Zachariah Chandler

“ In my annual, report last year I took occasion to quote from the report of the commission appointed during that year to visit the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies, in regard to the urgent necessity of laws for the protection and punishment of Indians. In previous reports of the Department the same subject has been repeatedly alluded to, and the absence of any proper means for the administration of justice over Indian Territory presented. The present law is entirely inadequate to punish an Indian for a crime committed against another, either without the limits of his reservation or upon it. ”

“ There is no reason why the laws and jurisdiction of the courts should not be extended over them and they be treated the same as any other like portion of our population, and some form of territorial government devised which shall secure for them, as guaranteed, the exclusive occupancy of their territory by Indians, and, while protecting them from the encroachments of the whites, provide the necessary means for the protection and government of themselves. ”

“ The easiest way to secure that Territory to its present occupants and protect it from the encroachments of white settlement, is to people it by other Indians, and, giving them all in severalty sufficient land for each to cultivate and take care of, prohibit any transfer to a white man, and only from one Indian to another under great restriction. ”

“ I am persuaded that the laws relating to the publication and distribution of public documents should be carefully revised and simplified.
In my judgment, provision should be made for supplying gratuitously all the important public libraries of the country with copies of every valuable publication issued by the Government, while individuals should be required to pay cost-price for the same, exception being made of persons in official position, who should be provided with such documents as are essential to the proper discharge of the duties of their office. ”

“ Within those limits is embraced a section of territory about the size of the State of Ohio, unexcelled in fertility of soil, and a climate unsurpassed in the United States. By requiring its present occupants to accept liberal allotments in severalty their further claims may be adjusted by awarding proper compensation for the land they do not need and cannot occupy; and while no injustice to those Indians now there should be permitted, I believe such allotments and purchase of the remaininglands would subserve their best and truest interests. ”

“ Teaching is rendered far easier and more successful. Good results have invariably attended the concentration of Indians friendly to each other, and while the plan is not free from difficulty, and may take a long time before all can be brought together in the Indian Territory or upon some three or four large reserves, yet it has been demonstrated that every step taken in that direction is beneficial, and I do not doubt the feasibility of the plan. ”

“ To concentrate them and induce them to cultivate each for himself an individual farm, belonging wholly and completely to himself, is the next great step to be taken; but how can we expect the Indian himself to succeed if we do not surround him with the protection and guarantee of law? ”

“ The self-sacrificing spirit of the missionary has to be united to practical business ability, and, when secured in the slow and often disheartening task of Indian education, should be properly acknowledged and compensated. The Commissioner makes some earnest recommendations upon this subject which I most heartily commend; especially, that an appropriation be made, to be distributed as additional compensation to those having in charge the most important and difficult agencies. ”

“ The sooner the idea of considering and treating the various tribes in the Indian Territory as possessing a sort of independent power and nationality is done away with, the earlier will we reach some practical solution of the embarrassments which now surround the question of their government. ”

“ If it is so essentially required for the punishment and restraint of the bad, it is still more for the protection of the well-inclined. Though the plan of uniting all the Indians upon a few reservations and allowing them lands in severalty may meet opposition, and must necessarily, if favorably considered, be a work of time, yet the enactment of suitable laws for the government of Indians should be delayed no longer. I beg that you will call this especially to the attention of Congress. ”

“ Each year adds greatly to the total number of acres cultivated by Indian labor and most gratifying results in the increasing number of laborers and amount of products. Personal industry, with its practical lessons of the benefits and increased comforts it secures, and a growing taste and desire for education, must be relied upon as the great elements in working out the problem of Indian civilization. ”

“ No matter what particular policy may be pursued in regard to the Indian, I believe that the one feature of educating him and making him self-supporting, or as nearly so as possible, must always be steadily adhered to. ”

“ An increased interest in all that pertains to the history and present condition of education in this country has everywhere been awakened by the centennial commemoration, and calls upon the office for educational information have been greater than at any former period, especially from foreign officials and those authorized by foreign governments to make reports upon education in the United States. ”

“ The most of these people have made great advancement in civilization, and many are fit to embrace the full advantages of citizenship. They are under the care of the Government as much as any other portion of its people, and it is as responsible and in some respects more responsible for their welfare. ”

“ During the past fiscal year the work of the Census Office has been confined to answering inquiries relating to the census of 1870 and those of previous years, and to the stating and restating, in some instances, of the accounts of the United States marshals and assistant marshals connected with the taking of the census, whose accounts have hitherto been unsettled or lost. ”

“ Relying upon the sincerity of purpose and integrity of the officers in charge of the agencies, I think that it is a matter for congratulation that, in view of the sacrifice of home comforts and advantages which the agents must make, enduring the hardships and surroundings of a frontier-life for the very inadequate salaries allowed, so intelligent and capable men have been secured. ”

“ The general health of the institution has been good, and no disease of a hospital or local origin has existed. Although the wards of the hospital are crowded beyond their intended limits, care has been taken to secure ample ventilation, and to this, together with good management in the treatment of patients, the satisfactory sanitary condition of the hospital may be attributed. ”

