OCR Text |
Show implements,,seeds, and stock, are needed; and wherever any tribe in this cla,ss is rece~ving cash anuuity by treaty, that treaty should be so fkr amended or annulled as to malce all bounty and aid by the Government come to the Indian ward in the form of payment for labor performed. If, according to the testimony of faithful and trustwortl~ya gents, who ~ p e ~ k i ~ ~ g ' fpreorsmon al observation and contact with the facts know whereof thev affirm. such hountifhl and honeful results hare been nro-dnced am0116 them, iu spite of the present dkabilities and diflicnltie< no candid niiud can uuesti~)nt he sum and rapid returns which will come I if t,he reasonable iequire~nentso f their c&e can be n ~ ebt y appropritlte legislation. THE CIVILIZED. I The third class, numbering 100,085, composed of Indians who, withont violence to the term. luav be called civilized, is most numerons. A11 of I these hare been greatly'assisted in attainiu'g to their present coudit,iou by tliedirect and 1ong.contiuned religious teachings and iofluences of missionaries. The great need of a majority of thisclass of Indians at the present time is a qualitled citizenship, and yet most of them hesi-tate to tnkeany steps xrhich propose to lead them out of tlletribal cou-dition. Pride of nationality, dread of competition with the enterprise of white a~gna, nd fear of loss of propert,y by taxation or suit for debt cause t l~ihs esitation anlong the mass of the less educated; while the more forehanded and better educated among them, being generally the "~ overnmentd e fncto. and t,lros intrusted with funds and nower. are in no haste for a cbanke. Both classes appeal most s t ren~ions lt~o ' the letter of their treaties, which re~ai resth e Unitecl States to protect them a s sovereigi~tiefso revbr; and t h i question will sooner or liter arrive a t this point, as in the case of cash annnities, whether the Government mill hold itself bound fbrever by the literal terms of its bargaiu with its sards, to the palpable damage of both contracting parties. Of the roamers, nutnbering about 14,000, littlecan be said except that ; they are geuerally as harmless as vagrants and vagabonds can be in a ; civilized cou~~t ryT.h ey are found in all stages of degradation produced by licentiousness, intemperance, idleness, and poverty. Without laud, unwilling to leave their haunts for a homestead upou areserration, and scarcely in ariy wal related to or recognized by the Government, they drag ont a miserable life. Themselves corrupted and the source of cormption, t b r ~see m to serve by tbeir continued existence but a single nsrful purpose, that of atfofiiing a living illust,ration of the tendency aud etfeut of barbarism allowed to expend itself uucured. THE SIOUX PROBLEM. These India~~Is-,o mprisi~s~egv enteen ( l i t i i re~b~nt i~ds,areth e most no-mewns trilte in thet'i~itedS 1att.s. Fo r t y~i xtl to~~dan$tcl vet~1 1~1111raeltl~ d fjfry.three hare received rations from the Government at ele~.en ditfrrent: sgencies. The ai l~lepr ortions of this tribe, who have as yet consented to visit an agency ot~ly0 11 ao o(:casional raid foi. rations, are xra,rionuly estimated from five thousand to ten thonsand, making the whole num-ber of Sioux not far fiom 53,000. As a whole, this tribe is as get uu. rc.ac11ed bg civi1ieat.io11, except so far as their necessit,ies and inclina-tions have led them to receive rations and annuitv goods from the hands ~ ~ ~ . . . " - of Gbrernment agents. The problem of the futi~reo f this tribe is a serious one; not so much on account of numbers or wildness as from the fact that the country |