As the white settlements have crowded the borders of the reservations,
the Indians, sometimes contentedly and sometimes against their will,
have been transferred to other hunting grounds, from which they have
again been dislodged whenever their new-found homes have Keen desired
by the adventurous settlers.

These removals and the frontier collisions by which they have often been
preceded have led to frequent and disastrous conflicts between the
races.

It is profitless to discuss here which of them has been chiefly
responsible for the disturbances whose recital occupies so large a space
upon the pages of our history.

We have to deal with the appalling fact that though thousands of lives
have been sacrificed and hundreds of millions of dollars expended in the
attempt to solve the Indian problem, it has until within the past few
years seemed scarcely nearer a solution than it was half a century ago.
But the Government has of late been cautiously but steadily feeling its
way to the adoption of a policy which has already produced gratifying
results, and which, in my judgment, is likely, if Congress and the
Executive accord in its support, to relieve us ere long from the
difficulties which have hitherto beset us.

For the success of the efforts now making to introduce among the Indians
the customs and pursuits of civilized life and gradually to absorb them
into the mass of our citizens, sharing their rights and holden to their
responsibilities, there is imperative need for legislative action.

My suggestions in that regard will be chiefly such as have been already