The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-21
THE INDIAN QUESTION.

AS is usual Ill the summer, the Indians on
the plains are pursuing their accustomed
course of robbery and murder, and the Gov
ernment appears to be unable to afford
adequate protection to settlers 1t is true
that raids are made by the troops from time
to time, Indian villages are burned, and some
of the red skins slaughtered. But while these
barbarous performances are going on in one
quarter, the savages are attacking settlements,
massacring the men, women and children, OF
carrying them away to be dealt with accord
ing TO the Indian ideas Of justice, and to suffer
tortures worse than death.
1t should be impressed upon the public
mind that the United States Senate is, in a
great measure, responsible for this state of
affairs. The ring of Indian agents was able to
influence the Senate against the measures of
reform recommended by President Grant
General Sherman and other officers who are
familiar with the ways of the savagas and
by keeping up the present corrupt system,
every Senator who voted to retain the Indian
Bureau under the control of the Interior De-
p rtment is an accomplice in the outrages
that are now being committed on the plains
The President endeavored to do something
in the way of reform by the appointment of
Quaker agents, but their powers are so
limited that they can scarcely be expected to
do anything with effect, even if their know
ledge and experience in the management of
the savages are equal to the requirements of
the occasion. Thus far the Quakers appear
to have done little or nothing, and with the
best wishes for their success, we have no
great reason to believe that they will accom-
plish great deal
The Indians ought to be made to settle
down on reservations where they will have to
work for a living or starve. If they were
once collected within a limited area as they
readily might be in the cold weather, it ought
to be a comparatively easy task to keep them
there. They are as able to dig the ground and
raise food for themselves as other men, and
the policy of the Government ought to be
directed towards forcing them to do this,
or to take the consequences, whether
it be starvation because they will not work for
a living or determination at the hands of the
soldiers and white settlers. 1t never has been
said that the savages cannot work, and they
always will be a nuisance until they are
compelled to earn their own living as other
people do. The savage mode of life of the
Indians has hitherto been practically en-
couraged by the Government, because it
affords an opportunity for rascally agents to
grow rich at the expense of both parties and
it is high time that something was done to
civilize them, and if they cannot be civilized
and won't work, they are of no use to them
selves or anybody else, and the sooner they
are exterminated the better.
This may seem harsh and cruel, but it is
just and true nevertheless, and we opine that
when it comes to the scratch Mr.. Lo will
prefer to dig the earth for his potatoes and
corn rather than to endure the anguish of an
empty stomach, and when he accepts this
alternative there will be some prospect of his
becoming decent and respectable citizen.