The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-12-17
PROPOSED EXTENSION OF MILITARY RULE.

4 PROPOSED kAIkNolOh VI 0lLlTAhf RULE
The report of Mr.. Browning, secretary of
the interior, gives very different aspect to
the Indian question from the light in which it
has been represented by Sheridan, Sherman
and Grant He dares to take position de-
cidedly behind the advanced craftsmanship
which holds as a cardinal doctrine, that the
only sovereign cure for all sorts of civil
troubles is an oxidation from the steely point
of the bayonet Insomuch is he backward In
this regard, that he doubts whether military
force would ever be necessary in dealing with
the Indians if simple justice were observed
towards them by the government "We have
no just ground of reproach against most of
| the Indian tribes for the non-fulfllment of
their treaty stipulations, he says 1t is be-
| lieved that peaceful relations would have been
maintained to this hour had Congress, in
| accordance with the estimates submitted,
made the necessary appropriations to enable
this department to perform engagements for
| which the public faith was pledged" But
the public faith was wantonly broken, and
an Indian war, at a cost of millions and
of indefinite duration, was the natural conse-
quence. 1t is now proposed by General Grant,
as plan for settling this difficulty
and for solving all others that may
arise of similar nature, to transfer
Indian affairs from the civil service 70 the ex-
elusive administration of the war department;
and majority of the House of Representa-
tives, eager, apparently, to exhibit an antici-
patory subserviency TO the incoming Presi-
dent, have voted in favor of the proposition.
If the normal relation of government to the
Indian populations within its limits were that
of chronic warfare, the propriety of dealing
with those populations through the medium
of the military authority could not be reason
ably disputed But if Secretary Brewing
speaks truly-and he speaks officially, and as
one having peculiar facilities for speaking
with accurate knowledge-this is not the ac-
tual state of the Indian question, and it is
possible to maintain peace with those popu-
lations at no greater cost than the simple
observance of good faith in the performance
of public stipulations. What business, then,
has the war department with Indian affaiis
any more than it has with the international
affairs which now occupy the attention of the
state department, or with the domestic affairs
which at present fall within the jurisdiction of
any other branch of the civil service? Legiti-
mately, it can have none whatever. If Indian
affairs are to be transferred as General Grant
proposes, with the Endorsement of the House,
military rule will be extended from the South,
where it has practically prevailed for four /
years, moi only over the great Western plains,
where pomadic tribes wander in savage des-
peration, but over the Indian country west
of Arkansas, occupied by comparatively
civilized settlements of Choctaws, Cherokees,
Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles. 1t will
embrace territory larger than Rome ever
held at one time under the dominion of the
consular legions Neither the Gar nor the
Grand Turk has ever flashed the arbitrary and
implacable sword over subjugated pop
ulations occupying broader domain Two
thirds of the territorial extent of the United
States will be, actually or potentially within
the sweep of military jurisdiction. 1t is pos
sible that the congressman who have voted
for giving the control of the Indian question
to the military, do not perceive the logical
drift of such policy. But, if they ardenuy
desired to organize temptation and opportu-
nifty for Grant and his heutenants, they could
hardly do more to prepare the way for the
degradation of civil Office and civil function
aries, throughout the country, from the
savage frontier to the gilded dome of the cap
itol, under the heel of military usurpation.
For their own partisan purposes, they now
wish to keep the military arm in vigor and
readiness for striking, if need be, their politi-
cal opponents. But, unless the uniform testi-
mony Of history is false, they cannot con-
tiuue this policy long without making the
military instrument their master. The sword
was always at length turned against the civil
faction which had run its career of license by
the aid of the sword. This Nemesis may
fash as fatefully upon the Radical Congress as
it did upon the Roundhead Parliament In
such an event, patriots might lament the train
of civil distractions and usurpations which
terminated in this catastrophe, but no friend
of his country and no lover of liberty would
feel one touch of pity for its partisan victims.