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Herald which affirmed distinctly that the bill offered by the gentleman from New York [Mr. CONKLING] was a more perfect bill than the one which had been presented by the chairman of the committee on the bankrupt law; that it was such a bill as could not be picked to pieces in debate; that it was a bill which embodied all the legal acumen of the House, and a bill which the author of the paragraph thought would certainly pass. It seemed to me that, under the circumstances, gross injustice was done by that paragraph to the gentleman from Rhode Island; and upon exhibiting the paper to various members of the House, they concurred with me in that opinion, and agreed with me that the injustice should be corrected. I went to the gentleman from New York [Mr. RAYMOND] and pointed out specifically the points wherein I deemed gross injustice was done to the gentleman from Rhode Island, and I asked of him the privilege of making in his paper a correction of that paragraph, solely for the purpose of vindicating, as I conceived, the merits and the ability of the gentleman from Rhode Island. I stated to the reporter of the Times the facts of the case, to wit, that the gentleman from New York, [Mr. CONKLING,] who had voted against the bill of the gentleman from Rhode Island, had subsequently introduced that identical bill.

I did not make this statement with the intention of placing the gentleman from New York invidiously before the country in any respect; I was unconscious of being animated by any motives inimical to him; and if the result of my interference in this matter and the making of these statements to the reporter has either injured his feelings or prejudiced him before the public, I wish to make this public disavowal of any such intention, and to tender him an apology.

Mr. RAYMOND. Mr. Speaker, if the House will indulge me a moment

The SPEAKER. Is there any objection to the gentleman from New York making a personal explanation?

There was no objection.

Mr. RAYMOND. I desire merely to acknowledge the courtesy and kindness which have prompted the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. DEMING] to make the explanation which he has just made.

In the colloquy which took place yesterday between my colleague [Mr. CONKLING] and myself, I did not feel at liberty to go any further than I did in disavowing any responsibility for the paragraph which appeared in the Times, because I did not wish directly or indirectly to draw into the affair any gentleman without having had previous consultation with him. I feel obliged to the gentleman from Connecticut for stating what is the simple fact, that I had nothing whatever to do with origi nating, inspiring, composing, or printing that paragraph.

Now, if the House will indulge me one moment longer, I beg to say that my position here in a twofold capacity, as a member of Congress and as the editor of a newspaper, puts me sometimes in an embarrassing posture. I am quite ready always at the proper time and in the proper place to be responsible to anybody for anything I may say or do. I beg to add that I do not think the floor of Congress a proper place for making an explanation or for taking responsibility for things said or done; and hereafter I wish it distinctly understood while I will on the floor respond to any gentleman for anything I may say here, I will not hold myself subject to being questioned. I will not hold myself bound to answer any question which may be put to me here upon this floor for what I may say or do or what may be said or done in the columns of the New York Times. I will answer in the columns of the New York Times; when addressed as editor of the New York Times, for anything I may say or do in that capacity.

RECONSIDERATION OF A VOTE.

Mr. MARSTON entered a motion to recon

sider the vote by which an amendment to the third section of the Army bill offered by the gentleman from Maine [Mr. BLAINE] was adopted yesterday.

EVIDENCE IN CONTESTED ELECTIONS.

The SPEAKER laid before the House evidence in the contested-election cases of Boyd against Kelso and Koontz against Coffroth; which was referred to the Committee of Elections.

And then, on motion of Mr. RANDALL, of Pennsylvania, the House (at four o'clock and thirty minutes p. m.) adjourned.

PETITIONS, ETC.

The following petitions, &c., were presented under the rule and referred to the appropriate committees: By Mr. DELANO: The petition of James Colvin, Thomas Black, and 1,000 others, wool-growers of Muskingum county, Ohio, praying for an increase of duty on foreign wools imported into the United States.

Also, the memorial of James Cather, trustee and deacon of the Baptist church at Glenville, Gilmer county, West Virginia, praying indemnity for the use of the church property by United States troops. Also, the petition of John Kugler, for indemnity for use of property at Camp Dennison, Ohio, by United States military authority.

By Mr. HITCHCOCK: The petition of citizens of Nebraska, praying for just and equal laws for regulation of inter-State insurances.

By Mr. JULIAN: The petition of J. R. Daily, charging fraud and mismanagement on the part of the American Colonization Society, and asking relief.

By Mr. KETCHAM: The memorial of General C. H. Van Wyck, of Orange county, New York, asking that pensions may be increased and the laws so modified that persons entitled thereto may obtain the same with less delay and perplexity than at present.

Also, the memorial of General C. H. Van Wyck, asking that three light guns, captured at Duigle's Mills, South Carolina, in April, 1865, may be deposited at Washington's headquarters, at Newburg, New York.

By Mr. KELLEY: The memorial of 18 officers of the State Legislature of Pennsylvania, praying your honorable body to protect the wool-growers of the United States, by imposing a duty of ten cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem on all unwashed foreign wools competing with American wools, the value whereof at the last port of export, including charges in such port, shall be thirty-two cents or less per pound: and that a duty of twelve cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem be levied on all like wool, the value whereof, including charges in port, shall exceed thirty-two cents per pound; and that the above rates of duties be doubled on washed wools, and trebled on scoured wools.

Also, the memorial of 25 members of the State Senate of Pennsylvania, praying your honorable body to protect the wool-growers of the United States by imposing a duty of ten cents per pound and ten percent. ad valorem on all unwashed foreign wools competing with American wools, the value whereof at the last port of export, including charges in such port, shall be thirty-two cents or less per pound; and that a duty of twelve cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem be levied on all like wool the value whereof, includ

ing charges in port, shall exceed thirty-two cents per

pound; and that the above rates of duties be doubled on washed wools, and trebled on scoured wools.

