Excerpt from The Indian Question: Report of the Committee Appointed by Hon. John D. Long, Governor of Massachusetts The Committee appointed by Lieut. Governor John D. Long, now Governor of the State of Massachusetts, - in pursuance of a vote passed at a meeting by the merchants of Boston instructing said Committee to investigate the subject relating to the removal of the Ponca Indians, as well' as the general management of the Indian tribes, and to report in print, have given the subject the careful consideration its importance demands. It has been our earnest desire to obtain the exact truth of the Ponca case and the merits and demerits of the present policy of management of the Indians, as indicated by the results accomplished. Since the appoint ment of this Committee the discussion of Indian afi'airs has become more general; the public press has commenced to exercise its mighty influence in directing the attention of the people to this important and complicated question and even the officials of the Department have sought, through the same medium, to justify their action and to exonerate them selves from charges that have been alleged against them. We regret that it has not been in our power to visit some of the more prominent tribes, or to hear the statements relating to the existing condition of affairs, the working of the present system, the grievances, the hindrances, the evils and the misfortunes to which they have been subjected, from the lips of the more advanced and intelligent of the Indians\ themselves. The former was impracticable, and the latter was also so considered, inasmuch as it appears to be the policy of the Government to prevent the orators of the Indian tribes from appealing to the American people, though they have frequently desired to do so. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.