happier state and make them useful members of the community, and bring their descendants to a still further advanced condition making them real citizens of the province. At all times and all seasons he proved himself to be self-sacrificing and a highly honorable man. Coercion was foreign to his nature, and I do not for a moment believe that his age 83 has changed him in that respect. I can write feelingly on that point, as I am myself in my eighty-fourth year. COMMENTS BY THE PRESS That the calumnies against Father Duncan made during the politico-sectarian persecutions in British Columbia, resurrected by the Bureau of Education, had been investigated and denounced as false by practically every important newspaper in the United States, was a matter of common knowledge and history at the time Father Duncan's mission in Alaska was invaded and seized by the Bureau of Education. To prove this assertion, the following is quoted from the current comment of a few of the responsible daily newspapers of that period. There were hundreds of other similar expressions from the secular and religious press in every section of the United States, regardless of the political faith or denomination of these publications. The New York Herald, January 14, 1887: cruelty. * The case is one of great interest and involves a story of peculiar The New York Sun, January 17, 1887. Materials for another Evangeline. The New York World, June 12, 1887. Those whose eyes have been moistened and whose indignation has burned over the pathetic story of Evangeline and the exiled Acadians will be surprised to find its counterpart or worse in the Story of Metlakahtla, a settlement of converted Indians on the coast of British Columbia. It is a recital of even greater injustice and oppression of a people than moved the world in Longfellow's rhythmic tale. The Acadians had within them the resources of a civilized people. The Metlakahtlans, groping their way under a noble and self-sacrificing leader, from a state of barbarism and savagery to an industrious and orderly community, find their path of development blocked by the bickerings of a clique of professed Christians, the tranquility of their settlement disturbed, their lands invaded, their property practically confiscated and their natural rights disregarded. The New York World, June 30, 1887: We can only say that the work of Mr. Duncan has never been equalled in the history of missionary effort; that the thousand Indians under his charge are victims of an oppression more cruel and shameful than that which drove the Pilgrim Fathers to New England; that the cause which they represent should appeal to every true American heart * *. To such a cause the World is always ready to lend its assistance. * The hearty support given to Father Duncan by the press in refuting the slanderous charges against him in connection with the politico-sectarian persecutions in British Columbia is shown in chapter I: Preliminary Statement; section 2, Sequence of Important Events. TESTIMONY OF NATIVES Turning now for other evidence as to the untruthfulness of these base charges against Father Duncan's integrity, we come to the testimony of the great masses of his devoted followers and to the high principles of honesty and fidelity which his noble and unselfish efforts molded and implanted in them. His whole life was an open book-an epistle which was "known and read of all men", and especially by these natives, whose lives were so closely knitted to his that they saw and knew all his acts and doings, all his comings and goings, and were thus assured that he was ever scrupulously honest and upright. It was this intimate knowledge which made them say, as was publicly declared by one of the most prominent of them (Josiah Guthrie): You all know Mr. Duncan and his great work can do as he did. Only a good man It was characteristic of the Tsimsheans, as of other aboriginal peoples, that they were quick in detecting meanness in those who came amongst them; and it may be well said of them, as was said by the great missionary, Dr. David Livingstone, of other natives: No one ever gains much influence in Africa without purity and uprightness. The acts of a stranger are keenly scrutinized by both old and young. I have heard women speaking in admiration of a white man because he was pure, and never guilty of immorality. Had he been, they would have known it, and untutored heathen though they be, would have despised him everywhere. Furthermore, if these slanders against Father Duncan had been true, and his life as unrighteous and unclean as was wickedly implied, how could he, by his example and precept, have brought these people up from the depths of degradation and savagery where he found them, to the heights of Christian civilization where he left them? It was from his life that they imbibed the honesty, uprightness, and integrity which set them apart in public esteem as being unusually honest, faithful and trustworthy in all their undertakings. From no