Also, the memorial of 82 members of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, praying your honorable body to protect the wool-growers of the United States by imposing a duty of ten cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem on all unwashed foreign wools.competing with American wools, the value whereof at the last port of export, including charges in such port, shall be thirty-two cents or less per pound; and that a duty of twelve cents per pound and ten per cent, ad valorem be levied on all like wool, the value whereof, including charges in port, shall exceed thirty-two cents per pound; and that the above rates of duties be doubled on washed wools, and trebled on scoured Wools

Also, the petition of 16 citizens of Meadville, Pennsylvania, praying your honorable body for a further protection to the wool-growers of the United States by imposing a duty of ten cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem on all unwashed foreign wools competing with American wools, the value whereof at the last port of export, including charges in such port, shall be thirty-two cents or less per pound; and that a duty of twelve cents per pound and ten per cent, ad valorem be levied on all like wool, the value whereof, including charges in port, shall exceed thirty-two cents per pound; and that the above rates of duties be doubled on washed wools, and trebled on scoured wools.

Also, the memorial of 28 distillers and dealers in domestic spirits in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, respectfully representing that the exaction of personal security for the payment of duties on spirits deposited in general bonded warehouses entirely out of the hands of the owner is, in effect, a heavy tax upon trade without any substantial advantage to the revenue, but, on the contrary, will have a tendency to diminish it by driving out of business all but the wealthiest houses. Your petitioners, therefore, pray your honorable body for the passage of a law requiring the simple obligation of the party storing spirits

to pay the duties before removing, in lieu of the bonds now required by law.

Also, the memorial of 58 members of the bar, practicing in the Federal courts at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, respectfully remonstrating against the passage of the bill to reorganize the Federal judiciary, now before the Senate of the United States, for the following reasons, &c.

Also, the petition of 54 citizens and wool-growers of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, praying your hon orable body to impose a duty of ten cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem on all unwashed foreign wools competing with American wools, the value whereof at the last port of export, including charges in such port, shall be thirty-two cents or less per pound; and that a duty of twelve cents per pound and ten per cent. ad valorem be levied on all like wools, the value whereof, including charges in port, shall exceed thirty-two cents per pound; and that the above rates of duties be doubled on washed wools, and trebled on scoured wools.

By Mr. LAWRENCE, of Pennsylvania: A petition, numerously signed by citizens of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, asking an increase of duties on foreign wools.

By Mr. MARSTON: The petition of William James, and others, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, praying that the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy, that $192,000 be paid to the officers and crew of the Kearsarge for the destruction of the Alabama, be carried into effect.

Also, the petition of Micajah Lunt, and 33 others, for the same object.

By Mr. McKEE: The petition of 600 soldiers of the tenth, fortieth, and forty-fifth Kentucky volunteers, asking a bounty equal to $100 per year be paid them for the time they served in the United States Army.

By Mr. MOORHEAD: A petition from citizens of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, praying for the passage of a law to permit steamboats to carry gunpowder when packed in kegs made of iron.

By Mr. MORRIS: Four petitions, numerously signed by citens and wool-growers of the twentyfifth congressional district of New York, asking for an increase of duty on imported wool.

By Mr, PAINE: The petition of S. Kidder, and 135 others, citizens of Salem, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, for increase of tariff on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of John J. Myrick, and 59 others, citizens of Lyons, Walworth county, Wisconsin, for increase of duty on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of S. S. Derbyshire, and 76 others, citizens of Pleasant Prairie, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, for an increase of tariff on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of James Bonnell, and 35 others, individuals and firms of Milwaukee, for the enactment of a Federal insurance law.

Also, the petition of Thomas C. Williams, and 18 others, citizens of Yorkville, Racine county, Wisconsin, for increase of duty on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of Thomas Dale, and 23 others," citizens of Yorkville, Racine county, Wisconsin, for increase of tariff on foreign wools.

Also, the petition of Delos Hale, and 35 others, citizens of Ocenomowoc and Summit, Wisconsin, for the enactment of a Federal insurance law.

Also, the petition of Aretas Bailey, and 65 others, citizens of Caldwell's Prairie, Racine county, Wisconsin, for increase of duty on foreign wools.

By Mr. RAYMOND: The petition of Charity, mother of Stephen W. Weed, killed at Gettysburg to be placed on the pension-list.

By Mr. SMITH: A petition from the Board of Trade of the city of Louisville, Kentucky, praying Congress to purchase the Oakland grounds near that city, and the Government property thereon, for the purpose of establishing a cavalry depot school of instruction. By Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois: The petition of Charles S. Burt, and others, of Illinois, manufac turers of agricultural implements, for reduction of the tax on the same.

By Mr. WINDOM: The petition of J. H. Holland, and 63 others, citizens of Morristown, Rice county, Minnesota, asking for the passage of a law equalizing soldiers' bounties.

By Mr. WOODBRIDGE: The petition Z. H. Cunfried, and 66 others, citizens of Arlington, Bennington county, Vermont, for an increased protection to American wool.

Also, the petition of John Balis, and 37 others, citizens of Benson, Rutland county, Vermont, praying for an additional protection on foreign wool.

Also, the petition of Asa Collins, and 27 others, citizens of Chittenden, Rutland county, Vermont, prayfor additional duty on foreign wool.

Also, the petition of Henry C. Gleason, and 40 others, citizens of Shrewsbury, Rutland county. Vermont, praying for an increase of duty on foreign wool. Also, the petition of Hiram Jones, and others, citizens of Waitsfield. Washington county, Vermont, praying for an additional duty on foreign wool.

Also, the petition of Boswell Bottum, and 103 others, and Charles Bacon, and 60 others, for same purpose. Also, the petition of H. B. McLure, and 42 others, citizens of Middletown, Rutland county, Vermont, praying for an increased duty on wool,

Also, the petition of James Rice, and 38 others, citizens of Powlet. Rutland county, Vermont, praying for an increase of duty on imported wool.

Also, the petition of Seneca Root, and others, citizens of Hubbardton, Rutland county, Vermont, prayfor an increased protection to American wool.

