St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1865-03-09

lessly BY the rod man. Without action
BY this government, Il thousand years
would have left the slave Of the South
still ! slave. Under wise md just laws
he will swell at once the epower Of the
nation increase its resources, and adora
it in time with great names and honor
ed services. We cannot afford to be
unjust to any portion Of mankind. g.
The government must shield the In.
dian in his time Of helplessness, and
must confer. upon him the advantages
of civilization. .....
The depravity, the degradation, the
decrease in numbers of, the indians are
but natures protest against tho inc
quality of the contest carried on between
them and the whites. In the "process
of natural selection" We have been rap
idly eliminating the weak and helpless
savage. ... ....-
What has been the treatment Of the
Indians BY our government
No sadder or more glocmy pase pre-
sants itself in all our annals. Error,
neglect, and crime, ure written all over
It.
Instead Of regarding tile Indians as
savages-helpless as brutes and improv-
ident as children-to be cared for and
protected Us the courts Of law protect
idiots and minors our great nation has
descended from the eminence of its
Christianity and civilization, aud has
entered into struggle to drive the best
possible bargain with the savage for his
lands: The sight has beeu sud one.
On the side Of one of the great powers
Of the globe, Of unequallcd wisdom, sa-
gacity, and power, represented by
shrcwd and able agents and on the
other n parcel Of poor, untutorcd sava.
ges, scarce comprehcnding the transac-
tions in which they are engaged, una
bio to read or sit the "trcat," they
make, and living while they negotiate
upon the bounty of the very govern
ment which processes to meet them. on
terms Of equality. 1t is needy barbar-
ism, pinched by thousand wants, COM
peting with an affiuent and ,all-powerful
government. What savage virtue can
stand up against the alluremcnts which
are spread before it' Even should the
tribe have judgment enough to resist
the terms proposed to them, are not
the chicfs purchasablc! Aud that
which blankets and beads, guns and
horses cannot effect, shall not rum ac-
cumrlish? Should the chiefs sign aud
the tribe resist, are they not savage out:
laws, aud who shall write their history ?
Here are the numbers Of some OF the
tribes with whom the government has
made such treaties; the Pottawotamies
of Huron number forty five members ];
the Munsees of Kansas number forty
four members, the Stockbridges of
Kansas number thirteen members.
Is it not pit,able thought that our
beloved government, instead of meas
uring out mercy and kindness with
liberal hand to thcse poor, benightcd
little communities, should descend to
moke the best possible terms out of
their miseries aud necessities .........
And what are those terms? The
amount per capita for these tribes are
as follows: Pottawatomies of Huron,
$s,S8 per annum Munsees OF Kansas,
5000; Stockbridgcs Of. Kansas. 81. go.
With unlimited power in Its hands to
make its own terms, this christian gov
ernment Of the United States Of Amer
ica gives to each Stockbridgc Indian Of;
Kansas the sum Of $4.6o every year,
with which to civllize him, and is
then shocked to hear, that he spends
his miserable pittance in depravity, and
remains as wretched . savage as ever |!
i i. takes tsl away his lands it deprivcs him
Of the means Of support; it leaves him
unframed and uneducatcd; and it gives
him $500 with which, to support him.
self and become an asriculturist!: 10
Nor is this the stransest part of the
performance. Until the, treaty is con-
cluded tho Indian, in theory, is the
equal Of the government The moment
it is made, his sovereignty passes from
him, as we'll as his lands. He:lives SUBJ
ject to our authority, and yet not pro:
tected. BY a our laws. We can enforce
treaty obligations. against him by the
strong arm Of military power, but for
,nf'actious he has no remedy save re-
sistence, and that means destruction.
Does the HISTORY of the world anywhere