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Uncle Sam, Trustee stipulation in the Indians' favor has been provisional, ambiguous, or directly subject to the discretion of the Government. "Articles of Guardianship" would have been a better name for the fairer ones, and "Sharp Bargains" for the majority. Though professing to be treaties, at no time have they had the standing of treaties made with the most insignificant of outside nations—and in the very nature of things such recognition was impossible. Yet for one hundred years the United States hypocritically bargained with the aborigines under the guise of treating with competent nations. The name "treaty" was abandoned in 1871, although the business has since been continued under the name of "agreements."

The appalling feature of this radical decision of the Supreme Court lies, not in proclaiming the hollowness of these treaty farces, but in the naming of the Indian's guardian—Congress, the amiable Pontius Pilate of the Indian race, always ready to yield to the clamor of the Faithful! It is impossible to estimate the disasters that may come to the Indian as a result of this decision. The Indians' friends have welcomed with one accord the breaking up of the reservation system, the allotment of lands in severalty, and the curtailment of rations—but with these steps in advance comes the necessity for the sale of the surplus Indian lands. At this critical time, when the proper establishment of the Indian in his new relation as an individual 275