["is old in the mists or of the thieves, who fraudulently contract to deliver \"good, merchantable beef\" at \"¼ cents per pound,\" and then fill it with \"good, and three-year old cattle, which are not merchantable as beef anywhere!\" And he then endeavors, for sooth, to make it appear that the Indians should fatten their cattle, and then, at the full ration of beef allowed to the Indian per dem is three pounds, on the hoof, or about one and one-half pounds, killed and cleaned—when the animal as ever three years old and in good condition. But in the case of \"scallawag\" and unmerchandiseable yearlings, &c., the net return would not exceed a pound. The cattle are wild Texas animals, which could not be hanged, but if the Indians were in their own position, as I believe they are—and, besides, no cattle have ever been given to the Sioux for herding purposes. If \"Charity\" wishes to be unmerchandiseable, the Government should pay the contractor, for what he does not deliver, namely, \"good, merchantable beef;\" and then the Sioux should starve until the cattle would fatten and be ready for sale, and then, as I believe, his impartiality is open to serious question. His gratuitous fling at the \"able chiefs\" is simply laughable. The \"able chiefs\" themselves have suffered from starvation and \"Charity\" will show there are no herds which can get the herds he wishes they understood they have refused to receive, they will bless him.", "As to the braves receiving \"the cattle as they would so many wild buffalo, with loud yells to stampede them,\" &c., if \"Charity\" will look at the certificate of an army officer in Professor Marsh's statement, he will find that \"loud yells\" are not to be expected, to the contrary.", "\"Charity\"'s faith in Indian Commissioner E. P. Smith is beautiful to see, and such a lasting friendship is worth more than a bit, but it argues unfelt and unexpressed, and it argues

F. W.

THE INDIAN COMMISSION.

ON THE ROAD FROM FORT LARAMIE TO THE
RED CLOUD AGENCY—THE “BLACK HILLS—
ERS.”

[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

CAMP ON THE NIOTBRARA,
August 6, 1875.

The commission left Fort Laramie en route for Red Cloud agency, yesterday, with an escort of forty cavalrymen under command of Major Vroom. Colonel R. E. Whitman was also on the road with Lieutenant Norris and a company of infantry escorting a government train of sixteen baggage wagons to the Red Cloud agency, where Colonel Whitman takes command of all troops ordered to the Black Hills. The first day's march of twenty-three miles was made in the afternoon of yesterday, and last night camp was pitched on a small stream of water called the Raw Hide. Raw Hide Peak is the only craggy hill between the Platte and Red Cloud, and therefore it has become an important landmark. The road on the north of the Platte extends for many miles over a sandy plain—the soil being so entirely different from ordinary prairie soil that this portion of the plain is designated as the “desert.” The Raw Hide is the first stream north of the Platte, and its banks always furnish camping ground for travellers, as it is an easy day's journey from the Platte on the south and the Niobrara on the north. The second day's journey towards Red Cloud is by all odds the most tedious of all. There has not been a single day of the journey during which we have not seen a vastly greater variety of scenery than has greeted our eyes today. Nothing but rolling sandy prairie all the way from Raw Hide to Niobrara. The little stream on which we are now camped is the most pleasant of all we have yet met. Wood alone is needed to make camping here very agreeable, but there is not a tree or shrub to be seen, and all wood used for cooking must be brought here. We are now on the top of a high hill, from which we can see the hill for miles in both directions, and far south we can see the dim outlines of Mount Laramie, which from here bears a striking resemblance to Mount Washington. The sunsets which we enjoy here are grand and beautiful beyond expression. In this country, where almost any kind of a storm can be reasonably expected fifteen minutes after a cloud is seen, the atmosphere is so rare that all phenomena in the heavens are very satisfactorily seen. It was only six days ago that a hail-storm on this very hill fell with wonderful violence. The stones were larger than a hen's egg, and several mules had ribs broken. But at present there is not a cloud in the sky, and the weather has been remarkably fine since we left Cheyenne. Tomorrow the start is made at daybreak, with the intention of reaching Red Cloud agency (thirty-three miles) by noon. Couriers from General Crook, who is just returning from the Black Hills, arrived a short time ago. They bring orders for Colonel Whitman and Lieutenant Morris to turn back and wait for him on the Raw Hide. They will then proceed to the Black Hills by the other route. General Crook is expected here tonight. Numbers of “Black Hillers” have been seen on the road. Some have horses, but many are on foot. They all say that gold is scarce—water more so. The news that Professor Jenney had discovered gold in paying quantities was not believed by any of them. The majority of these disappointed miners—that we have met—are young men from Boston and New York. Very few are from Western cities. All appear to think that when they reach Cheyenne—even if out of pocket—they will be able to get East. Cheyenne is even now crowded with such men, and they are generally the troublesome ones, more particularly when out of pocket and no work. But Cheyenne has yet to receive hundreds of such visitors.

AT THE AGENCY—RED CLOUD AS A BILLIARD PLAYER—ON TO THE SPOTTED TAIL AGENCY.

RED CLOUD AGENCY, Aug. 7, 1875.

The commissioners arrived here safe and sound at two o'clock, and are now quartered in the house of the agent, Dr. Saville. During the afternoon several Indian chiefs were introduced to the members of the commission. Sword, White Crane, High Wolf, Red Leaf, Dark Moon, Whirlwind, Racer and Red Cloud himself were the ones introduced today. Sword is the most important chief of all. Red Cloud, alas! has lost his power. He no longer has a great influence over his people. Why this is it is hard to discover, but it is an absolute fact that the once important Red Cloud is now one of the “loafers,” and has but very little influence. Sword seems to have entirely supplanted him in the affections of the noble Sioux, and he also has great influence over Red Cloud. A strange state of affairs, to say the least. The loafers, by the way, are those Indians whose chief occupation seems to be to hang around the agency and beg. Red Cloud does not lower himself to that extent, but is content to sit around the trader's store and wait for an invitation to play billiards. Strange and incomprehensible as it may seem, there are two New York billiard tables here in this deserted country, and, what is most astonishing, Red Cloud plays a very fair game. It is said that the shortest and most certain way for a stranger to gain the friendship of Red Cloud is to let him win in a French carom game. I will not vouch for the truth of that statement now, but propose to try it tomorrow.

An Arrapahoe courier arrived tonight and gave us some important news from the northern Sioux. He states that the Sioux were on their way toward this agency and that on meeting him they said that they were about to turn back. They had heard that Red Cloud had been killed and that Red Dog had been taken to the “States.” On being assured by the courier that there was no communication at all, the Sioux said their parties would unite and would surely be present at the great council to be held here September first. Red Dog is at present in the Black Hills. He will return at once to meet the commission. The Indians say that they heard of the intended arrival of the commissioners some days ago, and tomorrow they will be here in great numbers,—no peace even on Sunday.

All around the agency,—which is represented by some long government buildings situated on a hill by the White Earth River—can be seen the lodges and “tippees” of the Sioux. There are but one or two villages within two miles, and those are very small indeed. Most of the Indians live at least five miles away, and trails can be seen leading away from the agency over the hills in all directions. The White Earth River, whose source we passed this forenoon, flows around the foot of the hill on which the agency and traders' buildings are situated. It is about twenty feet wide here, and the water is very clear and but little impregnated with alkalies. There is near by a steam saw mill, owned by the government, and other evidences of civilization. For example, a tan yard, for tanning the hides bought of Lo, restaurant and billiard-room—those are all in the possession of the white man. The first Indian that met my eye was overtaken by me on the way from Camp Robinson, one mile away. I had as yet never seen an Indian in full dress and knew not how to conduct the interview, until the Indian himself, after a “How! How! How!” began to talk English plainly and shook hands as though I was an old friend. He said his name was Friday, and I at once knew him to be the great Barnum of his race. Friday is the man who conducts and makes a success of Indian circuses, but as I have yet to see the performance I at present am unable to criticise or describe it. He accompanied me all the way to the agency, the train being a mile ahead, and gratuitously gave me a lesson in Sioux language, in which I learned that “ta konichiapa” was used to ask one's name, a phrase more used than any other—by strangers.

The commissioners left Niobrara, or Running Water, this morning, and had a most delightful day's journey. From the Niobrara to the head

or able to the United States Government by the contemplated transfer. The army accounting system, though complicated, is nearly perfect, and its administration is perfection itself. But it has been in the hands of honest men. General Meigs, for instance, with the greatest opportunities for enriching himself that ever presented themselves to any man, stands before the world to-day as a model of official integrity and ability. Under such a man and such a system, the Indian service would soon become thoroughly respectable, what it now is not. The system, however, would be of little value without the honesty of action and purpose necessary to make it so.

Yet there exists no good reason why a Secretary of the Interior cannot be found who will honestly administer Indian affairs; and surely a citizen can be found who will not permit himself to be made a tool of by either his official superiors or ring contrivers, and who will accept the office of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. With two such men as new factors in the Indian problem the solution of the whole question becomes easy.

I have said that the peace policy has not had a fair trial. In fact, that policy has had no real existence since Mr. Delano's accession to office. The best proof of this statement is furnished by the fact that the oldest and best friends and warmest advocates of that policy now stand aloof, while Mr. Delano's friends appeal to "the Christian public" to shut their eyes and ears to the corruption which he has fostered, and which the "ungodly public" persist in talking about.

How long would the army accounting system be a synonym for integrity if, say, a quartermaster took upon himself to purchase one thousand tons of hay, or any other large purchase, without authority from his superiors, on the assurance of a contractor that it was all right, whether the hay was needed or not? And were he afterward to learn that the hay had been paid for, without any explanation of its necessity from him, he would soon begin to think that duty to himself required a similar transaction on his own account. This is the key to the whole fraudulent Indian business. A ring of contractors and department officials have an understanding, sometimes tacit, sometimes more binding, that certain vouchers shall be paid; the contractors arrange with the agents, their official superiors arrange with the contractors to approve all their accounts, and the ring is complete.

This is the precise way in which the Indian bureau has been managing its affairs for several years. Take, for instance, the accounts of A. N. Wilder and G. M. Dodge. Some of the bills which they presented and had paid were for articles which neither the agent nor the Indians asked for; and some even for articles so inferior to the kind contracted for as to be totally worthless; yet the amounts charged were paid in full; and not only so, but Secretary Delano, Assistant Secretary Cowen, Commissioner Smith and Mr. Assistant Attorney General Smith, all used their official positions in aid of such payments. Worse than all this, too, is the well-known "reign of terror" which has existed among honest auditing clerks for the past few years—to such a degree that they have feared to be at all conspicuous in pointing out the frauds which daily came under their notice lest the Indian ring might chop their official heads off.

A couple of years ago, when Indian delegations were visiting here in Washington, the Board of Indian Commissioners found that the bills for extras—such as carriages, theater tickets, fruits, tobacco, drugs, &c.—were enormous; and when they were presented for the approval of the executive committee a close examination was entered into.

It was discovered that carriages were charged for by the day when not in use at all; that tickets for Indians, interpreters and all the camp-followers were charged for, for the National Theater, Ford's Opera House and the Metropolitan

Variety Theater, for the same nights; that tooth and nail brushes, costly hair brushes, combs, &c., were put down as for Indians; that tobacco to the amount of over a pound a day to each Indian was charged for, and that money was expended for purposes which must remain unmentionable. It was found, too, that the plunder was shared in very generally here, and that one high official, who, for the honor of this country, shall be nameless, received a suit of clothes as his share of the clothing steal.

The developments then made created a feeling of intense disgust in the board, and drew from Mr. Brunot, usually a very conservative gentleman, the following decised letter:

DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS,
PITTSBURG, January 27, 1874.

DEAR SIR: I have the honor to return herewith the accounts and vouchers, together with the letter of Hon. George H. Stuart, and other papers connected with the expenses of the Crow and Ute Indians lately on a visit to Washington city. I have directed Mr. Cree, the secretary of the board, to hand the papers to you, in order that he may state any circumstances connected with these accounts which may have come to his knowledge.

This subject having been brought to the attention of the board through the chairman of the executive committee, I am desired by them to express, so far as words may do it, their intense abhorrence and disgust, and to express the opinion that there should be a thorough investigation and immediate dismissal from the Indian and Interior Department of every person who can be shown to have been concerned in, or to have ever had any precedent knowledge of, the manner of entertaining the Indian delegations in Washington and of settling their accounts.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

FELIX R. BRUNOT, Chairman.

Hon. C. DELANO, Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. Brunot, it is feared, asked of the honorable (?) Secretary too much when he requested the dismissal of all who had been interested in that delegation swindle. An inspector, however, was detailed to investigate (?) the transactions referred to, and about the only official who received any censure was Mr. Cree, the secretary of the board, and I believe the reason was that he was supposed to have implicated the honorable Secretary in some way, which was decidedly wrong; for that inspector diligently searched after all the clothes that had been paid for, and even saw the numbers of the checks. But he said nothing about the suits that had not been paid for. He forgot, I suppose.

Nobody was dismissed, but an order was subsequently obtained from the President for the dismissal of the "clerk" of the Board of Indian Commissioners. With the duplicity which was a characteristic of the person interested, the word "clerk" was inserted, so as to cover either myself or Mr. Cree, both of us being equally obnoxious.

Is it any wonder, then, that under a system which cost, for such extras as I have enumerated above, in a short visit of two or three weeks, the enormous sum of $1,338, exclusive of the regular hotel bills, clothing bills and presents, the peace policy should appear to fail?

Still less will we wonder at the general laxity of the Indian management when it is found that Mr. Delano absented himself from his duties so frequently and so long that, even if honestly disposed towards official business, it must suffer. From April 1, 1873, to April 1, 1874, out of 365 days, he absented himself from his office 157! yet he appears to have drawn his salary with very remarkable regularity. What good result could be expected from such a man and such a method?

He is a sad commentary on the much-vaunted goodness of the "christian gentleman," as he loves to call himself when endeavoring to impress some knotty visitor with a sense of the wrong that is perpetrated in even thinking him capable of aight else than the purest thoughts and most virtuous actions !

He has one virtue: he takes good care of himself and those who are willing to cooperate with him—both at public expense. Such men can

have fat places, and, if they live in Washington or are sons-in-law or otherwise connected, Government carriages to ride in. When they have business anywhere it is always easy to arrange mileage, (I am told one confidential clerk boasts of "making" $500 per year on "mileage," or) if their health fails, as it becomes necessary to be out of the way, a mission to see some Indians can always be found, with per diem and mileage, as a medicinal aid to the change of air, or as a partial compensation for forced exile.

And yet that peace policy would not prosper! Let "the christian public" weep while the ungoddly hold bottles for the tears.

SAMUEL WALKER.

A.Y. World, Sept. 6, 1975

MORE INDIAN FRAUDS.

THE COST OF ENTERTAINING RED MEN AT THE CAPITAL.

[SPECIAL DESPATCH TO THE WORLD.]

WASHINGTON, September 5.—The ex-Clerk of the old Indian Peace Commission furnishes another chapter in Delano's management of the Indian business. Two years ago there was a delegation of Indians in this city who were, as is customary, supported at the expense of the Government. The travagant bill which was sent in for their entertainment aroused the suspicion of the Indian Commission, and upon investigation it was, in the language of Walker, "discovered that carriages were charged for by the day when not in use at all; that tickets for Indians, interpreters and all the camp-followers were charged for all the theatres in the city for the same nights; that tooth and nail brushes, costly hair brushes, &c., were put down as for Indians; that tobacco to the amount of over a pound a day to each Indian was charged for, and that money was expended for purposes which must remain unmentionable.

