Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-15

The country awaits with profound in
terest the development Of plans an
nounced by Secretary Ray Lyman Will
bur of the Interior Department to i'm
prove the status Of the American In
dian. Anything that will tend to make
the Indian safely independent Of white
exploiters will be welcomed, although
from Oklahoma come warnings Of dan
gers ahead IL there is too sudden with
drawal Of the Federal Governments
protecting hand.
Secretary Wilbur" comments the
Oklahoma City Times. wants the In
dams made independent, self-sustaining
citizens. instead of wards Of the Nation.
Many Indians, of course, have attained
that status, and some Of these have
demonstrated their ability to cope with
the whites in business affairs. DR..
Edward E. Dale, professor of history
at the University of Oklahoma, probably
knows more about Indians than Secre-
tary Wilbur. He favorS an indefinite
continuance Of Federal control of In
dian affairs. without that protection,
he maintains, the Indians will be
mulcted of many of their farms by I'M
scrupulous whites. Secretary Wilbur
will find much support for his policy.
but it may not come from friends Of
the Indians who know them WELL"
"It might not be advisable" accord
ing to the Tulsa World, Ito make too
sudden or too drastic change in the
present system. There are Indians,
especially of the older generation, all
over Oklahoma, who are as innocent
as children of the value Of land or
money. 1t has been disclosed on sew
eral occasions that, even with their
guardianships, these Indians easily be-
come the prey Of designing white men
and women and are trapped into giving
up large amounts Of their wealth to
them. The younger members of the
various tribes might, as Mr.. Wilbur sug-
gests, be taken in hand upon leaving
school and trained into the white mans
vocations and means of independent
livelihood. But not even this holds out
any great hope that the Indian is soon
to be nodded into the white mans
initiative, industry and thrift. That Is
work to require many years and much
patience"
The Secretary's vision, in the opinion
of the Worcester Evening Gazette, "is
likely to cause some peSsimistic head
shaking, yet it calls for a policy which
certainly ought not to be condemned In
advance" The Gazette believes that
"the wisdom of this program can best
be judged by results"
The Flint Daily Journal comedies that
"the problem has been q puzzling one
and has not always been to the advan-
tage of the Indian" while that paper
recites the history Of the attempts to
solve 1t: 1.-THE white man took his land
away from him and drove him out
When the United States became Ma
ton and the westward expansion began
the Indian was pushed farther and
farther West Then 1t was decided that
something should be done about the
Indian. We didn't. take the trouble to
learn his desires, but put him on reSer-
vations and set aside certain lands fol
until the enterprising white man found
the land was valuable. Then the Indian
was showed somewhere else"
"A paternalistic government" states
the New York Sun, has so long insist
ed upon doing most of the Indians
thinking for him that it has done
everything in its power to rob him OF
initiative and self confidence. Indi-
vidual Indians have proved themselves
capable of hard, constructive and pro-
ductive work when they have felt they
had something worth working for. But
reservation life, with constant supervi-
sion by agents, has proved deadly to the
ambition of more than one Indian boy
The working out of an acceptable SUBJ
stitate for this antiquated method will
take time, as well as brains, labor and
heart"
"It is given out that a new policy is
being framed" observes the Oakland
Tribune. IF 1t may drive away from
the reservations the white parasites and
exploiters and win from Congress ade-
quate appropriations, 1t will be well
coined gladly by the vast majority Of
citizens. incidentally It brings an UNI
usual opportunity for distinguished
service TO the Californian who Is Secre-
tary Of the Interior" ..r -