, 1867-08-30
Indian Outrages.

I
seems to be failure, except massaeres BY
Indians. They flourish "like a green bay
tree;T aud gil the land with their beauties.
The shrieks ofunfortunate women and child
ren, while being tomahawked, scalped, or
disembowelled on the Plains, nightly rend
the air yet nothing is done to put an end
to the outrages. Sherman, who rode from
"Atlanta to the sea-" has proved big fail
ure as an Indian fighter. Several months
ago, he made trip through the borders of
the Indian country, and positively announced
that there was no dagger to be apprehended
from the Indians that all the stories of In
dian outrages were false that there was no
cause to fear anything from the Indians, aud
that, in effect but few troops were needed
to protect the routes Of travel, etc. Govern
ment, and the people not threatened by the
Indians, listened to Sherman's oracular say
ings and acted accordingly. The result is
before us Not only are white travellers
and settlers being remorselessly slaughtered
and their dead bodies shockingly outraged
every day, but the Indians have stopped tel
egraphic communication almost entirely, in>
tercepted the mails, and captured railroad
trains they have also endangered the very
existence of General Sherman's troops. 1t
cannot be denied that Sherman's manage
ment of Indian affairs has resulted in the
greatest failure of the day. His pompous
assertions at the outset have been falsiied by
events and the Indians have constantly
grown in strength in spite of him. These
things happened partly because be was too
wise in his own concet, and therefore above
listening to to the advice of those who knew
more Of Indian fighting than he did, and
partly because he has persisted in fighting
the Indiaus on moral suasion principles,
rather than according 10 the only system
they can comprehend, that of destructive
force. lie has shRn,himsef to be more of
missionary than a soldier in the last Indian
campaign, and has consequently relied for
success more upon talking than fighting
The amount of it is, Government made
mistake in allotting Sherman to the Western
District. But even Sherman's failures in
Indian fighting do not do away with the fact
that our whole Indian policy is wrong. We
should cease to bestow Indian annuities, to
make presents, to recognize Indian nations
and tribes. We should give the Indians to
understand that they must respect life and
property everywhere, or else suffer the most
serious consequences. A war of extermiDas
tion against tho Indians would bo botter fer
all, than the merciielss and continuous
butcheries that have been going on. Weak
sentlmentalists may object to this as barba>
rous, but those who are acquainted with the
Indian character, and know how utterly
worthless he is, will endorse it as right and
proper. These "wards of the Government
have recently made themselves troublesome
IN this quarter, and have shown strong dis>
position to inaugurate war For weeks
their scouts and spies have been trampiug
over the Valley, and on various occasions
have limited that the white man s rule in this
country is soon to come to an end. 1t is
even possible that the late Indian massacre
on the kootcnai is but the prelude to the
enactment of still more bloody scenes on a
larger scale. Should such be the result, il
will be found that our people have very little
of the humanitarianism Of the day, and that
they fully believe that determination is the
only eifeclual way of solving the Indian
problem,