The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-04-25
oar Government Gs,d the Indians.

Gen. Canby, how much greater should
be the excitement and irritation OF the
public mind at the wholesale iuhuman
butchery Of the Modoc tribe. In this
murder, TIE white man has gone far
beyond the red man in savagery. The
murder Of Gen. Candy deserved to be
avenged. Stern Justice demanded the
punishment of the individual climinal
Lat not the irGiscriIninate slaughter Of
his whole family, and III the wholesale
slaughter Of the Modocs the govern
ment has stained its hands with TIE
blood Of a persecutcd people. That
all the innocent men, women and cLil-
dren OF the ModOcS should be murdered
to revenge the assassination Of Gen
Candy, Is monstrous. The sentiment
expressed by Gen. Grant and his off
ciais, that there should be no compunc-
tons Of conscience i sweeping the
Modocs Ouj OF existence, evidences 2
much lower order of morality than
that Of the MOdoCs. Was the soul Of
Gen. Candy more precious than the
soul Of any one Of the many POOR pri-
Yates whose lives were sacrificed in in
ttictjng punishment on the murderers? &?
The government in this indiscIiminute
butchcry has been guilty Of 4 mon
stTOus crime, far beneath the dignity
Of 4 great nation. Governments as
well Is individuals are responsible and
deserving Of punishment for the com
mission OF crime, and if this govern
ment should be scourG2d commensurate
with the crimes it has committed in
its dealings with the Indians the pun
ishnc..t will bc great indeed
Never has justice characterized oGr
government in its dealings and in its
treatment Of the Indians. and most es-
pcciaLy within the last few wears has
its dealings with them been Of the most
ViilaiHOUs character. The Indian Bu-
rcau IS nothing but an official swind-
ling machine run by It ring Of heartiess
jObbcrs, who manipulate contracts and
plunder the Indians. it is run by a
ring of plundercrs, including among
its number even the Secretary of the
Interior himself None but sanctimo-
nious thieves, such as the IIarians and
the POmerOys, are allowed to control
the patronage Of the department. For
the last decade, but one honest man
filled the Indian Department, and he
was very summarily dismissed to give
place to man notorious for dishones-
ty. Every Commissioner Of Indian
affairs and all his agents have despoiied
the Treasury Of the government and
enriched themselves by plundering the
Indians. The agents for the removal
an frzrr IL, =
subsistence, and for the payment Of
have been nothing more than
legaliZcd thieves. who have stolen the
Indians money, cheated them out of
their goods, and driven them to des-
peration. Instead Of Indian appropri-
ations decreasing, they are steadily
and rapidly increasing From three
millions, in = very few wears it has IN
creased to seven millions, and the busi-
ness Of the Indian Bureau is to plum
der the Treasury, rob the Indians, and
drive them from one reservation to
another Indian treacheTy, bad as it
may bG, bears 10 comparison to the
civilized treachery Of the white man Of
which the red man is the victim.
Selt-preservatiOni is an instinct as strong
III the savage as in the civilized breast,
and the Indian has been so robbed,
deceived and maltrcatcd by white
government officials, that all the de-
tiant pride of their savage natures has
been reused.
To live in peace with the few Indians
that remain among us more enlight-
ened ana honest course must he aGoptod
and pursued by the government. Tie
peace policy, under the management Of
pure, upright, honest men, would Sc
cure peace with savage tribes; bat
while It's moral policy is seized upon
hy such sanctimOnious, Yoracious /
hleYes as now control tie patronage (
1f thc Indian Bureau, who have al or /
Tanzed system of robbery, who parade /
bogus chiefs at Washington and oct .
appropriations Of millions Tor them |
md for tribes that have no existence .
1t all, there never can be any hone Of
,etor1n or peace with the Indian. |
There is no instance in which the IN /
tIan has violated any treaty slipula-
ion which he fairly understood, where /
he terms were fairly kept hy the white
nan 1 ne savage lnClan mas only been
triven to desperation Ly bad usage
md goaded to the commission of crime
~ the vilIainy Of the sanctimoniou5,
neTcenary white man.
WE publish elsewhere some extracts
rom a letter written by Gen. Farms
worth, Republican member Of Con
5ress from Illinois, on The extra pay
'"lndIe and the expenses Of keeping
up the White House. Itappears, from
us figures that while President lincoln
expended $22,50O on his household in
1864, it cost the government under
Grant in 1872 more than three times
hat amount, or $69.lG In the one
TEN Of repairs, furniture, etc, for the
louse, 1T will be seen that there Is a
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