The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-09-11
OUR INDIAN POLICY
-, I.,a pTE~-Ea E,lIE5Fg ID - u
J, bY ROBERT PATTERSON, D. D.

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i The Indian war he's been sufficiently
b htuamiliatisg3 ! to onr soldiers. The No. |
doe. smbuseadsd them, shot them, and |
took their arms and ammunition, and |
when wesrisd With one leealityr etirsd
unm molested to some other n.tural
str ronghold. A mere handful Of these
brigands Kept the whole country 10 !
state Of alarm. No wonder that our
Indian policy is one % subject which no
American desires TO hear mentioned
abroad, and which We must confess
among ourselves to be disgr.oe 70 .
great country. After q century Of oil
sorts Of experiments, We have ueither
succeeded 10 conquerins the Indian. in
honorable war, nor have We succeeded
any better in imparting to them the
blessings Of peace. We have, IN fact,
succeeded far better in bestowiug upon
them the vices Of our civilization than
its virtues, and in educating these sav-
sges into indomit.ble, and Is the Mo.
dog and Florida wars show, formidable
enemies. The tree is known by its
fruits: The policy which leads to such
results is wrong.
- In saying %, I do no, mean to i'm:
peach or Is viadicats either of The two "a,
great political parties. They alike Do:
serve wh.teyer praise Of esnsure BE-.
longs 70 sincere and earnest 6 attempts
to r.i'e fig, from thistle, !; e. Z, 'oiyili,e
and Christiapise ssysges on heathen
priuaiples.. Nor do L wish to b., un-
detatood - casting the blame Of these
results upon. the present President Of
the Ua,ted States, aud the band Of no.
ble, Christian philinthrepists whom
he has associated with himself in the
sndeavor to secure % improved ad-
ministration of Indian affairs. In.
he ri.iog the consequences of more than
. century Of misgo'srnment for which
he il not responsible, and trammeled
by treaties based on erroneous prinoi.
pies, failure is inevitable. Yet even
failure in the attempt to .ectity wrongs
is more honorable than continued en.
durance Of them, and when the military
laurels of General Grant have been
covered with dust in the forgotten al.
cove Of history, the friend Of humanity
will feel bis heart throb . he reads ia
the record that be employed the. high
official positioo gained by the perils Of
war to extend the blessings Of peace
snd equal rights to th. most degraded
savagss Of the nation, 20 far u in biz
power and that if he fsilsd, it was be-
Cal use the American nstfon refused t
.llow him to treat thi, ela,I Of our peo.
1ple upon the principles of Republican
equality Of al. men before the lav
which We apply to oil other classes o.
our oi.lzsns-for the difficulties of The
Indian question almost all arise from
our persistent attempts to treat th<
Indians as exceptions to the principles
Of the Republican Government.
| There is nothing more remarkable IL
our public affairs than this exceptions
treatment of the Indians. We regari
all other men as equal before the law
We command their obedience to tn
laws, and never dream for = moment o.
beseeching and soliciting their eoot
behavior. We never think Of sending
ambassadors to the Irish of New York
and having 4 big talk with them whs,
they threaten that they will 70 out Of
the war path with free shill.leghs Q,
the 18th Of July, nor beg them Il
smoke With us tho pipe Of peace. W
talk to them in another style, and trea
them to another kind Of smoke, whicl
pacifes them admirably. We do no
I ply tribute of blankets, ealieoes spt
beads to Brigham Youn9's squ.xs. bu
con ntrive another method Of making
their husbands supply their wants
The ari'tooraoy Of Europe swear obe
dienee to tho laws, but our Indian Al
istooraey swears obedience to no law
but its own drunken will. The sristoc
raeies Of Europe are the most hesvil!
taxed people in the State, but our ari'
tooracJ is not only exempt from taxa
tion, but " actually pay a tribute t
them directly and indireetl,
amounting to ten times th
amount Of that which England at
tempted 10 impose upon the colonies
! aud in resistance to which We Tough
1.-THE var Of Independence.
The best and most yirtuous whit
citizens, the colder who has fought tn
battles OF his country, can only Pre-
empt two qurter sections (s2o aores) o
the public domain but even the rst
Indian has pre-empted for him, by sol
emn act OF Congress, many thousand'
! Of acres io the vast reservations, solemn
" declared perpetual. Can any good
reason be given Why we do not also se'
apart tho valley Of the Hudson a. 81
Irish reservation aud appoint an 1risl
burssu, and An Irish agent, and max.
an annual payment Of ten thousand
barrels of whisky to our Irish bresh'
ron Or, suppose tho grand prairie
set apart - = perpstual reservation fol
our German tribes, aud. an sanua
tribute Of lager. beer aud tobacco voted
~ >v~ hv 0nuc,n.a wonA ma nnma|