Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-05-30

Nu thdt luO Onlttu DldltS 10 nOt
over its own people, nor its laws auth oriia-
tive in its own territories.
We believe no civilized country on the
| globe has put itself in our position.
Can we wonder at certain consequences
In the first place we have made 1t for the
interest of ain Indian to stay an Indian. As
| long as he remains an Indian, and roams
over what he calls his country, hunting,
iobbing and scalplng, we recognize him
and his few score wretched companions as
"a nation" We send "Commissions' to
him. We make treaties with him. Wo
bring him TO Washington and lonize him
about New York-Spottcd Tail, Red Cloud.
| Speckled Nose, Tin Kettle, or whatever
may be his princely name. We hold pa
LAYERS with him, and smoke peace pipes
and spcechify at him, and generally con-
trivo TO impress on his savage dullness that
he Is great personage-very "big Injun,"
indeed; and that II is his interest to remain
"big Inun" all his days.
Should he settle down on two or three
hundred acres of land, and give up the
hunting and scalping business, take TO
raising corn and potatoes, and wearing
clean shirts, to washing his face and max
| ing himself look semi-decent, he would
lose all his importance. No "Peace Com
missioner" would visit him. No twaddle
about his "Great Father in Washington"
would any moro bo talked 10 him. No
stilted nonsense about "the tomahawk and
the pipe of peace, the war path and the set
ting sum-" would ever more greet his ears
from "the General Commanding" He
would simply be law-abiding farmer,
raising his own corn cakes, and eating his
own bacon, and would be a subject OF pro-
found Indifference 10 "Great Fathers" and
| Commissioners, Indian Agents, Colonels
and treaties.
We think we may challenge the world
to show such n specimen of imbecie idiocy
as the United States has exhibited in deal
| ing with these few bands of half-starved,
ked gipsies on our border. We gave
them the very rifles they shoot our soldiers
with, the very knives with which they scalp
the settlers wife and babies. We have
ourselves seen beautifully manufactured
tomahawks and guns presented 10 them by
the "Great Father" at some peace palaver,
which were afterwards sold for whiskey
by the magnanmous sons of the forest
after all better use than that which was
suggested by the wise government in Civ
ing them, namely, the going on tomahawk-
ing, shooting and scalping to the end of the
chapter.
We trust We shall be excused some nat
ural expression of indignation and con-
tempt for policy which has made it the
interest OF every Indian TO continue
scalping, stealing, drunken wretch till he
dies. We trust we shall be excused also
the expression of contempt for a surprise
at any act of murder or treaehery, which
is only the result of policy as old as the
country.
Across the line Canada has had its Indi-
ans. II has never had an Indian war, nor
an Indian peace twaddle, nor an Indian
performance like our last with Capt. Jack.
The secret is simple one. England has
accepted the civilization of ten centuries,
and makes the law follow the land. She
does not recognize an Independent nation
of chicke en- thieves or Indians in the reg
ion where the Queens writs run.
Law is supreme. The same law rules
white, black and red. The man that
breaks the law is tried by the law, and
punished according TO the law. 1t is the
interest of the Indian to become, in Cana
da, as soon as he possibly can, decent cit
izen.
1. seems almost hopeless TO expect that
wisdom will ever find seat at Washing
ton, in anything which does not relate to
bribery or back salaries or the nomination
OF the next President. If it did not, this
might at least be expected, that henceforth
peace commissioners and generals COM
manding" might both be employed on
more important business than dealing with
few score dirty, half-starved thieves,
whether smoking peace pipes with them or
shooting them that the law OF the land
might extend over the land, and If an In
dian were caught stealing he should be
punished as thief, If caught as murderer
punished as murderer that he nigh! be
given to understand that his Indianism,
his peace pipes, his tomahawks and his
| tire atics, his "nation'' and his "settng sum-"
were hcnceforth things 10 be found only in
Coopers novels; and that the tax collector,
| tuc JuStiCc vi thO Hc"Se, thc SoHStaoic anu
the sheriff are ON his track precisely as If
| he were white and never saw "A scalp-lock
in his life; that his business is to get on
one hundred and sixty acres of land as
soon as possible, and get some corn and po-
totoes growing, because his "Great Father"
at Washington has made up his mind to
stop being Great Father, and advises him
to stop being an Indian as soon as he can.
In plain language let us abolish the bai
barous absurdity, buried in Europe a
thousand years ago, of two laws in one
| and. Let the Indian outlaw be just like
any other outlaw, the Indian just like any
other man. When the law reaches him let
him feel 1t just as the rest of MS do. Make
| it his interest to stop being an Indian. New
| err send him another commissioner, nor an
other peace pipe. Tell him "Here is the
land. A section of ii is yours. Settle on
il. Plant, aid sow, and reap, and vote,
| like other men. Do this, or get ut of the
way. Either come under the law, or take
a VOLTS fate outside the law but we have
closed the business of sending embassies TO
fly half starved thieves and marauders,
and treating them as a nation. There is
only one nation in this territory, and II is
too large to go into such contemplate busi-
ness"
CHIEF JUSTICE Cx.ssB'S B.sRLr