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* amate onamoK to be awu-“piCATED. -ea1dT0$bdoueiaiThoexacfc status of the Indian—the * relationhe holds to the Govern-.; jDent—snd the protection that the ; liwB afford til Behave not,we believe, ever, been judicially determined. His relation to the Government has been regarded as a mixed one. On . . the one hand, yre have treated the several tribes .as independent nations 5 wo have made, ratified and proclaimed treaties ..with them,' as troaties are made, ratified and pro-claimed with foreign powers. Vast tracts of territory have thus been acquired, now amounting in value ... to untold millions of dollars. States, empires, princely municipalities have thus been ceded away,* and - the Indian title extinguished.On the other hand, we have regarded the Indians as wards of the nation, under a sort of tutelage, inwhich the Government binds itselfto protect them, and secure them in IS certain rights and privileges guaran- I ft teed to them.' Just what' this pro- I S; tection amounts to, the judicial I a meaning and interpretation that lit is to be placed upon the phrase I pi u wards of the nation, just what is a fij meant by protection of the law as I sj applied to the Indian, lias long been I cl an unsettled, grave ..and vexatious I cl problem for the iudlau department, I a! under whose jurisdiction is intrusted J si the control and management of In- I ci dian affairs; and it has been vexa-1 bj tious because the question has never I in been judicially determined. - . I There is a strong probability that I ha -this,question will, ere long, bo set. I he at rc6t by a decision of the highest |er judicial tribunal of the laud. It will I nc be remembered that about a year! of and a half, ago, Keokuk, cliief of the j bo . Sac Fox tribe, and three other I K: chiefs and head meu, was arrested j ah in this city, being, as he declared, on J lb his way to Washington to sec the! tic President and Commissioner of In- j uo .. dian Affairs. Failing to give bail, J gr .tho party were sent to jail. The ar- j bo rest was made by Maj. Wiley, U. S. J wi Indian Agent,, upon complaint be-1 ha fore II. S. Commissioner Montgom-I en erv. Maj. Wiloygavcas his author- j sic ity orders from the acting Commie- J It sioncr of Indian Affairs, to the effect j tnt that no Indians should be allowed tq 1 ttii come to Wasliingtou, as the Depart- I go mcnthadno funds to pay their cx-Jiuc ..-ponses, as is customary in fluchjbll cases. It is not necessary liens, to I int question the propriety of tho orders I enl or the course of Indian Agent Wiley I acting under his instructions. The I f°u legality of such an order, whether it j hoe had BufKciout vitality and force to J see guard against the cousequcuccs that j pra might ensne, is the only question I mc that wcarcftowconsidering* Agent I roa Wiley read the orders of the Com- I alsc missioncr of Indiau Affairs, and had j citi thorn interpreted to Keokuk and his J sen co-chiefs. . Keokuk replied that he I tha should bear his own expenses ; that I ho did not ask the Government to I and pay liis expenses, or I bat they should I Suf be taken from Indian funds. Against j sst the remqnstrauccs of the agent, ho ! Frc came to Lawrence, and was here ar- I and rested and incarcerated, as slated met above. He. was released upon writ I and of habeas.corpus,..aud through hislgro attorney, Capt. James Christian,! suit was brought for false imprison- I senl mcnt, laying the damages, wc be-Jwhc Here, at $10,000. Thccasc was tried 1 will before the District Court, and dam- j the ages were awarded of $1,000 io Kco- I able kuk, $600 to Mauitowah. and $400 to l cnl the other two Indians. jdutiAgent Wiley, through his counsel, I oug took the case on appeal to the Su- I his prcmc Court of the State. Itwaslnou ably argued by counsel. The argUr I polj mcnt and brief for defendant, by J voti Capt. Cbristaln, covers upwards of | thoforty pages, and shows a great deal 1 of tof research and patient study of the I imp case. Its historical references and I Moc citatious to all cases bearing upon I pari this question arc invaluable. Thcjsunj Supreme Court of tho State has just I in fi sustained the court, below. The! the opinion of the court rendered by I uan Chief Justice Kingman, is an exceed- I uerc irigly ablo one, and is no ordinary J wo compliment to Capt. Christian,in I qua tho reasons therein adduced. Who Lh- J deir eras wards of the Government or j com not, in the technical and judicial J not meaning of the term, the court holds that the Indian is not without tho pale and protection of the law ; that as no crime was alleged against Keokuk, he could not bo arrested upon a more circular of instructions issued by an ofiiccr of the Government; that there was no law preventing an Indian from unrestrained - transit through tho country, upon his demeaning himself as a * citizen and paying his bills as other citizens; thatofficcrs of tho Government must act under the law, and not make law for themselves; that the Indian is as much entitled to the protection of the law as the proudest.citizen.The case will, wo presume, botaken to tho Supreme Court of the United States, when, if it has a status in the court, one of the gravest and most interesting questions will be decided, and finally, and irrevocably determined, tbathas engaged the attention of our highest judicial tribunal for many years.pan cut tunc the: pco i and, cren men repc W $100 sure deri* macl shov gone liberday yiCODS!LIBlAOfUrRS’g UIEECTORT OFTllO nnHioTinr - »* DUnMkKnn TmdA SiBixjLibSunFromTf
Newspaper Details
Lawrence Republican Daily Journal
Lawrence, Kansas, US
Wed, May 18, 1870
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Johnathan B.
IA, USA 15 May 2018
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