The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-04-24
THE PRESS
WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL a. '7s
prenarinp to Conflscate Indian Territory.


whites. There can hardly be
dispute about it this time, for Secretary Del
ano himself-he whom the unsophisticated
sons of the forest consider sort of deputy
"Great Father that is especially charged
with their comfort and protection-happened
to be near by. The Secretary has telegraph
ed to the War Department, not for troops to
punish the Indians, but for authority to ex-
pei the human harpies who follow the rail-
road-builders into Indian Territory, and carry
disorder, crime and bloodshed to every spot
where civilization approaches. If anything
could add to the iniquity Of which the white
people of this country have been guilty with
respect to the Indians, it would be the dis
turbance of the peace in Indian Territory.
The inhabitants of that region are partly civ
ilized, and have been generally quiet and
peaceful But the land set apart for them,
when it seemed impossible that the tide of
settlement would ever flow so far inland, has
become very valuable; accordingly the land
sharks are now observed to eye it greedily.
1t is frequently suggested that public poll
cy" demands another removal OF the aborigi-
mes, and by craftily exciting quarrel with
the feeble remnant of the native races foun-
dation is laid by spectators and desperadoes
for future plumber and investments of most
profitable character. .f .ssr lam
When that eloquent chief, Buffalo Goad,
was in Boston last year, on one of those
mournful pilgrimages which are periodically
madeby prominent chiefs, on compulsion, the
object being to convince them that, whatever
the rights of the matter may be, the whites
are certainly the strongest, he uttered one of
the most pathetic sentences that ever fell
from the lips of man. 'sWe are there" said
he, sand we can't helpit; zoe must be some
,oherep' The utter helplessness, the quiet
desperation, the confused sense of mighty
wrong and the blind cropping after some means
of vengeance are all expressed in this despair
ing cry of the Sioux chief Something akin
to this is seen in the declaration reported by
yesterdays dispatches to have been made the
other day by Spotted Eagle, an Indian Terri
tory magnate, to Superintendent BedelI He
protested against the intrusion of the loco
motive in the demesue of the Indians He
frankly declared that he and his friends
would tear up the track and kill those who
laid it. Still more significant is his declara-
ton that he fully realizes the hopelessness of
resistance, but he would fight knoping he
aoould be beaten. Such despair is lamentable
but natural enough, after all. When for a
NO afu 1aAa hy fhn xyIi hos
been observed, no pledges kept, no promises
regarded the natives have been driven
back step by step from the ocean, till new
wave of oppressive, Implying Civilization
from the West" has stopped their further mi
gration-what confidence can they place in
the pledges of their unjust masters or what
resource have they but despair?
ts Ism-a 4 Amnesty. M aI He
There is one song in which all the Cincin-
natl spirits, whether white or black, most
cordially unite in a harmonious chorus-gen-
eral and sweeping amnesty to rebels of all
classes. On the question of tariff and other
topics those who propose to 60 up to Cincin-
natl are like the builders of the tower of Ba-
bel; but in asking for the complete restora-
ton of the rebel leaders, the Dayises, the
Tocmbses, the breckenridge, who plotted
the destruction of the government while
holding responsible places in the councils of
the country, the Liberals are a unit. These
would SO far swing away from the the patri-
otto purpose of the country at the close Of
the war to make treason "odious" as to make
it an additional reason for the political prefer
ment of the perjured chieftains of the ''lost
cause" ,
The mass of the Republican party, with
out DOUBT, favor syste n of amnesty all but
general. They would gladly restore the rights
forfeited by rebellion to the great mass of
offenders, but would, we believe, stop short
of comforting upon JEFF. Davis and his class
the right to again occupy seats in Congress.
The country, now loaded with debt and
burdened by an immense annual taxation, is
not in temper to have the only barriers re-
moved from official avenues that would in
evitably result in the restoration of the lead
ing conspirators to seats in Congress who are
chiefly responsible for the enormous debt and
for the loss of hundreds of thousands of
brave men. We greatly misjudge the spirit
of the people who sustained the government
through the war, if they are now willing to
be again ruled and dictated to by the prominent
and still unrepentant chiefs OF the Rebellion.
There is a generous and wise amnesty that
would say TO the mass of the offenders, 60
and OH ns1 Sc +I,a IF
President Grant There is a amnesty mania
best represented by Horace Greeley which
would not only restore JEFF Davis to all the
rights of citizenship, but would even lionize
him while he yet declares that he has done
nothing in the past which he would undo if
he could. The amnesty that the so-called Gin
cinnati reformers advocate is entirely of this
character, and if successful will render rebel
lion in the future an honorable means of po-
litical preferment instead of odium and pun
ishment
The loyal people of the Nation are in favor
of generous amnesty that shall embrace all
classes of rebels except those men who, while
holding official positions, plotted the destruc-
ton Of the Union-the political leaders who
labored score of years to prepare the South
for bloody revolution, and atlength plunged
the country into the most terrible of wars.
For these there should be no amnesty except
immunity from punishment for their enor-
nous crime. To all others the fullest am
nesty should be granted. ...t-...
An additional reason why amnesty should
not be granted to these few leaders-a hum
dred or less--is found in the recent message
of the President respecting the Ku-Klux out
RACES. The crimes of this organization are
instigated by Southern leaders, it is said, be-
cause of their anger at the Government be-
cause it will not restore them to the rights
forfeited by treason. That is, they propose
to force the Government to restore them to
their forfeited rights by supplementing trea-
son and war with rapine and murder. Such
at least are the pretexts offered by represent
alive Southerners, and as such they show
that amnesty should not be extended to the
leaders so long as the government stands and
Its authority is worth preserving.
THE Petition for writ of error of the
ockholders of the Kennebec & Portland
Railroed Company against the mortgages,
who obtained possession of the road by fore
closure of their mortgage and afterwards
formed the Portland & Kennebec Railroad
Company has been dismissed by the upreme
Court at Washington. This ends the long
controversy between these 1itipants and vim