INDIANS AND THB LA W.

179

It would seem as if a statement of these provisions, in view of the situation, sufficiently manifests their general wisdom and ne- cessity. No enlargement of the arbitrary powers of the Indian agent can meet the case, no extension of the jurisdiction of State or Territorial courts can do so, while the great body of Indian lands are exempted from taxation. The only alternative presented is between immediate provision at the expense of the United States for the accessible administration of justice according to local law, or according to a federal code to be provided for the purpose upon all the reservations, or, on the other hand, the continued sanction, by our government, of lawlessness and anarchy over extended Ter- ritories which belong to us, and among a people who are the wards of the nation, and for whose government according to civil- ized methods the nation is fully clothed with power.

Austin Abbott,

New York.