The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-10-28
Indian Responsibility.


Indian Responsibility.
To Judge from the tenor of the dispatches
which come from two points in the Indian
country, at one of which we may naturally
expect to find some of the prejudice of mill
tary opinions and at the other the peculiar
Department, it seems certain that the Utes
as body are by no means as submissive in
their present sentiments as Secretary Schurz
would fondly believe. On the contrary
their attitude is what may be termed sui
lenly diplomatic. Even the so-called
friendly Utes are watching the action
of the government with jealous eye,
and are not slow to indicate. without
openly threatening, the vengeful steps
which they will take if it venture too far
in seeking to punish the murderers of
Thornburgh and Meeker. The situation
presents difficulties whose removal will re-
quire both firm and judicious hand.
Now that the captives have been rescued,
and without promise of immunity to any
one, it behooves the Interior Department to
have done with dalliance and delay Let
the proceedings be short sharp and de-
cisive.
Every Indian war is said to be conse-
quence of the wrongs done to Indians by
swindling officials, or by the encroachments
of irrepressible white men who are not off,
Gals, and the persons who give this account
of the origin of Indiap wars appear to con-
slider that the wrongs done to the Indians
justify their resort to the rifle and the
scalping knife. But there seems to be want
of consideration Of the proper proportions
of things in that view. If the boys from a
neighboring town or the rough part
Of a city population get out into
the country and plumber a farmers
orchards or melon patches destroy his
fences and burn his barn, it is great out
rage an extreme violation of his rights
But nobody supposes that the farmer would
be justified in calling up his neighbors,
armed with the shotguns of the family,
stealing into town next night, setting fire
to the nearest houses and shooting down
as they ran out from the flames people who
never heard of the orchards or of the out
rage. And if such course pursued by
farmers would be absolutely without ex-
cuse-would be murder. for which the
pretended excuse of the barn and the
apples could not be advanced in any
court-how is it that invasions Of the rights
of Indians by one set of persons is always
presented as an excuse and justification of
the slaughter of thousands OF other persons
in Indian wars? Perhaps it will be urged
that the same rules Of justice and right that
govern, or must always be supposed to
govern, the relations of one set of white
men TO any one other set of white men,
men and Indians. If that be the
real state of the case-if the Ind
ion cannot or will not comprehend
this simple justice-it is, reason for his
determination; for then the two races
assuredly cannot live side by side, and the
white race does not mean to leave. But the
course Of the Indian in resorting to the
knife, rifle and torch as his imm ediate rem
edies-this inficting the carnage of savage
war upon settlements every time on Indian
has been insulted or hurt-shows not that
the Indian does not understand the simple
principles of justice, but that he treats us
with rigorous logic which we refuse to apply
to him. He acts on the Prescriptions of
international law. We are foreign nation
we have hurt him; some of our citizens--he
does not know which, and does not care to
inquire. He holds the nation broadly re-
sponsible, and strikes at it wherever he
can reach it. In order to settle up such
scores as the one now open on the massacre
of Thornburgh's men We must deal with the
Indian OH the same principle. Every tribe
must be held responsible for the acts Of it's
members. Our agents do not deal with the
Indians as individuals. They deal with
bands through their chiefs, consequently
they cannot know the persons or names
of the various men concerned in these
murders, and cannot follow them. But
they are known in the tribe, and the tribe
must surrender them or take upon itself, as
a unit, responsibility for their offences.
If every Indian war meant the extirpation
of one tribe we should at least see our way
to the end.
Is Our SPRIGHTLY and able contemporary,
tho Commercial, getting frightened? In view
OF the county ticket it certainly has good
reason.