source, "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." As was said by Josiah W. Guthrie, a venerable native of Metlakahtla, in a statement made to Dr. Henry S. Wellcome: I know Mr. Duncan and his ways so well all my life he could not do any of the bad things these men say about him, it would be against his whole nature to do such things. Mr. Duncan has only done what is right before God and what is good for our people. See how he has changed the Tshimpshean people from what they were 60 years ago, and yet some want to go back to those bad ways. Mr. Duncan never did anything for himself nor spent any money for himself, but everything for our people. TESTIMONY OF DR. JAMES BLUETT-DUNCAN There is now offered the evidence of a witness of unimpeachable character, who by his long and very close association with Father Duncan in both British Columbia and Alaska, and by consequent intimate knowledge of his daily life and acts, was qualified to testify as to the purity of the conduct and motives of this great missionary. This witness was Dr. Bluett-Duncan, a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, England, who, although not of kin to Father Duncan, at his own expense generously spent 10 years as a coworker at the Metlakahtla Christian Mission, in both British Columbia and Alaska. In concluding his affidavit executed on September 26, 1919, to refute vile slanders against Father Duncan's integrity. Dr. BluettDuncan, after making other lengthy statements, declared: I can bear testimony that during the time I was associated with the Metlakahtla Christian Mission Mr. Duncan invariably acted honestly and honorably and treated the people with absolute fairness, justice, and fidelity. With great self-sacrifice he carried on the mission for the highest advantage and benefit of the people, morally and materially and I cannot believe that he ever wronged anyone: he was scrupulously just and fair in all his dealings, he inspired them by upright example as well as by precept, otherwise he could never have influenced such a wonderful uplifting change in the lives of the natives. OPINION OF UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT The fact that these slanders were utterly discredited 40 years ago is conclusively demonstrated by the high standing of the members of the committee of distinguished men and women, including the Chief Justice and two Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and also by high administrative and executive officers who espoused Father Duncan's cause and invited him to seek a refuge on American soil where he was promised freedom under the American flag and the guaranties of the American Constitution from further interference and molestation. The opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, stating that the "emigration and settlement" of "this noted missionary" and his mission colony in Alaska were "not only acquiesced in but encouraged by executive and administrative officers of the United States, and subsequently were sanctioned by Congress" (Alaska Pacific Fisheries v. United States, 248 U. S. 78) is the highest proof of the sympathetic attitude of the American people toward Father Duncan at a time when old calumnies were exposed as false and denounced far and wide by Government officials, and the pulpit and press of the entire country. SLANDERS REFUTED 40 YEARS AGO USED BY DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE IN REPORT TO SECRETARY OF INTERIOR The report to the Secretary of the Interior by Committee on Matters Pertaining to Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, May 3, 1927, made use of slanders against Father Duncan which were refuted more than 40 years ago, without disclosing to the Secretary of the Interior their wicked and fraudulent nature. SECTION 80. SECRETARY OF INTERIOR DECEIVED BY UNRELIABLE AND FICTITIOUS DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS Background of prejudiced reports. 1. The Lopp report. 2. The Logan report. 3. The Cragin opinion. 4. The Honour report. 5. Report of Secretary's Committee on Matters Pertainting to Annette Islands Reserve The long-continued prejudiced, unjust, insidious, and hostile policy existing in the Department of the Interior against the Metlakahtla Christian Mission is based on a number of unreliable and fictitious departmental reports, in which were incorporated and utilized the slanders against Father Duncan concocted by conspirators to deceive and mislead the Secretary of the Interior. These reports filed in the Department of the Interior are as follows: 1. Report of William T. Lopp, superintendent of education of natives of Alaska, to the Commissioner of Education, dated January 14, 1911. 2. Report of W. R. Logan, an inspector of the Department of the Interior, to the Secretary of the Interior, dated March 4, 1911. 3. Opinion of H. S. Cragin, a temporary clerk in the Department of the Interior, filed with the Secretary of the Interior, dated April 27, 1915. 4. Report of Theodore Honour, an employee of the Bureau of Education, to the Commissioner of Education, dated July 31, 1923. 