It was found, too, that the Indian Commission was charged with the expense of the Indian and Interior Department of every person who can be shown to have been concerned in or to have ever had any precedent knowledge of, the manner of entertaining the Indian delegations in Washington and of settling their accounts. It was found, too, that the Indian Commission, and upon investigation it was, in the language of Walker, "discovered that carriages were charged for by the day when not in use at all; that tickets for Indians, interpreters and all the camp-followers were charged for all the theatres in the city for the same nights; that tooth and nail brushes, costly hair brushes, &c., were put down as for Indians; that tobacco to the amount of over a pound a day to each Indian was charged for, and that money was expended for purposes which must remain unmentionable. It was found, too, that the Indian Commission was charged with the expense of the Indian and Interior Department of every person who can be shown to have been concerned in or to have ever had any precedent knowledge of the manner of entertaining the Indian delegations and of settling their accounts." Walker inquires that Delano knew very well who got the clothes.

PROPRIETY OF THE UNION.

Professor Marsh is a peculiarly genius. While the Interior Department was disposed to grant him the requests he made looking to the success of his scientific expedition, there was nothing equal to the Interior Department this side of the shining shore. But when his requests became unreasonable, and it was against the interests of the Department to comply with them, a transformation scene occurred. No terms of condemnation were severe enough, no words too hard, no invectives too spiteful for the men who had thwarted him in his designs.

tions for reasons which had existed before my report was made, and two of these three were rejected for reasons which existed before I left Washington to investigate the Red Cloud and Whetstone agencies. The third was rejected for reasons which I, in part, furnished; but these reasons were given the Indian office with affidavits on which they were founded before the date of my reports. In every case of rejection or suspension the board gave reasons and evidence, as required by law, and the rejected accounts, which have since been paid, have such reasons and evidence filed with them in the Second Auditor's Office.

As to Messrs. Bishop and Dodge admitting that they were "deceived," that is also untrue, Mr. Bishop distinctly stating that Bishop Hasle's report and mine referred to different periods; and the board refused to adopt any of Bishop's statements, or pass accounts on them, as the records prove, and as Mr. Smith knows.

His explanation of the McCann contract is singular. He swore before an investigating committee of Congress that McCann's vouchers for May and June, 1874, were withheld until the distances to Red Cloud agency should be established. When he finds that the payment of these vouchers is known on official authority he admits that they were paid, but says the Government is fully secured. Now, the Government is not secured at all. McCann's contract with the Government stipulated that he should carry all the freight for Re1 Cloud agency from Cheyenne at the rate $1.75 per hundred pounds per hundred miles, and the distance was fixed at two hundred and twelve miles. His bondsmen were only liable in case he failed to perform the conditions of that contract, and as soon as the year expired without any failure to perform the strict terms of the contract they were absolved from further responsibility. So with the succeeding year, 1874-75. In the latter year no agreement was made by McCann at all, and he has been paid in full for two years, at a loss to the Government of about $50,000 overpaid. It seems strange that this large amount of money should be overpaid while the official records of the land office show the actual distance, and Agent Saville has an odometer belonging to the Government, which could be used to definitely fix the distance.

If further evidence of the character of Mr. Smith's administration is needed, I need only point out that in 1873 he gave McCann the contract to Red Cloud agency without advertisement at $1.75 per hundred pounds per hundred miles, while in 1874 McCann bid for the same contract at the general letting at $1.10 per hundred pounds per hundred miles, although he had previously declared he could not do it for that price owing to the heavy roads.

Inspector Bovier testified last night before the committee that Saville had prepared and certified vouchers to D. J. McCann for cows and oxen, amounting to over $6,000. In these vouchers the animals were described and their good qualities extolled—yet they had never been seen—had never been either bought or delivered.

Before that time Saville gave McCann a voucher for removing old Red Cloud agency, in which he certified that McCann had fifty ox-teams at work, when he had only thirty, employed of his own or under his direction. The Board of Indian Commissioners reported that account.

These were circumstances of which the issue of vouchers without equivalent in service or property received were ample proof, yet Commissioner Smith did not prosecute either McCann or Saville, although both were brought to his notice.

Mr. Smith also undertakes to show that the Secretary of the Interior had a perfect right to set aside the rejections which were acted on by the old board. Nobody ever questioned the Secretary's legal right to do so, but his abuse of the power which the law gave him in passing accounts tainted with fraud and continuing to aid in violations of law is called in question.

SAMUEL WALKER.

He has made a most singular episode in the history of the many efforts of the so-called Independent Press to forestall public opinion in regard to the character of our public men. In after years the principal actors in the unjust persecutions of the officials of the Indian service will have cause to hang their heads for shame whenever the subject is alluded to. We assert, without fear of successful contradiction, that never in the history of the country has there been a more atrocious and unjustifiable effort made to injure the reputation of innocent men.

We have refrained from giving much of our space to the testimony as the case progressed, preferring to let the commission conduct the investigation in its own way, confident that a thorough examination could have but one result, the complete vindication of the accused. We propose now to give a brief resume of this case.

In November, 1874, "Othniel Charles "Marsh, A. M., A. B., Professor of Paleontology and Comparative Osteology, and "Curator of the Geological Cabinet of Shef "field Scientific School of Yale College," visited the Indian country in the vicinity of the Red Cloud Indian agency in the interests of science, for the collection of fossils, which are found in large quantities in that section. (Professor Hayden long ago gave to science all that was important in that field.) While Professor Marsh was there, in order to placate Red Cloud, he heard the latter's complaints of short ratios, insufficient clothing, &c., and received from his hands samples of flour, sugar and tobacco, which he promised to show to the President on his return to the East. During all the long winter months of the severest winter known in many years Professor Marsh said nothing about the starving and freezing Indians, but last spring, as soon as he heard that Red Cloud was coming to Washington, he set about fulfilling his promise of six months before. He came here with the samples he had procured from Red Cloud six months before, and which, of course, had not improved by time, and exhibited them to several officials of the city, but not to the Secretary of the Interior. Subsequently, and after receiving from the Secretary an imaginary slight, by reason of that officer, accidentally and unintentionally, characterizing him as "a Mr. Marsh," he rushed into print, and at once became famous as a reformer, a curator of public morals and a corrector of official corruption.

Time wore on, and the Professor came before the country in a bulky pamphlet containing specifications and charges against the officials of the Indian service. The charges were in due time referred to a commission of respectable gentlemen, well known to the country, for their examination. That commission has been employed continuously for the last sixty days, have examined nearly two hundred witnesses, have taken up item by item every charge, insinuation or innuendo of Prof. Marsh. They have summoned every witness suggested by him, and afforded him the fullest opportunity to make good his charges. The result of that examination is before the country. The newspapers have published the evidence from time to time, more or less garbled. The result is that not a single one of Prof. Marsh's charges have been sustained, and no shade of suspicion has been cast upon the official integrity of any official in the Interior Department. The examination has developed this additional fact, that from the collection of the supplies by Prof. Marsh down to the last suggestion he made before the commission in this city,

he has been relying entirely upon the vague and general information he received from others, who were, more or less prejudiced or hostile to the Indian service. Even in regard to the samples which he carried with such care and preserved so long at his New England home, he is not able to say of his own knowledge that those samples came from a Government storehouse or whether they were a fair sample of the supplies furnished by the Government at that agency. His failure was pitiable and complete. He has allowed himself to become the conduit through which every disappointed and unscrupulous enemy of the Interior Department has framed his malicious falsehoods, and now he stands in the attitude of a convicted and exposed libeler, a weak and willing tool in the hands of men of no character in their atrocious efforts to destroy the reputations of men whom they have sought in vain to corrupt and control. In short, he is the contempt and laughing-stock of the city and country, including the very men who have used him.

If Prof. Marsh thinks that he has heard the end of this matter he is woefully mistaken. His time will be pretty fully occupied for some time to come with this work that he has undertaken. Hitherto he has had it all his own way, but he will find that he has started a game at which more than one can play, and the pens will be exceedingly lively. He may find ere long that his own actions while in the West have been undergoing critical examination, and that when some known facts are published he may possibly be seen to be a fitting companion of the slave-dealer, despot and convicted black-mailer, who have joined teams in this unholy crusade.

THE CHRONICLE,

914 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1875.

"TIME TO GO HOME."

The New York *Tribune* thinks it time for the Red Cloud Commission to go home, as suggested by Governor Fletcher on Tuesday last. The *Tribune* desires to be "spared further exhibitions of their tenderness towards the accused, and their severity towards the witnesses," and closes a very unjust and illiberal article, by saying "by all means, let Governor Fletcher go home, if he wishes to." It is rather unfortunate for the *Tribune*, that this advice comes just at the close of a very mild and gentle, but somewhat pointed, examination of Professor Marsh by Governor Fletcher, on the subject of his charges, in which Mr. Marsh presents so pitiable a spectacle, that we have no doubt the *Tribune* people, and all the others who have been using poor Marsh for their purposes, wish Governor Fletcher had been at home a week ago, and had stayed there.

After giving over two months to hunting up witnesses named by Marsh, and those aiding him; after traveling thousands of miles, and enduring the fatigues and hardships of a journey into the Indian country; after neglecting their private business and sustaining personal loss thereby; after they had hunted up and examined the Indians—"squaw-men" and half breeds—upon whose statements chiefly the charges of Professor Marsh were founded; after these had all

diate her own work.

PROFESSOR MARSH AND HIS CHARGES.

The investigation of the conduct of the Indian Bureau, just about concluded, pre-

"gone back on poor Marsh, and after he had confessed his utter want of confidence in their statements; after everybody in the United States, except poor Mr. Marsh, saw and fully understood that he had been used for a very dirty job by the *Tribune*; after waiting day after day here, for witnesses claimed by Marsh to be very important, and after these important witnesses, brought from Michigan and elsewhere, testified, merely saying: "You have my official reports. I have no word to add to or to subtract from them. I consider the Department sound to the core, and know nothing against its administration of Indian affairs;" after waiting upon the dilly-dally, aimless and utterly nonsensical course of Professor Marsh for days and days; after every witness, whose name had been suggested as one probably acquainted with some fraud or wrong doing in Indian affairs had been seen and examined, and when not a witness had been named or called by the accused; after the *Tribune* had followed more closely than any other paper in the country the evidence of the witnesses, and had opportunity to weigh the testimony taken—after all this, when Governor Fletcher says: "If you have any other witnesses, give me their names to-day, that I may telegraph for them. This thing must have an end. For one, my business at home has been greatly neglected by these duties, and I wish to get through with this inquiry and get home," the *Tribune* rail out at him in a spirit very characteristic of Marsh, and all those who hiss him on his barking at the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The *Tribune* feels that, no matter what the report may be, it has imitated upon the altar of its hate of Delano and Smith, a learned Professor of Yale College, over whose hard fate every thinking man in the country mourns, with mingled feelings of sorrow for Marsh, and indignation towards the *Tribune*, for having in its blind fury, thrust forward this poor innocent man to be exhibited as the dupe of Indians, half-breeds, squaw-men, and the *Tribune*.

No other persons have followed so closely and kept so well posted as to the evidence taken by this Commission, as the editors of the *Tribune*, and its verdict is certainly clearly shadowed forth, when, upon the announcement of Governor Fletcher, that the evidence shall close, it declares and insists that it is time to go home. No doubt poor Marsh wants to go home, and regrets that he ever left there, and that regret is likely to be greatly deepened, should he be called upon, as we understand he will be, to respond, in the courts, in damages, for the slanders and injury to the business of men perpetrated by him in his illbellous publications.

a p. and 7½ p. m.

## Prof. Marsh and His Charges

It is not a creditable spectacle to witness an acknowledged scholar and a man of genius, allowing his feelings to carry him to great lengths of absurdity and malignity. Marsh is a man of philosophical and scientific attainments of no mean order; and in his investigations into fossil remains of plants and animals, has evinced much interest and industry, and achieved some renown. Necessarily, in prosecuting his studies and

investigations, many things have come under his observation that the producing causes could not be verified, and therefore theory had to be sorted to instead. The unlearned and unstable have not had the cheek to call in question the theories of such a well read man upon subjects that they neither know anything certain about, and which is not capable of satisfactory, practical demonstration. Marsh has had it all his own way in theorizing on the existence and causes of paleontological subjects. No one has contradicted him, and very many have received his theories with as much, if not more, credence than they would gospel truth. Hence he grew accustomed to have all his statements received without question. In this frame of mind he struck out on a venture from old Yale, last year, to visit a stretch of country northeast of Red Cloud Agency, known as the Bad Lands, and which is full of old bones. He reached the place, and after taking in the view, he regaled a gaping world with his profound theory concerning the fossiliferous remains there. This theory was that at one period of the world's existence the "terra firma" on White Earth River was under the tropics, and a swamp, and grew bullrushes as stately as tamaracks. The graminiverous brutes of that period that roamed those regions, went there to browse, and some of them got entangled in the bullrushes or stuck in the mire and did not get out. The earth subsequently got top-heavy on one side, and careened over on its other end so as to balance, and what was left in the mud of these brutes, just naturally slid down from the tropics to latitude 42° north, and remains there to this day, bones and all.

No one in these parts disputes the Professor's theory, because they have not the least interest in it, and do not care much whether the bones came there in that day or not.

But when the Professor traveled out of the domain of paleontology and permitted Red Cloud and Red Dog to overcome his credulous nature by exhibiting some bad, musty flour, and some rotten tobacco, to him, then it was that he hastily concluded that these guileless red men were being outrageously wronged, and that the Indian Department, from the Secretary of the Interior down through commissioners, contractors, freighters, agents, &c., was one grand fraud. This was his theory to account for the presence of spoiled flour and decayed tobacco in the hands of these Indians. He gave his theory to the country, but only a small portion of the people were convinced.

Marsh made statements and allegations of fraud and corruption against an entire department of the general government, against numerous individuals,

and against this community. He proclaimed his ability to prove his charges, against one and all of them. Investigation was ordered. Marsh appeared before the committee and stated that his charges (his theory) were true; and when pressed to disclose his means of knowledge, regarding the alleged frauds, he innocently said that he was told there were frauds, and therefore his charges were true. Red Cloud told him so! Red Dog told him so! Louis Richard told him that out of thirty-seven bales of blankets, but eighteen had been delivered to the Indians. The Commission called Red Cloud and he stated that the supplies furnished were very good, and that the Indians had received thirty-seven bales of good blankets. Red Dog and all the other Ogallalla Sioux chiefs were called and they stated that the Indian supplies received were good, and that they got thirty-seven bales of blankets from Agent Saville. Louis Richard was called and he stated that the supplies received by the Indians were good, and that the Indians received thirty-seven bales of blankets.

"But didn't you make affidavit in Washington, in presence of Professor Marsh, that only eighteen bales of blankets were delivered by Agent Saville to the Indians?" asked one of the Commissioners.

"No!" says Richard, "I did not sign a paper there, at the request of Prof. Marsh, but I did not know was in it!"

And this is the way that Prof. Marsh has sustained his charges. Although learned, up to dizzying heights, he has no real preception of the evidence, plain and simple as it were.

That there are irregularities in an Indian business is not to be denied, but it is wondered at, since they exist in a number of departments of the government, and in all branches of business. These need reforming when discovered.

But Marsh has wholly and grandly failed in sustaining his sweeping allegations; and now he may rest from this part of his labors, with the satisfaction of knowing that simple Red Cloud and Red Dog put up a job on him. When in quest of fossils hereafter, he should keep his weather eye open for these fellows, as from all accounts they are greatly pleased with the prank they played on the eminent bone hunter.