“ At present the eastern and richest portion, agriculturally, is occupied by the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, numbering something over 55,000 souls, with atotal of 20,784,890 acres, or an average of 375 acres for each man, woman, and child among them. So long as this greatly disproportionate allowance of land to the individual continues, the greater portion of it must lie idle and unproductive and be the object of desire to the white settler. ”

“ The labors of the statistical division have been greatly increased during the year by assiduous efforts to present with greater fullness and accuracy the statistics of the several classes of institutions embraced in the report as well as by the numerous calls by investigators at home and abroad for statistical information respecting special classes of schools or special subjects of instruction. ”

“ Many of the agencies are almost inaccessible during certain months of the year for the purpose of reaching them with provisions, and it can only be done at very great expense. To reach some few of them the transportation equals, if not exceeds, the first cost of the provisions. ”

“ There is no doubt but the portion of the Territory lying between the 98th meridian and its eastern boundary is sufficiently large for the occupation of all the Indians that can be removed there. Were it possible to get them all there there would be an average of 75 acres for each of the 275,000 Indian men, women, and children in the country. ”

“ The alternative cannot fail to be gradual extinction of the race. If he is to be taught, the success must depend upon the teacher, and the best material attainable should be secured, and paid accordingly. The sooner he is taught to provide for his own support, the earlier the Government will be relieved therefrom.
With the exception of the troubles in Dakota, with the hostile Sioux, we may say that, practically, all of the Indians are upon reservations entirely under the control of the Department, and making commendable improvement. ”

“ If upon Indian ground, great trouble must ensue unless the Indians are powerless to resist the aggression and protect their rights, which in any event are lost sight of.
Briefly, the arguments are all in favor of the consolidation; expensive agencies would be abolished, the Indians themselves can be more easily watched over and controlled, evil-designing men be the better kept away from them, and illicit trade and barter in arms, ammunition, and whisky prevented; goods could be supplied at a great saving ”

“ They have been diligent and faithful in the discharge of their delicate and responsible duties. As a rule, the attendants have been kind to the patients and have performed their duties in a satisfactory manner. The general management of the institution has been good, and its results commend it to the continued confidence and support of the Government. ”

“ Several foreign governments are offering to the United States the articles composing their educational exhibits at Philadelphia for a National Educational Museum. The Commissioner hopes that it may be the occasion when this great desideratum in American education can be supplied. ”

“ The character of cases treated and the nature of operations performed embrace all the variety of diseases to which women are peculiarly liable, and for the treatment of which this institution was established.
The general health of the hospital has been remarkably good, not a single death occurring among the patients admitted during the year. ”

“ In addition to the reservoir, pump-house, and other improvements connected with the water-supply, an extensive filter has been constructed and the pumping reservoir filled from the river. The board of visitors, in their report, in referring to these improvements, say:
The institution possesses, in duplicate, the most substantial, durable, and reliable facilities for raising to the tanks in the attics of the main edifice an ample supply of pure water, that is essential to the economies, health, and safety of every hour of hospital life. ”

“ A few years ago the first thing considered necessary of accomplishment was to gain oversight and control of the Indians by inducing them to give up their roving habits and gather them upon a reservation, where, by feeding them and rendering unnecessary a ceaseless chase for game, an opportunity could be obtained of watching and teaching them.This has practically been accomplished. ”

“ In view of the fact that the present building and apparatus for providing meats, bread, washing, and baking were designed for an institution accommodating 350 patients and the requisite number of officers and employes for that number, it would appear necessary that greater accommodation should be provided for the present force, which is nearly double that for which provision was made. I therefore recommend the improvements suggested by the board as worthy the favorable consideration of Congress. ”

“ Under instructions from this Department, Professor Powell and his parties have also been engaged in general ethnographic work in the Bocky Mountain region. One of the special items in these instructions was the classification of the Indian tribes, such classification being not only of scientific interest but of importance in the administration of Indian affairs. For the eastern portion of the United States this work had been accomplished, first by the unofficial labors of Hon. Albert Gallatin, and subsequently continued by Hon. Henry R. Schoolcraft as an officer of the Government ”

“ The next important thing was to teach them the way to cultivate and produce their own food, and so be able to supply their own wants when restricted to a limited .territory, and educate in them a taste for such pursuits and a relinquishment of the natural desire to roam. ”

“ Congress having appropriated $15,000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for "the care, support, and medical treatment of 75 transient paupers, medical and surgical patients, in some proper medical institution in the city of Washington or in the District of Columbia, under a contract to be formed with such institution, a contract for this purpose was entered into with the sister superior of Providence Hospital for the year ending June 30,1876. ”

“ In consequence of the large number of minors' pensions that will expire, and from other causes, it is anticipated that during the present year a still greater diminution will occur in this class of pensioners, while, on the other hand, it is reasonable to expect that the number of invalid claims allowed will exceed the number disposed of during any year since 1871. ”