New-York tribune., 1876-11-23
soLDJERs OPINION or THE INDIANS.


1t is perfectly evident that Gen. Crook is
not of a sentimental turn, and that he has not
been hampered in his war upon the red men
by any special reverence for their character or
pity for their misfortunes. We do not believe
that the most beautifully bedecked warrior,
rattling with wampum and rosy with ochre,
and singing melodiously, 80 why does the
"white man follow my trackT would make
the slightest favorable impression upon Gen.
Crook. "You know very well why l follow
"your track ~ would probably be the re-
sponse, with such rifle and ball ac-
compartments as might seem called for
by the exigences of the occasion.
1t is highly probable that Gen. Crook
never read Hiawatha, or, if he has perused 1t,
that he is not an ardent admirer of that pro-
duction. His General Orders issued at Camp
Robinson. Nebraska, on the oath ult, complain
that these savage foes are not only the
wards of the nation supported in idlencss,
"but objects of sympathy with large numbers
"of people otherwise well-informed and dis
"cerning." Expeditions against such foes are
not, he says, recognized by the high author
"ity of the United States Senate as war."
But they have, as Gen. Crook sharply OBJ
serves, "the disadvantages of civilized warfare
with all the horrible accOmpanments that
"barbarans can invent and savages can exc
"cute.r Finally, i'll such campaigns, the
"most dangerous, the most trying, and the
"most thanklessn service must be rendered by
the soldier without favor or hope OF reward
without any prospect of promotion or of hon
orable recognition. The General cOngratulates
his soldiers upon having evinced patience and
fortitude though at times cut off from sup
plies. exposed upon their marches to the in
clemency Of the weather, and sleeping with
out shelter.
In speaking of the white inhabitants of the
frontier, exposed to the cruelty and depreda-
tions of merciless savages, Gen. Crook en-
tirely reverses the usual view of the situation,
and claims our sympathies for the people of
sparsely settled frontier, having but little in
fluence with the powerful communities of the
East, and little voice IN the national councils.
The sum total of the whole matter seems to
be- that civilization and barbarism are found,
for the thousandth time to be irreconcila-
ble If the Indian were as well as
he is i'll conducted, truthful instead of treach-
erous, and with peaceful instead of the baser
beligerent instincts, his nomadic propensities
and irritable impatlence under restraint, and
ineradicable distaste for habits of settled IN
dustry, would still lead him to recede before
the advance of those who Are in every respect
of character his opposite, and who especially
are his superiors in the qualities of persist
ence, to say nothing of an infinite superiority
of resources. The Indian of the frontier is
entitled to equitable treatment, but since it by
no means follows that if so treated he will be
peaceful and non-aggresslve, he must be dealt
with as other malefact0rs are dealt with, and re-
strained as other criminals are restrained. 1t
is usual to consider him as morally irrespOnsi-
BILE, but we question whether he does not
know truth from falsehoOd, and he has GER
tainly made and broken treaties enough to
understand something of their nature and le-
gitimate value. He may not always have been
fairly treated, but it by no means follows that
he would have conducted himself more peace
fully and honorably if he had been. This, of
course, does not Mt all lessen our duty of
strictly keeping our word with him; but it
materially modifies the sympathy with which
we hear that he has been hunted from one
lurking place to another, or in pitched battle
which he has invited has been sOundly beaten.
The settlers of our frontiers are unquestiOn-
ably entitled to all the protection by the Gov
enment which they may require. IL by
strictly honorable course toward the Indians
they can lessen the demands which they make,
especially upon the Treasury of the United
States, they will be entitled to the gratitude
of people not lightly taxed We shall
heartily welcome all on-military methods of
dealing with the Indian question which dole
full experience has not shown to be ineffective
and frivolous but we are satisfied that the
Indian must be taught the duty Of good be-