New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-01-30
THE INDIAN WARS on THE PACIFIC.
Of The ny Tribune.

CofrcsrCrderce OF Inc y. l. JnOuhe.
NAsHINGToN, Jan. q, 1857.
The debate ia the Senate took al interesting turn
TO-DAY On the subject Of tie Indians. Dir. johnson
Of Arkansas. Mr. Hunter Mr. Weller, Mr.. Cass
and Mr. Crittenden partic pated in it; but none OF
these gentlemen, except the last named, rose 70
the level If the subject. There is something IN the
Dir or the soil Of Kentucky that is favorable - the
growth If men o. a fine grain of mental fiber along
with great energy AMI scope OF intellect. num-
Der Of examples Of this kind OF men have, az one
tine and smother, come to Congress from taAt
State. Mr. Crittenden is one of this stamp, as his
frcouept efforts in the Senate have often afteSted
lie mas not Of late discovered to others, so frequent
IL as Of old. those fine touches of mental percep-
ion broad comprehension ard benehcent nobility
Of nature. which assuredly belong To his compost
tion; but today be emitted some fresh evidences
Of these generous and elevated qualities that have
80 often distinguished him. .
II was very intrusive and very characteristic OF
sl1y.hnldipg civilization for Mr.. Evans of South
Carolina to suggest "whpping' along with the
remedial measures suggested by Mr.. Crlttenden as
proper TO be tried in the education and elevation OF
The Indian race. One could not help feeling during
the discussion that there is domain, both OF
thought and feeling, which many, perhaps most
minds never reach. No touch of the Divine Is
con posed. They are not "haf dirt, half dylnlty,
but all dirt. Those sweeps of the creative power
which touch upon imaginary possibilities OF human
thought and human effort are not only never made,
but never c0mprehended when made, by the extern
siye class referred to. Moleeyed themselves, they
cannot even recognize the existence OF clearer and
broader scope OF vision in others.
In Mr.. Casss remarks We at first thought We
Lad at lei 9Th discovered his particular uses in the
| Senate From his point of view he talked very
| i1tellicenty about the Indian man, but he soon
show ed that his experience and his reflections cast
10 Lew light on the interesting query, " What can
| "snd ought to be done with the Indian And
we soon swung round into our old position OF non
adlnirtr of lis cearncss aud pIoiundly.
With all Mr.. Cass's experience aud opportunities
with the Indian race, he does not seem to have got
beyond the ordinary crude notions OF all the world
about them In his view, they will not do anything
| but hunt and 60 to war. Education, he says, we
know to he of no good for it has been tired; work
is distastef 10 theiD and they will not engage ii
II. Whisky-drinking is their great passion and it
alone seems TO be all that is le to give them. This
was the substance of his discourse
| Mr. Weller declared his belief that the Indian
was bound TO be extermnated and all We had 10 do
was to make the process as easy as possible.
Mr.. Crittenden very justly and appropriately
argued that book education to the savage, such AZ
had been tried and failed, was nonsense and folly.
The kind of education he needed was 10 be educated
| TO labor No results from academic course could
be anticipated by any man OF sense different from
those experienced with the few individuals of the
Indian tribes on whom it had been tried. The saw
age, 10 be improved aud civilized, must be taught
10 ,cork and be- made to see and appreciate the ad
yantsges of work. This was the only foundation
uon which any civilization for him could be built.
It is little singular that in considering the kind
of labor that should be taught the savage, so much
stress is ALWAYS laid upon agricultural employment.
This seems to be the only biEd that 1t has been
thought advisable to commend to the attention OF
Tie Indian. And yet it is the most mon0ton0us
and the most irksOme to him. His whole life is
filed with activity and variety. Ingenuity is the
great function of his nature always brought into
requisition; and yet in leading BIN to agriculture
he is taught nothing that requires either superior
activity or superior ingenuity and lnyentlVeness
What the Indian most needs TO be taught, them
what be would most readily learn, is the mechanic
arts. He should, above all other things be taught
the use Of tools. Teach him this, excite his love of
acquisition, give him opportunity and he will
work as he hunts, earnestly and at intervals, when
the tit is on him, and thus be gradually brought
into the WAYS of civilized life But to begin with
presenting him the continuous and prOtracted aud
regular labors of a farm which he must AZ no time
intermit, except on penalty OF losing all the pre-
yious labor of the season. is to present work TO the
savage mind in its most repulsve form. Ii is to
deh ulul 10 ho'Ato ~
start. 1t is 10 ask him 10 leave occasional for
steady occupation, and TO embrace monOtOnOus,
unintt lliseLt uninspiring labor for the exciting
efforts of the chase. But interest his faculties, tax
bis ingenuity, and then pay him for his success,
and he " II BE- gradually but surely weaned to the
practice of arts Just satisfying to certain facul-
lies Of the mind, common alike TO the white and
the rcd races as The ruder and more uncertain
labors OF the hunter.
Tie Indian OF this continent can be civilized, can
BE- reformed, can be absorbed into the white race
with advantage to that race, if the proper efforts
be made. He need not be eJterminated either by
war or wli.ky. Tie judgment Of every just un-
Outstanding would reach this conclusion without
The aid OF facts and experience. Blu; We have both
in the present condition of the Greeks, the ChOc-
taws and Chickasaws. J. p.