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Author's note: This is partly an idea I can't get out of my head and partly a response to whoever it was who, recently, said that too many timelines focused on war, politics, and dystopia. Also, Paris Commune still lives in my other timeline!

New York Tribune 2nd February 1887

SEVERALTY BILL COLLAPSES IN CONGRESS
Senate Leaders Disappointed


This morning we learn that the mooted Severalty Bill, also known as the General Allotment Bill, has come aground in the House. Despite squeezing past the Senate earlier this year, the bill has been rejected in the House of Representatives and looks unlikely to be revived.

It’s chief architect, Senator Henry Laurens Dawes (R-MA), expressed his disappointment to this paper last night.

‘This Bill would have ensured a peaceful and stable future for the American Indian’ he said, ‘breaking up the corrupt dominance of the tribal groups and pushing for Christian education, family freehold of land, and, eventually, paving the way for their introduction to civilised society.’

Senator Dawes, a long term supporter of the Indians and a chief lobbyist for their rights in Washington, has expressed concern over what will happen in the future.

Yet among House members talk is that Dawes himself was the chief obstacle to success. One Representative, who declined to be named but represents a Western state, told this paper that ‘Dawes’ inability to factor in any system for negotiating the borders of the land was too much. There is great pressure for new lands among migrants to my state – land held uselessly by the Indian’.

When we took this to the Senator he was scathing. ‘I do not bow to special interests’ was all he was inclined to comment on the issue.

Debate in Washington continues, but it is clear that, for now, the Allotment Bill will not be written into law.
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