I therefore fully approve of the advice given
to them by the Secretary of the Interior on a recent occasion, to
divide among themselves in severalty as large a quantity of their
lands as they can cultivate; to acquire individual title in fee
instead of their present tribal ownership in common, and to consider
in what manner the balance of their lands may be disposed of by the
Government for their benefit. By adopting such a policy they would
more certainly secure for themselves the value of their possessions,
and at the same time promote their progress in civilization and
prosperity, than by endeavoring to perpetuate the present state of
things in the Territory.
The question whether a change in the control of the Indian service
should be made was in the Forty-fifth Congress referred to a joint
committee of both Houses for inquiry and report. In my last annual
message I expressed the hope that the decision of that question, then
in prospect, would "arrest further agitation of this subject, such
agitation being apt to produce a disturbing effect upon the service as
well as on the Indians themselves." Since then, the committee having
reported, the question has been decided in the negative by a vote in
the House of Representatives.
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