Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-10-08
The Modne Executions.

Ia ill not be recesSafy 10 van iei ~
,ssor, Which Gen. Schs6eld will 10 gees
,;,se ,ssd TO the War Department an,
..,.e;ng the execution of the sentence OF
The Modos muriereus, 10 eongra'ais'e
o.,.,lve, and the country the uauhole-
ssme subject Is 6ually disposed Of. An
attempt has been made by friendly spec
,,Ii.,s and enthusiastic poets TO represent
thess Digger ehiies under certain eoiois
at romance All dignity. But It has haa
no effect. The wrongs Unlisted on Thee
Iudiaus and on their ancestors are ineoh'
,sslsble enough. They have bees s"'n,
died. corrupted, robbed, aud nai'reAied
sinee the hour Nbea they were boris, and
tbis property Of persecution is almost the
only heritage which they have received
from their fathers. But this question oil
Inherited wrong is not 10 be considered
IN reference 10 the massacre oil Tule Lake.
Tae court which tried Capt. Jack aud his
associates wisely refused to take into ae'
count the circumstances which led to the
reyol, of the Modocs and their intreneh'
ment in the Lava Beds. They are hang
ed Cor the killing Of Gen. Candy aud d.
Thomas. Some Of our cotempories have
been too has,y in rejoicing over this trial
and execution, us evincing a disposition
10 ncat the Indians as ordinary criminals
Nothing of the kind has been cone. They
have been tried aud found guilty by court
martial Of violating the laws Of war By
committing an assassination under a nag
of truce. The trail Of the old preeedents
is over US still. The savage is treated
even in this Just and necessary execution,
as an allen enemy. captured aud punished
for violating the rules Of honorable war
fare. The public will so heartily approve
the hanging that it will not he worth
while to crticise the way IN which it was
brought about. But we need not make
any false estimate of the character or ten
dchcy of the act. 1t marks no progress
in our dealing with the Indian question.
The hanging of these half dozen brutal
unfortunates, yesterday, can be justified
merely on the Harrow ground tina, 1t was
not safe TO let them go. Death Is not
much Of punishment to men who have
so little to live for as those wretcheG YER
min Of tho mountains and deserts. but it
is the only one which it seems possible for
the United States Government to inflct
The State Of Texas tried Imprisonment, by
way Of variety. upon Sautanta and Big
Tree. but before they had grown accus.
TONED to their prison life, a series OF
agency intrigues worked their case into a
pl litical matter. aud the administration is
now so much involved in it that it seems
Recessary to release these murdcreis OF
break pledged faith. There is nothing
which seems easier in theory or harder in
practice than the adoption and enforce
nent Of a firm and consistent policy with
the Indians, which shall be at once vigor'
Gus aud humane. We believe Gen. Grant
would like to see such policy carried out
but does not with cncrgcticaly enough
to overbear the cOnSt.nt pressure from the
corrupt Indian Rings which disgrace ev'
cry border State and Territory, andwhich
are continually interviewing to prevent
any measures which will diminish their
chance of plundcr.
Orr Indian population now consists OF
some three hundred thousand. The Alas.
kans number seventy thousand, leaving
within the limits of our States and Terri.
tories only two hundred and thirty thou.
sand. CT these. seventy thousand arc
more or less civilized, aud about one hun.
drcd aud sixty Thousand can be properly
classcd as wild" If we regarded the
tribal organizations Of these wild men we
should not have much less than'a hun
dred nations to deal with.
the most sensible law which Congress
has passed in years is that of 1871, which
forbids the recognition of these tribes by
treaty. In theory the President and
Congress arc in harmony in their policy
There is nothing ir the law to prevent
the application of the only efficacious and
reasonable systematic one which we have
steadily advocated. Treat these wild In.
dams as paupers while they remain
on their reservations and as criminals
when they leave them. Their support
will cost, under this system, less than the
expense Of killing them. or course the
agents would steal some of their corn and
blankets, but they could not rob either
the indians or the Government as they
now do whenever there is war. We
might say something in regard to the NOR
atty Of the matter, but the cansidera.
tons of economy and expedleney seem
sufficient by themselves.-TriJune.