OCR Text |
Show I 10 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIES. icy has bee11 highly promotivc of the welfare and happiness of the tribe8 under their charge ; even at the agencies for the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, and Comanches--tribes that have been so difficult to control for years pasGmhere the least possible good could be expected to be accoml)lished, a commendable prudence and energy has been displayed, and as favorable a condit,ion of affairs exists there as could be reasona-bly expected. The military gentlemen, also, who last year were de-tailed for duty as Indian agents bs direction of the President. have faith-fully, and wiih I I I U ~ I I c:rrtlj; to t&mscl'i.e~e, tticiel~tlyu l:l~~aF;t'hde trust llevolved U I I ~ J I It llenl, aud it i* to be rr~~,l.rttrchda t they c:il~notb e eon-tinued in the service. - The presidential plan of inaugurating a greater degree of honesty in our intercourse with the Indians, by the a~pointmenot f " Frieudsn to some of the superintendencies a.ud agenci&; ha? proven such a success that, when Congress, at its last session, prohibited the employmel~to f army officers in any civil capacity, thereby practica.lly relieving those who were detailed for duty as Indian superintendents and a.gents, the President at ouce determined still further to carry out the principle by inviting other re,ligioas denominations of the country to engage in the great work of civilieing the Indians. By his direction a correspondence was opened with diferent missionary associations explaining to them the purpose and desire of the Qovernment, to combine with the mate-rial progress of the ludian race, means for their moral and intellectual improvement, and, if they concurred in the plan, asking them to desig-nate t'he names of such persons, possessing good Christian characters, as would be willing to accept the position aud discharge the duties of Indian agents, aud who would, at the same time, lend their personal and official influence to such educational and missionary or religious enterprises as t.he societies might ur~dertake. The plan is obviously a wise and humane one. Under a politioal management for a. lor~gs eries of ye.ars, and the expenditure of large sums of money annually, the In-dians made but little nrozress toward that healtbv Christian eiviliza-tion in which a ~eem <rac~dt he elements of materiil wealth and intel-lectual and moral development. Indeed, it has seemed to the homan-itarian, that the more the 111dian was broughtinto coutact wibh modem civilization the more degraded be became, learning only its vices and adopting none of its virtues. Not, therefore, as a dernier resort to save a dying race, but from the highest ruoral conviction of Christiali hu-manity, the President wisely determined to involie the coiiperatiou of the entire religiol~se lement of the com~tryt,o help, by their labors and coanselu, to briug about a~idp rodnce the greatest amount of good fkom the expenditure of the munificent annual appropriation of money by Congress, for the civ~lizatioia~n d Ghristiauization of the Indian race. MOS; of ihe religious organizations promptly responded, heartily in-dorsing the proposition and agreeing to assist in its execution. Men of their desi.e . uitiou have been ah. n.o inted awnts, some of whom have gone ollr to r11t.i~r esprc~ivcn grncir.<, \\.111Ie oii1cr2i'nre prepnri~~tgo (1;; so. Tl~o1 ,r:lyrrs 01' :all guod Cllrin~iann\ \.ill go wit11 t l~el lt~l~, :ir 1I1cy 11121. snceved in tllr crz;it vork for 'i~llichr llrv have her11 ar~eri;illsc l~oscn: and I ea~nes t l fho~teh at the country g&~erallyw ill a~prove~hecourse adopted, and give it all the support nece,s%~ry. : The rapid co~~structioonf railroads bra.uching into every section of the country is a matter of very serious import to the Indians generally. The grants of lands giver1 by Cougress in aid of roads in the West must inevitably and unavoi&ably iuterfere with many of the Indian reserva. tions. A diversity of opi~lione xists among the various tribes of the In- |