Also, the petition of Nathaniel Sherman, and others, citizens of Plainfield and Marshfield, Washington county, Vermont, praying for an additional duty on wool.

Also, the petition of Emory H. Clark, and 42 others, citizens of East Cabot, Washingten county, Vermont, praying for an increase of the tariff upon the importations of foreign wools into this country.

IN SENATE.

WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1866. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. E. H. GRAY. The Journal of yesterday was read and approved.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, communicating, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 13th instant, information in relation to the rinderpest or cattle plague; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and ordered to be printed.

He also laid before the Senate à report of the Secretary of the Interior, communicating, in obedience to law, copies of the accounts of Superintendent Sells and Agents Snow and Dunn, of the southern Indian superintendency, for the fourth quarter of 1865, with a copy of the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on the subject; which was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

Mr. HOWARD. I present the petition of Mrs. Abby Green, formerly of Richmond, Virginia, praying for the passage of a bill for her relief on account of services rendered and losses incurred in behalf of the Union cause at Richmond, Virginia, from August, 1863, to February, 1864. I beg to state in regard to this petitioner that she assisted Mrs. Quarles very materially in rescuing Colonel Streight and his party from imprisonment at Richmond. I-ask that it may be referred to the Committee on Claims.

It was so referred.

Mr. WADE. I present the memorial of Sue Murphy, and various documents in proof of her claim, setting forth that she was the owner of a house near Chattanooga which was ordered to be taken down for the purpose of erecting fortifications upon the spot where it was built. The memorial is strongly recommended by many officers, and among them those who ordered it destroyed. She claims to have been a loyal person. I move that the memorial and accompanying documents be referred to the Committee on Claims.

The motion was agreed to.

Mr. HENDERSON presented additional papers in relation to the claim of William C. Anderson; which were referred to the Committee on Claims.

Mr. KIRKWOOD presented a petition of citizens of Iowa, praying for the enactment of such just and equal laws for the regulation of inter-State insurances of all kinds, as may be effectual in establishing the greatest security for the interests protected by policies, and promotive of the greatest good and convenience to all concerned in such transactions; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. WILSON presented two petitions of officers of the United States Army, praying for an increase of their pay; which were referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia.

KEPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

Mr. LANE, Indiana, from the Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred a joint resolution (H. R. No. 46) for the relief of Martha McCook, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia; which was agreed to.

He also, from the same committee, to whom was referred a bill (H. R. No. 463) for the relief of James Foster, reported it adversely, and asked to be discharged from its further consideration; which was agreed to.

He also, from the same committee, to whom were referred the following bills, reported them severally without amendment:

A bill (H. R. No. 464) for the relief of John Gordon;

A bill (H. R. No. 460) granting a pension to Spencer Kellogg and

A bill (H. R. No. 371) to grant a pension to

Leonard St. Clair.

Mr. HOWARD, from the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, to whom was referred a memorial of citizens of Iowa, remonstrating against any diversion of the funds, and against any legislation that would be injurious to the extension of the Dubuque and Sioux City railroad, asked to be discharged from its further consideration, and that it be referred to the Committee on Public Lands; which was agreed to.

Mr. GRIMES, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred a joint resolution (H. R. No. 197) to provide for the better organization of the pay department of the Navy, reported it with an amendment.

BILLS INTRODUCED.

Mr. RIDDLE asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 271) to authorize a special tax for the purpose of improving the Washington city canal; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed.

He also asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 272) to authorize the corporation of Washington to reduce the width and improve the avenues and streets of that city; which was read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. McDOUGALL asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 273) to authorize the President to convey to William P. Rogers and his associates the island of Yerba Buena, or Goat Island, in the harbor of San Francisco; which was read twice by its title.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I desire simply to observe that when this bill was first placed in my hands I had great doubts of its propriety, but after looking at it carefully and being better informed, I think it is a bill to the profit of the Government. I move that it be referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia. The motion was agreed to.

HICKEY'S CONSTITUTION.

Mr. JOHNSON submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Committee on the Library be instructed to inquire into the expediency of purchasing for the use of the Senate -- copies of Hickey's edition of the Constitution: Provided, That the compilation be brought down to the present time on the same plan.

ARMY BREVET APPOINTMENTS.

Mr. SHERMAN submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to:

Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to communicate to the Senate, if not incompatible with the public interests, the proceedings of the military board recently convened in St. Louis, Missouri, in relation to brevet appointments in the regular Army.

NEGOTIATION OF INDIAN TREATIES.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. By direction of the Committee on Indian Affairs a joint resolution, making an appropriation to enable the President to negotiate treaties with certain Indian tribes, was introduced by me yesterday and laid upon the table, and I stated that I should move to take it up this morning. It is very important that we should have immediate action on the subject, and I now move that that resolution be taken up.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution (S. R. No. 69) making an appropriation to enable the President to negotiate treaties with certain Indian tribes. It proposes to appropriate $121,785 77, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to enable the President to negotiate treaties with the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri and Platte rivers, to be expended by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. President, it is well known that hostilities have been going on between the United States and the bands of

Sioux Indians and the other Indians apon the upper Missouri and the upper Platte for several years at a very great expense, but that last fall the military authorities, under instructions both from the War Department and the Interior Department, entered into arrangements to bring about peace between the United States and those various bands. With several of these bands of Sioux treaties have already been made and peace has been effected. The War Department, or those having charge of our military operations, it seems, have invited the Indians of several other bands to meet at several of the forts of the United States with a view to negotiate treaties of peace and amity with those bands, and the Secretary of War called upon General Curtis to make estimates of what would be necessary in the negotiation of those treaties, as the Indians are brought together generally in bands and brought together almost entire; and the Government of the United States, while they are together and during the pendency of the negotiation, is compelled to furnish supplies to feed the Indians and to make some presents to them. The War Department called upon General Curtis to make an estimate, and he made an estimate to the Secretary of War, and it seems that at the time the Secretary of War, supposing that they had sufficient rations and supplies to attend to this matter, so informed

General Curtis. I read from his letter:

"The Secretary of War informed me that the articles necessary to make up these supplies at the various points would be sent forward immediately."

