The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-29 00:00:00

THE UNITE.

►F AMERICA.

In estimating the population and resources of that
wonderful sountry called " the United States of Ame-

rica," and in dilating, as is frequently done, on the un-
exampled rapidity of its growth, it is seldom remem•
bered that these vast tracts of territory possessed inlia-
bitants of their own long before even the Pilgrim Fathers
set foot on Transatlantic ground. It is true that this
original population was thinly scattered over a continent
of enormous extent, and that the conditions of its
social economy were incompatible with any large
development of its numbers or power. Nevertheless,
the North American Indians were once the owners

of North America, and their fate, we should think,
must have occasionally suggested itself as a Subject

of consideration to the English reader. What
has become of all these red men of the woods ?
—of this extraordinary race, which attracted the.admir-
ation of philosophers and moralists, and which only one
century ago was encountering the British arms with no
discreditable result ? They have never been exterminated
like the old French noblesse, nor massacred- like the
Aztecs, nor civilised into a different state of being, nor
absorbed into the white population. Where, then, are
they now to be found? This question can be answered with
considerable accuracy, and we can present our readers with
the latest information on the subject, from the most
trustworthy source. The Administration of the United
States includes a "Commissioner of Indian Affairs"- -an

officer whose especial charge it is to superintend all

transactions bet Ween the American Government and the

Indian population resident on its territory. This officer
makes an annual report of the affairs under his direc-
tion, and the report for the past year contains the in-
telligence required.

The whole slumber of red men still surviving in North
America is estimated at 400,000, and of these it is cal-
culated that 18,000 still linger in the country east of the
Mississippi—that is to say, in the organised territories
of the Union. These figures are probably given
with some accuracy, but we should be inclined to
distrust the correctness of the computations made
with respect to the outlying or unoccupied lands.
There are said to be about 150,000 Indians in
California and New Mexico, 12,000 in the Utah or
Mormon country, 23,000 in Oregon, 63,000 in the Plains
and Rocky Mountains, 29,000 in Texas, and about
110,000 in Minbeenta and along the Texan border. It
must evidently be impossible to arrive at any conclusive
result
'census like this. We have seen the numbers
set very much higher, and also somewhat lower, but the
relative distribution of the aggregate is given probably
on good grounds, and the best information obtainable
would, of course, be at the command of the American
Government.
The measures adopted with reference to this class of
the population have assumed various characters at dif-
ferent times. Originally, as everybody will recollect,
the early settlers of Kentucky and Virginia conquered
their farms and homesteads from the Indians with the
rifle and the sword ; but as civilisation advanced, and the
ascendancy of the colonists became established, other
proceedings were devised for securing the desired end—
viz., the relinquishment of territory nominally owned by
the native occupant in favour of the increasing population
of the settlers. Generally this transaction was accom-
plished by way of bargains and treaties, probably more
or less compulsory, and the Indians made a formal sur-
render of their rights for a stipulated consideration. The
tribes themselves were either placed in some particular
tract assigned to them for their residence in the terri-
tory ceded, or, more frequently, were transplanted
bodily to some territory far away towards the west, so
that years might elapse before the citizens of the Union
were brought into contact with them again. The former
was the case in the States of Michigan, and New York ;
the latter plan was adopted at other points, where the
experiment has now to be repeated once more.
The extraordinary results of the gold discoveries in
California have precipitated the "enclosure," if we may
use such a term, of the whole North American territory.
Formerly civilization and culture advanced gradually
towards the West, and, such was the prodigious" expanse
of the continent, that years might have elapsed, notwith.
standing the influx of population from Europe, before the
Pacific shores had been reached in the ordinary way of
progress. But the treasures of California first occasioned
• the formation of an important state at the extreme north-
west angle of the whole territory, and then produced a
constant stream of living traffic between this State and
Ithe others. The consequence is, that the continent is
I now, as it were, being colonised at both ends, while a
particular community, that of the Mormons, in its desire
to escape the vicinity of regular Governments, has settled
itself in the middle space between the Atlantic States
and the Pacific. None of these events could be antici-
pated at the time that the territories in question were
assigned to Indians who had been removed from the
western frontier of the Union, but these Indians are
now found so troublesome to the " emigrant," i.e., to
the American proceeding overland to California, that
it_ is thought desirable to remove them once more.
For this purpose the Commissioner of Indian affairs
has been visiting the various tribes, and it is hoped
that satisfactory arrangements can be made for the
purpose. Many tribes evinced a disposition to part
with their territorial ownership on condition of certain
reserves of land to be made in their favour ; but this con-
dition is not approved by the American Government and
the results of experience are considered to suggest that the
removal of the natives from regions required by the
citizens of the Union should be complete and absolute.
The two races of savages and borderers are seldom
found tolive in harmony together.
There are still tracts of territory in this boundless
continent to which the Indians can be transferred,
and, if this system is steadily pursued, perhaps the
race of red men will expire before the whole continent
is settled, and thus a mighty problem would be solved.
It scarcely appears to us that any other end is probable
or that any practicable alternative lies between the
gradual extinction or :violent extirpation of the native
tribes. The later policy of the American Government
seems, upon the whole, to have been characterised by
humanity and forethought, but very little success
has hitherto attended any attempts to bring the In-
dians within the pale of civilisation. They learn the
vices of the white men, and forget the virtues they
once possessed themselves ; missionaries labour among
them without any substantial effect, and the only
eligible course seems to be that adopted--of 'pro-
curing by bargain and treaty their migration to
grounds where they will be beyond the reach of the
borderers, and where they may still have range enough
for their occupations of hunting and roving. Fortu-
nately, they appear amenable in this respect to the
arguments of the American Government, which pro-
vides for their gratification by a yearly appropriation
of money, nor do they seem to cause much trouble,
except where the white men, as in California and
Utah, encroach upon their settlements. Our own
border tribes at the Cape are less agreeably dis-
posed. There is room enough in the interior of the
confluent for all the Caffres alive, but no measures have
hitherto been successful in inducing them to quit our
frontier. They live, not by hunting, but by theft, and
cannot be dislodged from the best stealing grounds.
At present they appear to be quiet, but this tranquillity
may be of short duration, and our troubles, when they
return, will not, we fear, be settled so easily as the
" Indian Affairs" of the American Government.—Times.