S1

WASHINGTON.

The Report of the Red Cloud Commission Will Be Unanimous.

And Will Acquit the Heads of the Interior Department and the Indian Bureau.

Professor Marsh Utterly Fails to Substantiate a Single Charge--How the Matter Is Regarded.

Collector Judd's Successor Determined Upon
—The Study of the Grasshopper
Plague.

THE RED CLOUD INVESTIGATION.

Special Telegram to the Inter-Ocean.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20.—The Red Cloud Commission have separated, but will meet in New York, as soon as the evidence is printed, to finish their report, two members having private business engagements which demand their immediate attention. They do not hesitate to state that the report will be unanimous, previous reports to the contrary notwithstanding. Faulkner, a Democratic member, and Professor Atherton, the scientific member, confess that Professor Marsh has has not been able to give them even an excuse for a minority report. This makes a unanimous acquittal of Secretary Delano and the heads of the Indian Bureau of the numerous and reiterated charges of Marsh, Welsh, and Walker, professedly Republican patriots, who have from spite attempted to ruin useful and honorable men. The New York World says of the report: "The Democratic member of the commission will be compelled, it is feared, to join in this report, because Professor Marsh has utterly failed to produce legal evidence to sustain his charges." Professor Marsh is left in just the predicament prophesied by the INTER-OCEAN, and if he were to be investigated some very injurious things would be brought to light. His conduct at Cheyenne while hunting up evidence may lead to damaging developments. A Washington paper publishes a charge that he went beyond the verge of propriety in the procurement of testimony. It says, for instance, that Louis Richard, a half-breed, testified that Professor Marsh hounded him around "to get him to sign a statement in regard to the delivery of a certain lot of blankets; that when he signed the statement he did not understand it as it was afterwards explained to him; that he could not read writing very well, and the Professor read it to him: that the Professor finally got him pretty full of whisky and then induced him to sign it. Professor Marsh himself testified before the commission that he invited Richard with other half-breeds and squaw men to dine with him, and that there was liquor on the table; that Richard drank, and that after dinner Richard signed the statement about the blankets. Any one who knows an Indian's penchant for spirits will have some charity for the ignorant man who would yield under such temptation, but what can be said in behalf of such a man of distinguished scientific position and reputation who deliberately sets about the task of putting a poor, ignorant half-breed into a state of intoxication in order that he may procure from him a statement with which to destroy the reputations of honorable men? Can an institution of the high character of Yale College long bear the weight of such a man in its facility? Will the fathers of the country intrust the education of their sons in the hands of men capable of such actions?

of this new report, Sept. 21, 1975.

GOING WHERE THEY BELONG.

The gathering together at Muskogee, Indian Territory, of thirty different tribes of red men, for the purpose of participating in an inter-tribal fair, is probably the most significant occurrence in the annals of governmental relation with the aboriginal tribes of America. Enough was developed during the week these nomadic people mingled harmoniously together to silence the utterances of every man who attempts to cry down the broad and magnanimous system of treatment which has been adopted to civilize and elevate this race. A decade of years ago the possibility of bringing the representatives of thirty distinct tribes to a certain assigned spot, where they might socially intermingle and enjoy the fruits of friendship, would have been quite as remote as the possibility of removing the eternal hills and forming in their stead broad and level plains. But time and a remarkable policy have wrought this transformation scene—a scene which, in the light of surrounding facts, speaks volumes in commendation of the system of Indian treatment which was inaugurated and executed by the present Administration, inspired with a hope to ameliorate the condition of a primitive people who had been continuously wronged.

For the past two years the country, from water to water, has been flooded with a sea of slanderous insinuations reflecting upon the integrity and honor of the Department which, by the laws of the Government, controls the interests of this race. A Protective Press, wrapt in the one idea of generating untruthful rumors and magnifying them into palpable and bulky falsehoods, has plucked from the workings of this magnificent system only the petty irregularities which must of necessity occur in all departments of National and State governments, and, sending them broadcast over the land, forget the poignant fact, because it is consonant with the interests of their malicious and unprincipled purposes to ignore it, that no policy, or scheme or establishment has ever before wrought out the magnificent blessings which have followed in the broad wake of this ship of peace. A man, clothed in the raiment of science, having been crossed and thwarted in his professional aspirations by the edict of the Indian Bureau, retaliates by grasping the pen of slander and heaping calumny after calumny upon the official head of that Department, and then, seeking the subterfuge of an investigating commission, attempts to substantiate his reckless and incoherent charges by an incomprehensible and irreleant mass of statements which form a curious batch of truth and falsehood, mingled together in one chaotic mess.

A man who assumes the garb of a Christian gentleman to conceal his slave-dealing and blackmailing propensities, and who once professed, for a selfish purpose, a high and supreme attachment for the Indian policy, has for the past six months burdened the press of the country with a series of open letters which glaring with misstatements and gleamed with personal spite. He, too, had been crossed and thwarted by the Department of the Interior. He was Hon. Columbus Delano's rival, and was squarely beaten in the race, and his political aspirations blighted. He begged to be the head of the Department which today he willingly stops to defame, but happily for the country, by the wise dispensation of Providence, he was disappointed. And now,

to appease this feeling of abasement, he uses the venom of the slanderer's fang to poison and prejudice the public mind, not only against the administrators of the peace policy, but against the policy itself.

Then, following in the footsteps of these men, came others, with calibres small and heads sore, and, imitating the example set by these fossiliferous and slave-dealing gentlemen, they snapped and snarled at the heels of official deportment with mouths dripping with the slimy froth of a personal-spite hydrophobia. This is the secret of the animosity that has been shown to the Indian Department for the past year, it being simply a combination of men determined to average themselves against men who, in their official capacity, happened, forsooth, to destroy their ambitious schemes for personal aggrandizement. For a short period of time they flourished, and seemed flushed with temporary triumph. Their malicious and erroneous statements floated hurriedly over the land on the wings of a gossipy and rumor-breeding press, and in many places found hearts credulous enough to harbor a confidence in their veracity. But in this, as in all other cases of willful slander, the right will prevail. Truth, which is broad and deep and eternal, that has been thus crushed for the moment by a tidal wave of imbecile and inconsistent assailants, once more arises in its strength and efficacy, and with the stern weapon of justice destroys the castle Calumny reared by these prejudiced men.

The remarkable developments which were made at the Muskogee fair strikes a stinging blow at the men who attempted to bring this infamy upon the Indian Bureau. The union of thirty nations whose tribal relations have heretofore been discordant and belligerent, for the purpose of vieing with each other in the arts of peace and the products of industry, bears witness of such force and poignancy to the wise and competent administration of Indian affairs as to completely overshadow and engulf the petty and pitiful charges of this clique of disappointed and scandal-generating men. That two hundred thousand people should have been elevated from the most abject depths of savagery and social woe to a plane of semi-civilization and industry within the short space of a decade of years is in fact a monument to this beneficent policy of peace before which the attacks of the libeller and perverter of truth pale into insignificance.

But the time has come when, like all other sources of error, these self-avenging soreheads must fade in their conspicuity and silently pass away to other and newer fields of scandal and shame. The days of this clique are numbered. They have run their race in this libelous tournament. They have failed in their wretched and vicious schemes, and the public will now be gratified to have them quietly retire and appear no more. The scientific gentleman who has been led into this unrighteous crusade from personal spite, aided by cunning men, will go back to his fossiliferous remains with a name not only tarnished by the transaction, but with a reputation for honesty of purpose, candor and frankness greatly depreciated. The pretentious Christian gentleman, who is a slave dealer and has repeatedly told untruths in his letters, will find it extremely difficult to once more gain the eminence he held for uprightness and integrity before he entered this fray. And their followers—the poor, miserable tools which they have used, and which have repeatedly used them—they

the Agent of the Navajoes, and left on
Monday's western coach for Fort Defiance
to enter upon the duties of his new posi-
tion.

Major Irvine is no stranger to the peo-
ple of New Mexico. As a business man
in Santa Fe for several years he has won
the confidence and respect of all. For the
last year and more he has been the Agent
for Utes and Apaches at Cimarron, and
notwithstanding, this unsavory service,
he still preserved the confidence and re-
spect he commanded when entering upon
the duties of that service.

How he will succeed under greater re-
sponsibilities among a nation of breech-
douted brutes, removed to the mount-
ains beyond the pale of civilization, with
bad white men, clinging to the borders
of the reservation, we must confess is
quite problematic in the light of past ex-
perience. Three agents have been sent
to their long home by these redskins with-
in about ten years; because forsooth they
did not square their actions to suit the
demands of these mild mannered sons of
the forest. Governor Arny as their agent,
has recently resigned because the Indians
threatened the lives of himself and fam-
ily, the latter being on the reservation at
the time, if he returned to the agency as
agent, and the Government in the face of
these threats has accepted his resignation.
We cannot learn that Governor Arny as
their agent, has in any manner swindled
the Indians, or done aught but what was
for their benefit and for the public serv-
ice, at least, such is the reputation he
bears among respectable men in this com-
munity, and his integrity and financial
honesty has always been of the same char-
acter in New Mexico during a residence
of fifteen years, most of the time in the
Indian service' and what is quite signifi-
cant in this connection, he is a poor man
to day, and never has been a spendthrift
or lived extravagantly either. Against
all this, is the testimony of a few canting
hypocrites who are or have been living
in adulterity with the squaws on the reser-
vation and who have, in consequence been
refused employment and ordered off by the
agent. It is claimed, and with reason, that
they have poisoned, the minds of the Ind-
ians against their agent, through gross
misrepresentation. This, briefly, as we
understand the case, is the situation
under which the government has accept-
ed the resignation of an agent. Whether
facts or not, it will occur to most minds
when considered as a question of public
interest, that it would have been more in
accord with the dignity of the depart-
ment and of the government, to have re-
quired the peaceable return and accept-
ance by the Indians of their late agent,
through the power of the military if need
be, and then the Indians would have been
in position to have stated their grievances
and asked a redress of wrongs, if wrongs
there were. As it is now, the Indian is
manifestly liable to become more arro-
gant than ever, and no one can tell how
soon another Indian 'war may break out
or how soon another agent may be sent
to kingdom come by these precious wards
of the government. Hence, we say it is
"quite problematic" whether the gentle-
man who has just gone to Fort Defiance
to try his ability to manage the Navajo

Indians, and for whom we all now enter-
tain high regard and unbounded confid-
ence, will succeed in either controlling
the Indians or in maintaining his charac-
ter, if indeed, he succeed in saying his
scalp.

And now while we are about it we will
venture a word on Indian Agents gener-
ally, as the subject presents itself to one
living at the base of Indian supplies, if
not absolutely in the Indian country.

Under the present Indian system, as a
rule we might say, it does not seem to
matter much whether an honest and hu-
mane agent or an agent that is "on the
make," is placed over a given tribe. In
either event, the agent is set upon critical-
ly and unscrupulously, or both, and in the
end is ruined in character, if any he ever
had, and soon replaced by another agent
who in time is subjected to the same
round of treatment; the Indian in any ev-
ent is either swindled or neglected or
both, in the continual change. There is
this difference, however, as respects
agents. If conscientious, and he comes
in a missionary spirit, as he certainly will,
if he comes at all to the Indian reserva-
tion; situate as they are beyond the rag-
ged edge of civilization, on the pittance
of $1500 a year; entering upon his
duties, he demands that the con-
tractor shall fill the bill, accord-
ing to the bond and that the Indians
shall be honestly dealt by. This is suffi-
cient to prompt the "Indian ring," specu-
lator or thief, whatever you may choose
to call it, to place something where it will
do the most good—and thus catches from
afar the sniff of the pitiful and mean curs
of high and low degree, of the piratical
less, the squaw men and outs of the
agent previous, who join in chorus;—and
surmise, detraction and outright lying
does the work. The conscientious agent
is superseded and retires often a ruined
man in both character and pocket to be
succeeded, probably, by an agent "on the
make," who in turn is attacked honestly
by parties who possibly succeed in ousting
the dishonest agent; but find in the out-
come that they too have been laid under
a ban of suspicion that they had never be-
fore suspected of themselves, and
damaged or wrecked in character, barely
less than the conscientious agent before
referred to.

This whole Indian question, to place
it mildly and as in another paper we have
before stated, stamps: "a 'decline in whole
hearted honesty and moral excellence
among statesmen and public officers * * *
leaving modest worth, constancy and
firm resolve to limp behind abashed at
its own insignificance—sentenced to inde-
finite ostracism from the esteem, confi-
dence and honor of the country." Rogues,
combine and are active and oftener than
otherwise come out ahead of everybody,
who are generally inactive and indiffer-
ent about wrongs, which under our re-
publican system belong to nobody in par-
ticular to combat.

We are not certain but what the solu-
tion of the Indian question, proposed in
a bill reported to have been introduced
in the last Congress and prepared by Mr.
Shanks of Indiana is correct; that is, to
abolish the whole Indian system with a
view to letting the Indian take the chan-
ces of civilization, giving him the rights
of the citizen with like accountability.
This, at least, would separate the wheat
from the chaff and those who could not
stand civilization would soon pass to the
happy hunting grounds.

It would in addition do away with all

the supreme humbuggery of recognizing
these breech-clouted ignoramuses as in-
dependent nations;—of sending diplo-
matic commissioners to treat with them
about lands and annuities and rations and
other items;—and which when consummat-
ed seem only to be broken in whole or
part as often by the government as by the
indians.

It may be argued that the country
would be filled with roving vagabonds,
nomadic tramps if you please. Then we
should say organize the military into a
police force for active service to look
after tramps in general on the frontier,

THE GRAND COUNCIL.

N. V. Herald, Sept. 29, 1975
An Agreement Among the Indians
and the Result.

THE PRICE OF THE BLACK HILLS.

Seventy Million Dollars To Be
Placed at Interest.

PROBABLE FAILURE OF TREATY.

RED CLOUD AGENCY, Neb., Sept. 27,
Via FOR T. LARAMIE, Sept. 28, 1875.

Yesterday the principal chiefs came to the agency by
Invitation of the Commission, and twenty partook of a
dinner prepared for them. Afterward they sat
down with the Commission to counsel. Red
Cloud, being absent, was sent for, and soon
made his appearance. The Commissioners asked them
if they had agreed. An answer was evaded, but the
chiefs said they would be ready to meet the commission
to-day and talk. The Commissioners told them they
did not want to hold council again until they had agreed
among themselves. Swift Bear said they had agreed,
and the council was accordingly resumed to-day.

PRECAUTIONS TAKEN.

The escort of the Commission, increased by thirty
additional men, was placed in the strongest position.
Skirmish lines were drawn on the right and left and
rear of the shelter, and Man-Afraid-of-his-Horses placed
his soldiers on the right flank commanding the high
bank. The Indians coming in stopped at a little dis-
tance from the shelter, and waited until all had ar-
rived.

THE INDIANS' COUNCIL.

They then dismounted and held two separate councils
among themselves, Red Cloud taking part in one and
Spotted Tail in the other. They seemingly reached
some conclusion, and at one o'clock came
forward in two converging ranks on foot and
sat down in a semicircle before the commission.
The soldiers of the Brules and Ogallala's, both armed
and mounted, remained outside the council. Spotted
Tail had with him fifty head men and chiefs and 150
warriors on a very high hill, near the council grounds.
The chiefs and head men in council numbered about
100. The rear was kept clear of Indians. Little Big
Man was not present.