5. Report to the Secretary of the Interior by Committee on Matters Pertaining to Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, died May 3, 1927. In the false and surreptitious file on Metlakahtla in the Department of the Interior are many letters or reports by minor employees of the Bureau of Education, including the reports by William G. Beattie and Charles D. Jones, which have been used or cited in one or more of the foregoing departmental reports. BACKGROUND OF PREJUDICED REPORTS The early attempts of the politico-sectarian machine built up in the Bureau of Education to capture or destroy the Metlakahtla Christian Mission, appropriate the fruits of Father Duncan's life work and turn over the resources of Annette Islands Reserve to mercenary interests. During the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt an attempt was made to reform the deplorable conditions in the Alaskan school service by changes in the personnel of the Bureau of Edu cation. Notwithstanding the strictures of President Roosevelt, the hostile policy of the Bureau of Education against the mission was continued with more venom and aggressiveness. In 1909 the intrigues against the Metlakahtlans had ripened into a conspiracy to deceive the Secretary of the Interior by false and fictitious official reports and to cause the affairs of Annette Islands Reserve to be administered contrary to the true intent and policy of Congress. About that time John W. Arctander, who proved to be "a wolf in sheep's clothing", and Bertram G. Mitchell, a spy for the Bureau of Education at Metlakahtla, united with the plotters, and a secret code. between Arctander and the plotters was arranged; and at the same time plans were put on foot to deceive the Secretary of the Interior by furnishing him false information in regard to conditions at Metlakahtla. Finally, the slanderous charges against Father Duncan, concocted by the conspirators, were incorporated in a series of unreliable and fictitious departmental reports, which will now be enumerated. To avoid repetition cross references will be made to the chapters and sections where these unreliable and fictitious departmental reports have been given consideration in other connections. The analytical summaries of the various subsections at the beginning of each section will indicate the subject matter and the scope of the detailed discussion, where citations from documentary evidence is copiously given to sustain each allegation. 1. THE LOPP REPORT The report of William T. Lopp, superintendent of education of natives of Alaska and Chief of the Alaska Division of the Bureau of Education, to the Commissioner of Education, dated January 14, 1911, is the first of the series of unreliable and fictitious departmental reports attacking Father Duncan and the Metlakahtla Christion Mission. The Lopp report sought the intrusion of a bureau of education school at Metlakahtla and the adoption by the Secretary of the Interior of new rules and regulations for Annette Islands Reserve that would aid the plotters in their nefarious schemes. The Lopp report and its recommendations were based upon untrue and misleading ex parte statements of the plotters and other unfounded allegations, with no evidence whatever to support them. The Lopp report criticizes Father Duncan's school, but the record shows that he never visited or inspected it. The untrue statements, duplicity, suppression of evidence, and slanderous character of the Lopp report have been already exposed. 2. THE LOGAN REPORT The report of W. R. Logan, an inspector of the Department of the Interior, to the Secretary of the Interior, dated March 4, 1911, is the second of the series of unreliable and fictitious departmental reports attacking Father Duncan and the Metlakahtla Christian Mission. The Logan report made no recommendations, but was engineered by the plotters to give plausibility to the Lopp report which had recently preceded it. On leaving Washington for Metlakahtla, Logan carried with him letters written by Lopp introducing him to Marsden, Arctander, and a man whom Father Duncan had caused to be prosecuted and punished for violating the fishery laws. During his so-called investigation at Metlakahtla, Logan was personally conducted by Marsden, who acted as his interpreter. After their alleged statements were translated by Marsden and incorporated in the Logan report, the natives were unable to check these statements, the requests of both Father Duncan and the natives. for copies of the report being ignored by the Department of the Interior. The so-called mass meetings at which Logan took alleged statements of some of the natives were held in the home of Alfred Atkinson, a member of the clandestine organization created by Marsden and the bureau of education to create discontent at Metlakahtla. 3. THE CRAGIN OPINION The so-called opinion of H. S. Cragin, a temporary clerk in the Department of the Interior, dated April 27, 1915, is the third of the |