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3. The duties of the head of this bureau are to acquire and preserve in his department all the information concerning agriculture which he can obtain by means of books, correspondence and experiments. For this latter purpose a propagating garden is provided for his use. He is also to collect as many new seeds and plants as he is able to obtain, to test their value by cultivation, and then to distribute them among agriculturists. He superintends the expenditure of all money appropriated by Congress to the department, and reports the same annually to Congress, together with his acts, experiments, &c.

He has the power to appoint a chief clerk and such other subordinates as Congress may deem necessary. The commissioner and his chief clerk both give bonds for the right appropriation of all moneys received by them, and for the faithful performance of their respective duties.

This bureau is yet in its infancy. Sufficient time. has not elapsed for its development, or to show the results of its experiments. It will undoubtedly become an important and useful institution hereafter.

CHAPTER LXXVII.

Indians.

1. EVERY one acquainted with the history of America, knows that when first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the whole continent, North as well as South, was peopled with Indians. They were the aborigines or first inhabitants of the country; and according to the recognized rules and usages of the world, they were the owners of the soil. This right has been admitted by our government, and hence we have purchased these lands at such prices as were agreed upon by the two parties. The Indians placed a lower value upon them than the whites; for, with the exception of small patches here and there, which they cultivated for corn and tobacco, they made no use of their lands except for hunting grounds; while the whites wanted them for cultivation. In this way the whites have become the possessors of nearly all the land once owned by the Indians, whose possessions now are very small.

2. Their idle habits, their frequent wars among themselves, and the wars with the whites growing out of their murderous propensities, have almost exterminated the whole race. There is now but a small remnant left of what was 200 years ago a mighty host. Many of these tribes have become entirely extinct, others are nearly so; and scarcely one of them is found whose numbers are not greatly diminished. It is melancholy to contemplate the fate of these poor savages.

As nearly as can be ascertained, there are not more than abut 300,000 of them left in the United States. These are mostly to be found west of the Mississippi river, and stretching thence to the shores of the Pacific. A few of them have remained among the whites, and become civilized; but most of them have kept aloof from civilization, perferring their wandering habits, and relying on hunting and fishing for a subsistence.

They do not admit themselves to be citizens of our government, neither do we claim them as such, nor do we exercise any jurisdiction or authority over them, except for the perpetration of crimes. We treat them as foreigners, not as citizens, and hence we make treaties with them as we do with foreign nations.

3. Our treaties with them have related principally to the purchase of lands and to stipulations of amity and frendship between us. But they are sometimes treacherous, and do not act toward us as they have agreed to do. This has led to a number of wars between us and them; the fault of which has not always been on the side of the Indians. The whites have often treated them badly; have often cheated them, and killed them; and this has led to some of the wars we have mentioned.

4. The preceding remarks might have been omitted in a work of this kind, had they not seemed to be appropriate as an introduction to the notice we ought to take of the numerous treaties with the Indians, the officers and agents of the government in making and carrying out those treaties, and of the numerous laws passed by Congress in relation to Indians and Indian affairs.

5. The Indians are unlearned, ignorant and barbarous. It has required a great deal of wisdom and good management on the part of the government, to keep on good terms with them, and to prevent them from murdering the whites, or from stealing their property, where they have settled near them. The United States have also restrained our own citizens from purchasing their lands, from trading with them, and especially from selling them intoxicating liquors, of which they are very fond. If these negotiations were allowed between them and the whites, the Indians would, in numerous instances, be over-reached and cheated by unscrupulous and dishonest white men. This would lead to murders and wars, for an Indian seems to have no idea of redress for a wrong done to him, other than that of killing the wrong-doer. The government, through its agents, buys their lands, and pays them in money or in goods, according to the terms of the treaty. Hence the necessity of government officers appointed to execute the laws relating to Indians and Indian affairs.

6. There is in the War Department a bureau for this express purpose, the head of which is called the

COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

He is appointed by the President and Senate, and performs his duties under the direction of the Secreretary of War.

In addition to this officer, there are superintendents of Indian affairs, and Indian agents, over whom the superintendents exercise a directing power. These

superintendencies and agencies are not permanent establishments, but are continued as long as any considerable number of Indians remain near the agency. When they have sold their lands and removed farther west, the agency is discontinued, or removed to the place where the Indians have located themselves.

The President may discontinue any Indian agency whenever he thinks it expedient to do so.

7. The bureau of Indian affairs, we have said, was attached to the War Department, but after the establishment of the Department of the Interior, in 1849, it was detached from the War Department and attached to that of the Interior, the Secretary of which exercises supervisory power over it.

8. As before stated, the Indians are not citizens of the United States. They have no Representatives in Congress, and in adjusting the number of Representatives to which any State is entitled from the number of its inhabitants, the Indians (excepting a few who are taxed), are not counted. The government has exercised parental care over them in endeavors to prevent them from warring upon each other, and to induce them to adopt the habits of civilized life; in the payments made for their lands, in the pains it has taken to furnish them with agricultural and mechanical implements; in the employment of mechanics and teachers to reside among them and to instruct them in science and the mechanical arts. It also employs interpreters, for but few of them can speak the English language.

9. The superintendents and agents, if so directed by

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