The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-08-09
Tn. Indian question.

kinds, ana mas instructed army oiucSAo 40
the whole Indian country to enforce TINS
order.
1t sounds somewhat absurd that such an
order should be issued at this late day; put
it is in fact only supplementary ORDER OK
tending the area over which the prohlpition
is in force. tits highly necessary, and it will,
if it is vigorously enforced, break ut least
one link in the chain of events by which
an Indian war is caused This runs ms fol-
lows:-l. The hostile Indians are beaten,
with more or less loss of life, and at great
cost of money. g They thereupon stray
back to the reservations, where their wounds
are dressed their stomachs filled with ra-
TONS their clothes and blankets worn out
or lost in the campaign replaced, and they
are allowed to fatten in idleness. 3. They
save up their surplus rations and sup
plies, and with these buy arms and ammu-
milton from the traders. H. They col
lect their ponies. 8. Finally, being fst,
well supplied with guns and ammunition,
and the season being proper for their cam
paign, the braves break out, leaving
their women, children and old men on the
reservation, and behold, new Indian war
Meantime some peaceable tribe like the
Nez Perces, having suffered wrongs until
they are no longer endurable, also breaks
ont and Joins the hostile bands ; and there
upon the celebrated peace policy, which
swindles the peaccable Indians and arms
and fattens the warlike, is praised by the
whole Indian Ring
Well, the Indians at any rate are to have
no more arms if the army can prevent It,
Now, then, if General Sheridan will order
every Indian pony shot which belongs to
o. hostile band, and if he will make the In
out he will kill their horses, leaving not
one, he will take another step well calcu-
lated to make an Indian war less easy than
it has been. Why should the Indians lie al
lowed horses ? 1t is very well known that
they use them chiefly for war. The pre-
tence is, OF course that they require ponies
to hunt buffalo and to move about. But the
first thing necessary is to disarm them and
to make movement difficult to them. When
tribe or band comes upon a reservation all its
horses Of whatever description ought to be
at once taken away and shot, and II neces-
sary the owners can be paid for them.
Congress would do well to prohibit any
Indian, whether wild or on o reservation,
from owning o horse, except for agricul-
tural purposes. Until this is done we adj
wise General Sheridan to kill all the Indian
ponies he can get at.
We are all pretending to civilize the In
dams, but they are not getting civilized.
The government officially declares them
the wards of the nation" and then
it suffers rascals to cheat them and
other rascals to sell them arms and
ammunition. and it appoints totally in
competent men to be their guardians while
they are getting swindled, and keeps an
army to shoot them. if they get tired Of
wrong and break out. That is q practical
description OF the celebrated peace policy
under which the Modocs mutinied because
they "got tired of eating horse, and Sit
ting Bull mutnied because his people were
openly swindled and nearly starved to
death, and the Nez Perces have mutinied
because they were swindled out of lands
which Congress twice gave them, and from
which the agents of the peace policy were
expellng them.
We should like to see the Indian question
finally and properly settled during the adj
ministration Of President Hayes, and it
would be great glory to him if his efforts to
this end should be successful. He has
good deal to do, but he is doing good deal.
II IL, l. nit \ Of kIn
civil service; he has begun vigorous and
honorable foreign policy; he has totally
eliminated the Southern question--that too
long lasting curse-from our politics he
will probably settle the financial question.
Is it too much to hope that he will make wise
recommendations to Congress and encourage
and help it to sensible disposition of
the Indian question also? The last Con-
gress came very near making fair begin
ming of the needed work, but the Indian
Ring and the patronage Of Senators pre-
vented action, the President caring nothing
about it any longer, as every body was made
to feel
The first step in a reform of Indian mat
tiers is to turn the Indian Bureau over to
the War Department and put the reser7a-
tons in charge of army officers That will
put an end to the Indian Ring at blow.
1t will secure just and honest dealings
with the Indians, which is absolutely
necessary to keep them quiet. But it
will do much more than that, for
it will place the Indians in charge Of
men who, as we have often shown, are
peculiarly fitted by their training to per-
form tho task of civilizing savage race
illness, methodical labor who know pro-
fessonally how to construct roads, build
houses and form settlement in the wilder
ness An officer who has patiently drilled