Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-06-23
Wendell Phillips ON the Indian and
the Pacific Railroad.


the Pacific Railroad.
| All hail and farewell to the Pacific
railroad. The telegraph tells us that the
Indians have beguBto tear up the rails,
to shoot passengers and conductors on
this road. We see great good in this. AT
4 last the poor victim has found the vulner-
able spot in his tyrant Thank God,
America has resisted" cried Lord
Chatham. Our feeling is the same. For
seventy years and more the Indian has
begged this great nation to attend to his
wrongs. His cries have been unheard.
Ruthless and unheeding, we have tram
pied him down. To-day the worm turns
and stings US.
Last year Indians destroyed locomo-
tives and shot conductors. Timid Durant
forbade the telegraph wires to report the
fact. He trembled for his road. To-day
fifteen thousand warriors on the war path
"a thousand miles Of exposed road; this
railway the pet plaything of the Ameri-
can people. Would our words could
reach every Indian chief. We would tell
him, lay down your gun, but allow no
rail to lay between Omaha and the noun
tains. "The accused code F" is OCon-
nell's best weapon, said She'll. The Pa
cific railway is the Indians Alabama
Every blow struck on those rails is heard
round the globe. Haunt that road with
such dangers that none will dare use 1t.
Some men may think US needlsssly ag-
gressive. No, citizenship, they may say,
would be better remedy. Yes, by and
by. At present citizenship means little.
III l. tkot ch be. rou 70
Indian to such protection as Citizen
ship gives to the Georgia negro and
loyalist No, we are thankful the Indian
has one defense that the negro never had.
He is no citizen, and has the right to
make war. Well may he use that last
right, and never yield it till citizen
ship" means more than it does now.
An Abolitiouist may well glory In these
red men. When, in 1855. Gen. Sanborn
carried to the Seminoles the news of
emancipation, they instantly set their
slaves free. But, more just than we, they
proceeded at once to divide their posses.
sions with them fairly; shared with them
their pension money, and laat winter, in
Washington. we're specially earnest to
secure such teacher as these emanci-
pated men would prefer. When, two or
three years ago, Sherman's mmission |
met the Indians, the Navsjoes refused to |
come into the conferences unless their |
women could be admitted, on equal terms
with themselves, to share the debate. |
Could these men be persuaded to under
take, for few years to come, the task of |
reconstruction What saving of time
What "A savino of hnnor
Earnestly do we wish that this nation |
could rise to the level of once doing an
act of justice from pure and simple mo-
tives OF honesty and duty. But it does
not seem as il this level would ever be
reached In our day. In default OF that,
we rejoice to see the nation scourged to
its duty. Long and weary were the
years of blood and misfortune that finally
broke US Into willingness to emaneipate
the black. May our stpbbornness yield
sooner and easier in this matter of the
Indians. il seems probable. By the
time'6ongress assemblies again, we think
its members viii be readT-as they never
have been--to listen on this topic, The
the Capitol will, at last, be read, and we
shall learn that nation, by its own con-
fession always in the wrong, must seek
some other path out of its troubles than
by sspding butchers to waste treasure
and blood in the vain effort to "exter-
inmate Drawer race than ours. We
spent hundred millions really-ffty
copfessedly-to exterminste and re-
move the Seminoles from Florida. But
there are everglades in Florida to-day
where no white nan enters, and which
the Seminole still holds. II this be the
case in Florida with thousand Semi
noles, how likely are we to extermi-
nate" twenty thousand such, spread
over the boundless Wesl2 Sherman is
bartering the glories of Atlanta for de-
feat, utter and shameful and we'll de-
served, on the prairies,
WENDELL PHILLIPS.