The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-20
Indians in Alaska,
From, the N. Y. Tribune.

from The ~. 4. 1TI0ufle,
II is already we'll known that our new Ter
ritory of Alaska is pretty nesrly an earthly
paradise, with skies of surprising beauty and
brilliancy, with a'soil so fertile "that il you
tickle it with hoe, it laughs with harvest"
but there is one natural production of this
favored spot which secures to as the rare
satisfaction OF practice in the fine art OF muir
der. We re er to Indians. With our usual
sagactty and good luck, we have got into q
pretty quarrel, and haze already captured
one chief and locked HIM up in the guard
house. Two private sborigines we have
dangerously wounded, and the ssvages have
In their turn wounded one white warrior. la
short, thoroughly bad feeling has been
established between the whites and the reds,
and II We only take sufficient pains, and spare
no expense, we may have war in Stka
which will last long time, make the fortunes
OF great number of contractors, cover us all
over with a blazs Of martial glory, and add We
hundred fresh brigadiers to the army list, to
say nothing of noble increase of admirals in
The navy.
II is pretty hard to say exactly who is to
blame in this foolish piece of business; but
we may be sure that the Indians will get their
share OF censure and castigaton. AS We are
the civilized and Christisnized party, with
plenty OF guns and powder and ships and
troops, 1t follows, as matter OF course, that
these redskins must be quite in the wrong,
and deserving of massacre whenever we can
get at them. But, unfortunately, their vii.
Lagos are in the interior, and cannot, there
fore, be conveniently shelled. 1t appears to us
that there are two ways of expeditiously kill
Ing them off. In the first place, could not the
smallpox be judioiously and efectually in
troduced among them And what pestilenct
left of them-it would not bs much-the fire
water might finish. A highly respectable
contemporary Observes: can bette
afford to deal justly and even literally will
the deeaying remnants of the original owners
OF the soil because their day is SO far spent
Nature will soon enough solve the problem
for them by extinction. Let not this grea
nation add to the long score of sin
already laid mp against it the guilt of hasten
ing that day" This is undoubtedly the mos
compassionate view TO take of the matter
but, after all, may there not be pitiful weak
ness in the indulgence of these feelings O
eommiseration? Where is the guilt of has
tening the day of extinction, when that process
has been definitely resolved upon, or at leas
has been taken for granted as a matter of ne
cessityf" There is nothing more wretche
than decaying people perishiug through tn
Vices of civilization, dying a lingering death
and needing more than any thing TO be put on
OF its misery. II the Indian is incapable
enlightenment, OF comparatively elevate
oVoAeA pOptbioh, VI Vi pEuuouCc, VI III
dustry, then he must be swept from th
face of the country by the advancing tide
omigration-and the sooner the better Thr
ihr we only know that he has been dificu
TO deal with; but we are disinolined to 8
down any race as necessarily excluded fro
progress and elevation. Some races are III
doubtedIy harder to treat with than other
but before we give them up to extinction '
desire to see reasonable effort to save the
from such q fate. Better murder them at on
than assume their predestinate degradatio
We tried this experiment with the Africans
this country, and they came nearer exit
gushing as than we them. Unquestionab
these Sitka Indians are difficult to manag
much more 80 than ever the Africans wer
but II seems to us that II the extinction
race has been fixed upon. common humani
requires that there should be no painfu
lingering, torturing delay. The poor ere
lures are nnqsestionably In our power; al
II we band industriously to the work, we mi
have them all dead, either by pestilenoe
whisky, In year or two. Would this
hard hearted !, II seems to us that II
cruelty Is in allowing them to linger he
without doing anything to promote their a
vanoemsni and .happiAess. By the occur