_THE INDIAN PROBLEM._

The present difficulties among the Indians in the Dakotas will
probably lead to a re-consideration of the whole system by which
the Government and the nation deals with these people. As a
contribution to that discussion, we present in condensed form some
suggestions recently published in a Boston paper, from our esteemed
friend, S.B. Capen, Esq., whose intelligent interest in the Indian
entitles his opinion to thoughtful consideration:

While public attention is everywhere called to this matter, it is time
to agitate for a radical change in the whole administration of the
Indian service. We believe that this should be disconnected entirely
from the Department of the Interior, and be made a _separate
department_. This whole Indian question is so important and so complex
that it ought not to be simply an annex to a department which has under
its control land, patents, etc. It should stand by itself; there should
no longer be a divided responsibility, which is always productive of
evil. We are finding the necessity in our cities of making
responsibility more direct and personal. The time, we believe, has fully
come to reorganize the Indian service on this basis. Our criticism is
not against any individual, but against a system which is the growth of
many years.

We would suggest the following;

1. Have the Commissioner of Indian Affairs responsible only to the
President and to the public. What he does, or may do, shall not be
controlled by the Department of the Interior.