The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-04-19
@hg Daily Atgns.
Friday, April Is. 1879.
The Result Of our Indian Policy.

saved from being ridiculous by the horror
Of its latest scenes. The massacre of
Good Friday in the Lava Beds will pre-
serve TO all time the memory Of this dis
ereditable and ignoble quarrel No other
event in our history is so characteristic of
the british ferocity and ignorance of the
Indian, and no victim Of that blind fury
can compare in dignity, in virtue, and in
position with general Candy. When we
consider that for three centuries our race
has been engaged in almost constant war
fare with the aboriglnies, it is remarkable
that so few men Of Of rank or wide reputa-
ton have been sacrificed upon the Caucas-
ian side. The name of Braddock is the
only one 10 be mentioned with that of Can
by in military rank, and there is no com
parlsOn between the two in merit or in
fame. A glory which was withheld from
King Phillip. from Red Jacket, Black
Hawk. and TcctmIseh, has fallen 10 the lot
of the most brutal and grovelng of the
long line of savage chiefs. He probably
knew nothing Of the Importance Of his
achievement But among his accompices
and followers the anger and vengeance of a
nation will only add hIster TO his crime
Cooper in one Of his more striking pas
sages, describes the honor which the rogi-
eide GGife met with among rho haSsachu-
sets braves when II was known that he
had taken the scalp of a SagamOre
Whether the murderer Of General CANDY
is strangled by the law, or shot by the sol
diers or escapes 20 the mountains. he will
possess now aud hereafter. among the
tribe, Of the Northwest, the power and
prestige which among savage races ALWAYS
go to the man who has dipped his hands in
noble blood.
This friVhtful catastrophe Is the natural
aud legitimate result Of the conduct of the
Government during the whole progress of
thi, petty war There has been show
NJ force too small to accomplish ANYTHING
alternating with assurances of friendship
which the Indians despised and promise
ui concessions which could not he made
The Chiefs have seen themselves treatpl
like foreign princes, yet could not be- in
Sured against hanging If they surrendered
Ihe Commissioners have made them offer;
which they evidently did not trust, Of safe
transportation and kind treatment unnu
reservations vt which they knew nothing.
anl have refused them permission 10 SETTLE
ou land which was familiar, with prou,pt
ness which Iuust have confirmed the susni-
cluu " the MNdoCs that the intentions et
the white men were treacherous When
We have tried force IL WAS with equally
disastrous results. The sayagcs defeated
our attack with an case which doubled
,ucll confidence and their cyactons
W hen we tried ~ chaStlsc them, we only
gave them q victory When we tried t.
gain their confidence we only excited their
dl,trust This fatality pursued the most
trivial detail, Only a week ago, while
negotiation, were pending. somc Of our
soldier, stole some OF Captain Jack
horses he insulted the Commissioners
and refused ~ talk further, aud the horses
were brought back To the savage mind,
incapable ut any conception ot Justice or
generosity, such an act could only seem
dictated by fear Every hour Of uecotia-
ton and delay strengthened their belief in
their own advantages and Of the tiuidity
and treachery Of their enemies Cunyinc
cd that the whites would give them no
concessions worth having, and that the
best course 10 pursue was the bolde,t, they
resolved upon the murder OF their leading
men ~ prompt and energetic manner ct
CLOSING the talk and opening the war ltis
saddening 81 think how perfectly and how
easily they succeeded There i an enor-
nous advantage in a fight on the side
whore there Is no conscience. The slualid
savage was thus enabled To overreach
three gray haired uien, two of them lead
ers in civil and spiritual pursuits and one
veteran soldier, equally distinguished for
his character, his learning, and his honor
able experience ot two great wars. The
sayages carried out their plan effectively
Two of them came into camp with protes-
sions nf friendship and submission. The
Commissioners, who had given up all
homes Of success, accepted with eagerness
this unexpected overture They met the
Indians repeated again their already re-
iected ultimatum 1t was refused, and
they began their murdcrous work sp
promptly that no resistance was possible.
and in a moment the desolate council
ground became one of the important his
turical places Of the continent
The situation created hy this massacre
i- ot vital interest not only 10 the lite and
welfare Of the frontier but also 10 the good
name ct the country at large There will
De an immediate cutlery for rcparati0u for
the blood Of ten Candy He was a man
universally esteemed and respected {:
good soldier, good citizen.
good man valuable and hard
u bc spared ~ every relation Of life
From the Belen Gate, where he won hi-
first spurs, to that bleak mountain side
where he died in his duty. there was not
one hour of his life which was not usefu
aud honorable. The army will burn /,
avenre him, and there is among us enough
Of the Morse and the Hebrew tradition ~
the debt Of shed blood 10 induce a MAORI
IS, perhaps, Of peacable citizens. at the
thought of those honored and reverend
heads torn and mangled by worse tina,
british hands. % clamor for the extermip
alton Of the nOxious race who did this muir
der But IL does not behOOve the Govern
meut ~ act IN obedience % clamor. Ev
cry step which has been taken, by order
from Washington, since the first outbreal
Of thl. wrctched quarrel, has been ill-ta
ken. The authorities-iu this as in al
other Indian policy-have obeyed in turr
the dictates Of two opposing influences
one that ot the philanthropists, who wan
the Indians Christilnized the other, tina
Oi the tr1ntiersmcn. who want them killed
To the one the savage is o noble but mis-
guided creature who needs only kindne~
a. make him perfect 10 the other he is
deadly yermin that requires only extermin
alton. To the Government he is each. nc
cording tU the humor of the hour VIVA
we object To, and what the country woul,
do well 10 protest against, is precisely TIN
humor Of the hour Let the Government
for once, make up their minds. and act i
one direction or the other No Admin.
tration has ever made such parade of il
Indian policy as that Of Gen. Grant--non
has ~ disastrously and utterly failed Il
keep peace on the frontier II has AN
n'unccd one policy and then dropped it fp
another according 10 the pressure of th,
moment at Washington The consequence,
Is marked IN characters of blood from Ar
kansas H. Oregon The butcherv on Coco
Friday Is not the end From every nom
OF the border there are hints of prepara
ton for the war path Kansas and Wyom
ing are startled M the attitude of IN,
young men Of the kilwas. the Cheyenues
and the Arrapahoes The farmers o
Minnesota fear general uprising Of th,
Sioux. The Apaches aud the troops ar
cutting each other threats already in Ari
IONA Even il the NJ docs are slaughtere,
in the Lava Beds, it is probably too late l.
Dupupb tho Hautp suhieh ya.fiiufior, nuI -,