Corruption and Starvation in the Indian Service
Local creditors left unpaid while thousands of dollars in federal funds disappear under the Superintendent's watch.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It has been understood that a sum of money, nearly one hundred thousand dollars, has been received for disbursement in this Territory months ago by our present Superintendent. It is also a matter of notoriety that men who have been in the service of the Department as subordinates, on fixed salaries, have not received a dollar for the last twelve or eighteen months. The fact that ample means were provided by Congress for the wants of the service, and a huge amount placed in the hands of the superintendents, would seem to exonerate the Department at Washington from blame, and justify the conclusion that the fault rests with the Superintendent. In the absence of any explanation from Mr. Kendall, we have been forced to conclude that he has failed to do his duty. The vouchers of Mr. Wright, of Nisqually, for one thousand dollars (a year's salary) was refused payment by Mr. Kendall, and in a few hours afterwards was sold to one of his intimate friends at a large discount.
“The Superintendent is at open war with several of his agents, in consequence of his arbitrary and tyrannical course toward them in denying them all participation in the selection of their subordinates.”
Public corruption in Washington Territory often centered on federal contracts and the mismanagement of Indian affairs, a theme that echoes throughout the state's history. Today, the relationship between federal oversight, local government accountability, and the rights of those on the front lines of public service remains a critical and unresolved tension.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.