indian lands, so that
both the Indians and the squatters
| can be given good title to all the
| lands they need. 1t is hard to see
why this should not be the just SO
luton OF the problem. especially as
the reclamation work would soon
pay for itself through the sale OF
water rights. 1t is also hard to sea
why so much bitterness should be
engendered until one reads the hear
ings and gets the idea of the oppos-
ing camps.
The battle on behalf of the Indians
was fought officially by the Indian
Welfare Committee of the Genera
Federation of Women's Clubs, bui
| many of these most active in advo-
eating their cause were artists, wrlt'
ers and scientists who spend all or
a part of their time in New Mexico
and other parts of the Southwest
To these men and women the In
dams are primarily a picturesque
remnant of primitive life. In the
Southwest there are now colonies
of artists numbering several hun
dred, and all OF them use the pue-
| bios and their homes and dances te
some extent as subjects. Poets nave
gone to the Southwest for inspiration
and have found It in the life of tbs
Indians.
Musicians have set down theil