, 1873-02-13

JOIN AeNy Neo hiAiS q iHchiASA uheii
! June l, 1873.
A vote of thanks was rendered D. Hor-
ton for his muniicent donation to the
Library fund; and to c. p. Stone for
donation of a complete set of the Amer
lean Encyclopedia; also to Henry Adams
and John Levy TO. donations Of books.
1t was ordered that a copy Of the pro-
ceedings be furnished the DAILY Dis
PATCH for publication. The meeting ad-
journed.
SELLING WHIsKEY TO INDIANS Geo.
E. kead ng, indicted and tried for sell
ing whiskey to an Indian, was acquitted
by the jury, under the instructions of
the Court, upon the ground that the In
dian to whom he sold the whiskey be-
lonSed to British Columbia, and that
the law only applied to Inalans of the
United States, maintaining their tribal
relations to the Government. We have
no doubt the law WIS properly interpret
ed III this a.se. Under the amendments
to the Constitution and the Civil Rights
act, there can be no discrimination made
on account of color or previous condl-
ton of servitude; native Indians, hot
taxed: those under the immediate care
and protection Of the Government, being
the only exception to the universal lule
OF equality before the law. Foreigners,
whether natives Of Europe, Africa, Asia,
or the islands of either ocean, stand
upon our soil upon terms Of perfect po-
llucul equality, and no general statute
or municipal law can discriminate be-
tween them. Our native Indians can
at any time be gathered up and sent to
the reservation to which they are sever
ally assigned and compelled to remain
there. The man VINO sells beer or wh,s-
key 10 one Of these subjects himself to
the legal consequences Of felony. But
British Indians, just over the border,
equally depraved, and TO whom the sale
OF whlskey Is equally hazardous to the
peace and safety OF the citizens, has the
same legal right 10 buy and drink whis-
Key that any citizen has. Hence our
town is overrun by British Columbia
Indians, the males leading vagrant
life, supported by their squaws, who
make prostitution their sole vocation
The most extensive public buildings III
the city is devoted exclusively to the
most disgusting debaucheries, British
sGuaws being the stock in trade and de-
PRAYED whites the customers "a resort
and refuge for every grade of vice aud
crime, making a deso!ation of the fair
est portion of our town. disturbing the
Sabb til quiet and making night hide
Gus with the shouts of frantic revelry
and the screams of drunken strife, and
sending forth upon our public thorough
fares drunken Indians and squaws to
shock al moral sense Of propriety with
their obscene public exhibitions.
| Two of our citizens, no worse than
| hundreds of others in our midst, are ex-
plating in prison the offense of selling
whiskey to Indians, in exceptional cases,
while the keeper of this great Indian
brothel and house Of every species of
Jebauchery, in consideration of the
wealth acquired by his neiarious traffic,
passes the ordeal of the grand inquest
Of the county undisrurbed in his busi-
ness and unscathed in his person. The
grand jury are not to blame tor this, fol
,heir inquisltoriai powers only extend
to matter within their own personal cog
,iiZance, or before them upon formal
complaint. The Prosecuting Attorney
has no police power to arraign men for
trial until they are properly presented.
If no citizen can be found to take the
personal risk of fling complaint, there
is but one way i'll which it Can come
under the cognIzance of the District.
There is no wrong without remedy.
aud the monster evil which is the terror,
shame and disgrace of this community
has Il lemedy in the powers of our city
government. Every British Indian i'll
The city could be lawfully and rightfuliy
imprisoned and sentenced to labor upon
our streets, and every one of their wo-
men could be arrested and convicted for
plying an unlawful vocation. The city
police are armed with abundant author
ity to break up this den whenever they
choose to do SO, and if the laws against
vagrancy and prostitution Were enforced
with honesty and reasonable vigor,
there would not be a British Indian III
this town. out of Jail, IN thirty days.
This remedy lies with the people. If
they do not choose to apply the remedy
by the ele ctIon of a City Marshal pledg
ed to faithfully execute the laws, the
moral responsibility Of sustaining these
dens of infainy t. corrupt the morals of
the rising generation and blight the
material prosperity Of the tUwn, will
rest, not upon the courts; not upon the
prosecuting officers; not upon our mu-
nicipal Legislation; but upon a majority
of the electors who voluntarily choose
faithless public officers whose duty it is
to execute the laws.