THE PROCEEDINGS.

The interpreter blundered greatly in translating the
speeches. Red Cloud and Red Dog came forward,
doffed their hats, shook hands and asked for a bench to
sit on. Red loud then designated Red Dog to speak
for him, as the Great Father had sent the Commis-
sioners to speak for him.

RED DOG'S SPEECH.

Red Dog said the business of the commission had
troubled him several days. The presence of troops had
troubled him also. To-day he would tell what he
thought about it. God Almighty looked down upon the
soldiers. They had a flag—red, white and blue. All
he wanted was a white stripe. He wanted all
to drop their guns and be peaceful from this day.
All the young men and head men and chiefs have de-
rised what they will do and they have told me to speak
to you. Our Great Father has given great promises to
seven generations past. We have wanted rations for
seven generations past and will want them for
seven to come. We want pay for the Black
Hills, that will support us for that time

anxious to discredit the administration, may pretend to believe that the gentlemen who composed the committee of investigation did not desire to ascertain the truth, and were determined to supply whitewash with a liberal brush." Such, however, will not be the veridict of candid readers. The members of the commission are all gentlemen of high character; it was a non-partisan body, and their report is unanimous. With the best intentions in the world, and with a good faith which no one will venture to question, Professor Marsh has made a mistake. He is not the less entitled to credit for the philanthropropy of the motives which induced him to engage in a troublesome business. It is only to be regretted that he assailed the wrong men.

There was nothing in Mr. Delano's antecedents to warrant the supposition that he was corrupt. In Congress he enjoyed a high reputation for purity and ability, and his appointment to the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue gave general satisfaction to the country. Henry J. Raymond and Horace Greeley had the very highest opinion of him. Commissioner Smith possesses the confidence of some of the best men in the country, and it is rather to his credit than otherwise that good Mr. William Welsh distrusts him. Mr. Smith had gone through a previous investigation unseated, so far as his reputation was concerned, though he was less fortunate as regards its effect upon his family. The cruel and malignant attacks upon her husband drove his wife upon an insane asylum. Those who know him most and best have always known him to be an honest man, sincerely devoted to the humanitarian work in which he was engaged. This latest investigation leaves him without a stain upon his character. The result ought to be gratifying, and will be, except to those who have personal motives for wishing to see reputable men dragged through the slime of corruption.

The concluding recommendations of the report seem in the main valuable. The tribal system should no longer be recognized. It is a farce, and a costly one, to treat tribes of dirty savages as if they were sovereign nations with territorial rights. The sooner it is abolished the better it will be both for the Indians and the whites. We like, too, the suggestion that the Indians, so long as the government furishes them with clothes, shall be supplied with more civilized raiment. After the rebellion of 1745 the British government found it necessary to forbid the Highland clans to wear their native costume, and arbitrary and cruel, even, as the measure seemed its effect was most salutary. Of course we by no means intend to compare the savages of the western plains with the gallant fellows who fought for "Bonnie Prince Charlie," but a distinctive costume has a powerful effect in keeping a people separate. As the government clothes the Indians it has a right to dictate the fashion of their garments. It is to be presumed that the full report gives the reasons why the investigating committee look with disfavor upon the proposition that the management of Indian affairs be transferred to the War Department, as recommended by President Grant. Public opinion seems to favor it, though Congress refused to accede to the President's wishes. The recommendation in favor of a bolder policy toward a set of savages who are apparently incapable of gratitude, and who believe that the government treats them generously because it fears them, will please the people of the West, especially those who wish to occupy the Black Hills, and see no reason why the citizens of the United States should be asked to pay an enormous sum of money for their own territory. It is gratifying to learn on such excellent authority that the schools and missions among the Indians are doing so much good. The policy of the President, so much misunderstood, and carried on in spite of misrepresentation, has worked well. As we have already said, there

undoubtedly are corruptions in the Indian service, but upon the whole it is purer and better than it had ever been before. President Grant is entitled to great credit for his persistence in doing what he believes to be right. He is the first of our Presidents who has made a serious effort to improve the condition of the Indians.

Under the rule of never speaking evil of the dead, I could not to mention our late Secretary of the Interior, Delano; but I am afraid you do not quite do justice to one of our New England men, Prof. Marsh. Mr. Delano may not be so black as he has been painted, but he is not white as snow, by any means. In what Professor Marsh charged against the Department, it may be that the Committee will find Delano technically free from wrong; but by morality, Prof. Marsh's charges have been more than sustained. He was not able to swear that every head of cattle was short weight, nor that every pound of flour was poor. Life is too short for a man to attempt to know all this at that place. But he did know that some flour was abominably poor, some cattle much smaller than they were billed, and many other things equally bad. And he had received testimony from competent men that the Indians were being cheated. He had no axes to grind, no contracts to get. He called on the President with a statement of the wrongs he had seen and heard (of Gen. Grant sent him to the proper official to hear his story, the Secretary of the Interior). Here he was snubbed and scolded, and he carried his story to a greater power than President or Secretary, the press.

The Committee appointed to investigate have closed their labors and are prepared to say that Mr. Delano is not guilty, because no one saw him do anything, but both press and people have laughed at such a verdict and have gladly seen Mr. Delano step down and out. Their pleasure will be increased when Mr. Commissioner Smith gracefully follows his late chief's example.

I understand from a reliable source that Mr. Delano's affairs will be overhauled by our coming Democratic Congress, and I am afraid his ears will tingle more less. His retirement gives the President a chance to add another to the good appointments he has made of late, such as Jewell, Bristow and Pierpont. "A Mr. Marsh," sends his compliments to a Mr. Delano. W. H. M.

THE COMMERCIAL
CINCINNATI

PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING.

M. HALSTEAD & CO.
PROPRIETORS.

Office-Potter's Building, Fourth and Race Streets.

[FOR TERMS SEE SEVENTH PAGE.]

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1875.

Indian Affairs.

The Commission appointed by C. DELANO, formerly of the Interior Department, to investigate the charges made by "a Mr. MARSH," has reported. A telegraphic summary of this report has been given to the public, and its vindication of the Secretary is probably not less signal or significant than is the appointment of ZACH. CHANDLER to fill his place. What the conclusions of Mr. DELANO'S friends would be were correctly anticipated as soon as the Commission was named and the method of procedure was made known. They were furnished, among other things, with a letter of introduction to Dr. SAVILLE, whom Professor MARSH charged with being "guilty of gross frauds upon the Indians in his charge." Of course, Dr.

SAVILLE was just the man of all others to present testimony to sustain that charge. They were also directed to Mr. C. H. BOSTWICK, Government Storekeeper at Cheyenne, and Mr. LONG, inspector of flour and supplies, through whom came the articles of which Professor MARSH thus speaks: "The pork was not suitable for human food." "The flour was very inferior, and the evidence of fraud in this article is conclusive." "The sugar and coffee were not good." "The tobacco was rotten," &c. Of course, such Government employees were highly competent to give disinterested evidence in a proposition which involved their official heads.

Upon the other hand, was there any provision made to enable Professor MARSH to sustain his charges? Was he invited to go along at $8 a day, "in addition to your necessary and actual traveling expenses," as Mr. DELANO's friends of the Commission were? Was he honored with one of the "inclosed requisitions for transportation" over the Union Pacific Railroad? These little amenities of civil life required the hand and seal of C. DELANO, formerly of Washington, D. C., now of Ohio.

Still the Commission has reported, though too late to do Mr. DELANO any good.

"Affliction sore"

Long time Mr. DELANO bore,

And commissions are in vain."

But the Commissioners do say that Dr. SAVILLE is "incompetent." Credit Mobilier Committee said of OAKES AMES that he was "incompetent." Sufficient to make spades and shovels, but "incompetent to discharge the high functions of a Congressman."

SAVILLE is exonerated from the charge of dishonesty, and the Commission "point to him as an Indian Agent who goes out of office a poorer man than when he entered." The reverse, then, is the usual fact! SAVILLE is an exception to the general rule. This is very much what Professor MARSH said, and, if the committee have become unconsciously imbued with the idea that the common thing is for Indian Agents to plunder themselves rich, they have only learned what any one else may, in that country, with only half an eye, one ear and a limited amount of time at his disposal. The first charge of which Dr. SAVILLE is acquitted is the over-estimating of Indians, at his Agency. The meat in this egg—and it is juicy meat and a fruitful egg—is this: the agent issues rations to the Indians. The Government pays him so much for each Indian, and takes his word for the number. There is no possible check upon him, as the Department takes his simple certificate for the fact. It is just as easy for him, upon issuing rations for five hundred Indians, to report the number at one thousand, as not to do so, and he draws pay accordingly. This is just what Indian Agents do, not occasionally and by mistake, but habitually, pertinaciously, and with an amount of cussedness that would have hung HAMAN still higher had he displayed a withe HAMAN still higher had he displayed a withe. This feature of rascality is as well understood and known in the whole Indian country as is the fact that New York Aldermen steal, or that Boss SHEPHERD has his fingers in every pie that the District of Columbia puts into the oven.

The Commission seem to think there may be some little danger about this matter of over-estimating numbers, as they take pains to descant upon the difficulties of enumeration—a sort of half-way apology, in case there should be a mistake or worse. As thus: SAVILLE counted correctly, but if he did not, he couldn't help it, and didn't mean to. But the reason they give as making it such an overwhelming and intractable job seems as

the inside and were so decidedly in favor of the accused parties that, whether they did any good or not, they showed an obliging disposition.

There be those, we presume, who will say it was not becoming or proper in the Chairman of the Commission to be writing letters of the sort published in *The Globe-Democrat* during the pendency of the inquiry. But, bless you, why be prudish about a little matter like that! This was a Commission that did not stand on ceremony or hamper itself with conventionalities. Going up to investigate charges against Indian Agent Saville, they accepted the hospitalities of that much-abused official, and were his guests, while they inquired whether or not he had been cheating the Government. While sleeping under his roof they calmly pursued the inquiry whether or not he was a thief. They did not bring him in theft or dishonesty; they could not so wrong his hospitality. They only said he was stupid and incompetent. And he—simple soul—was satisfied with that. A commission, we say, which gets its appointment from the authority whose misdeeds it is charged to inquire into—which receives instructions at the outset from the parties accused, as to how the investigation should be prosecuted; which accepts the hospitalities of one of the parties it is charged to try, and which depends for its pay and allowances as well as its appointment upon the official whose administration is in question—need not feel squeamish about having its chairman acting as a newspaper correspondent and showing in his letters a decided bias in the case.

The Commission earned its money. It not only did its best for the Secretary of the Interior, the Indian Commissioner, Agent Saville, and Contractor Bosler, but that having been done, it put in a little stroke of work gratuitously for Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, who is Secretary and Treasurer of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, as well as Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners. This Company has a very rich and profitable land grant through the Indian Territory, which it can only come in possession of by the extinguishment of the Indian title. The title cannot be extinguished except by destroying the tribal relation. The establishment of a Territorial government of the United States over the Indian Territory does destroy the tribal relation. So, to establish a Territorial government over the Indian Territory is give Gen. Clinton B. Fisk's railroad company a very snug thing. With the relations existing between ex-Gov. Fletcher and Gen. Fisk, is it any wonder that the Chairman of the Commission should have slipped into the report a recommendation of a Territorial government for the Indian Territory? It was an easy thing to do, and would be a nice little thing for Fisk, who appointed them. So there it is among the recommendations—the 18th. It does not matter that these persons were, appointed for a specific purpose, to wit, to investigate affairs at Red Cloud Agency; nor that they never set foot in the Indian Territory; they put in this recommendation with as much complacency as though it was part of their mission, when really they had no more business with it than they had with the management of the Pensacola Navy-Yard. But it was a neat little thing to do for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company and for Fisk. And it was a thrifty Commission. It "took care of its "friends."

The Omaha Republican.

Published by the *Tribune Printing Company*, 225 Douglas Street.

DAILY $10.00................... WEEKLY, $2.00.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27.

OUR INDIAN POLICY.

Mr. Wendell Phillips' recent speech in Boston upon "The Relation of the Government to the Indian Tribes," a brief synopsis of which appears in our latest eastern exchanges, although distinguished for great ignorance of the vital points involved, and full of glaring errors, is nevertheless of value as indicating the highly wrought condition of the public mind upon a question that concerns all our citizens, either directly in their lives and property, or indirectly in the onerous taxes levied to bribe our western savages into a condition of peace and obedience to the law. Mr. Phillips appears as a special pleader for the Indian and the Indian bureau. It would be unjust to enter into a detailed refutation of his statements until we can obtain a complete report of his lecture, but this much we can say, that if Mr. Phillips' reputation was in any way injured by his vagaries in financial theorizing, it has been most indubitably damned by this effort as a delineator of Indian affairs, of which he has seen little and knows less.

Mr. Phillips appears to confound in his own mind the nations of Peru and Mexico, invaded by Pizarro and Cortez, and those with whom the settlers in the United States and Canada from the earliest days have contended. This distinction is pregnant with importance and must not be lost sight of. The numerous tribes confederated under Aztec domination, as well as those of Peru, were builders, and lived in structures of stone and mud arranged in villages and towns having a semblance of regularity. Mr. Phillips allows full rein to his rhetoric when he says, as he is reported to have said, "that if Cortez and Pizarro had not invaded Mexico and Peru, there would have existed on these shores arace capable of developing a civilization rivalling anything Europe can boast. This race had left remains of an architecture as magnificent and unexplained as that of Egypt. There were traces of attainments in astronomy, of comfort, refinement, learning and institutions of learning and no reason can be given why they should not have gone on in the development of a civilization as broad, as active and as respectable as our own." This is the illuminated side of the picture, the shadowy part Mr. Phillips has concealed from our gaze. But was not the Aztec nation in a condition of incipient caduity when Cortez landed at Vera Cruz; was it not composed of tribes arrayed against each other and held in subjection to a central power only by the strongest feelings of terror;

were they not immolators of human victims and eaters of human sacrifices? We don't pretend to give round numbers, but at the installation of one of Moctezuma's predecessors the blood of more than 80,000 human slain, smoked on the altars of Huitzilpotli. 'At another time, we read that a party of Cortez soldiers counted nearly 300,000 skulls in one of the temples of this same grim God of War, near the city of Cholula. We do not enter the list as the apologist of Héndano Cortez, but we do believe that any form of civilization was preferable to that of the Aztecs and that any means taken to supersede this latter were, in the light of the Spaniard's surroundings, at least excusable. He had to deal with a plausible, visionary, inconsequential and vacillating prince, the sovereign of a cruel and sanguinary people, who had long since blotted out from the history of time the communities whose monuments still existing at, Palenove seem to fill Mr. Phillips with so much irritation. But the history of Mexican conquest to us appears to have no connection with the discussion of our domestic Indian question, and we have only noticed this part of Mr. Phillips' speech to show that being unable to find many bright features in the character of the North American Indian, he has resorted to the annals of the confessedly best representatives of the western aborigines to extract materials for a special dissertation upon the wrong treatment inflicted upon the red men living to the north, with whom it will be difficult for him to demonstrate that the Aztecs, Toltees or Quichans had the smallest peculiarities in common.

We have said that the Indians of Mexico were "builders," a term implying of necessity, that they were "workers;" on the contrary, the earliest chronicles show that the Indians of the United States and British America were "nomads," despisers of toil, impatient of restraint, avoiding all work except the occasional labor of the chase and the pursuits of war. Readers anxious to pursue this matter further, will find in the treatises of Francis Parkman an abundance of incontrovertible data upon which to found the logical justice of these conclusions, and may also learn that, with scarcely an exception of importance, our North American Indians waged war to the death upon each other and upon all strangers.

