New-York tribune., 1869-03-19
INDIANS IN ALASKA.

brilliancy. with soil so fertile that II you
"tickle it with hoe, it laughs with q har-
"vcst :" but there Is one natural production OF
this favored spot which secures to us the rare
satisfaction of practice in the Fine Art Oh
Murder. We refer to Indians. With our usual
sagacity and good luck, we have got into
pretty quarrel, and have already captured one
Chief and locked him up in the guard-house'
Two private aborigines we have dangerously
wounded and the savages have in their turn
wounded one white warrior In short thor
oughly bad feeling has beon established
between the Whites and the Reds, and if we
only take sufficient palms. and spare no expense,
We may have war in Sitka which Will last
long time, make the fortunes of great num-
Der Of contractors, cover us all over with
blaze of martial glory, and add five hundred
fresh Brigadiers to the Army List to say
nothing of a noble increase Of Admirals in the
Navy.
1t 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 castigation. AS we are
the civilized and Christianized party. with a
plenty Of guns and powder and ships and
troops, it follows, rs a 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 villages
are in the interior and cannot, therefore, be
conveniently shelled 1t appears to us that
there are two ways of expeditously killing
them off. In the first place, could not the
smallpox be judicously and effectualy intro
duced among them And what pestilence left
OF them-it would not be much-the iire-water
might finish. A highly respectable cotempO-
rary observes We can better afford to deal
Justly and even literally with the decaying
remnants of the original owners of the soil
4" because their day is so far spent. Nature
"will soon enough solve the problem for them
"by extinction Let not this great ma
4" ton add to the long score of sins
already laids up against it the guilt of
"hastcning that day. This is undoubtedly
the most compassionate view to take of the
matter; but after ALL may there not be pitiful
weakness in the indulgence of these feelings Of
commiserationf Where is the guilt Of hasten
ing the day Of extinction, when that process
has been definitely resolved upon, or at least
has been taken for granted as n matter Of
necessity There is nothing more wretched
than decaying people pcrishing through the
vices of civilization, dying a lingering death,
and needing more than anything to be put out
OF It's misery. IL tho Indian is incapable
Of enlightenment, of q comparatively ele-
waited social position, Of culture, of pru-
dence, Of industry, then he must DO swept
from the face of the country by the advancing
tide Of emigratiou-and the sooner the bettor!
Thus far we only know that he has been diff
nu1s 10 wit huft VA pnI 10
set down any race rs necessarily excluded from
progress and elevation. Some races are un-
doubtedly harder to treat with than others;
but before we give them up to extinction we
desire TO see reasonable effort 10 save them
from such fate. Better murder them Mt once
than assume their predestinate degradation.
We tried this experiment with the Africans IN
this country and they came nearer extlnguish-
ing us than we them. Unquestionably these
Sitka Indians are difficult to manage, much
more so than ever the Africans were; but 1t
seems TO us that if the extinction of race has
been nxed upon, common humanity requires
that there should be no painful, lingering, tor
turing delay. The poor creatures are unques-
tionably in our power; and if we bend industri-
ously to the work, we may have them all dead
either by pestilcnoo or whisky, in year or
two Would this DO hard-heartedY 1t seems
to us that the cruelty is in allowing them to
linger here without doing anything to
promote their advancement and happi-
ness. BY the occupation Of his hunting
grounds, you take from the Indian tho
means Of support, and then, if he becomes
troublesome, you kick him over the frontier TO
shift for himself. But he cannot fee from tho
civilization which has brought him only wretch
cdness. He Is in tho way he is made to feel
that he is in tho way he is robbed and cheated,
and otherwise abused; and when be resists
never so feebly, he is subjected to war and
murder, pilage and fire. The poets have sung
Of these wrongs very melodiously and pathet-
ically but no poet ever touched the heart of
an Indian Agent If this be the Destiny of
the Red Man, there Is nothing more to say
about it, Only don't torture him unnecessarily
There is nothing which seems to us more
extraordinary than the utter incapacity which
tho civilized show in their dealings with the
barbarous. Something must be set down to
selfshness aud greediness of territory but,
unless we really intend to exterminate thom,
we must treat these Indians little more justly
and intelligently. AS usual, halfway policy
is the best for neither party. 1t does not make
the Indian contented or docile. and it ruins our
own morals. Why not try u little vigorous and
muscular crueltyf