WASHINGTON, July 31, 1877 (Rooters agency) – The American government has rejected suggestions that its dispute with western Indian tribes over ownership of the Black Hills should be submitted to arbitration.

Mr. Progress Babble, a spokesman for the Rutherford Hayes administration, said it stood by the Moneypenny Commission’s recommendation, passed into law by Congress in the last days of the Ulysses Grant administration, that sovereign ownership of the 900,000 acres be transferred to and remain forever with the United States, “as is our Manifest Destiny and the will of God.”

“Anything less,” Mr. Babble declared, “would be to concede to the aims of the anti-American Sioux terrorists who are responsible for so much death and destruction.” This was primarily a reference to last year’s ambush of General Custer’s unsuspecting soldiers by Sioux warriors and their allies that slaughtered more than 260 Americans.

“Furthermore,” he continued, “the Sioux and their confederates have left the Black Hills voluntarily, as we warned them to do.”

Mr. Babble denied that the Indians’ departure was due to the cutting off of all food supplies to the area, as had been claimed by a few religious spokesmen. “Allowing the anti-American terrorists to remain in the area would create a permanent source of instability and threat to peace,” he said. “Now and for all time, the United States will resolutely oppose any compromise or accommodation with terrorism.”