There seems a strange and almost laughable incongruity between the "relations" (as they were called) of the French missionaries to Canada and the rose-colored accounts of this latter day canonizer of the noble red man; from the former we learn that the Indian in his native state, never having previously seen a white man, lived in a wigwam of bark, foul from the combined stenches of smoke and filth of the vilest description and swarming with dogs, lice and fleas so that the interior seemed a hell.

Their religious belief, a combination of
spiritualism and devil-worship, was dis-
tinguished by periodical orgies in
which occurred excesses of lust, indis-
criminate and promiscuous, and not to
be described.

Labor, no matter how trivial, had no
incentive but impending starvation;
ambition no outlet but blood-thirsty,
diabolical and unprovoked massacre,
called warfare. To surprise and de-
stroy the villages of their enemies, the
Hurons, war parties of the Iriquois of-
ten traveled hundreds of miles through
the wilderness of Northern New York
to the borders of the great lakes and
the Saint Lawrence. The fate that
awaited captives is well known to
every school boy, and need only be ad-
verted to for the purpose of rounding
the outline of the fanciful figure of In-
dian civilization with which Mr. Phil-
lips beguiled the leisure of his Boston
auditory.

We don't attach much consequence
to this gentleman as an expander of
the Indian question. His brain seems
to be as fuddled on this subject as upon
that of the currency; but, we regard
him as one of that dangerous class of
literary triflers, called public lecturers,
who make a comfortable living by ca-
tering to the popular demand for
sensationalism, and who seek to por-
 tray the Indian as arrayed in the gar-
ments of heaven and the poor western
settler as clothed in the livery of hell.

It is by the teachings of just such
men that the follies, impotency and ex-
travagance of our Indian system are
perpetuated, and it is because western
journals have been indifferent to the
importance of the issue that; in a great
measure, the erroneous theories of
eastern philanthropists and speculators
have gone unchecked and unrebuked.

It would be strange indeed if in the
course of a lecture by a man who, with
all his faults, is acknowledged bril-
liant, there could not be discerned the
gleaming of some precious fragment of
sound judgment and criticism, and if
our experience compels us, in many
points to differ from Mr. Phillips, it
impels us likewise to corroborate what-
ever he asserts that is true. Accord-
ing to him, the policy of our govern-
ment towards the Indians has been one
of ostracism; the Indian has been neith-
er a dependent foreigner nor a protect-
ed citizen, nor is there any legal
phrase that can describe him. Since
1789, our vacillating Indian policy has
depleted the national exchequer of $1-
000,000,000 (one billion of dollars),
without any closer approximation to
the solution of our difficulties then be-
fore.

In denouncing the absurdity of our
present Indian system and in demand-
ing a radical reformation, Mr. Phillips
will find, a powerful constituency of
supporters among our western popula-
tion; that something more definite
must be done in the way of civilizing
the Sioux and Cheyennes than giving

them donations of Chatham street
clothing, jewsharps, peppermint lozen-
ges, cough candy, and center-fire car-
tridges, scarcely anybody except the
contractors interested in the supply of
such necessaries will attempt to deny,
that it is a satire upon justice to have
275,000 red skinned vagabonds sup-
ported in luxurious idleness in the
western wilds and to have fully as
many hard-working, honest laborers of
our own color clamoring for bread in
the streets of the city, numbers of very
Intelligent tax-payers are inclined to
believe; upon all these points the peo-
ple of the west are in unison with the
professions of the most unscrupulous philan-
thropist Boston or Brooklyn can pro-
duce. The concrete philosophy of the
western settler crystallized in the cru-
cible of long and bitter experience, may
be epitomised in a few lines:

The Indian tribal relations must be
dissolved at once. Every individual
Indian has the same rights as a white
man and no more. Reciprocally, he is
bound by the same obligations to societ-
ty and society's laws and no less. He
should be encouraged and protected in
the heaven-born privilege of earning
his daily bread by the sweat of his
brow.

Instead of being allowed to remain a
prey to the political and denomina-
tional vultures who now fatten upon
his rations, let good, sound, practical,
honest men, without consideration of
sectarian preferences, be deputed to
look after his general welfare, protect
him from the squaw men and other
ruffians, and give advice and counsel
when needed; but no subsidies, no
donatives to appease the wrath of
"Young-man-afraid-of-his-mother-in-
law," or "Old variegated candel ap-
pendage," no ponies, no tobacco, no
whisky, and, above all, no improved
breech-leading rifles to shoot down our
defenseless women and children.

This, Mr. Phillips, is the policy of the
west, the policy of the near future.

Certain impediments stand in the
way of this new departure; they rest
chiefly upon the pecuniary interests of
heavy contractors loath to part with
their share of the government loaves
and fishes as at present distributed;
objections of all shades will be brought
forward, but none of them can stand
examination. The nation has exhaust-
ed its patience, expended its philan-
thropy, and with an impoverished
treasury is poorly in the humor of
making concessions of money and
victuals to savages as ungenerous, as-
cowardly, as treacherous and as un-
grateful as the ragmuffins who insult-
ed our commissioners at Red Cloud
agency a fortnight ago.

No system of dealing with the sav-
ages was so pregnant with promise as
the one now about to be done away
with; none so contemptibly abortive in
seven anticipated result.

Seven years have come and gone - years
with golden seed of munificent appro-

priations; let the Indian bureau tell us
where is the harvest; the schools
thronged with studious scholars and
the churches filled with pious worship-
ers. We have given the Indian a civil-
ization, but we are almost converted
to Mr. Phillips' fancy that it is not as
good as the one he once had; it has
been the civilization of spoliation and
plunder, of feeding eighteen hundred
Indians where only five hundred ex-
isted; of putting one hundred pounds
of flour into an eighty-eight pound
sack; of making a Texas steer turn the
scale at fourteen hundred pounds; of
making sugar-house sweepings and re-
fuse into a prime merchantable article;
finally, a civilization that saw high
government officials banded with plun-
derers, turning every engine at their
disposal against an indiscreet professor
who had ventured to indicate the ex-
istence of glaring abuses, and which
also witnessed the destruction of a sec-
retary and a commissioner by the ex-
plosion of an indefinite article.

ANOTHER charge that don't sound
well. It is asserted that the proof is
accessible showing that John Delano,
son of the ex-secretary of the interior,
received a share of the surveying con-
tracts in the territory of Wyoming, on
condition of retaining the surveyor
general in his position, and that he re-
ceived $5,000 for his services.

WHITEWASHING THE INDIAN BUREAU.

The report of the Commissioners deputed to investi-
gate charges of alleged fraud and corruption at the Red
Cloud, Spotted Tail, and other Indian Agencies in the
far West, has been duly rendered, and we find a copious
synopsis of its purport in the daily press. It is one of
the most remarkable documents of the age, and in many
respects deserves to be appropriately written on brass.
It is remarkable from the fact that it denies in detail
the truth of the accusations made by Professor Marsh
and others, yet admits, in the general summing up, that
there was but too much reason to believe them well
founded. It is also remarkable as evincing the dexter-
ity with which the English language can be made to say
two directly opposite things without seeming to clash,
or stirtle the general reader. The Commissioners pro-
fess to have made rigid inquiry into the transactions of
Indian Agent J. J. Saville, and found that he was in no
sense guilty of the charges preferred against him; that
he was faithful and honest, and that he goes out of office
a poorer man than when he entered it. Right upon the
heels of this honorable record, which, if true, certainly
entitled Agent Saville to the utmost consideration as a
slandered and much injured man, the Commissioners
coolly recommend his removal! It was openly alleged
that the issues of beef cattle at the Red Cloud Agency
on the 9th of November, 1874, were of exceedingly infor-
rior character, and that the Agent had receipted for
them as unfit to be used for beef. The Commissioners
find that Professor Marsh made an error in using the
word "received" instead of "received," and that al-
though the Agent "received" the wretched herd, and
issued them for beef rations, he never "received."
therefor! What business had he to "receive" cattle in
the name of the Government without "receiving" for
them? Or what owner would turn a herd of cattle over
to the Government without taking a receipt therefor?
The language of the report, as we find it, is as follows:

The testimony shows that on the 9th of November,
1874, there remained in the agency a small herd of cat-
tle, which are said by all who saw them, and are admit-
ted by Saville himself, to have been poor, small, and al-
together unfit for beef; but that they had ever been re-
 receipted for to the contractor or issued to Indians, as
stated by Red Cloud, is by no means established.

What is the meaning of the word remained? If they

had not originally formed a portion of the herd "receipted" for, how could they be said to have remained? The utter unfitness of that "small herd" is fully admitted, but the fact of issue as rations is made to appear as only a piece of wanton fault-finding on the part of Red Cloud. It is a stupid, bungling assertion, for no man, Indian, white, black, or yellow, finds fault with that which is good. Red Cloud's dissatisfaction was undoubtedly well founded. In like manner the Commissioners apply copious coats of whitewash to the exterior of the whole question, and say, whatever suffering there may have been among the Indians was due to their own imprudence and the severity of the weather, instead of to any delinquency on the part of the Government." This is a pretty little equivoke, for no one ever accused the Government with being delinquent. Certainly Professor Marsh did not; his charges were made against the agents of the Government. But if there were no delinquencies, and the whole trouble was caused by Indian "imprudence," how is it that the Commissioners recommend as follows:

> That Agent Saville be removed; that J. W. L. Slavens, J. H. Martin, and D. J. McCann be excluded from future contracts with the Government; that E. R. Throlkeld be excluded from all future employment; that McCann's accounts be referred to the Department of Justice; that the distances from Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies to Cheyenne and Sidney be measured without further delay; that a new census be taken of Sioux City and both those agencies; that bids for flour, clothing, and wagon transportation be received at some suitable point in the West; that the office of Superintendent of Indian Agencies be abolished, and the duties connected therewith be transferred to Inspectors.

Again, if there had been really nothing wrong on the part of former Indian agents, or in the conduct of their agencies, why should the Commissioners find that "there has been an improvement in the Indian service under Commissioner Smith's administration. The contracts are now more faithfully executed, and recent supplies have been of an unexceptional character. The temper of the Indians has undergone a very favorable change toward our people?" In relation to Commissioner Delano, they pronounce him a worthy, honorable, faithful, excellent gentleman, and then bestow upon him a parting kit by denouncing him as lacking vigilance, decision of character, ability and zeal. That artistic Board of Examining Political Commissioners take it upon themselves to say that they "look with disfavor upon the proposition that the management of Indian Affairs be transferred to the War Department." Nevertheless we find them asking that army officers be detailed to inspect supplies; that army officers consider the propriety of organizing an Indian soldiery for police and similar duties; that army officers, in fact, shall do all the work, and be subject to the control of political henchmen known as Indian Agents. But it is quite unnecessary to further discuss the merits of this remarkable report. It sends forth an odor of most naughting character, which will smell in the nostrils of the whole nation. That the gentlemen who so carefully prepared this document should have the full meed of praise due them, we state that it is signed by Thomas C. Fletcher, Benjamin W. Harris, Charles J. Faulkner, and George M. Atherton.

Oct. 28, 1875]

The Nation.

273

afloat at par with gold—about $60,000,000—without working any apparent mischief, he draws attention, in pointed language, to the fact that the dangers or advantages of any system of currency do not appear on the surface, but are to be found in the state of mind which lies behind the currency, and goes on to explain that the whole of the legal-tender bank issues ought to be withdrawn without any similar substitute "on the part of the Government, because it would be dangerous for the state to begin the issue of paper-money; the ease with which such money can be created, even within narrow limits, might carry us further, and in order to reap a small advantage in the present, we should run the risk of a serious danger in the future, for the appearance of success already obtained might lead to an exaggeration of the system. It is better in a country as impressive as ours is, and as ready to rush down the incline of bold enterprises, to give up an easy means of lightening the budget, than to encounter the risks of a seductive abuse. We must not tolerate even the harmless use of paper money to a very limited amount, for the limit is too weak to resist the pressure of-growing demands. . Paper money is, as Napoleon I. said, the curse of nations; it is to the morale what the plague is to the physique. Let us take care not to let ourselves be assailed by such a peril."

## THE RED-CLOUD REPORT.

THE most noticeable thing about the report of the Indian Commission appointed to investigate the charges brought by Professor Marsh, has been the indifference with which it has been received. The report has evidently altered no one's opinion about the management of Indian affairs, and relieved neither Mr. Delano nor General Grant from any of the odium which that management has justly or unjustly brought upon them; and even the changes recommended in the Indian policy of the Government by the Commission—many of which are highly sensible—have not excited any discussion either in the newspapers or in any public quarter. The whole report, except so far as it corroborates the charges made by Professor Marsh, and so provides powder for the war upon the Administration, has fallen completely flat.

The report itself is fair enough. The Commissioners seem to have gone to work in a painstaking manner to sift to the bottom all accusations against Indian officials, and they have sifted them, and have thrown a good deal of light upon Indian affairs. Considering the extra-legal character of the enquiry, and the fact that instead of a prosecuting officer with an able staff of assistants to get at the truth, with all the machinery of the criminal courts behind them, and the hope of professional distinction and public rewards to urge them on, there was only on the side of the Indians and the people of the United States a college professor doing work to which he had never been trained, and incited only by the desire to do his duty, and having against him the united force of all the corruption, all the ignorance, and all the prejudice of the "practical men" of the Plains—the results are startling. They may be generally summed up as the removal of the head of one of the Departments at Washington, the dismissal of half a dozen subordinate officials or employés, and the probable removal of the head of the Indian office. Delano, Smith, and Saville, too, it must be remembered, have not been distrusted public servants, whom the Great Father merely wanted an excuse to get rid of, but were regarded by him as indispensable men, who had been tried and found full of all those qualities which were most needed for the maintenance of that policy with regard to Indian affairs—whatever it may have been—that the Great Father has been so steadily pursuing. Besides this, the more important of Professor Marsh's charges are all completely sustained, or, if not sustained, reported upon by the Commissioners in such a way as to show that they were probably true. Saville they declare to be "incompetent," which was exactly what was maintained by the professor; as to the overestimate of the number of Indians at the Red Cloud Agency, the Commissioners say that army officers examined have the same impression, but that it must be considered a matter of "opinion" rather than exact

proof—a safe conclusion, certainly, which will probably not alter the belief of the professor, the army officers, or anybody else. The Commissioners exonerate Bosler, the contractor, but they show by his own accounts that he is growing rich on Indian contracts at a rate which is surprising enough to arouse suspicion and demand enquiry. The charge of having at previous times furnished inferior cattle does not seem to us to have been disproved by proof that a herd which the Commissioners inspected was up to the standard. Flagrant frauds were discovered in pork and flour, and also in transportation. On the whole, with Delano removed, Smith under a serious cloud, and a report recommending the removal of the agent against whose administration the investigation was chiefly directed, and of still another agent, as well as the exclusion of three contractors from all further connection with the Government, Professor Marsh must feel that as a "scholar in politics" he has had a considerable amount of success; and, if every one of his charges is not proved, and some of them turn out to have been too strong, he probably consoles himself with the reflection that nine-tenths of the prosecuting officers in the country, even with the courts and the machinery of justice to aid them, seldom get a verdict upon more counts in their indictments than he has done in his.