It seems that on a communication from General Pope to General Grant and to the War Department that the War Department has not these supplies to furnish. The Indians are invited to assemble and the time is fixed, but the military authorities are without the supplies necessary to feed them during the pendency of the negotiations, and the matter is now thrown on the Interior Department, and the Interior Department have asked a special appropriation from Congress to meet these expenditures, sending forward the estimates by items of what the expenditures must necessarily be at each of these forts where the Indians have been invited to assemble.

Mr. BROWN. Where are the forts?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Fort Sully, Fort Rice, Fort Berthold, Fort Union, and Fort Laramie, five different places. I have received a communication from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior of the 12th instant, and I will read a portion of it to the Senate:"

"I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 26th instant, inclosing copies of correspondence between your Department and the Secretary of War in relation to the subsistence of Indians about to assemble in council at Fort Laramie and at various points on the upper Missouri river, and instructing me to make estimates of what supplies may be needed to provide for the occasion, adding transportation and subsistence for the commissioners.

"I have also to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo, inclosing a communication from Major General Pope, of March 16, with vouchers for services rendered by Big Ribs' and party, sent as messengers to the hostile Indians; and by reference from your Department of another communication from Major General Pope, of the 21st ultimo, inclosing vouchers of presents made to said 'Big Ribs,' the whole amounting to $5,456 11, which you instruct me to embrace in my estimate of the required appropriation. In conformity with these instructions, I have prepared the desired estimate, but wish to call your attention to the within copy of a letter from Major General S. R. Curtis, addressed to this office, and dated March 2, 1866, in which he states that in compliance with instructions from the honorable Secretary of War, he had made estimates and requisitions on the War Department for the necessary rations to feed these Indians, and for transportation of said subsistence to Fort Laramie and other places of treaty rendezvous in the upper Missouri country," and that the Secretary of War had informed him that 'the articles' necessary to make up these supplies at the various points would be sent forward immedi ately.'

"In view of the fact that the Indians referred to were called together by the military authorities in the early part of last winter, while the commissioners could not meet them until summer, their subsistence by the War Department seemed to me perfectly just and proper, and I placed implicit reliance on the assurance given by the honorable Secretary of War as above stated. It now, however, appears that as late as the 24th ultimo Major General Pope telegraphs

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from St. Louis to Lieutenant General Grant that he trusts the Interior Department is making proper arrangements for feeding the numerous bands of Indians assembling at Fort Laramie and on the upper Missouri river, adding that the military authorities have not the means to meet such extraordinary demands outside of their legitimate province; and that if the Indians are under the charge of the Interior Department that Department should take care of such matters, and not depend on the military.

"The Secretary of War, in his letter of the 25th ultimo, sends you a copy of the above telegram, and referring to a conversation in Cabinet meeting, desires to be informed what measures have been taken by your Department to provide for the Indians about to assemble in council.

"In your reply of the same date you state that no arrangements whatever had been made, as you did not understand the Secretary to say definitely at Cabinet meeting that his Department could not furnish the subsistence for the purpose referred to, but would communicate with you in writing on the subject.

"A final communication from the honorable the Secretary of War, in reply to the above and bearing the same date, concludes the correspondence on the subject; the Secretary stating that he designed the conversation at Cabinet meeting as final and to the point, but as you appear to have not so understood the matter,' he adds, "You will please consider the application for supplies from the War Department as definitely answered in the negative, for the reason that they cannot be furnished under legal authority, nor without prejudice to the military service.

"I have thus reviewed the correspondence in connection with the facts of the case in order to show that no blame can be justly attached to this Department for not having at an earlier date made necessary preparations for the assistance called for."

By some mistake it was supposed-General Curtis so understood it, and it was so understood by the Secretary of War-that the War Department would send on the supplies to feed these Indians during these councils and to provide what was necessary to be done in the negotiation of these treaties; but subsequently, on further examination, it seems the War Department cannot do it; at all events, they decline to do it, and the matter is thrown upon the Interior Department, and we must make this appropriation; otherwise these Indians are called together at these councils and there will be no provision made for them while they are there, and it may result in further hostilities and trouble.

servant who would take hold of this whole matter and transfer the Indian Bureau to the War Department, or organize some other mode of treating with Indian tribes than treating them like foreign nations. The idea of getting together the head men of the Indian tribes and giving them pork and beans-very sensible articles of food-feeding them up and then negotiating a treaty with them, and bringing that treaty in here to be ratified as a high negotiation with a foreign Power, has always seemed to me so ridiculous that I hope some time or other the Senate will abolish the whole system. These Indians will be gathered together as a grand conclave, they will have a Fourth of July celebration for about two or three weeks, and they will sign anything presented to them by the Indian agents. This $121,000 will be used as a corruption fund-not improperly by the officers of the Government, but it will be used to make these Indians feel good while it lasts, and then the agent sent there to negotiate a treaty will write out what he pleases and they will sign it, without any knowledge of what is contained in it; and if they are satisfied with the terms of it afterward, well and good; if not, they will take up the tomahawk and the rifle and commence a war, if they are incited to it by white men.

That mode of dealing with the Indians has always seemed to me so ridiculous that I never had any patience in examining these matters. But if the Senate still insists on that policy of negotiating treaties with the Indian tribes, the Committee on Indian Affairs must take the responsibility for this appropriation, because the Committee on Finance to whom these papers were referred have never yet had time to examine them; nor has the proper occasion arrived when we could examine them. It would have been our duty, of course, to examine the details of these estimates if the Indian appropriation bill had come to us before this time and an amendment had been proposed to that bill to meet this object. I have not even read these papers; my attention has been just this moment called to the fact that the whole subject was referred to the Committee on Finance. I shall therefore take no responsibility as to the amount involved or as to the necessity of the appropriation.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. The Indian appropriation bill will probably not be here until the last of the session, and the 20th of May is the time fixed for the Indians to meet and for the supplies to be at Fort Laramie, Fort Rice, Fort Sully, and Fort Union on the upper Missouri, and Fort Berthold.

