Dr. AMES.—I move, Mr. President, that the President, the Secretary, the Chairman of the Business Committee of this Conference and Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh be empowered and instructed to especially memorialize Congress in behalf of the recommendation in the platform in favor of the aid of the general Government to the dependent territories in the matter of education. (Carried.)

Dr. GATES.-Will you allow me to bring up one matter to which I had intended to ask attention of the committee, but which by lapse of time escaped and nothing was said about it, that is, the question of a water supply for the Pimas. Whether the Conference may wish to take any action about that, I do not know. I wish Dr. Spining would kindly take notice of the fact that I have made it possible for him to move any action if he wishes to do so.

The PRESIDENT.-You will observe that that platform provides for the appointment of a committee of five, to lay before the churches the importance of religious work among the Indians. This committee of five, in the view of the resolution, is a preliminary committee. It is a committee of five really to constitute a committee of considerable size, who shall consider the whole subject and present this matter to the churches, as we have heretofore presented matters to Congress, to the administion, and I will appoint on that committee, Rev. Dr. W. F. Slocum, Rev. T. S. Hamlin, Dr. Merrill E. Gates, Rev. Paul de Schwienitz, Mr. Daniel Smiley; and I will ask if that committee will, this evening, at all events at the close of this session, come together sufficiently to determine when they will assemble.

Dr. GATES.-I understand that Mr. Tibbles, who has in our American history the honor of having been the first man of prominence to interest himself in defending the titles of Indians to their lands, so far as to organize the first Indian Rights Association in any place; who is known the country throughout as having married "Bright Eyes," who took so many audiences by storm here in the East; living close to the Indians and having these outside opinions, wishes to express himself upon the matter of a probate court to defend the Indians' titles.

Mr. T. H. TIBBLES.-I desire to offer the following resolution.

Resolved, that the duty of the Government under the allotted holdings is to provide an officer of the United States Government whose records shall be received as authority concerning the heirs of Indian lands; and the Government should retain

the power to declare who those heirs are, and not allow the disposition of these lands to be controlled by probate judges, elected under the influences surrounding Indian reservations.

Mr. CHAIRMAN.-The importance of this resolution has impressed itself very greatly upon the lawyers in this assembly; several of them have come to me to speak about the matter since the afternoon session. It is a great and troublesome question. I would like to add to that resolution also another part of a sentence, "with an appeal to the district courts," but here we have that question right before us, in Omaha reservation, which was the first allotment made and others coming right on after it and I want to say to you that men surrounding that reservation in the little towns around, have their eyes upon those Indian lands and they are just as certain to get them as the sun will rise tomorrow morning, unless the government of the United States will protect those Indians against their cupidity. Now, all the work that we have done in the twenty-seven years I have been in connection with it will go for naught if the Indians lose their lands. Litigation there begins the moment these titles are given to the Indian. It is a question of such importance I thought I would present it to this Conference, and the difficulties are so great that we ought to do something A lawyer came to me this afternoon and told me of several things that would arise in the discussion of this question, but the thing, he said, is to begin now passing these general resolutions and get some action from Congress, now, before these things pass beyond our control. The moment these lands are allotted and the deeds are made we can do nothing; we must do it now, and therefore I have asked the privilege that you vote upon the resolution.

now.

Dr. GATES.-Those who remember past sessions, will see at once that Mr. Tibbles is anxious about the very point which I, personally, and our board, officially, have been very anxious. about for years and I think he and I have at heart the same purpose, to see to it that a proper registration be made of the true heirs to these lands, and that the prima facie evidence of heirship shall be at hand so that it may be presented to defend the Indian rights. The importance of having an unprejudiced probate court with a fair-minded and independent judge who would decide in favor of the Indian when the white men are pushing for their lands in these reservation regions is very great. I am glad Mr. Tibbles has called our attention especially to this thing, but lawyers, and some of us who are not lawyers, understand how delicate is the provision, the work of providing a piece

of machinery that shall be effective to do these things. Frankly, I do not think the resolution provides for it.

I move that to secure the object in view, the resolution of Mr. Tibbles be referred to a committee of three of this Conference, men learned in the law, of whom Chief Justice Andrews of this State, who is already much interested, be chairman, and Mr. Tibbles the second member, the Chair to fill the third place by appointing some lawyer who has shown interest in Indian affairs, and well known to the Conference, to consider and report at the next Conference the best measures to be taken.

(It was so voted.)

The PRESIDENT.-I will appoint as that committee, Hon. Charles Andrews, chairman; Mr. T. H. Tibbles and Hon. John J. Fitzgerald.

We will now proceed to what is both one of the pleasantest and also one of the sorrowful features of these Conferences, the shaking of hands, the bidding good-bye. I have the pleasure of introducing to you Dr. W. F. Slocum, President of Colorado College.

