The Indian Question [pp. 438-447]

446 THE INDIAN QUESTION. [July,
5.Also, in the work of instruction, more is gained by teaching the girls than the boys. Teach an Indian boy faithfully as
you may, when he returns to his home, he will relapse into his
old habits of idleness and dirt. But train a girl, and give her
a good knowledge of civilized housekeeping, and of "woman's
rights," in the true Bible sense, and at home she will assert
those rights, and no longer be a beast of burden. The men
take the work of the field, and thus, in that home, a revolution
is effected. The educated girl, moreover, becomes the teacher
mother, and imparts to her children the knowledge she possesses.
6.Law now in force forbids the sale of strong drink to the
Indian, under very severe penalties. Yet it is violated every
day, and in instances without number. We have not known
one conviction under it. The cause is this: The Indian, in
our courts of justice, is not allowed to testify against a white
man. The white settlers around these reservations are all of
one class, and will not testify against each other. Thus it is
impossible to obtain conviction. It is an evil that Congress
ought to meet and can redress. If necessary, abolish the right
to sell within reach of the Indian.
7.If the Indians are to abide on these small reservations,
there is much that can be done for their comfort. The Government, by building saw-mills, and furnishing other means to
build, is providing them with comfortable houses. This is
well; but they need more than this to make home pleasant
and home-like. All this great northwest is adapted to fruit
raising; and the Indian sets high value on a fruit tree. A
little help in this direction would do lasting good. But the
Indian Department steadily refuses a single cent for this purpose. And yet, to the Indians on a small reservation, and to
whom fruit trees have been refused, over five hundred pounds
of tobacco are issued annually. Little better this than the
giving of so much strong drink; for while it destroys health, it
begets an appetite, which the Indian will sell his horse, his
cow, or his children's bread, to satisfy. To substitute fruittrees for this narcotic would soon put an orchard on every
farm.
The annuity, paid in tobacco, or in gold, or in anything that
the Indian can do without, is a curse and not a blessing. It