wrongs, oppressions, the murders 01 the Pacific Slope Indians in the last thirty years would be a volume in itself, and is too monstrous to be believed. It makes little difference, however, where we open the record of the history of the Indians, every page and every year has its dark stain.³

The Indian is the only human being within our territory who has no individual right in the soil. He is not amenable to or protected by, the law. The executive, the legislative, the judicial departments … recognize that he has a possessory right in the soil; but his title is merged in the tribe—the man has no standing before the law.⁴

Here is a concrete example:

A few years ago, former Commissioner Leupp arbitrarily ordered the confinement of eight Navajos in the military prison at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, at hard labor, for an indeterminate period. Although charged with being bad men, they had been given no trial, military or civil. Commissioner Leupp … stated in effect that those Indians would be held … until he was ready to release them, “law or no law.” … The Association instituted habeas corpus proceedings. The Arizona supreme court … decided that the commissioner was wrong, and that an Indian could not be deprived of his liberty without due process of law. The Navajos were subsequently released and returned to their reservation.⁵

Within the tribe the Indian had no individual status; outside in relation to the whites, he had duties. The conscription of the Indian in the World War expresses these. Slowly the Indian is now becoming a citizen, and his survivors will probably enjoy the average liberty of minority races in the American commonwealth.

LIBERTY IN OUR ISLAND POSSESSIONS

Similar problems have arisen in our island possessions. The natives have not been usually in control of their affairs, although they had previously achieved a status in relation to European