The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-04-18
A Pretty Vigorous Treatment Of the
MOdOC Question and the Order for


Whlrlwind. Dispatches from Washing
ington announce that the President has
abandoned the policy Of pacifcation, and
authorizes tho EXTREMIST measures OF
severity and vengenCe; and General
Sherman has issued orders lOr the utter
cxtermInation Of the whole tribe for the
act Of half dozen men. The savage In
stlnct orrevengo has broken out In breasts
that we had supposed civilized, and In
noccut men, women, and children are
given up TO indiscriminatc slaughter.
And so tho nation is disGraced by an
eruption OF Mod0c morality. -tr4
We take no stock in "thc noblesavage"
nonsense. The Indian Is no longer "the
child Of Nature" but the creature Of do
basing and degrading circumstances. The
good in him h0s been OvGrlaid, and the
bad has been augmented and intensified
by contact with mean and treacherous
white men, and the vices Of civilization
he had not grown up to, and whose vlr'
tues he could not appreciate. Practically,
the whole question as to the treatment OF
the Indians ia notOne Of philanthropy, but
of political economy. The problem should
be studied, not in the rose e.colored atmOs-
phcre Of sentiment, but in the clear, cold
light of science and stateSmanship. And,
looked at In that light, 1t Is evident that
the murder oil General Candy and DR..
Thomas was tho legitimate result Of the
miserable no.pOlicy which has always
characterized our dealings with the ln-
diaus. No uniform principle has ever
been consistently applied TO our In
dian relations. The Government has
always played fast and loose with them,
alternately pettiDg and preYing upon
them; now caressing and now curslng
them: at one time treating them as supe-
rior beings, and at another hunting them
down as wild beasts. To outwit them In
bargains, to rob them Of supplies, 10 steal
their lands, to meet their confidence with
treachery, and deal with them as though
they had no rights white men were bound
to respect, have been the only points In
our Indian policy consistently adhered to
from the first. The Indian has naturally
come to look on the Government with
dislrust and the white man as an enemy;
and the superior skill and arts Of an Rd-
versary who exasperated him beyond en-.
durance by treachery, fraud, and robbery,
and then called in the soldiery TO shoot
down "the savage" they had excited to
violence, left the Indian at their mercy.
Our whole treatment Of the Indians has
been disgr0celul blunder when not q
CRIME. We have dealt in Modoc morality
from tho outset, and the tragedy at the
Lava Beds Is repayment in our own bad
coin.
Even allowing that our Indian policy
has been uniformly wise and consistently
kind, tho order of General Sherman
would be equally inhuman and unjust. A
half.dozen savages at the most, demoral'
lied BY contact with the meAnest whites,
and excited by sense Of wrong and sus'
picion OF still greater, kill two eminent
men in mortally Wounding ono they look
ed upon as a foe and robber. ThereupOn
the commanding general Of great ma.
tion issues orders ior the determination Of
the whole tribe, and the PrcsidcntAap'
proves OF his aCtl Are We living in tho
nineteenth century, Is tho panic OF the
moment 10 eftace all ideas oi justice, and
turn the declared intentions of the Gov
ernment topsyturvy Have the Modocs
taken possession of Washington and
seized Upon all the Departments? When
a burglary or murder is committed in
New York, do We set fire to the ward in
which the thief resides, or hang the whole
family to which the homicide be-
longs! And why should not Indians
be treated like human beings
Why should we disgrace ourselves,
and dishonor tho nation, and outrage the
moral sentiment cf the civilized world by
furnishing the innocent for the deeds OF
tho guiltyp Shall we be savages because
the MOdocs have acted 80 badly? They
have only bettercd our instructions. The
whole Indian Bureau is gigantic SWIM.
die. Almost every man who has ever had
ANYTHING TO do with the Indian Depart
ment has made himself rich. Every In
dian contract has been a wholesale steal.
Every treaty with the Northern and
Western tribes has been at their expense
They had good reason for looking on the
while man as the Indians devil. And
even In this instance, while carrying on
negotiations, General Candy had com.
pletely surrounded tho tribe, and was
slowly contracting his lines. The Indiana
saw perldy, which excited perfdy in
them. But their cowardly and treacher-
ous murders does not justify the Govern
ment in yielding 10 paroxysm ol revenge
which dooms the innocent and guilty
alike to one common destruction.