r MET,
HOLri SUICIDE. A melancholy sensation was
Dublin On Tuesday, by an announcement of
the suicide of Lieutenant-Colonel Brewnlow Villiers
Layard, who for some time represented the borough of
Carlow in Parliament as a warm and sincere supporter
of Liberal principles. At that period the deceased was
a captain in her Majesty's 37th Foot, and was subse-
quently promoted to the command of the 9th Regiment
of
infantry, from which he retired not very long since.
THE. MAURITIUS.—PLYMOUTII, Wednesday.—Advices
from Port Louis, dated Nov. 12, received here, give the
rates of freight at 31. to 31. 55., and the exchange at 5
to 6 discount. The General Screw Steamship Company's
outward mail-packet Hydaspes, which left Plymouth on
the 15th of September, and arrived at the Cape on the
26th of October, sailed from the Mauritius on the 12th
and arrived at Point de Galle on the 25th of November.
The homeward ship Bosphorus, Captain Maynard, which
left Point de Galle on the 24th of November, sailed from
the Mauritius on the sth of November, and is now due
at Plymouth.
DEATH OF DR. GILLRREST.—Dr. James Gillkrest,
Inspector General of Army Hospitals, and Correspond-
ing Member of the National Academy of Medicine of
France, expired on 'the 25th instant, at 1, St. Alban's-
place. This veteran officer entered the medical depart-
ment of the army in 1801. In Paris, during the
three days of July, 1830, he gave the benefit of his
mature experience as a military surgeon, to the
wounded of both places. In 1832, during the prevalence
of cholera in London he was indefatigable in his exertions
among the poor, and in a series of letters he gave a
graphic sketch of the progress of that epidemic. In
1833 he was recalled to active service as principal me-
dical officer at Gibraltar, where his experience in cho-
lera became again available during its prevalence, in
that garrison in 1834. After an arduous and eventful
nped
career of 41 years' active service, he was promotedad lac
the rank of Inspector General of Hospitals
on the retired list in December, 1846. Since his
retirement he presented to the French Academy of
Medicine a work on yellow fever, which called
forth a high eulogium from that learned body,
and he contributed to the General Board of Health a
valuable monograph on the same subject, published in the
board's second report on quarantine. On various occa-
sions Dr. Gillkrest had also published papers on cholera,
calculated to dispel the fears of the timid when called
upon, in the exercise of the ordinary duties of humanity,
to assist patients suffering from this disease, having con-
vinced himselt by careful observation that panic during
pestilence is scarcely less disastrous than on the field of
battle.

DECIMAL COINAGE. -- MEETING IN LIVERPOOL.
Yesterday, at noon, a meeting,
convened and presided
over by the Mayor, John B. Lloyd, Esq., for the pur-
pose of affording the inhabitants an opportunity of ex-
pressing an opinion on the benefits of a decimal currency,
was held in the Sessions-house, Liverpool, and was at-
tended by several of the leading merchants. The first
resolution was moved by William Brown, Esq., M.P.,
and Chairman of the Select Committee of the House of
Commons upon the subject, and seconded by Thomas
Bouch, Esq., Vice-President of the Chamber of Com-
merce, recognising the principle and advantages result-
ing from the system. Another resolution, pointing out
the facilities attending upon a decimal coinage to all
classes in the community, was proposed by Thomas B.
Horsfall, M.P., and adopted. Several speeches were
made by the mercantile gentlemen present in favour of
the adoption of the proposed currency, and the meeting
concluded by unanimous votes of thanks to MT. Brown
and the Mayor for their exertions in the cause.