The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-24

5aber bn6kiShed in this city in which the
afternoon dispatches of the Associated
Press will appear.
GENERAL SHERIDAN ON THE IN
DIAN SITUATION
LIEUTENANT-G GENERAL SHERIDAN has addressed
letter to General Sherman in which he re-
views the Indian situation with especial
reference to the severe criticisms that have
been bestowed upon him and the army under
his command, for the recent attack upon the
Piegan Indians. This letter sets forth the
difficulties of the subject, from an army point
of view, in q plain, direct and forcible
manner, and the statements of the Lieu
tenant-G General are well worthy of the con-
sideration of all who are interested in our In-
dian affairs, or who desire that some effectual
means shall be devised for putting an end to
the contests between the white race and the
aboriginal sayages. The General complains
bitterly that he and his soldiers are abused
no matter what policy they may adopt.
If they allow defenseless people on the
frontier to- be scalped and ravished, they
are, he says, burnt in effigy and execrated
as soulless monsters insensible to the suffer-
ings of humanity; while if the Indians are pun
ished to give security to the people, the soldiers
are denounced as the same soulless monsters
by another class of critics. This is certainly
pretty accurate description of the position
in which Sheridan and the men under his
command find themselves, and we think that
most persons will be inclined to sustain the
General in his determination to stand by the
people whom the Government has sent him
to protect.
According to General Sheridan s statement,
he has in his command at least five thousand
miles of frontier settlements, and his chief
and only duty is to give protection to the
families residing on these long lines against
the outrages of Indians The Government
has invited these settlers by opening lands to
them for pre-emption and improvement, and
it is bound to protect them to the utmost of
its power. There is not a day, from one
years end to the other, that these families
are exempt from the fearful thought of being
murdered in the most fendish manner--the
men scalped, the women ravished, and the
brains of the children dashed out. Since
1862 at least 1900 persons have met this fate,
and the alternative is forced upon the mill
tary commander of choosing whether he shall
regard their appeals, or allow them to be
butchered in order to save himself from
the hue and cry of people who know
not the Indians, and whose families
have not the fear, morning, noon, and night,
of being scalped and ravished by them
The General reminds those who are inclined
to censure him that the wife of the man at
the centre of wealth, civilization, and refine
ment is not more dear to him than is the
wife of the pioneer of the frontier; and that,
so far as he is concerned, he intends to ex-
tend the protection of the military arm of the
Government to the best of his ability. There
are not enough troops on the frontier to place
a separate garrison at each mans house, and
it is sometimes necessary to take the often
sive and to punish crimes already committed,
in order to prevent the perpetration of others.
General Sheridan has never been esteemed
other than humane man, and he is enti-
tied to belief when he expresses regret that
under the pressure of any necessity women
and children should be killed. The army,
however, is obliged to take the offensive n
the season when the Indians can be caught
and it would prevent any offensive military
operations whatever if the fact that the
savages have women and children with then
must be taken into consideration before com
mencing an attack. The General says tina
during the war for the suppression of the Re
bellion we did not hesitate to attack a villag,
or town because women or children werj
within the lines, and that, SO far as the In
dams are concerned, the women often fgh
with greater fury than the men. He contend
that the soldiers do not want to kill the In
dams, and we believe that he is not far iron
the truth when he asserts that they are tn
only good, practical friends that the savage
have.
With regard to confning the Indians o
reservations, the General contends that tn
only way to get them there is by force, an
that they will have to be kept there by tn
presence OF troops The troops are necessar
not only to keep the Indians within bounds
but to prevent the encroachments Of settlers