The Mission Indians
siderations of sympathy and right. The lands are entered in the office of the railroad company, taken and occupied, and the Indians turned out. Now if the same rights which attach in common to the bonâ fide white settler occupying land prior to such grant to railroads were accorded to Indian occupants, it would be different; but, unfortunately for the Indian, he has not yet in fact come to be considered by the Government as a man, although bearing the impress of a common Maker in all respects except as to the color of his skin. . . .
"Referring to the subject of civilization, I have to say that the Mission Indians are as much civilized as the population by which they are surrounded; and if they are not up to the full standard, it is because of their surroundings. All wear civilized dress, sustain themselves, with few exceptions, by civilized pursuits, and hold themselves answerable to the law of the land when they violate it."
However lightly this constant tale of woe may have affected Congress, its reactive effect on one of the agents was marked. After four years of service as compiler of facts for the dusty archives of the Government, he vents his disgust:
"It is true the goal of my ambition to see them provided with land for permanent homes, which has been so persistently urged in former reports, has not yet been reached. And my faith in the power and influence of agents' reports and letters on subjects
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