, 1873-06-19

has written letter to a friend in WASH
ington, in which he expresses the most
practical, cor mon sense views Of the
Indian question which we have .een
emenating from an official source. To
the theory of the peace policy he says
no army officer objects, but under it the
agents lack the force, the power which
savages alone respect. " When the In
dians leave their reservations to steal,
murder and plunder, they fall under the
Jurisdiction of the Army. This is the
theo erical condition of things, but it
would r., ,quire ten times our present Ar
my to make Gordon around the reser-
vation5, so that murders are done. the
stealing of cattle, horses, ETC.. perpttra-
ted. and the Indians quickly escape to
their reservations, where the troops
cannot follow them; SO that in fact
these reservations help them in their
lucrative business. am safe i'll saying
that half the horses aud mules now
ewned by the Kiowas, Conan hes
Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Sioux, etc.--al.
treaty Indians. all at peace. with agen-
cies and annuities-have been stolen
from the United States or from citizens.
have myself seen, at the kiowa and
Comanche agencies, horses and mules
branded u. s." led up to be packed
with annuity goods, and l never heard
of an agent demanding the restitution OF
one for that reason; and though mur
ders are of f.equent occurrence. do
not hear of tie murderers being surren-
dered, as is required by the treaties"
General Sherman puts in the first
plea for the white settlers which we
have seen from any official source. He
says: d" If the Christian agents can bet
ter coutrol the wild savages, wish them
success, but surely the white people
who venture into the wilderness to Labor
and toll, are entitled to the protection
of their lives and property, and it ie
natural that they should feel the great
est interest, although it is the exclusive
privilege of Congress to devise the bes'
| means to secure this end. Many good
people residing east of the ALE ghanies
mistake the character of the emlglaur
population who have of late years bro'l
millions of acres under cultivation and
produced fifty or sixty millions OF dol
lars of gold and silver, where, twenty
Years ago white man dare not venture.
These people are of the same kind as
settled Ohio, Indiana and Iowa; the,
are as good as We are, and we're We i'll
their stead we would act just as they do.
[ know it, because l have been one OF
them. They now pay their full share
Of taxes and contribut5 to our national
wealth and power. As rule, the emil
grants do object that the Indians should
forever remain non producers, besl.9ats.
and robbers. if not worse. If the Iu-
dams are willing to work, as they used
to in the gold mines of California. no.
body will prevent them. SO to-day, If
the Cheyennes, Ara .thoes, and kiowas
will utilize the beautiful pastoral lands
assigned them il raising stock. they will
soon become the richest people sn the
Southwest; but this they have not done,
and it looks as though they never will.
And the question will sur ly arise, and
that very soon, how long must the Gov
ernment continue to clothe ami feed
them without any assurance of self
support The pressure of white settl.-
ments on the borders of Indian reserva-
tons is nothing new. 1t has gone on
for two hundred years. and must 60 Oh
and the Indians must conform"
He does not regard the affair with the
Modocs rs exceptional, and says: This
whole matter must be left to the officers
on the spot, and these must be sheltered
againt the howl such as followed Major
Baker after the Piegan attack, as also
General Custar after his attack on Black
Kettles camp. There is not much dan
ger of too much harm being done. To
be effective and exemplary, the blow
must involve the terrible; enough to
impress The kindred tribes of Klamaths
and Pi-Utes.''
We should be glad to publish the
whole of this interesting letter is our
space would admit Of it; but enough is
given in the foregoing extracts to show
that General Sherman S sentiments upon
this subject perfectly accord with the
the almost unanimous sentiments of the
white settlers.