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provided
in the agreement to entitle you to it, but there is no such
provision. If the commission
negotiating with you promised you free transportation they exceeded
their
authority. I hare read the agreement
carefully and there is no mention of such in the act that you accepted. There is nothing binding on the United
States except what appears in the agreement that is signed. I always make it a rule to make plain
and
truthful statements to the Indians when negotiating with them, for the
reason
that it is very wrong to tell Indians that which it is impossible to do
for
him, or to make any promise that cannot be fulfilled.
Any promise that I make to you here is taken down in short
hand
and after it is transcribed I will leave a copy of the proceedings of
our
councils with you, and you will learn later on that every word that I
have said
to you will reach the Department, and receive attention.
And I promise you that every statement that
you have made here with regard to your grievances and claims will
appear in my
report in the order that you have presented them, and I will make a
special
report in reference to them, separate from my regular report, in case
we enter
into an agreement for the proposed cession, which special report will
be in reference
to your claims as stated to me and I will follow them and see that they
receive
the attention of the Department.
I
expect to return to Washington from here and will make it a special
point to
call these things up whilst there. I am
well aware that the matters you have been speaking of are somewhat
complex,
that is they are puzzeling, as I stated the other day, they are
perplexing and
it is the desire of the Department to have them straightened out as
soon as
possible, and your talk with me here regarding them will aid and assist
the
officials in bringing about an adjustment of the matter.
This paper that I have here in my hand is
the proceedings of our last council, and I will simply repeat a portion
of what
I said to you during our last meeting