What, then, is the reason, in view of the externally respectable character of the report and the success of the investigation in unearthing abuses, that the report has fallen so flat and attracted so little attention? The real answer to this question is, we believe, of considerable importance to the Republican party, and it is the very simple one that the Commission was appointed by the very men whose official conduct was to be investigated, and the instructions issued to the court thus constituted were drawn up by the accused themselves. The whole affair was such an insult to the common-sense of the public that it is difficult to write with moderation about it; but the facts deserve to be recalled. Professor Marsh, it will be recollected, brought his charges not merely against the subordinate employés like Saville, but against Delano and Smith as well, and on this account made his application for an investigation to Grant instead of the Interior Department. Therefore upon Grant immediately becomes so impressed with the fidelity and worth of Delano and Smith that he at once hands the whole matter over to them, and it is actually Delano who convenes the court, administers the oaths, and draws up the code under which he himself is to be tried. At such performances it is difficult to know whether the public is expected to laugh or to gnash its teeth, but it cannot be expected to await with interest or to treat as final the findings of a court so constituted. The only analogous case which we remember was Connolly's empanelling of Messrs. Astor, Taylor, and Roberts to examine the Ring accounts in this city. The irregularities then charged against Tweed and Connolly were very much the same as those now brought home to the Indian Department—frauds practised on the public through contracts—and it occurred to them that the only complete vindication they could have would be the report of a competent committee of business men that the accounts of the city were correct. Connolly accordingly appointed Messrs. Astor, Taylor, and Roberts, earnestly begged them to convene the court at once, himself produced the evidence and explained it, and, when he thought the examination had gone far enough, adjourned the proceedings and produced the most complete vindication, to the effect that the city finances were not only in admirable order, but, such were the economy and fidelity with which they were managed, that the entire debt of the city would be probably extinguished in a few years.

Here we have this Investigating Commission at Washington reporting that, while they have discovered some irregularities among agents and contractors, the motives and general character of the gentlemen who appointed them are beyond suspicion; while another Commission, appointed in the same way, has recently reported, almost as if they were rehearsing the Tweed farce, that the Indian policy of the President was such a complete success that not only are the civilized Indians making year by year rapid strides in the path of progress, but even the wild tribes among the Rocky Mountain

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THE INDIAN BUREAU FRAUDS.

THE Commission appointed to investigate the charges made by Professor Marsh, of Yale College, against the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in the matter of the administration of the Red Cloud Indian Agency, have just submitted their report to the public. It is known that three members of this commission, Messrs. Thomas C. Fletcher, Benjamin W. Harris and the Hon. Charles J. Faulkner, were at first named for this purpose by the Board of Indian Commissioners, and at a subsequent period, for reasons of his own, the President nominated Professor George W. Atherton, of Rutgers College, and Senator Timothy O. Howe, of Wisconsin, as additional members, who entered on the performance of their duties after the examination had begun. The present report is signed by all the members except Mr. Howe, who, it seems, took no part in the preparation of its contents.

The Commission open their report by referring to the fact that the very existence of the "Board of Indian Commissioners," to which a majority of their members owe their appointment in this investigation, is due to the common belief in Congress that "the administration of our Indian affairs has become so corrupt in all its ramifications, that it could no longer be trusted without some effectual check upon its acts." Hence the creation by Act of Congress of this "very unusual and anomalous feature in our administrative system," for so the Commission justly characterize it. But the Commission omit to mention the fact that the first body of men who were appointed to compose this Board soon found themselves constrained, under a proper sense of self-respect, to renounce the positions they held in the public eye, for they found that recommendations deemed by them indispensable to the introduction of honesty and responsibility into the management of the Indian Bureau were treated by both the Secretary of the Interior and by the head of the Indian Office with a supreme contempt. The present Board, under the Presidency of the Hon. Clinton B. Fisk, does not seem to be embarrassed by any notions of official rigor like those which proved so fatal to the peace of mind of their predecessors. An entente cordiale reigns between them and the Bureau, but how this entente is purchased—whether by compliances on the part of the present Board, or on the part of the Indian Bureau, we need hardly augur, in view of the circumstances under which the former Board gracefully retired from office so soon as its members found that they were expected to play the part of dummies in the Indian game.

An investigating committee appointed by a Board which lives on such amiable terms with a Secretary of the Interior and an Indian Commissioner whose conduct is impeached, could not well be expected to approach the inquiry with any notions higher than the source to which they owe their appointment. And accordingly, the authors of this report, in giving to us the result of their investigations, seem to have had no easy time of it in so dividing the truth revealed by their discoveries as to expose marks of fraud and mismanagement in the Indian Bureau (where they could

not be denied), and yet to do this in such a way as to give the least possible offense to Secretary Delano and Commissioner Smith. How far they have succeeded in the latter we must let our readers judge. not so much however, from the soft speech of the Committee, as from the hard and stubborn facts which they are compelled to admit.

They find, then, that Professor Marsh's allegations with regard to the incompetency of Dr. Saville, the head of the Red Cloud Agency, are fully sustained. He is, they say, of a "nervous and irritable temperament;" has "inordinate loquacity;" is "unignified in his bearing and manners;" wants "coolness and collectedness of mind and decision of character;" retains employs of "a low and inferior character" about him (one of whom the Committee found drunk); and keeps his accounts with the aid of a clerk "utterly incompetent for the position he occupies." One would suppose that this sort of an "agent" would be a "bad" lot in the estimation even of this Committee, but they mildly plead, per contra, that Dr. Saville "has many excellent qualities of head and heart," and urge, by way of extenuation, that, terrible as were "the looseness of management and want of administrative capacity" everywhere visible at Red Cloud Agency under the control of Saville, there is no reason to doubt that "the condition of affairs is far better than it was two years ago." And in the presence of such a damning statement the reader can infer for himself what sort of mismanagement must have been tolerated by the Indian Bureau at this Agency "two years ago." We say the Committee for himself; for, if he expects any disagreeable inferences to be drawn by the Committee, beyond those which could not be helped, he will soon find himself mistaken.

Professor Marsh having expressed the opinion that the number of Indians supplied with provisions at Red Cloud Agency has been overestimated, and that this overestimate had been made "for purposes which can only contemplate fraud," and this opinion of the Professor being corroborated by his Indian interpreter, the Committee urge that Dr. Saville "was forced to employ such men as Louis Reshaw, and other half-breed 'squaw men,' to make a count of the Indians for him." In another part of their report, where the testimony of Louis Reshaw is cited by Professor Marsh to corroborate a statement made by Lieutenant Carpenter, to the effect that the cattle issued at the Agency were "wretchedly poor, and half of them ridiculously small," the Committee immediately subjoin that such corroboration "weakening rather than strengthens the statements of Lieutenant Carpenter." In connection with this branch of their report they say: "We have seen Mr. Reshaw, and are satisfied that he is capable of gross misrepresentation and falschod." Yet it is on the count of such a man, among others, that Saville distributed such goods to the Indians! And the Committee defend the employment for this purpose of the man whom elsewhere they denounce as a villain. Comment is unnecessary.

In regard to the third head of Professor Marsh's indictment—the issue of annuity goods—the Committee say:

> "We found the system of keeping accounts at the Red Cloud Agency exactly long and defective, and for much of this the Indian Office is justly censurable. It is only within the last few weeks that the Government has supplied the books to the agent and required the adoption of a system calculated to exhibit clearly the state of his accounts. Prior to that time the agent furnished his own books, and made all his accounts in a loose and irregular manner; and when his agency expired, carried off all the books and papers as his private property."

Here, again, comment is unnecessary, though the Committee beg us to believe that they "cannot concur in the justice of the particular statements of fact which Professor Marsh marks as evidences of irregularity and fraud." Of course not. How could there be any "irregularity and fraud," under such circumstances? Or if there were any, how could anybody know their proportions? It is true, as the Committee admit, that Saville sometimes carried on his books as many as 278 heads of cattle marked delivered, and when they had not been delivered at all, and when Saville cannot fix the time at

which, as he claims, they were substantially delivered at a later date. On this point the Committee naively say:

> "While we cannot too strongly condemn a system of bookkeeping which would leave an item so large in amount as this one is in doubt, either as to the time or the fact of the return we cannot but believe the fact as Dr. Saville states it to be, that if the 278 head of cattle lost, he had obtained from Bosler before the 24 of November 150 head of cattle of substantially equal size and value."

> "O sanda simplicitas!" exclaimed John Huss, as he saw an old woman poking up the embers around the stake at which he was burning; but her simplicity was nothing compared to that of these artless gentlemen!

And what shall we more say? for time would fail us to tell how, as these adult Babes in the Woods admit, the Government is annually cheated out of $36,975 in the purchase of "unlotted cattle" at the Sioux agencies alone; how animals pronounced by Major Burt, of the United States Army, to be "walking skin and bone," are pronounced by Bosler, the herdsman, to be "good cattle," only looking a little "gaunt" from hard driving and a two days' starving; how contracts for "mess pork" are altered in the Indian Bureau by a "clerical error," to the detriment of the Government and to the advantage of the contractor, and how in the general management of this Bureau, as the Committee allow, "there is no proper check for the prevention of fraud, and, indeed, we think the system inviles it." And if, as they add, "this is so apparent to every observer that it may justly give rise to and justify suspicions of fraud where no fraud exists," we rather take leave to add that it justifies the suspicion of a thousand frauds which are never known to exist. And in the face of such damaging confessions, contained in the body of this excusable report, it is difficult to tell whether the members of the Committee have more stultified themselves or the head of the Indian Bureau, in trying to persuade the country that the latter has failed only in "the want of that vigilant astuteness and decision of character which should belong to the head of that important Bureau "; or if he really has been such an incompetent, what shall we say of President Grant who appointed him, and of Secretary Delano who retained him in office?

THE RED CLOUD REPORT.

McCann Scrapes Off the
Whitewash.

How He Was Made a Scapegoat by
the Indian Ring.

CHARACTER OF THE EVIDENCE.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 1875.

D. J. McCann has been in this city three weeks preparing his reply to the Red Cloud Committee's whitewashing report. Two chief clerks in the Treasury Department have examined all the original documents bearing on the charges, and, according to their report, the committee has grossly slanted McCann. The object of their animosity is evident. He is a contractor for transporting supplies, and, even if disposed he has little chance to defraud the government. He is not a member of the Ring. He is the committee fully vindicated, Bosler, whom the Ring charges is the chief of the Beef Ring. Those who know most of the contract system agree that the frauds in beef alone exceed all the others in the Indian Department. As the evidence against Bosler and the other members of the Ring was so conclusive they thought to save them- selves by drawing public attention to an outsider like McCann. The tone of McCann's statement is exceedingly mild, considering his proofs of innocence. If it ingly mild, considering his proofs of innocence. If it will call out a reply from Bosler's friends and force McCann to tell all he knows of the beef frauds the charges made by the Herald and Professor Marsh will be fully sustained. The following is

THE REPLY.

TO WHOX IT MAY CONCERN.—The reply of D. J. McCann to the report of the committee appointed to

PROFESSOR MARSH AND THE INDIAN
BING.

Buffalo War.

When Professor Marsh, of Yale College, visited the Black Hills country not long ago, on a scientific errand, he became interested in the abuses and impositions which he saw practiced on the Indians. He accordingly promised Red Cloud and other chiefs that he would present their wrongs at Washington on his return, and he brought with him samples for the purpose of showing the kind of provisions that were being distributed by the Indian agent. In fulfillment of his promise the professor went to Washington and had an interview with the commissioner of Indian affairs, on Saturday last. How much satisfaction he got can readily be imagined, after all that has become known of the matchless efficiency of the Indian ring which rules the bureau of commissioner Smith. He exhibited samples of flour, coffee, sugar and tobacco, which he had brought with him and which he undoubtedly had satisfied himself were representative of the goods distributed to the Sioux by the Indian agent. The commissioner admitted that the flour was very bad, but said it was not a sample of that now issued, but of some which was issued several years ago, and which was so poor that the ponies would not eat it. He said, also, that Red Cloud must have picked out the black beans of the coffee; that the sample of the sugar had been wet, and that the tobacco must have been issued at some former time. Professor Marsh remarked that he did not think the agent a proper man to have charge of so many Indians, and told the commissioner that the annuity goods had all been issued to the thirteen thousand Indians at the agency in one day, and in such haste that it would be impossible for any one to tell whether all the goods appropriated for the Indians were issued or not. The commissioner replied that the agent was the best that could be secured at the salary of $1,500 a year. And so the professor seems to have been met at every point by a cool putting aside of his representations and an ignoring of the testimony of his own personal observations. From the commissioner he went to the president and told his story, appealing for justice to the plundered Indians. He received fair words in return, but that will be the end of it. It was foolish in Professor Marsh to waste his time in butting against the Indian ring at Washington. It is too strong to be afraid of mere college professors.

It seemed to the president that Prof Marsh was merely using him as a cover under which he might attack Secretary Delano and assail his reputation before the public, and the president told Prof Marsh so, one day, while sitting on the piazza of the president's cottage at Long Branch. What Prof Marsh said or what explanation he offered is not known, but it is known that the president told him a commission had been already appointed to investigate the grievances of Red Cloud's Indians, of which he was complaining, and he might have spared himself the expense of publishing a pamphlet, and the Tribune company the trouble of printing a page of matter. And moreover, the president hinted to Prof Marsh that he was not a natural person to publish their letters in newspapers and pamphlets before they were received by the persons to whom they were addressed, and it was considered in polite society the proper thing to consult the person to whom a letter was addressed, or at least to inform him, before it was published.—Letter to Chicago Inter-Ocean.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

A *Marsh* may be defined as slippery ground. This appears to be where Delano stands.—*Bulletin*.

THE ASSAULT AT PIONEER'S SEC'Y DELANO.

Rochester Enquirer.

There are newspapers that are anxious to have Secretary DELANO convicted of the charges preferred against him by Professor MARSH, whether he is innocent or guilty. These are the so-called independent journals which make it their highest mission to defame the President, and every member of the Administration who will not quarrel with him. There are other newspapers which, either through sympathy with the spirit of the journals already alluded to, or through a weak credulity on account of the vociferousness of the complaints, have assumed that the Secretary must have fallen into corrupt practices, and that he ought to retire at once, without waiting for an investigation.

We hold it to be evident to every lover of justice, that no official should be required to cease the exercise of his functions or retire from his office solely because charges of incompetency, malpractice or corruption have been preferred against him. To take the contrary position is to admit an element of disordar and anarchy into our service. Every office holder in that case would be at the mercy of the envious, the malicious and the revengeful of society. The civil service, imperfect as it may now be, would be infinitely worse. Neither faithfulness nor efficiency could be expected. One qualification of a public official should be sufficient firmness to resist the assaults made upon him by unscrupulous opponents. To resign at once when the hiss of calumny is heard is to show a feebleness of character unworthy of manhood. A great religious and apostolic writer once counseled his friends with the words: "Having done all, stand." To a reasonable degree that should be the course pursued by public officials. They should discharge their duties, meet their obligations, and then stand, until it shall have become apparent to their constituency that they can no longer be useful in the positions they hold. These are the views we have held respecting friends and opponents. We ask no man to resign simply because we accuse him, but it is the duty of an official arraigned before the public by definite charges against his administration or character, to court an investigation so soon as those charges shall assume a definite shape.

These views have been suggested by the course pursued towards Secretary DELANO by many of our contemporaries. Certain parties, including Professor MARSH, of Yale College, have accused him of complicity in frauds upon the Indians. At once a great many newspapers demanded his immediate resignation. Failing to gratify their modest orders, they have opened their batteries upon both President and Secretary. The former has been under fire now for fourteen years, and takes it as placidly at Long Branch as he did at Vicksburg or Richmond. The Secretary has done what every sensible man would do. He has asked an investigation, and proposes to abide by that.