Mr. President, I have stated the circumstances under which this application is made. It came to the attention of the Committee on Indian Affairs yesterday, and it was urged by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and by the Secretary of the Interior that we should take immediate action because of the immense distance that these provisions and supplies have to be transported, and because the period fixed, as I understand, for the assembling of the Indians is the 20th of May, and no time should be lost. I therefore hope the resolution will pass at once. Mr. SHERMAN. I need not remind the Senate that I have always opposed appropriations for Indian treaties on the ground that I have always been opposed to this mode of deal-ity: we were at war with them, and the military ing with Indians. Besides that, my attention is now called to a letter of the Secretary of the Interior to the Committee on Finance to whom this subject properly belongs, and to whom the estimates for the negotiation of new treaties are generally sent to be included in the Indian appropriation bill, and they are generally examined by the Committee on Finance. I have

in my
hands a large number of estimates con-
taining the details of this sum of one hundred
and twenty-one thousand and odd dollars. It
is a sum extraordinarily large. Indeed, the
largest sum I ever remember to have been ap-
propriated for making an Indian treaty is about
twenty thousand dollars. This is $121,785.
We have not had time or occasion to examine
these documents in detail, because the Indian
appropriation bill has not yet come to the Sen-
'ate. These papers would have been examined
by us at the time we received them but for the
fact that we supposed they were intended to
apply to the Indian appropriation bill which
has not yet come to us. Now, unless the Sen-
ator from Wisconsin can satisfy the Senate that
there is pressing and urgent necessity for action
on this appropriation, I do not see why we
should pass a separate bill. It is unusual to
do so. My own opinion is that some Senator
would distinguish himself as a valuable public II

Mr. SHERMAN. I ask by what authority these tribes are to be convened.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. It was upon this author

authorities, under the direction of the War Department and the Interior Department, the President of course being responsible, invited these tribes to treat. When my friend from Ohio speaks of the estimates sent to the Finance Committee I am inclined to think that he is looking at the estimates to carry into effect treaties already ratified.

Mr. SHERMAN. No.

Mr. GRIMES. Are these tribes that we have been at war with?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Some of them are.
Mr. GRIMES. We have been at peace with

some.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. We have been at war with the Sioux and the Blackfeet. In relation to the time I wish to say a word.

Mr. GRIMES. I wish to make an inquiry of the Senator. As I understand it, we have not been at war with many of these Indians that it is proposed to treat with. There may have been additional murders or atrocities perpetrated by some of them; but my impression is that we have treated with most of those Indians with whom we have been at war.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. We have not treated with them all.

Mr. GRIMES. What I want to know is this: does not the chairman of the Committee on

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Mr. DOOLITTLE. Well, Mr. PresidentMr. McDOUGALL. The Senator from Wisconsin will allow me.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Yes, for a moment. I will refer to some papers I have here, and answer the Senator from Iowa.

agree with

Mr. McDOUGALL. I have known, probably, more of the Indians that traverse our Rocky mountains and the regions further west than any of my colleagues here in the Senate. I have known Indians from my boyhood. The policy of the Government in dealing with them, I think, has always been wrong. the Senator from Ohio altogether in that respect. They must be whipped into their place, and subjected to obedience. Why should not the Indian earn his bread by the sweat of his brow? Why should he not do it with his bow and arrow, or other material that he may possess? Why should he be supported by the Government? It is false legislation, and it is one of those things that oppress the men who do honest labor in the country-that labor which supports our Government. It is wrong. I have been opposed to it as a matter of policy always, and I take occasion now to give expression to my thought. I met a lot of Choctaws last nightand I can talk Choctaw-three chiefs who fluttered in their peacock feathers. We buy them those feathers, and we buy them their blankets. Why should we do it? I have never been able to find that out by any logical deduction. We do not owe them anything but this: we should protect them on their hunting grounds. That

am prepared to do always, and let them die out by a law established by a greater Master than confines himself to this sphere, as another race that inhabit about the District of Columbia is to die out. No man can suggest a good logical reason why we should subsist the Indians. My friend from Wisconsin, who is a western man, and who is acquainted somewhat with the subject, cannot advance a reason why we should subsist them; tax our farmers and laboring men, and our mechanics, to subsist the Indian, to come down here and parade his feathers in Washington, and draw our blankets. It cannot be done; it is not within the range of logic. I am, therefore, against the whole policy.

Mr. RAMSEY. This war commenced with the Issanti Sioux, in Minnesota, numbering about six or seven thousand. It extended then to the Yanctoni Sioux, in the northern part of Dakota, and also to a part of the Yancton Sioux, in southern Dakota, and also to the larger part of the Teton Sioux west of the Missouri, comprising the Blackfeet and other bands, so that the whole Sioux tribe on the plains are demoralized and infected with this war spirit. I do not see how entire peace and quiet can be restored to the frontiers unless through some treaty arrangement. It may require a little money, but surely

"Mr. McDOUGALL. Let me ask the Senator, would it not be better to whip them well? Mr. RAMSEY. Certainly it would, if you could catch them, but that is the great difficulty.

Mr. McDOUGALL. Is not the Government powerful, and has it not men and horses enough?

Mr. RAMSEY. On those immense plains in Dakota, and on the Platte, it is impossible for any armed force you can send there to overtake them.

Mr. McDOUGALL. If you furnish General Sully the horses and men, he will hunt them to the death.

