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Show .-- -a;-....-=:..~- . .~~ . .. .--. . - ,, - .= . . . .~ - , . ,: ~ ....T; y-.- ;7.- ~ s.-- ~ .??,?...< . . . . ~ i , . , . , . . ' I , ~ : ' ' I - . I 38 REWBT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. Stabs., p. 333)-the latter section providing that they should serve in the Tebitories and Indian Oountrr, and should be discharged when the necessity for their service should oease, or at the discretion of the de-pwtment coinmander. On April 1 last, by Department reference, this office received copies of Army orders,' directing the enlivtrnent of Indians as soldiers in the regular Army, accompanied by request that the ageuts in charge of tribes and reservations be iost.ructed.to afford every facility andenconr-agement to the officers of the Army charged with the raising of Indian companies. The office proinptly,complied with the request. A lat,er communication from the Secretary of War stated that among the inquiries made by Indians of the recruiting officers was whether those who became ~oldierws ould lose their right to lands, aonnities, and other assistance furnished by this bureau in fnlfillment of treaties. This office replied in the negative. Up to the present time quite a number of Indians have been enlisted, and some encoi~ragingreporths ave been received from those in command of them; but it is of course too early to predict permanent results. The discipline to which they must submit in the military service, and the . ; regular duties involved, will doubtless be of advantage to them, while the feeling that they are United States soldiers, armed to battle by the side of the whites in a common cause, should ocoasionarise, will awaken patriotic sentiments, and tend to inspire mutual confidence and friend-ship between the two races. The final outcome of this experiment must, of necessity, depend very largely npon the character of the officers im mediately in charge, and npon the kind of discipline and instruction to which the Indians are subjected. ALLOTMENT OF LANDS. i , During the past year the work of allotting lands in severalty hm been pushed with nnosnal vigor. The idea of. a separate homg with its attendant advantages and incidental disadvantages. has become more or less familiar to the great body of Indians, and has been received by most of them with increading favor. It is a great change, a radsal rand far-reaching revolution, for them to abandon their tribal occupancy and to accept of individual holdings. It is a fact not generally understood, perhaps, that the common pos-session of land by a tribe is iu many cases nominal rather than mtnal. It oconrs among Indians as among others that there are ambitions and powerful men who reach out and lay claim to a larger portion of the common heritage than can be properly claimed by them as individuals. 'General Orders No. 2.8, headquarters of the Army, Adjutant.Genera13s Office, series of 1891. |