From some interesting correspondence in the *Chicago Inter-Ocean*, we learn some points in this case that have not hitherto appeared. The writer is familiar with the parties, and speaks in a candid vein of all. Professor MARSH, as we all know, is one of our most eminent and successful paleontologists. He is a nephew of the late GEORGE PEABODY, and the possessor of a large personal property bequeathed to him by that gentleman. He is, furthermore, the head

of the paleontological department in Yale College, and curator of the museum of that institution. Devoted to the collection of fossil remains, he spends his large income, and a great deal of his time in the interest of that department of science. Last autumn he visited Southern Dakota for specimen bones said to be plentiful in the "Bad Lands" of that region. Red Cloud, the "big injun," suspected that the Professor wanted to get into the Black Hills to dig for gold, and refused him a passage. After some negotiations, it was agreed that the Professor be admitted to the "Bad Lands," on the condition that he would be the bearer of a message to the Great

Father at Washington. He consented, and Red Cloud and Red Dog showed him some animated bones in the shape of lean cattle, and handed him musty sugar, bad coffee and rotten tobacco, all of which were specimens, according to the honest and veracious savages, of the fare dealt out at the agencies.

The Professor got his bones and came home. That was in November. But it was not until the April following that he fulfilled his promise to Red Cloud, and then it appears to have been suggested by the attacks of the opposition press on the Secretary and Indian Commissioner. But instead of going to Mr. DELANO he went to the Post Master General, which was hardly scientific or honorable. The P. M. G. went to the President, who very sensibly communicated the matter to the proper man—that is, the Secretary of the Interior. Unfortunately, that high minded scalper, Red Cloud, when he was in Washington in the spring, did not tell the same story that he did to the Professor. In the presence of the Commissioners and "Mr." MARSH, he declared that the cattle exhibition in Dakota was one of condemned animals which the agent had refused to accept under the contract, and which were given to the Indians in addition to their regular supplies; and the coffee, tobacco and sugar were a part of a quantity that had got wet in the transportation wagons while crossing the Platte river. The Professor was disgusted with Red Cloud's treachery, but, it appears, was subsequently braced up to issue a new set of charges against the Indian Department. It is this second series that the Committee are now investigating.

There are other points which we might adduce, going to show that, while none may question the motives or character of the complainant in this matter, he may be as badly in error concerning the second series of charges as he was concerning the first. The *Tribune* is the newspaper patron par excellence of scientific men, and they naturally have some confidence in the political statements of that journal. It is believed that in this matter the Professor has been subjected to a pressure to induce him to lend the respectability of his name to the scheme of calumny which some are trying to carry out towards the Department of the Interior. Pending the investigation, it is not the part of any public journal to give in a verdict for or against the Secretary; but it is our belief, as it is our hope for the credit of the country, that Prof. MARSH's charges will be found to be baseless. Of course, there have been irregularities and frauds in the Indian agenies. That must be conceded; but it must be shown that the Secretary was at least cognizant of them before the responsibility can be placed at his door.

A STATEMENT

OF

AFFAIRS AT RED CLOUD AGENCY,

MADE TO THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

BY PROFESSOR O. C. MARSH.

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

SIR: In the two interviews I have had with you on Indian Affairs, I was impressed with your earnest desire to do justice to the Indians, and with your broad and philanthropic views on the whole Indian Question. This must be my excuse, as a private citizen, for coming again to you, to lay before you a statement of wrongs committed on the Sioux Indians, mainly under my own observation, during a recent visit to their country. My visit to this region was wholly in the interests of Science, with no intention or wish to investigate Indian affairs. The frauds I observed were brought to my notice by Red Cloud, who refused to allow my party to enter the "Bad Lands," until I had promised to submit his complaints to you, in person.

Since my last interview with you upon this subject, I have been informed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the appointment of a committee to investigate affairs at the Red Cloud Agency, and invited to lay a statement of the facts before them. This I am quite ready to do whenever the committee request it. I must decline, however, to give my statement to the Interior Department alone, for the following reasons:

1st. I have no confidence whatever in the sincerity of the Secretary of the Interior or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, when

4

they publicly announce their wish and determination to correct
the present abuses in Indian management, because I have reason
to know that they have long been aware of these abuses, and
have made no sincere effort to reform them.
2d. In all my
intercourse with these two officials, their object has manifestly
been to find out, not so much what the frauds actually were, as
the extent of my information concerning them, so as to prevent,
by every means in their power, all publicity or exposure of them.
3d. The evidence now in my possession reflects unfavorably on
both Secretary Delano and Commissioner Smith.

For these reasons, I have thought best to lay before you, to
whom, in accordance with my promise to Red Cloud, I made my
first communication, the accompanying statement in detail, in full
confidence that the evidence presented will meet with the consider-
ation its importance demands.

In the Statement which accompanies this letter, I have given
the results of my investigation into the affairs of Red Cloud
Agency, the largest and most important in the West. These
results clearly indicate both mismanagement and fraud, especially
in the following particulars:

1st. The Agent, J. J. Saville, is wholly unfitted for his position,
and guilty of gross frauds upon the Indians in his charge.

2d. The number of Indians at this Agency has been systemati-
cally overstated, for purposes which can only contemplate fraud.

3d. The last issue of Annuity Goods, which I witnessed, was a
suspicious transaction, and, in part, at least, fraudulent.

4th. The beef cattle given to the Indians have been very
inferior, owing to systematic frauds practiced by the agent and
beef contractors.

5th. The pork issued to the Indians during my visit was not
suitable for human food.

6th. The flour was very inferior, and the evidence of fraud in
this article is conclusive.

7th. The sugar and coffee issued were not good, although
better than the other supplies.

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8th. The tobacco observed was rotten, and of little or no use to the Indians.

9th. In consequence of fraud and mismanagement, the Indians suffered greatly during the past winter for want of food and clothing.

10th. The contract for freight from Cheyenne to Red Cloud Agency was fraudulent, as the true distance is 145 miles, while the contractor was paid for 212 miles.

I would especially call your attention to the evidence of fraud in beef cattle, as presented in the accompanying statement. This subject I investigated with much care, as beef is the principal article of food of the Sioux Indians, and the frauds I observed have caused great suffering among them, as well as great pecuniary loss to the Government.

The statement I have prepared is supported in all its essential parts by the testimony of officers of the Army, who were with me on my expedition, or at the Red Cloud Agency. Among these officers are several personally known to you, and all are gentlemen of high character. Should any part of my statement be seriously questioned, I trust you will allow these gentlemen to be heard. If the commanding officers of all posts near Indian Agencies, or other equally trustworthy and disinterested observers there, could likewise testify, I think it would be found that I have but faintly indicated the corruption pervading Indian affairs.

I have purposely confined myself in this statement to a single agency, and mainly to the time of my visit, without reference to much other testimony, which has come to me incidentally in the prosecution of my inquiries, showing frauds of equal magnitude at other points. This corruption, which is a constant source of discontent and hostility among the Indians themselves, is, in my judgment, a natural result of the present loose and irresponsible system of furnishing the Indians with goods and supplies, a system that tends directly to invite fraud. I do not believe that anything but a radical change in this respect will prevent the continued demoralization of the Indian Service. You alone have

SIR: In November last, while on a geological expedition to explore the "Bad Lands" south of the Black Hills, I was obliged to pass near Red Cloud Agency, and was detained there several days by the opposition of the Sioux Indians. In endeavoring to propitiate the Indians, and obtain their permission to proceed with my party, I held several councils with Red Cloud and his principal chiefs, saw the issue of Annuity goods, and provisions, and had other opportunities of seeing the actual state of affairs at this important Agency. I found the Indians in want of food and clothing, greatly dissatisfied with their agent, J. J. Saville, and strong in the belief that they were systematically defrauded of the goods and supplies sent them by the government. In one council, attended by nearly all the prominent chiefs, Red Cloud made specific charges of fraud against the agent and contractors, and urged me to make this known to the Great Father, and to carry to him samples of the rations the Indians were then receiving. Mainly to gain consent for my expedition to proceed, I made Red Cloud the promise he desired. Soon after, he gave me samples of flour, sugar, coffee, and tobacco, to show to you, assuring me that they were the rations he himself was using, and fair samples of those lately issued to his people.

8

In consequence of the promise thus made to Red Cloud and his associates, their immediate opposition to my proposed explorations ceased. Other difficulties were successively overcome, the expedition at last reached its destination, and fully accomplished its purpose, notwithstanding great suffering from cold, and open hostility of the Indians around us. When about to return, we escaped a large war party of Indians in consequence of warning and assistance sent by Red Cloud. This act of kindness led me on my return to the Agency to make further investigations there, especially in the directions indicated by the chiefs, and I soon found reason to believe that their statements of mismanagement and fraud were essentially true. The information I received also from officers of the Army, and other trustworthy observers familiar with the subject, fully confirmed this, and proved, moreover, that affairs at this Agency had long been in the same condition.

On my return to the East, my professional duties prevented me for some time from fulfilling the promise made to Red Cloud; but in April last, as you will remember, I gave you his message, showed you the sample of rations he had entrusted to me, and received from you the assurance of your wish to do full justice to the Indians, and correct any abuses in their management. I then regarded my mission at an end. As a matter of courtesy, I showed to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs the same samples, and told him of various things I saw at the Red Cloud Agency that indicated a bad state of affairs there; naturally supposing that such information, from a disinterested observer, would be kindly received, and existing wrongs be prevented in future. I regret to say that the information I ventured to offer to this official was far from acceptable; the inferior rations I exhibited were plausibly explained, and the damaging facts I had observed were considered of little consequence. Commissioner Smith's manner of receiving this information naturally deterred me from giving him many other facts of a similar nature then in my possession, and I have since deemed it best to withhold them.

9

Subsequently, I met the Board of Indian Commissioners in New York, at their request, and gave them a more full account of the condition of things at Red Cloud and other Agencies that I had visited. I again showed the rations Red Cloud had given me, and stated to the Commissioners that, while I did not vouch for these particular samples, I had no reason to doubt, from all I saw at his Agency, that they fairly represented the supplies issued during my visit. I gave, also, a detailed statement of some of the frauds in beef cattle, and other supplies, and showed that these had resulted in great suffering among the Indians during the past winter. In answer to their inquiries, I pointed out to the Commissioners the great defects in the present system of supplying the Indians with food and clothing, and how, in my opinion, these defects could be remedied.

A few days afterward, the following letter appeared in the public press. It explains itself.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 10.

The Hon. CLINTON B. FISK, President Board of Indian Commissioners.

SIR: I am desirous of appointing a Commission from the members of your Board to investigate certain reports put in circulation by a Mr. Marsh, relative to the Indian service at Red Cloud Agency, and I write you to request that you will consult with your Board and name to me such members of it as may be designated to make the investigation. It would be well to have the Commission consist of three members. Should you be unable to designate them from your Board, will you do me the favor to recommend some other suitable persons as Commissioners? I desire to have the Commission named by yourself or the Board of which you are President. Yours, etc.

C. DELANO.

Supposing that this commission would be appointed, I at once took measures to obtain the testimony of those who were with me on my expedition, and others familiar with the facts I had observed, since I felt confident, that all I had stated about mismanagement of Indian affairs could be readily substantiated by abundant evidence.

While the Sioux delegations were in Washington, in June last, I had the honor of meeting, personally, on his invitation, the Honorable Secretary of the Interior. He informed me that he

2

10

had long taken a deep interest in the Indians, and had had great
experience in the management of their affairs. He was especially
interested in the efforts to Christainize and civilize these wards of
the nation, and he earnestly entreated me to aid him in the enter-
prise. His appeal in behalf of this noble work—of which so much
is said in the East, and so little seen in the West—moved me
deeply; but having no time and little inclination for such pro-
fessional philanthropy, I was obliged to decline. The state of
affairs at Red Cloud Agency in November last, to which I directed
his attention, he declined to discuss; but, in the most solemn
manner, assured me that if I would give him all my information
on this point, he would at once see that the abuses, if any existed,
were officially removed. He manifested great sorrow that I had
not brought Red Cloud's samples directly to him—a service
which Red Cloud himself, who knew the Honorable Secretary,
did not ask me to perform.

In reply to the urgent request of the Honorable Secretary for
the information in my possession about Indian affairs, I informed
him, that whenever the Commission he intended to appoint, or
any other Commission empowered to ascertain the whole truth,
should be ready, I would cheerfully co-operate with it in every
way in my power.

A month later, or July 2nd, I read in the newspapers the fol-
lowing letter—the original of which, dated July 1st, 1874, I sub
sequently received by mail:—

"WASHINGTON, July 1st, 1875.

"The Hon. E. P. Smith, Indian Commissioner, sent the follow-
ing letter to-day to Prof. Marsh at New Haven:

"At the request of the Honorable the Secretary of the Interior, the Board of Indian Commissioners have nominated as a committee to investigate affairs at Red Cloud Agency, the Hon. A. H. Bullock of Worcester, Mass., the Hon. Thos. C. Fletcher of St. Louis, Mo., and the Hon. George W. Lane of the Chamber of Commerce, New York; and it is understood that these gentlemen have accepted the service to which they have been invited. In preparing instructions for their guidance, I have not been able to furnish them your complaints against the Red Cloud Agency administration, except in a general way, as detailed to me by yourself at several interviews. But I have informed them of the request of the Secretary that you will reduce these complaints to a written statement, to be accom-

11

panied with such proofs and suggestions as to reliable sources of evidence, as will
aid in securing a thorough investigation. I have also informed them of the ap-
pointment and purpose of this Commission, and my intention to renew the request
heretofore made by the honorable Secretary, that you will now furnish the said
written statement making the charges as specific, and furnishing evidence as much
in detail as possible: or if you are not prepared to do this, that you will in any
way most agreeable to yourself make known in a definite form your impressions
and views respecting Indian affairs, as resulting from your personal observation
while in the Indian country. I make this request of you in the belief that you
can have no other desire in this matter than that the interests and rights both of
the Indians and Government may be protected. And I desire to renew the as-
surance heretofore given you, that it is the sincere wish and purpose of the De-
partment to prevent frauds as far as possible, and to omit no effort to discover
them when perpetrated, and in all respects to bring the Indian service to the
highest possible standard of humanity and strict integrity."

To which, my reply was as follows:

YALE COLLEGE, NEW HAVEN,
July 3d 1875.

Hon. E. P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs:

DEAR SIR—I have received your letter of the 1st inst., informing me of the
appointment of Hon. A. H. Bullock, of Massachusetts, Hon. T. C. Fletcher, of
Missouri, and Hon. George W. Lane, of New York, as a committee to investigate
affairs at Red Cloud Agency. I have as yet received no communication from the
gentlemen named, but I will at once proceed to prepare a detailed statement,
embodying the evidence on this subject, now in my possession, a copy of which I
will with pleasure lay before the committee, so soon as they inform me that they
have organized, and are ready to act.

Very truly yours,

O. C. MARSH.

The Department letter of instructions to the Commission,
although the gentlemen named had not accepted their appoint-
ment, as intimated in the Commissioner's letter to me, was
published also. This letter of instructions, as published, contains
several erroneous statements and misrepresentations, especially as
to the nature and extent of my observations at Red Cloud Agency,
and virtually prejudges the case. How it corresponds with the
facts, may be seen from the evidence given below. The letter is
as follows:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, WASHINGTON, D. C., July 1, 1875.

