New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-06-07
A FOOLISH INDIAN POLICY
rrs 1NIrsTICE TO BOTH RACES.

vANCEMENT.
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
SIR: In the conduct of our Indian war the
old and Of BraddocRs defeaI SeoS
to be forgotten. He marched his disciphheu army ,
an Indian ambuscade and when bis men were faiiing
thick and fast before unseen foes the young Lieutenant
George Washington, advised him to break ranks anu
fight Indians on their terms. This he lndlghah'F
refused to do and spent his whole energy III eho''
aid the enemy he had 10 fight, by Keeping MS neh
in rank and full view OF the sharpshOoters WHO "oo
concealed behind logs and trees and boWlders' anu
poured In their murderous fire. He and his army ieh
victims TO military drill just army and It's ocers
are falling victims now punctiho which prevents
our Government fighting Indians on their own terms
Tn ordinary warfare It Il the effort OF each party 10
learn the plans Of tho other and to take such ad-
vantage OF these az to bring most security to
itself and disaster TO its enemy; anu why
sboun Indian warfare be a studied exception
TO this general rule Is that correct idea OF clVz%
ton which places It at the greatest possible dsadVah
tape in ia war with savage tribes which sacrifices the
lives OF civilized soldiers and citizens to avoid taxing
that OF savage foes any other than one prosoIpo
an eminenty inpraccable plans But this "hoie luea vi
Indian war is a fundamental error fruitful Oh ho'hB
but evil There should be possibility OF war III Coo
RADIO any more than IN New-York. How would 1t an
aver to give begerent rights TO New-York rioters anu
murderers or to arrest punish them only through
companies OF infantry cavalry parading the streets
regular military array This IL just what the Govern
ment doing with the criminals OF the west ana tnere
is no room for surprise that its success Is not saus
tory; but all our policies, past and present. reRdu"S
these people have been and are bundle OF Crun''o'
founded on an error In all our dealings with them, we
begin by taking it for granted that this whole pounueS
continent ia or was thers that tntruders VINO
must extngsh title by force or purchase before
VIC can have a right TO place on It, Beginning WIN
his fundamental falsehOOd, IL is no wonder that We
have gone on into the present labyrinth Oh cohuS'o
worse cOnfounded that our official reports SPEAK oi
them in one paragraph as criminals under our law "'
independent nations, and az public stlpendarIes
THE IsDIASs TITLE ONE OF CONQUEST
We talk OF furnishing the innocent with the guilty but
bocr can we avoid it while we accord them bellgerent
rights against citizensi In war the innocent
always suffer with the guilty; and 1t Is only oy eXtehu
IN, our laws over them that we hope to bring those
alone TO punishment who worthy OF IT, 10 DO this
we must treat a conquered people, ana take Tue
land either by the right of conquest by natura right
why should we hesitate about the first pant ms Is
the title by which every Indian holds every acre he mas
and nv which every nation and every State, even Penn
svvana holds its domain. Indians could not sell VIII
liam Penn better title than they had and this was tne
right OF conquest The tribes who we're mere "hen
Coumbus came over the sea had conquered the tribes
that preceded them, and had taken possession oI Vnc
land Is this right Of conquest so sacred In the hhu5
Of Indians
olence to extinguish while in our hands II wOud DC
worse than worhessl If conquest gives bad Title
deed why should we give hundreds Of millions Tor one
Il there some specific period Of time which sanctions
and sancunes such a tItlel But the right IN all ttes
lies behind all this. Every child born into the "oru
has right 10 room in it, to earth enough 10 Drihg MN
spnport while living and furnish him grave when
dead-o sunlight moonlight, air and water ibis Is Ihe
inheritance of every human being from the common
Father who made this world for their USE He never
decided the earth to few original prOpreors Out 10 all
the people whom He made 10 live upon 1t. Europe
Asia and Africa far we know, have been monopo
Iized by petty lordugs; and If America belongs TO
Indians where did God intend the laDoring classes 10
Iiye4 A European duke lord must have deerpark
almost "A large as ModOc or Snake nabob, and when
they get all the hunng-gTOunds necessary to support
them in their habits OF eeg mt leisure there Is not
enough land left for plebelans cabbage patch.
OUR ER-COLoRED ARIsToCRATs.
The aboring classes Of Europe have stood or knelt
before her landed propretors time ont OF mind begging
the right TO 1--we and labor and now. the fundamenaldea
of all our Indian policies that before man can get
potao patch in this country he must win the consent or
be coppercoIored arstOcrats who came over with the
Conqueror and for whose special benefit this continent
was created How does il come that God has been 80
niggardly TO the abOrng million OF his children ana so
lavish TO the ordgs who depse them and their prayer
for room on the territory ne madei BY every consdera
has AN eaua right in it with any Indian that ever did
live or does now live and when Government goes to
these people TO beg buy what Is not theirs to SELL IL
paces itself and every in false position creates
and fosters these idle savagcs false idea or their
own importance, and lays the foundation for trouble
without end As matter OF policy 1t was well for Will
liam Penn TO buy the good will OF his savage neghbors
but this purchase gave him equitable title than
that acquired by those States who took the land ana
divided it among their people Any state, any such
there WAS which denied Indians its soil the right
TO live peaceaby and labor there did just what the In
dams did who denied this right to white men 'inned
against natural right
EVILS OF THE RESERVATION SYSTEM
Our Government can afford TO be magnanlmOus in its
treatment of Indians but it cannot afford to continue
the policy Of treating them as lords OF the soil ana her
own citizens trespassers upon their territory Even
when giving them consideration for their good VIII Tor
peaceable possession II should be done with full I'M
derstandng that we claim the land by natural right as
children Of that Great Spirit who created it for his
whole family and is no respecter persons. We should
take orr share by the same right which recognize In
Indians-our right TO homo the earth; and In ac-
cordance with this theory should to every one
OF them homestead by such tito as would make II IN
alenablo for long period, so that sharpers might not
take advantage OF his ignorance nOmad instincts to
deprye him OF his inheritance Let this homestead be
wheresoeyer on the public lands he may select and the
moro they are scattered the better Abandon at once
and forever the plan of herdng them ike droyes OF
wild cattle on reservations forcing them in with bay
onets and leaving them to gore each other Ciyizing
them must ever be hopeless task while they are thus
hemmed In with their old heathenisms IL Is as lndiYd
nails not az tribes that they be reached
by the missionary While they form separate communi-
ties the individual must find it next to impossible 70
stem the current OF public opinion in making any de-
parture from old habits 1t IS the public sentiment in
these communities which has dragged almost ali our
India hack
which often makes them the worst or bad Indians. NO
human beings adhere to their traditions with more te
nrv md nsf I'm so fnr as suceeed I'm kernng them