Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1870-06-29
SPEECH OF EUGENE CASSERLY
OF California. ON our Indian Policy.
delivered In the senate OF the United
States, June A, 1870.

! iht senate having under c0nsideraiiOn tho b
fll. X. No. ll69l making appropriations for d
enrroni aud contingent expenses Of the lndii
! department, and for iulalling treaty stipulation
lso called with various Indian tribes for h
year ending June 30, 1871, aud for other pnrnos,
general debate sprung up, in which number
senators participated. Tho past policy Of Il
g Government towards the Indians OF the plain
and the new policy Of dealing with them tirouf
board Of peace commissioners selected from Il
, Society Of Friends. were discussed on their con
paratiyo merits at length, The services Of Il
several Christian denominations 10 citilizing Il
Indians were also good deal considered.
Mr.. Morton, Of Indiana, said Of the Society
Friends "ihcy have been more successful her
toioro in dealing with the Indians, from the tin
Of the first settlement In Pennsylvania. than m
other society or any other class Of people in tn
country"
Mr.. Thayor, of Nebraska, said; "The Quake
have managed the Indian affairs in this superb
tendency, which, by the way, IL limited with
the boundaries Of the State Of Nebraska, as we
as but no better, than they have been manage
before
Mr.. Edmunds Of Vermont in closing said
the indian policyi 81 hope we shall continue
Try the experiment until il is demonstrated b
time either that il is success or failure"
Mr.. Casserly then said
Mr.. PRESIDENT ] agree with th
closing remarks Of the Senator iron
Vermont, [Mr. EDMUNDs.1 The Ad
miuistrsti0n, in the assertion of az
undoubtod power, has seen fit to in
augurate a new policy in respect tC
Indian affairs, The distinguishing el
ement Of that policy is that it propos
es, by means of board of benevo
lent men, employing peaceful meas
ures to bring the Indian tribes of the
plains under the humanizing infu
ences Of Christian civilization. Can
any object be more nobleY Can any
be more honorable TO the country
Looking at il in the lowest point OF
view, as financial question, is any
course so likely to turn out advanta-
geouslyy Is il not worth trial?
say with all my heart, let the new
policy be tried. | would not place the
least obstruction in the way. / would
not even speak too strongly of the
many discouragements which our ex-
perience in the past may well suggest
There are two great difficulties con
nected with the Indian question.
One is that we have to deal with IT,.
not as a new question, but as a very
old one. We cannot treat these tribes
as William Penn was able to treat
them, fortunately for his own fame.
for humanity, and for the peace and
progress Of the colony which he foun.
ded, aud which has since became a
great State. He met the Indians Of
Pennsylvania before contact and col
lisi0n with the worst classes Of the
whites had exasperated, degraded,
and rendered them more barbarous
than nature had made them. We are
suffering to-day-our helpless women
ins --.i ear peaceful, well.mean-
ments are suffering to-day Tor The
wrongs done 10 the Indians by vic
ious and lawless white men for the
last fifty years. Hence has sprung
a state of border warfare or of a pre-
narious peace which was but prepa-
ration for war. Tho Indian has
known too often no protection against
his white foeman, except that which
be could win by his bow and spear,
and no other justice for the wrongs
he has had TO bear than "the wild
Justice Of revenge" 10 day, upon
our great plains, or in his mountain
or in his forays upon our
border settlements, he is fighting out
IN his untutored savage fashion the
old quarrel, which is ever now, be-
tween his race and ours, going back
almost TO the first occupation OF this
country by tho white man. With a
state OF things so terrible as that Of
actual war by the tribes Of the plains
upon our border settlements, our Gov
ernmcnt can, of course, deal only in
one way-by swift suppression of
hostilities and sharp punishment of
the foe. The great object is therefore
to prevent recurrence of such
scenes The chief point gained to
that end viii be TO make the Indian
that his warfare upon
The white man, though it may satisfy
for the time his habilual animosilies,
must infict greater suffering on him
self by the punishment il entails, and
in the end, result in its determination.
IL would bo a grand fact accomplish
ed should the new commission, sus-
laincd by the power Of tho Govern
mont, succeed in teaching him that
lesson.
Another difficulty of the Indian
question is one fully as serious as that
which | have just stated We arc too
much in the habit of considering the
Indian tribes as all alike in their ca
pacity for civilization. Nothing can
be more incorrect, as our whole expe-
rienee shows. There arc indians aud
bic, not merely Of civilization, but Of
a certain grade Of political organiza.
,ion. We have instances of this IN
the Chorokecs, the Creeks, the Choc-
taws. and others of tho remarkable
tribes of Indians that once held the
continent east of the Mississippi
There are doubtless tribes ct the
plains like them, nearly as capable OF
ciyilization-pcrhaps moro so. There
arc. again, other tribes with respect
to whom we cannot entertain the same
expectations. ! should say, for in
stance, that the greater part OF the
fierce tribes OF Apachcs that range the
whole country from Northern Mexico
up through Arizona, arc, If there be
such thing in the world a sample Oh
the utterly Wild, untamablo savage.
Yet, perhaps, oven the Apache, vol
of the desert though he is, is not
wholly beyond hope. | am Informed
bv the chairman on the Committee on
Appropriations, Mr. MoRuuL Of
Maine who has charge of this bill
and such is my information from oth'
er well-instrncted quarters, that O
considerable body oven of the Apach'
es between two and three hundred in
number. have been reclaimed from ut
ter savaccncss and collected upon q
reservation where, upon the whole
they are doing very well.
Besides this difference between ,h'
Ifndians themselves in respect 60 ca