Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-10-22


-Harper's Bazar.
Communism of Iadlan Tribes.
TIE communism of the indians demands
notice in this review. The right of the
Individual to the proceeds Of his labor is
one Of his God-gIven rights, OF which no
government should deprive him, unless in
those great national emergencies when
every individual interest must be sacrifice
to preserve tho life of the nation. And
the experience of six thousand years has
shown that the indolence Of mankind can
only be overcome, and the individual and
the family aroused to that steady industry
which is the condirion Of civilization, by
the steady pressure of necessity. i" In the
sweat of :hy brow shalt thou eat bread" }"
" If any man will not work, neither shall
he eat" This is the Divine law, the
heaven ordained Indian policy; and We
have not bettered the matter by our at
tempted amendments. Indeed. with all
other races we have ceased to attempt any
improvement on Gods plan Of human gov
ernment. We recognize the duty of every
lrishman, and Dutchman, and Chinaman.
and American, to work If be Will not
work, we either send him to the workhouse
or let him starve. The Indian is the only
man for whom we provide the means of
living iu idleness. 1t would be hard to
show what right he has to this immunity
from labor. But it would not be hard to
show that between pensions to the Indians.
and salaries to the agents, and pay OF the
soldiers and officers and transportation OF
supplies, and the value of the reservations
Of public lands, it costs the nation more to
keep these Indians in ideness than it would
to bring all the arabic lands of California
into cultivation.
But the expense is not the worst feature
of this policy. 1t actually prevents and
discourages everything like individual ef-
fort, and by paying an equal amount OF
tribute to each man without regard to con-
duct, it places the lazy, drunken Indian
on level with his Industrious squaw, and
with the energetic hunter aud fisher, who
is moreover compelled by the custom of
the tribe to share the proceeds OF his in
dustry with the idle loafer. Thus, the
communism of the Indian tribes is worse
than the communism Of Paris. Is is in
deed the French communism in its inevita-
BILE result. Yet men who would shudder
at the proposal to introduce the European
communism into America, are actually
voting, yearly, millions of dollars for the
support of this feature of the Red Repub-
Inc among the Indians. But If commuu-
ism be good for them, why not allow other
nationallties to reap its beoe6ts? ? Why
not lay off the valley of the Hudson as an
irish reservation, and vote some millions
for whiskey and blankets to keep those
gentlemen from going out on the war-path
with free shillalahs Why not make a
reservation of the great valley of the Mis-
slssipp for the Germans, and vote few
millions for lager beer and tobacco to keep
them in good humor? Why not have a
b,g talk with the Chinese. and locate them
In the Santa Clara Valley, voting them a
few millions for the purpose of providing
them with stale fish and opium at the ma
sional expense?
1t may be answered, that these people
get on very we'll when thrown upon their
own resources and compelled to devote
their own individual energies by necessity,
but that the Indians will perish unless pa
tronized and pensloned.
But the proper reply to this is, the In
dian is a man also. The laws of political
economy are as truly the laws OF God as
the laws of chemistry or the Ten Command
ments. Nothing but failure can result
from any attempt TO supersede or improve
upon the laws of God. The utter and
shameful failure of our attempt to sub
sldize and support by our national author
,ty the Indian tribal system of combined
communism, Incidence, polygamy, and
slavery, ought long ago to have convinced
us of It's folly. The civilized world frowns
reproach upon England's attempt to sus-
tam in Turkey government which shields
some of these abomlnations but the worst
vices of the Turks are civilized comp red
with those of the Indian tribal govern
ments which are permitted to exist within
| the Gordon of our armies. 1t is strange
spectacle sovereign nation toleratiDe
rival sovereignties on its soll-a republic
supporting military aristocracies-an in
dustrious people peDsionlng communion
and lazlness; and Christian, chivalrou!
people tolerating polygamy, female slavery
and the vilest abuse of woman
| The results are what we see before US
The miserable Indians themselves are
rapidly sinking under their uncontrolled
vices, and are fast perishing by drunken
ness, disease, aud mutual wars. Blu
they are not yet SO far reduced as to b.
unable to perceive that; in some way, th'
more civilized race is their enemy. Cap
tain Jacks father and his warriors fell b,
white treachery in peace talk. Ther'
have not been wanting white savages ca
pable of robbing the Indians of their poor
rags, and furs. and blankets aud even o.
their souls. by bartering to them the fir
liquor. Maddened into wild-beast lik,
fury, they are almost yearly breaking on
on the war-path, and slaughtering oil whom
they meet, devastating the frontier settle
ments, and as in the melancholy case be
, fore US, with the cunning OF the serpeu
smitIng the bravest and the best Of ou