Mr. RAMSEY. But that would take ten times as much money as this treaty arrangement will cost. Besides, there are large bodies of these Sioux that you cannot possibly reach; our men cannot get at them; they live on the British frontier. All of the Issanti Sioux, the most hostile and most bloody of all the Dakotas, now live on the northern border, and after committing depredations retreat across the line, and you cannot follow them. They keep poisoning

the minds of other bands of Sioux. I do not see how it is possible to restore peace on the frontier unless we can do it by some treaty The expense is arrangement of this kind. nothing in comparison with the object to be accomplished.

Mr. MCDOUGALL. There can be no peace restored among the Indians on our frontier except by compelling them to obedience.

Mr. RAMSEY. The trouble is to catch them. I admit that the Senator is right in that, but it is impossible, on these immense plains, to catch these bands of Indians. We have had a large number of troops operating against them for years, but they have very rarely been able to overtake the Indians.

Mr. MCDOUGALL. They were never well mounted.

Mr. RAMSEY. The great difficulty is in carrying provender for your horses on these immense interior wastes.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. President, there is but one way to deal with these Indians on the plains: you must feed them or fight them. There is not much honor to be won by the Army or by the Government in fighting with these Indians. Compared with us, they are a very feeble people. We are strong; we are a great nation. They are wandering nomads over the plains, with no more habitation than the buffalo has. They go with the buffalo, and where the buffalo goes. They live upon the buffalo, and with the buffalo, and range over those vast plains. The honorable Senator from California suggests that we should by military power reduce them to subjection and compel them to obedience. Whenever we meet them we can conquer them and capture and slaughter them; but it is just as impossible, within any reasonable amount of expenditure, to catch these Indians and reduce them to obedience by war as it is to catch the buffalo upon the plains or the blackbirds that fly over the plains. Sir, the proposition to organize great military expeditions with artillery, to go through these immense plains and to carry provender for horses, where every bushel will cost you from three to five and even ten dollars to feed, the horses on which you ride, is a proposition to put the finances of the Government into a bottomless pit.

I know it costs something to keep these Indians together and feed them; it costs something to make treaties with them. My friend from Ohio smiles at the idea of a treaty with an Indian tribe. He thinks the thing is ridiculous on its face. Compared with a treaty with Great Britain, I admit it is a very trivial affair; but so long as human nature is composed of those elements which dwell even in the breast of an Indian as well as a white man, by manifestations of friendship, by kind treatment, by presents, by feeding them, you can have peace with them better than by fighting with them, and at a hundredh part of the expense.

Mr. McDOUGALL. Let me ask the Senator, is not that a policy to continue the controversy with them for many years, and will it not be in the end more expensive?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. We have been at war with these Sioux since 1862. I have no doubt the expenditures of the Government in prosecuting wars against the Sioux, on these plains, have amounted to over thirty million dollars. There is a difference between making appro priations to the Interior Department to feed Indians, and making appropriations to the War Department to furnish the commissary department, or the transportation department with supplies. You come into Congress with an estimate from the War Department for commissary supplies, and in a single bill of appropriation you will appropriate $400,000,000 perhaps, all in one immense fund, which is drawn upon by the War Department at will; and so it is with the quartermaster's department; the appropriation is all made in one vast sum. But when we come to ask for appropriations for the Interior Department, you go into the items and take them up one case at a time.

Now, we have negotiated several treaties,

under the direction of the President, through the instrumentality of the War Department, with several bands of these Sioux Indians. They were fed by the War Department, and Congress never heard anything about it. Why not? Because it was paid for out of the funds of the commissary department and the quartermaster's department, and we never knew anything about it. But now, when the War Department say they have not the funds and cannot furnish the commissary supplies any longer, the Interior Department must furnish supplies to these very Indians whom the War Department have invited into council to see if we can have peace with them; and when the Interior Department presents its estimates before Congress and we look into them, they appear to be very large. The sum to be appropriated here is $121,000, but it is not for a single treaty. The Indians are invited to meet at five different posts, hundreds of miles from each other, some on the upper Platte, some on the upper Missouri. I suppose they will assemble, and if they assemble, and the War Department is not prepared to feed them during the assembling, what shall be done with them? If we do not make this appropriation, the Interior Department cannot furnish them supplies. If they come together at our invitation and then disperse, they will regard it as a kind of breach of faith on our part to invite them together in this way to negotiate for a treaty and make no provision for them while they are there.

But

I admit that abuses creep into the Indian department, as is the case in every department where money is to be expended. Abuses creep in from the infirmity of human nature. Men are tempted to take advantage of the Government on contracts. Men are sometimes tempted to defraud the Government; and in dealing with the Indians perhaps the temptation may be stronger, if the Indians are the only witnesses of their transactions. after all it is much cheaper for us to deal with the Indians in this way than it is to deal with them by arms. I say to my honorable friend from California that I think there is just as much honor, and a great deal more humanity, in feeding and blanketing and making presents to these Indians than there is in chasing them over the plains and slaughtering them, with their wives and children. I hope that this resolution will pass.

Mr. WILSON. How much does it appropriate?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. One hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars to pay the expenses of their assembling at five different posts. Some two thousand are expected at one place; fifteen hundred at another, fifteen hundred at another, &c.

Mr. McDOUGALL. I do not dispute the point of present judgment with the Senator from Wisconsin, the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, whose particular business it is to understand the present question. Indeed, I think he is altogether right in the present statement of what he desires to have done by the Government. I think he is altogether wrong, though, in the philosophy of his policy. The remarks that I made some few minutes since were designed rather to express my view of what should be the policy than what might be the proper thing now to be done. understand that our Government through its proper officers has invited, for treaty purposes, the Sioux Indians north of forty-five degrees into council. This having been done, it should be exactly executed, for the faith of the Government is involved in it. My remarks, when I rose before, were directed to the permanent policy, not the present action. Those Indians having been assured that we will treat with them, and having been invited to meet us, they must be treated as they have been treated heretofore.