GENTLEMEN—On the nomination of the Chairman of the Board of Indian Com-
missioners, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, you have been
appointed by him a commission to investigate the affairs of the Red Cloud
Agency.

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The occasion for such investigation has mainly originated in statements made by Mr. O. C. Marsh, Professor in Sheffield Scientific School, Yale College, concerning matters which he observed while at the agency during November last. As yet these statements have no definite form known to the office other than as they have appeared in the public press, and as made verbally by Mr. Marsh to myself.

In the latter part of March last, Prof. Marsh brought to me certain samples of tobacco and flour, and sugar, which he said he did in accordance with a promise made to Red Cloud in consideration of a promise by Red Cloud to procure an entrance for him into the Black Hills country for scientific purposes. He stated that in a private interview with Red Cloud, that Indian Chief complained very bitterly of his agent in many respects, and earnestly desired a change, and that he had given him these as samples of the supplies which he was receiving from Government. He also stated that the beef cattle issued to the Indians were small in size, and otherwise of inferior character; and that there was much confusion in agency matters, especially in the issuing of a large amount of goods in a single day. Prof. Marsh expressed his belief that there might have been an exchange of articles purchased for the Indians for others of inferior quality while en route between Cheyenne and the agency. He also stated that his views as to agency affairs were confirmed by conversations with other persons around the agency.

Prof. Marsh stated that he had not taken any measures to satisfy himself that the samples given to him by Red Cloud were fair samples of the supplies which were then being issued, and could not say from his own observation that they were fair samples; but that on one occasion, when a sack of flour had fallen from an Indian woman's arms and broken open, he saw the color of the flour as it lay upon the ground, and thought it not much different from the sample furnished by Red Cloud, but not being a judge of flour he could not make the comparison with any degree of accuracy. The samples referred to Prof. Marsh did not leave with me, and it is presumed that he has them still in his possession.

His other statements in regard to agency affairs are of a still more indefinite character.

In an interview subsequently held with the honorable Secretary of the Interior, Prof. Marsh was invited by him to reduce his statements of frauds or irregularities in the Indian service to writing in such form as would best aid in their investigation. To this request Prof. Marsh has not yet responded, nor has he declined it. I have this day notified him of your appointment, and again requested him to furnish such statements or suggestions as may aid in finding the facts as to the administration of Red Cloud Agency.

If, however, Prof. Marsh should still decline to furnish such assistance, it is the desire of the honorable Secretary that you proceed in the investigation, and avail yourselves of all the means that can be found after arriving upon the ground, or before, to learn the state of affairs; and that you will, without fear or favor, investigate all matters pertaining to that agency so thoroughly as to satisfy yourselves beyond a doubt as to facts upon which you will make a clear report relative to its past and present condition and management, with such recommendations as will enable the Department to take proper action in the premises.

You will undoubtedly meet with persons of strong partisan feelings enlisted both for and against the administration of the present agent; and as you proceed you will become fully aware of the misrepresentations which such partisanship naturally produces, and the extreme difficulty of discovering the truth amid the conflicting statements and allegations.

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While guarding against giving undue weight to accusations which originate in malice and suspicion only, you will not hesitate to probe all questions to the bottom, and bring to light any official neglect or fraudulent or unfair transactions of any kind or degree, by whomsoever committed. A copy of Agent Saville's letter requesting such investigations is herewith furnished for your information; also a full report of the councils held with Red Cloud and a delegation of the chiefs and head men of Red Cloud Agency at the Department of the Interior, May 28 and June 5.

At Cheyenne you will find C. H. Bostwick, the storekeeper of the Government warehouse, also Mr. Long, the inspector of the flour and the supplies which have been shipped from Cheyenne to Red Cloud Agency during the year. You are also requested while in the Indian country to make such observations pertaining to Indian affairs generally at Red Cloud Agency as will be of assistance to the administration of the Indian Bureau.

Of this Commission the Hon. A. H. Bullock of Worcester, Mass., is the Chairman, from whom you will receive notice of the time of proceeding to Cheyenne. Your compensation while actually engaged in this service will be at the rate of $8 per day, in addition to your necessary and actual traveling expenses. One of the inclosed requisitions for transportation will be honored by the ticket agent of the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, and the other on your return at Cheyenne. The weekly stage at Laramie en route to Red Cloud, leaves Cheyenne on Monday early in the day.

Your attention is called to the circular letter of the Honorable Second Controller of Feb. 26, 1875, and to Department circular of July 1, 1874, for information as to requirements in settling your accounts for expenses.

Very respectfully your obedient servant,

EDW. P. SMITH.

To the Hon. A. H. Bullock, Worcester, Mass.; Geo. W. Lane, New York City; Thomas C. Fletcher, St. Louis, Mo.*

Up to the present time, I have received no information that this Commission has organized, but I stand ready to aid it in every way in my power. In the meantime, the communication I now transmit to you contains the information asked for by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The results of my investigation into the affairs of Red Cloud Indian Agency are embodied in the following statements, arranged for convenience under distinct heads:—

* Messrs. Bullock and Lane having declined to serve on the Commission, the Secretary of the Interior appointed Hon. C. J. Faulkner, of W. Va.; and Hon. B. W. Harris, of Mass.; and named Hon. T. C. Fletcher as chairman. This Commission organized in New York, July 19th, and started for the West, July 22nd, 1875. The President subsequently appointed three additional Commissioners, viz: Hon. T. O. Howe, of Wis., Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, of Penn., and Prof. G. W. Atherton, of N. J.

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I. *The Indian Agent at Red Cloud's Agency.*

In the first conversation I had with Red Cloud, when Gen. L. P. Bradley and Col. T. H. Stanton were present, he complained bitterly of his Agent, J. J. Saville, who for the past two years has had charge of his Agency. Red Cloud's specified charges were, that his Agent was incompetent, weak and vacillating, having no influence over the Indians; and especially that he was in league with the contractors to defraud the Indians of the food and clothing sent them by the Government. I regret to say that all I saw myself at the Agency, and all I learned from trustworthy observers, and official records, has convinced me that these charges were well-founded. As soon as I met the Agent himself, and observed his method of dealing with Indians, it was at once evident to me that he was entirely unfit for the responsible position he occupied. This fact is illustrated by an occurrence, now well known, which took place a few days before my arrival, when the Agent, by a single act of folly, aroused the bitter hostility of the Indians in his charge, and came near sacrificing the entire white population of the Agency. This was avoided only by the rare coolness and bravery of Lieut. E. Crawford, 3d Cavalry, who came with his company to the rescue, at the critical moment. Without military protection, the Agent could not have remained in charge of the Indians a single day, as their threats against him for indignities and alleged frauds continually practiced upon them were open and violent. Of the more debasing influences which this Agency was openly exercising upon the Indians I will not now speak, although the evidence on this point was obtained by direct observation. That a chief of such note and ability as Red Cloud should be subjected to the caprices of such an agent, is in itself a gross indignity, and ill-calculated to inspire him or his people with respect for the advantages of civilization.

There appeared to be a total want of system in the management of Agency affairs. The issues of Annuity goods, of beef and other supplies, all were made in a loose and unbusinesslike way, in which

15

a just distribution among the Indians was impossible. Agent Saville was placed in his position, to guard the interests of the Indians and of the Government, and it appears that he betrayed both alike. He defrauded the Indians by withholding from them provisions which he charged against the Government as issued to them. For example: In his abstract of Provision Issues for November, 1874, which he rendered to the Interior Department, and which is now there on file, he states that, Nov. 8, 1874, he issued to 12,351 Indians, fresh beef amounting to 271,248 pounds, or over 260 head of cattle, according to the average weight which he allowed the contractor on the last herd received. The truth is that he issued no beef, whatever, to the Indians on that day, nor for several days afterward, as I ascertained from the Agent himself, and others at the Agency. I arrived at the Agency Nov. 9th, and was informed by the Agent that he had been for some time withholding rations from the Indians until they would consent to be counted; and this fact he communicated officially to the Department, and subsequently repeated it to Bishop W. H. Hare, in my presence, in Washington. The first issue after the counting was finished was Nov. 14, and I was then present, and know that for several days previously the Indians had been suffering from want of the very food he claimed in his official report to have issued. In the same manner, his official reports represent other issues that never took place. How he, at the same time, was defrauding the Government, in receipting for beef which he did not receive, is fully shown in Section IV of this statement.

The incompetence and true character of Agent Saville were well known to the Interior Department before my visit, as is shown by an official report made by United States Indian Inspector J. D. Bevier, Oct. 21, 1874. In this report, the Inspector exposed a fraudulent contract made privately by Agent Saville with his father-in-law, A. R. Appleton, by which the Government would have been largely a loser. Inspector Bevier states, moreover, that while investigating the contract, Agent Saville made false representations to him, and Mr. Appleton endeavored to bribe him to

16

silence. Other special Commissioners of the Interior Department had, likewise, reported unfavorably of this Agent and affairs at the Agency. And yet this man has for the past two years, with the full approval of the Department, had charge of the most important Agency in the West, where nearly half a million of dollars annually passes through his hands.

In all his official relations Agent Saville has proved himself a weak man, and he should never have been placed in so responsible a position. If honest when appointed, as some good men believe, he fell an easy victim to the wiles of beef and freight-contractors of the Indian Ring, as many stronger men, agents and high officials, have done before him.

## II.—*Number of Indians at Agency Over-estimated.*

There is good reason to believe that the number of Indians supplied with provisions at Red Cloud Agency has been largely over-estimated, resulting in extensive losses to the Government. According to the Provision Returns of Agent Saville for the fourth quarter of 1874, which he rendered to the Interior Department, there were 15,117 Indians who received rations at the Agency, Oct. 1, 1874. The same official document states that on Nov. 8 (the day before my arrival), there were 12,351 Indians fed at the Agency. I was informed by the Agent, and other persons immediately connected with the Agency, that two or three thousand of these Indians belonged to the Northern tribes, and were encamped within a short distance of the Agency, on the north side of White River. Agent Saville subsequently confirmed this statement in an interview with Rev. S. D. Hinman and myself, in Washington, May 31, 1875, and stated, also, that some of these Northern Indians received Annuities at the annual issue, Nov. 12, 1874. A few days after the issue of Annuity goods, when about to start with my expedition across White River to the northward, I was informed by the Agent and others, that the Northern Indians were still in camp there; but on cross-

17

ing the river with my party, I found less than forty lodges
by actual count, and ascertained that all or nearly all of these
were Ogallalas, belonging to Red Cloud's band. During the
next ten days, moreover, I repeatedly crossed the great northern
trails leading to the Black Hills, and ascertained beyond a doubt
that no considerable body of Indians had recently passed over
them. For these reasons, and others which I deem equally con-
clusive, I believe the thousands of Northern Indians officially re-
ported at this Agency to be a myth.

The number of Indians actually at Red Cloud Agency, when I
was there in November last, could not have been more than 1,200
lodges, or 8,400 individuals. Judging from all the information I
could obtain, I doubt if this number has been exceeded within
the last two years. Some observers, best qualified to judge,
placed the number lower, and among these was Jules Ecoffey,
of Fort Laramie, whom I have known for several years. He
was with me at the Agency, acted as my interpreter in one
council, and is personally acquainted with nearly all the Indians
there. The statement of the Agent, that, on October 1st, there
were at the Agency over 15,000 Indians, no disinterested person,
familiar with the facts, believes for a moment, especially as at
that time the wilder Indians had not commenced to return to
the Agency for the winter.

### III. *Issue of Annuity Goods.*

I was present at the Red Cloud Agency at the annual issue of
Annuity goods, November 12, 1874, and personally observed
nearly all that were delivered. I saw the entire issue of blankets,
and carefully examined the quality of those delivered. The num-
ber of bales of blankets I did not count as they were issued, but,
soon after all were given out, my attention was called to the num-
ber of these by the chief Red Dog, who stood near me in the
warehouse during the issue. He strongly asserted that the issue
was fraudulent, and that the number of blankets issued was much
less than the Indians were entitled to; and that the number is-

3

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sued to him for his own band was not more than half what he should have had. This earnest protest on the part of the chief, who is next in rank to Red Cloud, called my attention particularly to the amount issued; and on recalling the exact circumstances of the delivery, which I had witnessed a few minutes before, I felt reasonably certain that not more than twenty bales were issued, and that the number could not possibly have exceeded twenty-five bales. One of the persons whom I then saw assisting the agent in issuing the blankets was Louis Richard (or, as the name is usually pronounced and written at the Agency, Louis Reshaw), whom I knew personally, and subsequently employed as interpreter by the advice of General L. P. Bradley, who had previously employed him as guide, and spoke in high terms of his faithfulness and reliability. I subsequently met Louis Richard in Washington with J. S. Collins, Esq., of Fort Laramie, now secretary of the Special Sioux Commission, who had brought him on from the Red Cloud Agency as a trustworthy interpreter, and who spoke highly of his truthfulness. On conversing with Mr. Richard about the affairs of Red Cloud Agency, with which we were both conversant, I learned incidentally that he had carefully counted all the bales of blankets that were issued on November 12, 1874, when he assisted in the distribution which I witnessed. He assured me that the number of bales of blankets then issued was eighteen, each bale containing fifty pairs of blankets, and he gave me the following affidavit:

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 4th, 1875.

I hereby certify that at the issue of Annuities at Red Cloud Agency in Nov., 1874, I assisted the Agent, Dr. J. J. Saville, in the issue, and know from actual count that there were only eighteen bales of blankets issued, each bale containing fifty pairs. I was present at the whole issue, and saw all the Annuity goods delivered. No bales were left in the warehouse after the regular issue.

The brand U. S. I. D. on these blankets injured the cloth, so that, after a short wear, holes replaced the letters.

LOUIS RESHAW.

Witness,
J. MCKENNEY,
F. W. HAGUE.

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, SS.

I, John McKenney, a notary public in and for the district aforesaid, certify that Louis Reshaw, whose signature is affixed to the within affidavit, came before me and made oath that the matters stated in said paper are true to the best of his knowledge and belief.

Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and notarial seal this 5th day of June, 1875.

J. MCKENNEY,
Notary Public.

That no bales of blankets remained at the Agency after the issue of Nov. 12, 1874, is shown by Mr. Richard's affidavit above quoted, and by Agent Saville's Property Returns, now on file in the Interior Department. This I also know from personal observation, as I was several times in the warehouse after the issue, and saw that none were there.

On subsequently examining the Property Returns of Agent Saville for the 4th quarter, 1874, at Red Cloud Agency, which he had rendered to the Indian Bureau, and were on file in the Interior Department, I was surprised to find that he had certified to the issue, on Nov. 12th, 1874, of no less than thirty-five bales of blankets, and had furnished a paper purporting to be a receipt of the Indian Chiefs for that number. In a recent communication from the Indian Bureau, I learn that the true number of bales shipped to Red Cloud Agency in 1874 was thirty-seven, or 1,850 pairs. Hence it would appear that the Indians at this Agency received less than one-half the number of blankets for which the government paid.

The blankets actually issued were bitterly complained of by the Indians, for two reasons—the first being their small sizes, which were not adapted to men as large as the Sioux braves, and were only fitted for women and children. The second and most serious objection, however, was the fact, that the brand U. S. I. D. on each blanket had been put on with some material which rotted or burned the cloth, and after a short wear this brand was replaced by holes, as stated above in the affidavit of Mr. Richard. This fact is now well known to every one at the Agency. These blankets were furnished by J. & J. Dobson, of Philadelphia.