The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-10-10
How should We Like it Ourselves!

would be admitted 10 the heaven vi Ine apoii9
ines. because he alone had treated the Red
Men with Justice ''He lives in great pal
ace" they said, ''built like fort. All the
Indians, as they go to heaven, pass by, and
he himself is in his uniform, sword at his side
walking to and fro. They bow reverently
with great humility. He returns the salute,
but SAYS nothing If there is any sensibility
left in the descendants of the Indians OF
century ago, if any poor dream of any heaven
still remains to cheer the disconsoate and de-
graded heirs of the former owners Of the
American continent, they will surely admit
the present occupant of Washington's place
to their happy hunting grounds. For the
firmness and unselfishness with which Gen.
Grant has adhered to his policy of ''peace
through Justice" to the Indians, must COM
mand universal admiration. There is moth
ing nobler in his career than his superb dis
dan of possibly serious consequences to him
self on account of his heroic fidelity to what
he has thought to be right in respect to the
Indians. In looking over our Republican ex-
changes we find that very large number OF
them are openly hostile to the ''peace policy
OF the President. Some of them, like the
Boston Globe, which was intensely exasper-
ated by the murder of young Loring, the bril-
liant writer, by the Apaches of Arizona,
make a speciality of opposition to the Quaker
method of placating savages. In every issue
they ridicule, misrepresent and denounce it.
The Red Men are represented with CORY scalp
locks hanging at their girdles, going forth to
plumber and murder in pure wantonness.
There is an unmistakable PRESSURE brought to
bear OH the Chief Magistrate, not only by the
interested frontiersmen and western specula-
tors, who make money out of Indian wars,
but by Eastern people, who take superficial
view of the question, to abandon his well-set-
tied convictions, and reply with shot and shell
to the complaints of the feeble savages. But
he keeps steadily on in his chosen path of
peace, Cancellation and justice, only making
use of the army in cases of absolute necessity,
like that of which the telegraph gave intel-
gence Monday. The greatest military genius
of the period, his reluctance to appeal to war
for the settlement of either foreign or domes-
gencies of a Presidential canvass in
which he is candidate for reelection,
make no sort of difference. Where man
less sefpoised and firm would abandon his
convictions and let loose the dogs of war;
where Horace Greeley would drench the
Western plains with blood for the sake of
votes and Office, he dares all things rather
than commit an injustice.
The present generation is much impressed
by Grants imperturbility under unjust re-
proach, but in the future, when the consdera-
ton of the Indian question will no longer he
embarrassed by selfishness and greed, the APP
-plause will be redoubled. Then the fact that
the remnant of those whose domains once
extended from the Lakes to the gulf are now
in danger of starvation through the invasion
of their hunting grounds by their neighbors,
in open ayowed and inexcusabe disregard of
formal treaties entered into with the utmost
solemnity and apparent good faith, will not
be obscured by intelligence of an occasional
Indian raid or sporadic attempts made after
the childish and understanding fashion of
barbarians, at vengeance. 4
Let us take the case of the savages to our
selves. Suppose on fair summer even
ing the watchers of the skies should behold
sailing down through the air feet bearing
the Columbus of some far world, who had
overcome difficulties to us insuperable, and
had led his intrepid followers over the awful
solitudes of astronomical space. Half in WON
nd hal in fnar oh oh
and when we beheld their superhuman per-
fections, their superior physical organization,
their greater strength and beauty and their
incredible exhibitions of knowledge and skill
when we learned the perfection of their
civilization, their knowledge of properly Or
ganizing society, of government, of morals,
of science and of the healing art-when, in
Short we found that there was as great dis
tance between them and us as there was be-
tween the dscoyerer of America and the
aborigines, how our hearts would beat high
with hope and exultationr' "At last! at
lastr' we should exclaim, "God has sent us
deliverance. Exalted benevolence is of course
the most prominent characteristic of these
celestial beings. How gladly will they
communicate to us all that they |
know How kindly will they teach |
us all that can ameiorate our cond- |
ton! Now shall crime disappear! Now |
shall all our physical suffering be relieved and |
cur diseases cured! We shall be like them
and their happiness shall be oursp' Now
suppose that instead of yielding to their be-
nevoIent impulses these voyagers from Mars
should make use of their superior intelligence,
physical strength and knowledge of destruc-
tive agencies to Cypress and overwhelm us.
Suppose they should regard their more gcner-
Gus endowmeuts as a reason for denying us
justice or mercy, holding that our possessions
properly belonged to those who could make
the most intelligent use of them. Suppose
they shonld deprive us of such poor blessings
as now make existence tolerablc. regarding lis
as no more than the brutes that are used for
mans convenience and pleasure and carry
ing their disregard of our rights so far as to
ignore the most solemn promises and con-
tracts to which we were parties, until, strip
ped of all our possessions and reduced to a
handful in number we finally gave place to
the adventurous and powerful colonists of our
planet. In such case would the agony of
our disappointment be less than that OF the
American Indians ?-and before the race be-
came extinct would not many wild scheme
of revenge and many an act of fruitless vio-
lence make up the sequel to its gloomy his
tory?
THE Greeley Zouaves did not turn out last
night as had been arranged early Tuesday;
nor were our people delighted with the excel
lent music of the Portland Band in honor of
tie Democratic victories Tuesday. 1t was no
fault of the Zouaves or the Band, but is Who'll
ly attributable to the delinquency of the vic