I

I only wish to say now that I desire to have done with that policy. I do not think that we have been out of the order of life or nature

because the Indian has retroceded from the

country where he was born, westward and westward still, crowded by the progress of high civ ilization. I do not think that wrong. I think it is one of the provisions of the Master that thus it should be so. It is pleasant to me to think that the country that I properly inhabit is now occupied by the Caucasian race, and it there masters. It must happen so, for there is a progression of races, and that progression we have seen through all ages, from the Pelasgi and the fair-haired men from the North who came down from old Scandinavia and made the heroes of Greece and then in Rome; they who conquered, debilitated, and demoralized Italy. All these things indicate that there is a progression of races. I would not willingly injure one of the race who inhabited our country when the first white man landed on these shores. I am partial to the Indian race. I was taught in my childhood by the Oneidas

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The morning hour having expired, it becomes the duty of the Chair to call up the unfinished business of yesterday.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I ask that the order of the day may lie over informally until we can come to a vote on this resolution.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. If no objection be made, the order of the day will be informally laid aside, and the joint resolution which was under discussion will still be considered as before the Senate.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. I do not wish to take up any further time; but I have before me the letter of General Curtis in which he states the number of Indians that are expected to assemble at these different posts: at Fort Laramie, twenty-five hundred; at Fort Sully, two thousand; at Fort Rice, two thousand; at Fort Berthold, two thousand; at Fort Union, twentyfive hundred. It will be seen, therefore, that there are two thousand Indians and upward to assemble at each one of these posts, and therefore I think the estimate is not an extravagant

one.

Mr. NESMITH. I look upon this as a matter of very great importance, and I hope we shall have the immediate action of the Senate upon it. It is very well understood that during the last season great efforts were made to reduce the Indians of the upper Missouri and from there to Montana to some state of subjection or of peace. They had given great annoyance to travelers and settlers in Dakota and Minnesota as well as on the overland route. The energies of the Government were directed last summer to their subjugation. Failing in that, it was deemed by the military officers and the officers brought in contact with those people that it was better to inaugurate some system by which a treaty could be made with them, that it would be cheaper for the Government and better for all parties concerned that some amicable arrangement should be made which should secure peace on the frontier and on the plains. The energies of the officers of the Army and other Government officials who were brought in contact with them last year were directed to that purpose. The result was that arrangements were made whereby large numbers of them are to assemble early this spring for the purpose of concluding temporary treaties formed by the military who were in that country last summer.

Under that arrangement it is expected that within a few days large numbers of these people will be assembled at different points. They come with the express guarantee and understanding on the part of the Government officials that certain supplies shall be furnished them while there. We may question the right of the officers to make this pledge in advance; but that is a point of which an Indian has no very correct comprehension. When he meets a Government official and he pledges himself to do a certain thing, he regards that as the pledge of the Government. The Indian does not comprehend that the officer may not be authorized to make pledges in advance whereby large sums of money shall be disbursed before appropriation bills are passed by Congress.

That is a matter that cannot be brought to the comprehension of the Indian. He treats with the officer and looks upon him as one fully authorized to enter iato and make these arrangements; and when a failure comes to carry out the provisions or stipulations made between that officer and the Indian, the Indian is bound to look upon it as a species of bad faith exercised on the part of the Government, and consequently he considers himself justified in resorting to hostilities for what he considers the bad faith of the Government.

The view in which the Indian looks upon this matter is that the Government is pledged to certain things, and the certain things to which it is pledged are set forth in detail in this report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. It is an estimate showing all the details, all that is necessary to carry out substantially the temporary treaties which were formed last year and to meet the Indians this spring, as was understood and arranged between the officers of the Government and the Indians at that time. It provides for large bodies of Indians being assembled at each place; for instance, fifteen hundred Indians are notified to assemble on the 20th of May at Fort Sully; then, again, fifteen hundred more are notified to assemble on the 1st of June at Fort Rice; at Fort Berthold fifteen hundred Indians are notified to assemble on the 20th of June; and at Fort Union two thousand Indians are notified to assemble on the 5th of July; at Fort Laramie two thousand Indians are notified to assemble on the 20th of May, and so on. These different assemblages have to be provided for. The Indians have been notified that they are expected to assemble there in pursuance of the negotiations which have been had with them. They are doubtless now on the way to these different points of rendezvous; and if this appropriation fails to pass, I apprehend that we shall have a repetition of the scenes of bloodshed, outrage, murder, and plunder which have been going on for the last two years in that country.

and what these Senators on the Committee on
Indian Affairs have not yet told us, is, who
authorized the assembling of these Indian
tribes. I have looked in these papers, and I
cannot tell who did it. Was it the Secretary
of the Interior, anticipating an appropriation
from Congress? I see nothing to show that.
Did the Commissioner of Indian Affairs under-
take to make six new treaties with some ten
thousand hostile Indians without authority of
law? If not, who did it? Or was it left to
some wandering Indian agent or superintend-
ent of Indian affairs?

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Allow me to state on
that subject the facts. During the last year
hostilities were prevailing all over the plains.
General Curtis was in command, General Sully
being with the expedition far northwest, Gen-
eral Dodge down on the Arkansas. It will be
remembered by my honorable friend that a
committee was appointed on the part of Con-
gress last year to inquire into Indian affairs;
and the gentleman who now sits in the chair,
[Mr. FOSTER,] myself, and other gentlemen,
were appointed upon that committee. When
we were upon the upper Arkansas, we were
decidedly of the opinion that it was better to
make peace with these Indians than it was to
carry on this system of warfare, which was so
enormously expensive and produced such very
little results so far as the capturing of any of
the Indians was concerned. We pressed the
consideration of it upon the President, the Sec-
retary of War, and the Secretary of the Inte-
rior. They had consultations here in answer
to our communications to them by telegraph
and otherwise; and we received telegraphic
communications from them in return; and upon
full consultation in the Cabinet with the Presi-
dent, it was determined to enter upon a system
of negotiation of peace with the tribes instead
of carrying on hostilities. All the military
commanders were so directed by the Secretary
of War and the Secretary of the Interior, upon
instructions that were agreed upon between the
Secretary of War and the Interior Department,
with the sanction of the President. Commis-
sioners were appointed to negotiate treaties of
peace in the Indian country and up the Arkansas.

certain. It is after all an experiment. We are dealing with a feeble people, with a dying people; they will soon pass away, and nothing will remain of the Indian tribes but the beautiful names which they gave to our rivers and our towns. This is to be their inevitable destiny; but while they are passing along like sick children on our hands, it is better to deal in the spirit of humanity, to feed these dying people, than it is to turn in and slaughter them by the sword. That is my settled conviction from all the information I have been able to obtain in relation to Indian matters.

