Omaha daily bee., 1884-09-23
Sitting Bull and Civ. Rzatiou.
H.. III

Chicago Herald.
Sitting Bull 10 about the last man on
earth one would expect to discover any.
thing wrong with our civilization, He is
n savage and a dull witted one at that.
he has never been noted as a philoso.
pher. 1t has not been suspected that he
had brains enough to look upon any one
fact, and say that it was inconsistent
with another. He has appeared to be.a
wild man who took things about as he
found them and asked no questions.
In this he has been %misjudged. After
spending q few days in New York city he
told al inquirer that the most surprising
thing about civilization was the fact that
little children are sent on the streets to
make money when they ought to be at
play, White men accustomed to such
things would pass troops of these little
money getJers and wage-winners daily
without a thought. The savage from tho
land of the buffalo noted it instantly,
ana evidently had been rejecting upon it
to some extent before his opinion was
asked. 1t required no Caucasian educa-
ton or civilization to convince him that
such an arrangement could not be desir-
able.
The fact that many states have passed
laws %forbiddiDg the employment In shops
and stores of children of tender years
shows that public opinion has not been
unmindful of the evil, and proves further
that without such restraining legislation
there would be much more child labor
than we now see. All through the man.
ufacturing districts of the east little boys
and girls find themselves condemned to
toll which has no end but the grave.
Swarms of them may be seen going to
their work early In the morning, dinner
pals in hand, or returning haggard and
weary in the evening. In all large cities
thousands of them are 80 engaged in fac
tories, stores and offices or on the streets.
At ages when the children of the well.to-
do are preparing to enter school without
idea as to the source of food or cloth
ng, or the value of money, these little
oilers are experiencing the full measure
If inc worlds s~elfishness, and are finding
n the rough contact with thousands of
heir elders in the struggle for bread the
truth that they must work or
That the civilization which forces
hese little ones to such eqertions is not
ntirely a success in plain. Education,
wholesome food, suitable clothing, and
recreation shsuld be within the
erch of all; yet there are thousands of
in America who never have any
t these things, rnd whose power to gain
hem all through life is reduced by the {
cry fact that in youth they were with Q
ut them. These boys and girls will, if !
hey live, be fathers and mothers. A
which destroys health in
outh, which impairs the vitality of the
Dung, cannot fail to leav Its deinriorat- :
ig imyress upon the race physically and
In all this hard struggle for the poorest
food aud clothing, it is not strange
lat the Dakota savage was unable to '
lsoover any advantage which civilization
light claim over barbarism. In their :
.boriginal state the Sioux had an album =
ance to eat and tc wear. Their children
ere tendsrly caaed for unSil of an age j..
lat warranted their introduction to the 4
base, and then in all the barbaric sports
nd pastimes they were given the fullest 1
AS their parents had sustain. q
1 life so they were taught. They had
'esh air, exercise health and sport. Of '
comfort they had more than
lose enjoyed by thousands of white q
Civilization ought to offer a
'mething better than barbarism, not for
Ie few only, but for all. 9