204

Record June 19

Army Officers as Indian Agents.

Under provisions of a law which was passed
by the LIId congress, President Cleveland has
made his first appointments of United States
army officers to be Indian agents at various
western reservations. In a score of these appointments,
no officer under the rank of captain
has been named, and in each case, they succeed
by vacancies made by the retirement of
civilians.

What the results of the change may be is yet
to be demonstrated, but at the least, it is a
common-sense experiment. On these reservations,
the United States army is practically
held responsible for the actions of the Indians.
As Gov. Waite of Colorado so plainly put it a
few weeks ago, very much of Indian trouble
has been precipitated by irresponsible and
greedy agents, who allow bands of Indians to
leave the reservation on the plea of hunting,
while their rations accumulate to profit of
the agents. Not only do rations at such times
go to these officials, but in nearly every case the
agent is a trader and he buys the pelts of the
animals killed the hunt.

With Indian agencies in the hands of army
officers, who know in case of an outbreak that
they will be called upon to restore order, it
would seem that the Indian problem is just
so much nearer its solution.