receive consideration as
individuals, "subject to American law and beneficiaries of American
institutions." The Indian then, when no longer branded as an outlaw,
would in the very near future advance to the position when the
cooperation and the protection of the white man would be welcomed as
that of friends.[11]

It was during the Forty-sixth Congress that Senator Bruce was most
active. Senator Bruce did most constructive work in advocating the
improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi river. The importance
of this question today is not so striking as it was at that time for
the reason that little had been done to protect life and property from
the inundations of that stream. Senator Bruce kept this important
problem before Congress urging not only that the interest of the
people in the valley itself be taken care of, but that this river
should by adequate facilities be made the highway of interstate and
foreign commerce. Toward this end Senator Bruce offered several bills
meeting the exigencies of the time and providing for future needs. As
the foresight of a majority of the members of Congress at that time
was not sufficient to appreciate this statesmanlike effort of Senator
Bruce, his program for this important internal improvement was not
carried out, although some important efforts since then to supply this
need in our economic development must be considered as due in some
measure to the persistence and the courage of Senator Bruce in keeping
this question before Congress.[12]

Senator Bruce, moreover, had been watching, with increasing
misgivings, the affairs of that notorious banking bubble, more
pretentiously known as the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. To
protect the rights of the depositors of the defunct institution, he
offered the following resolution, on April 7, 1879:

That the President of the Senate appoint a committee of five on
the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company to take into
consideration all matters relating to said institution, and that
said committee be authorized to employ a clerk, and that the
necessary expenses be paid out of the "miscellaneous items" of
the contingent fund of the Senate.[13]

The resolution was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to. The
Vice President, the Honorable William A. Wheeler, subsequently
appointed Senator Bruce as Chairman of this committee. The other
members were Senators Cameron of Wisconsin, Gordon, Wi