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Record June 19

Army Officers as Indian Agents.

Under provisions of a law which was passed by the Llld 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.