Mr. SHERMAN. If these Indians had been convened by the President of the United States in pursuance of his executive authority to negotiate a treaty of peace and during a war, I have no doubt it is the duty of Congress to appropriate money to carry into effect the execu tive order. Undoubtedly the President of the United States has the power to negotiate peace with warring nations. If these Indian tribes are warring nations, as they seem to be considered, as a matter of course he has the power to negotiate a treaty of peace with them and submit it to the Senate for approval at the proper time. The only question that arises then would be as to the best mode of meeting the expenditure. As far as I understand the Senator from Wisconsin, the assistance and transportation have been heretofore furnished by the proper bureaus of the War Department, and now, for the first time, it is proposed to introduce into the Indian Office transportation and subsistence of provisions.

Mr. DOOLITTLE. What I desired to say was, that in dealing with these tribes in the treaties which were negotiated by General Curtis and by General Harney, the.War Department had furnished the supplies; the Interior Department had not done it; and the Interior Department now supposed that the War Department would furnish these, until from a letter received from the Secretary of War the Secretary of the Interior is informed that the War Department cannot do it, and the thing is thrown on the Interior Department, and the Interior Department must take the responsibility of doing it; otherwise, the Among those who were appointed to nego- Indians are invited to meet at these places, and tiate treaties on the upper Arkansas were Gen- there are no supplies and we do not get peace eral Harney, who is famous among the Indians with them. It is a new cause of irritation and as a great general in fighting them, and Kit a new cause of war, and that is just the exiCarson, who was equally famous. In negotia-gency and the necessity pressing upon the ting the treaties on the Platte and north of the Platte in Dakota, General Curtis, who had been in command of the department, was employed as one of the commissioners, and he entered into those treaties that have been already confirmed. Other gentlemen were with him, General Sully and General Sibley, the very officers of the Army who had had most to do with those Indians and knew the Indians best, and as I understand it General Curtis is the one who invited these Indians to these councils. General Curtis, as I understand, is to go out at the head of the commission with a view of negotiating the very treaties which they are invited to make. This has all been done with the full sanction both of the War Department and the Interior Department and with the express sanc

The urgency for the passage of this resolution consists in this fact that the Indians being on the way to the different points of rendezvous it is impossible to wait until the general appropriation bill can pass Congress to carry out the objects contemplated by this resolution and by this detailed statement which I now hold in my hand. If we delay it until that time the period will have long passed when the Indians shall have assembled and this distribution of supplies should have taken place among them. Therefore, for the preservation of peace in that vast region of country, and in view of the objects which the military officers report can probably be accomplished the making of a permanent peace there and preventing a recurrence of hostilities hereafter-I urge on the Senate the adoption of the resolution. On an examination of the details of the estimates, as submitted by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, I think they will be found most reasonable, and the sum is not so large as to excite any very great apprehensions on the part of Congress or of the country if we are to realize what I apprehend we shall from this general negotiation-ation of the President, and I may say upon the restoration of peace on the frontiers and on the plains.

Mr. RAMSEY. In addition to the other considerations which have been urged here on behalf of this appropriation, I desire to mention the fact that at this time many thousands of our people are passing up the Missouri river; many boats have already left St. Louis on their way up to Montana; two thousand miles of that route are through this hostile country; and these Indians, as the Senator from Oregon has said, will look upon the failure to furnish these supplies as a breach of faith on the part of the Government; and if our commissioners do not meet them with the supplies, they will seek revenge on the people going up there; and no inan can tell what destruction of life and property will ensue.

Mr. SHERMAN. What I wish to get at,

urgent recommendation of those gentlemen who
were connected with that congressional com-
mittee to look into Indian affairs; and I have
no doubt that if you carry out the policy and
carry it through of negotiating treaties, and if
we comply with our treaties in good faith and
give them the supplies which we promised, the
blankets and provisions which we promised, we
may have peace with them at a tithe of the
expense of dealing with them by the sword.
These are the facts.

I know, as my honorable friend knows, that
dealing with these Indians is a very different
thing from dealing with a great nation like Eng-
land or France; and of all the committees, I
doubt not, in the Senate of the United States,
there is no committee that has so difficult a task
to manage and get along with as this very In-
dian Committee; dealing with them is so un-

Interior Department for our action, and our immediate action. Supposing that the War Department would furnish the supplies to these Indians as they had furnished them to the others, the Interior Department took no steps to procure these appropriations until now. At all events, this is the first request that came to the Indian Committee on the subject. I do not know but that those estimates that went to the Finance Committee may have gone in some weeks ago. I do not know when they went to that committee; but the matter first came to the Indian Committee yesterday, and with the urgent request on the part of the Department that we should take immediate action, because it was necessary to purchase these supplies immediately at St. Louis in order to send them up the Missouri river or get them transported to the place of meeting, which is already fixed, with these Indians.

Mr. SHERMAN. I do not intend to press any opposition to this appropriation, because I am deficient of information to do so; but the facts disclosed this morning show clearly, I think, that the Indian Bureau ought to be transferred to the War Department, or all connection with the Indians transferred to the Interior Department. That is manifest from the statements which have been made. Here is confusion between these two Departments of the Government; neither seems to understand its appropriate duties in this respect.

The bill of items submitted to the Committee on Finance is so singular that since I have read it this morning for the first time it strikes me as furnishing a very strong argument why

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