Editorialana. 489
the Conference probably could not have
been held last year. Miss Cor-
nelius as secretary invited the
Executive Committee to meet late in June
at her home in northern Wisconsin, and,
under the generous hospitality
of herself and her family, the program
for the Conference was drafted.
The letters asking for active and
associate memberships were also drawn
up there and on the train which brought
the committee back to Chicago.
Now the campaign was on, and the work
and the troubles began.
All good things cost trouble and work,
but the costs should be forgotten
so far as possible. One very serious
loss was suffered during the
summer. Dr. Montezuma withdrew from the
Society. There is a great
suspicion of the government in many
Indian circles. Dr. Montezuma's
consuming desire was to make the Indian
free. If the Society were to
work to that end, it must be
independent. Rumors spread over the
country that the government was secretly
controlling the Society. It
was even gravely asserted by outside
people that the government would
have paid spies at the Conference. So
the suspicions and rumors grew
until Dr. Montezuma felt obliged to
withdraw. As the Society continues
to demonstrate its complete
independence, it is hoped he, one of the
founders of the movement, will feel able
to return. The Society is free
and it includes all honest differences
of opinion.
At last on the anniversary of the
discovery of America, the
Conference was opened to prove the army
of pessimists mistaken and
to justify the faith and works of the
optimists. Space will not allow
of any summary here of the proceedings
of this first national gathering
of American Indians. That may be found
in the report of the Con-
ference, a splendid duodecimo volume of
183 pages. Suffice it to say
that nationally and locally the
Conference was counted a distinct success.
True it is, of course, that differences
developed when attention turned
to organization, and those differences, based
upon honest opposing points
of view, continued after the Conference
closed, and resulted in January
in a change of principal officers. The
persistent fear of government con-
trol led Mr. Dagenett to sacrifice the
well-earned distinction of Executive
Secretary. At the same time Mr. Sloan
made an equal sacrifice of the
position of chairman. Both men continue
to be powers in the Society,
which was extremely fortunate in finding
Mr. Parker and Mr. Coolidge,
men who could fill the two positions to
the satisfaction of the entire
membership. Harmony reigns. If the
Society shall now be given the
moral and financial support which it
deserves it will do a great work
for the Indian race and the American
nation.
JAMES HOUSE ANDERSON.
Judge James House Anderson died in the
City of Columbus, June
27, 1912. He had been an invalid for some years, being confined
to his residence, but his mind remained
alert to the end. He was a man