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Show REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. 175 thousands of people on the borders of the Indian Territory, in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Kansas, looking over the line, and seeking the opportunity to subvert the Government Indian policy and enter lawfully or lawlessly. Why do they not . settle on the millions of acres of unoccupied land in Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, and all the Terri-tories of the West!? I will tell you the whole story in a nut- shell. The Indian lands, sold and patented to them by the Government more than thirty ye. irs ago, have a greater market value. It is simply land speculation. Some of these lands are, worth from live to twenty dollars an acre, and there is a wicked and perverse desire that the Government should seize and confiscate it, or take it for a low nominal price, and let these white people take the advanced price and thus make money by what is simply robbery. The remedy for all this is very plain. In the first place enforce the laws ; never wink at or encourage their violation. Let intruders on Indian reserves know beforehand that they will have no indulgences, and that their lawless acts will not be connived at. Whenever it may be necessary to reduce reserves or to sell Indian lands, let it IK? done only with the consent of the owners, and then let it be faithfully sold for them for its full and fair price in the market of the world. Do this honestly and there will be forever an end of this trouble. Something has been said about the " Indian policy" of the Government. I honor the spirit and purpose of the Government in placing Indian management in the hands of this commission, and of the religious bodies in the country. Still, it cannot with propriety be called a policy ; a policy may grow out of it. On you, gentlemen, rests the burden of that work. What has been called the " Indian policy" of the Government has been varied, checkered, and unsatisfactory in the history of the colonies and of the republic, begin-ning with the times more than two hundred years ago, when a handful of sveak set tiers were glad to make a treaty under the most solemn guarantees, with the powerful tribes of the country, to get possession of limited portions of the soil, and running on through many vicissitudes,* until the head of that department of this great Government which Las charge of Indian affairs announced last night that the title of the aborigines, which runs further back than human record, who were placed on it in the providence of God, and which is the most ancient and honorable title known to man. is merely a possessory or occupancy r ght, and that the actual title vests in the European populations. Few people fully comprehend the actual condition of tho Indians as a distinct people. We are told, for instance, that Mexico makes no Indian treaties. This latter is not strictly correct, but for the general appearance of its correctness, it is proper to say that it arises from a different social condition. In the early settlement of this country, the French and Spaniards freely intermarried with the Indians. Their social systems became fused. Not so the English colonies. Juarez, an Indian half- breed, is president of Mexico. In this country, with a few exceptional cases, the Indian race were kept as a distinct people. Amalgamation was not much esteemed. Their land system, the com-munal, was different from ours. Their morals were founded on other ideas. We looked to, and longed for their extermination. Now, the Indian population is simply a fact in our social economy growing out of this. If there is a wrong, it is our fault. To ignore our bargains with them, is simply to rub out the slate after getting our share of the bargain. They have, indeed, felt the strength of Christian civilization, without feeling its justice, Christianity, or mercy. And thus I say that our Indian policy is no more a policy than. the intercourse laws are a code. The latter constitute a slim bundle of fragments. They only pretend to punish one or two infractions of Indian rights, introducing liquor, for instance. There is neither penalty nor adequate machinery against intruders. To put them out is like two men standing by a pickpocket, one to hold him, while the other pulled. his hand out of the victim's pocket as often as he put it in, but unable to punish him. The inteiests of justice demand adequate punishment for every violation of Indian rights, and that Indian interests and Indian life be not tried by border juries. Something was said about the embarrassing question of land grants in the Indian Territory to railroad companies. I was pleased to hear the Secretary define the differ-ent kinds of title held by Indians. First, land bought by Indians from the United States Government for money or lands elsewhere, and conveyed to them by patent in fee simple, as it has conveyed lands to other men or companies; the land purchased or exchanged in the same way held by treaty obligation, but not patented, and, lastly, land originally held by Indians, and still held by them, thi- ir right to which was recog-nized by the Government. The truth is, where we have guaranteed either of these titles by solemn treaty, we are, in no condition to invade, or call them in question. If they lack anything of a perfect title, it is our fault, and we cannot legally take advan-tage of it. Anything else is mere violence. Before the treaties of 1866, certain bills were, put through Congress, by which the Government agreed to extinguish the " Indian title" when it could be done " with the consent of the Indians, and not otherwise." Now land held by patent is not " Indian title," and neither is land sold to the Indians by us for a consideration. It would just be as absurd to grant to a ' railroad company alternate sections for twenty miles wide, on each side of a road from Washington to New York, and equally just to take such land, whether it was worth rive or one hundred dollars an acre, lor, say a dollar and a quarter an acre, and give it to such a company. |