Dr. W. F. SLOCUM.-Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am sure that we all appreciate more and more what it is to come to Mohonk, to this Conference; we realize that here we are above political influences, that this station has become a centre of very large influence. We used to think that it was the centre simply of certain movements in America, but we have suddenly discovered that we are at the centre of at least half the world, and to come here and look out over the hill-tops and realize that the influence of this assembly is reaching, geographically, far beyond the boundaries of what used at least to be our own country, is a rare privilege. I have been very much struck also during the few hours, during these days, with how the themes that have been discussed are much broader and larger than they used to be in the olden days. I find experts here discussing subjects of sociology, of economics, finance, of government, those great problems which relate to people, which relate to the evolution of nations and it seems that our privileges have been very much enlarged, because of the men who come, because of the themes that are discussed, and I am sure that we have noted as the hours have gone on what an evolution there has been in the subjects presented at this Conference. It seemed years ago when our great American Board took up this work, that it was simply preaching of the story of the life of Jesus to the peoples in foreign lands, but we found out that the great educational movement was essential to the preaching

of Christianity as was that simple reiteration of the story of the life of our Master, and we have discovered in our work that we must reach out into everything that makes for civilization; that the school, that the training of the people in making of governments, that everything that broadens character, pertains to the thought, the discussions and the life of this Conference, so that our privileges in coming here have been very much broadened, our debt of gratitude is certainly larger than it used to be in the olden days. And I am sure you are delighted tonight to find that the final theme of our evening is the centre of all that makes for the best life of these in whom we are so deeply interested. We are finding that after all the motive, the great spring of action lies down deep in the religious nature and that if we do not come back again and again to religion, to that which binds all work to God, to that which finds its centre in the life and the teaching and the dying and the resurrection of the great Master, we are going to lose the great stimulus, the great power of all this movement. We are grateful again that the centre of the movement is sound, that the power of this Conference still remains, because we come back instinctively, almost with a passion, to the great thought that inspired us, that religion after all is the centre of everything. We will not lose our grip on that; we cannot. I say these things because I want out of my own heart, out of the thought that I am sure is in the mind of all, to speak of my appreciation of coming here to Mohonk, of how much it means, of our great debt of gratitude, and in speaking of it, we cannot help reminding ourselves of those who have made all this possible, and the simple words that I have written down here, that I so move to be spread upon our records, are simply trying to voice all which is in my own mind, and I am sure that which is in your hearts, and so I sent this as something that shall be spread upon our records, not because it adequately expresses the debt of gratitude we owe, but because we must put something there as suggesting at least what we want to say.

Dr. Slocum read the following resolutions:

pre

"As members of the twenty-third annual Lake Mohonk Conference of the Friends of the Indian, we cannot separate without extending to our hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Albert K. Smiley, our great appreciation of their generous hospitality which alone makes these Conferences possible.

Those who have come here for the first time have received a stimulus they will not forget should they never have the privilege of coming again. Those of us who recall similar visits, go away with an increased indebtedness to our hosts; an indebt

edness which we shall try to repay as we may have opportunity -not to them, but to the humble and needy of the earth-their acknowledged brethren and friends.

We congratulate our hosts not only on what they have wrought for the good of the Indian, but upon the wide field of influence opening so evidently before this Conference in its relation to those who, for want of a more suitable phrase we call our "other dependent peoples."

Our thanks are also due and heartily given to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Smiley for the inspiration we have felt from their interest in the work that has called us together, and for their great personal kindness to each of us shown in so many ways; and we would thank each member of the household who has helped in expressing the hospitality of Lake Mohonk Mountain House."

Dr. WILLIAM H. MCELROY.-Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: As the last speakers so well reminded you, I am sure, that what has been said in the way of thanks so far as there was a personal reference, has not been altogther pleasing to Mr. Smiley and his brother, but I say to myself, and I call upon them to bear witness, they have brought this upon themselves. If, instead of being the sort of men that they are, they had had the misfortune to be the sort of men that they are not, I would not be standing here, no resolution would be offered. Now a serious word. A note was uttered in this Conference during the week which, because it seemed to be a note of discouragement, was frowned down upon and rightly frowned down upon, seeing how it was interpreted. Daniel Webster, standing at the dedication of Bunker Hill Monument, was told that the crowd was so great that it could not be restrained. With that large way of his, the godlike man put up his hand and said: "Nothing is impossible on Bunker Hill!" and the crowd fell back. Some such spirit as that (I know these Conferences and I have known them for many years) has dominated these Conferences; we have said that nothing is impossible at Lake Mohonk to which we address ourselves. This is the twentieth century; we here are filled with the spirit of the twentieth century, and would go forward in this century with whatever our hands find to do, in the Indian work or in any other work, to that grandest of all the rallying cries, "If God be for us, who can be against us,' and therefore, we say no place of pessimism, no place of hardheartedness, no place of half-heartedness; we look duty in the eye; I am talking not of the individual, but of this Conference and we say Here is an Indian problem; it is to be solved; whatever the discouragement, it is to be solved; and feeling that way, we go forward. I have been impressed ever since I