But he is subject to be swayed by every breath of
opinion, has little fixity of purpose, and, from a defect of business
capacity, is often led to pursue just those means which are least
calculated to advance his permanent interests, and his mind is driven to
and fro like a feather in the winds. _This_ man, and _that_ man, are
continually bringing up Indians to speak for some selfish object, which,
being a little out of sight, he does not perceive in its true light, but
which he nevertheless is soon made to comprehend, if a public agent
sets it plainly before him. But there is a perpetual watch necessary to
protect him from deception, and this necessity becomes stringent in the
exact proportion that a tribe has _funds_ or _treaty rights_ of any
kind. If these attempts to make the Indian a stalking-horse for masked
or misstated objects be independently met, and with just sentiments of
dissent, the agent of the government is liable to calumniation, and it
becomes the policy of unscrupulous men to get their affairs placed in
hands having less well-defined notions of moral right, or more easily
swayed in their opinions.
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