Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1877-09-20
the INDIAN QUESTION.

= Some comparisons having been institli
. ted between the management of tho In
,lians in the United States and Canada
: the following facts have been submitted
. TO the public:
: Calla,i;l has but 9l.o00 Indians scattered
: over Il territory larger than the unsettled
: portions OF the United States, where game
is abundant and white settlers encroach
but little. The settled parts of Canada
only equal New England, New York and
Pennsylvania united. These circumstances
render the chances of collision very slight,
and remove the problem Of Indian policy
to tho future.
On the other hand, the United States has
1890 Indians, increasing annually at the
rate of tl,rce-quarters Of one per cent, or
about seven per cent in ten years, so that
the problem of settling the problem by a
gradual decrease of the savages is COM
pletcly barred. 1t is believed by expert
enccd observers that there are 25,000 more
Indians in the United States to-day than
when the whites first settled the country,
and rs they have been crowded into 4 ter
ritOry, each year becoming smaller, and al
most destitute Of game, the Indian comes
continually in contact with the aggressive,
determined white pioneer. Under these
circumstances, the Canadian system cannot
be economical by our government. ;.
Much Of the above explanation is UNI
doubte,lly true, and we believe it is yet to
be proved that a wise peace policy honor
ably Tired up too is not by far the best way
TO manage the Indians of our own coun-
try. :
The following extract from the Taunton
'Mass.) Gazette is SO near our own views
On this matter that we give it q place in c
our columns:
'.Ihc results of wise peace policy. r
wherever tried. have shown what methods :,
york best. Here in New England are :,
small tribes living peacefully. =
nd. in general. comfortably, under the u
protection of good laws and kindly neigh
'orhoOd influences. Several tribes flourish Il
a the State Of New York, and give no 4,
roublc, for their rights have been ac- y
for generations. There is the "
t. Regis tribe, on the frontier of New
ok and Canada, that has always lived q
with the whites since that az
,:gion was settled. and now is slowly en- fr
'gin@ from its half savage condition to a q,
stage Of civilization. For
Xty years there has never been an en-
'oachment upon them nor 4 collision be- In
vccn them and the whites. And the great an
dian nation west of Arkansas, a marvel it
our history, shows what a considerate ha
,licy can do. In various parts of the ~,
est are located tribes of Indians quite :
OrOughly civilized. and in some cases en- -
wing the rights of citizenship. Now why t'''
II not these excellent examples be utilized, VIC
d the policy, that has worked we'll with &c
EN-. be extended to tribes that now need tar
ling up out Of the mirc. The Sioux are a.,
worse titan the old Mohaws used to be: :.
Q CheyCnncs are no worse than the Sacs All
d Foxes; the NeZ Perces do not excel VIII
: old Chippewas in sturdincss and BRAY dia
?; while Sitting Bull is only a reproduce she
n of Joseph Brandt, Tecumsch. Black 4,
wk and Pontiac. The Drawer and more
olute the Indians, the better citizens Pa.
y will make when brought over. And lii
he United States, with its forty millions Poi
people and thirty billions of property I
three and half million square miles Ncz
cannot peaccably dispose of non
900 Indians, SO as to save what is good -,
hem and root out what is bad. it ought '''''>
to brag of its moral forces. nor of its lilei
acity in national management. If it that
no other means of improving weak ishe
, than the old Roman policy of EXTERN II
ion, there is little hope of its ever rising con,
among the nations