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Show 7 -t- V REPORT OF THE. COMMISSIONER OF INDIAX AFFAIRS. 29. to them, and to the Crows and Utes, the change [from a nomadic to an agricultnral life, which must necessarily follow, will bring the tempo-rary necessity of a corresponding iqcrease of appropriations. These are the exigencies or the crises which come in the history of all tribes; and the fact that the cost of maintaining Indians is growing less, notw~th-standing there are more of them upon reservations and under the imme-diate care of theG-overnment to-day than ever before, is most instruct-ive as well as encouraging. And if it were possible to show in figures the increased advantages which have been derived from the compara-tive quiet upon t,he border, and exemption from pillage and maraud-ing, and the very marked decrease in expenditores incurred in cam-paigning Rgainst the Indians, a most gratifying exhibit could be made of economical results already accomplished. A sum equal to the cost of fightiug only a small portion of t,ne Sioux, in 1862, if funded at 7 per cent., would jielcl an annual interest suficient, even on the present unsatisf:~ctory plafi, to care for the whole Sioux people for all time. I t sl~oulda lso be remembered thatme might naturally h'avc exFected an increase instead of a diminutton in distarba~~caen d depredation on the part of the Indiaos, with a correspondil~gly increased cost for police and restraint by the Army, on account of thegrowing settlements. which have pushed their way on every side,up to the border, and-some-times into the very heart, of the Indian country. Before yielding to any despondency or doubt as to the future, even of the most hopeless tribe, it is well to recall the fact that only seven years ago the Uuited States mas willing to make any promise to the wild Sioux, whqn me did not wish to fight, if they wonld allow us to push a railway across their plains toward the Pacific coast. Five of t.he wisest and bravest leading generals of the Army did not consider it derogatory to .the dignity of theGoverulnent to solemnly stipulate, in order to gain this end, that the larger part. of Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming, claimed by the savages, should never be trodden by a white man's foot; that militi~ryf orts and roads should be dismantled a,nd abandoned; that no man wearing the United States uniform should ever be seen within their reservation ; the Indians should receive large supplies of rations and clothing, and that these stipulations should nerer be altered by a subsequent treaty except ou the written assent of three-fourths of the male members of the nation. The trains on the Union Pacific roads have been run~~iodgai ly undis-tcirbed ; the surrocnding conntry has been occupied, while Indian dep-redations hare greatly decreased. The lands in Nebraska are now being occupied by settlers, the Indians having withdrawn their claim; soldiers. are to be fonud in every part of the Sioux reservation, and the present season has witucssed tho~isands of miners and " pilgrims " swarming. . over the Sioux country, and digging into their sacred hills for gold. Yet there has been no fightiug, under all this provocation, which, fire pears ago, would have brought ten thousand painted savages into the field for a war which wonld not have cost less than fifty million$. And with any kind and firm treatment, which bears a rescniblauce tojnstice, there will be no serious contention with this powerfuul tribe hereafter. The results have therefore fully justified the negotiations of 1868, and have demonstrated most completely that it is far better to feed and temporize and parley with a wild, unreasoning savage, until yon have brought him u~ithinauthorityand proper reqnireuients,so thatlkemay be assurerl, from experience, that the Government on the one hand desires. o n l ~hi s good, and on the other is able to compel submission to law. |