West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-11-14
Flilecn Years Apart.

Tho American Indian approximate
nearer To- what man should be - manly,
physically perfect grand in character
aud true To the instincts of his con.
science than any other race of beings.
civilized or uucivilzct. Whoro do wo
hear such noblc sentiments or meet
with such examples OF heroism and SELL
sacrifice rs the history OF the American
indjap lurniShcs9 Where shall we 90
to hear again such oratory aS that OF
Black Hawk and Loganp Certainly the
records of our So-callod civilization do
lot furnish IL, and the present century
is devoid of il.
They were the true children Of the
Great Spirit They livod nearer TO tho
great heart of the Creator than DO their
palc-fa 'ed couquoroys of to-day who
mourn over tho lost and undone condi
uon oI the savage. Courageous, brave
and the soul of honor, their cruel aud
awful destruction from the face of tho
earth is n sin of such magnitude that
the relies AMI tho people of America
may we'll shrink from the just pun sh-
mcnt which is sure To follow tho nSsas-
Sination of as bravo u race as ever
brcathci the air of Heaven.
wrO'c the above scathing rcbukc OF
the Amccican paoplc when | was 0ftcen
years of agc. | ran across the di~Icrta-
ton yoStcrlayH As general rule i,
takes youth fifteen years OF age to ar.
ra'gn Congress and jerk the Admins.
tration bald-hoaded. The less hc knows
about things generally, the moro cheer
fully will he shod information right and
left.
AT the time | wrote the above crude
attack upon the Go, clnment had hot
seen any Indians. but had read much
My blood boiled when thought OF tho
wrongs which our race had mctcd out
to the red man 1t was at time when
my blood was just coming To n boil that
| pcnncd the above paragraph Ten
years later / had changed my views
somewhat relative TO the Indian, and
frankly wrote TO the Government OF the
change. When | am doing the Admin
istration an injustice, and ! find IL cut,
! 90 TO the President candidly aud say:
Look here, Mr.. President, have been
doing yoIa wrong. You were right and
| was erroneous. ! am not pig-headcd
and stubborn. iust admit fairly that
| have been hindering the Adminislra-
ton, and | do not propose to do 80 any
more.
So wrote 10 General Grant and told
him that when / was fifteen years Of
ago ! wrote n compost ion at school in
which hal arraigned tho people aud
the Administration for the course taken
toward the Indian. Since that me
had seen some Indians in the mount
aims at n distance and from what /
had seen of them | was led TO believe
that | had misiudgcd the people and
! the Executive. | told him that so far
4 .f.
great wrong so done i'm the ardoc OF
youth and to once moro sustain tho
arm OF the Government.
lie wrote me kindly and said he was
glad that 1 was friendly with the Gov
crnmcnt again. aud that now he saw
nothing in the way OF continued Ma.
tional prosperity. He said he would
preserve my lett + i'm the arch YES rs n
treaty of peace between myself and the
Nation. lie ,aid only tho day before
he had observed TO the Cabinet that he
didn't care two cents about n war with
fore gn Nations. nut he would like TO be
on peace footing with me. The cOun-
try could stand outside interference
better than intestine hostility. / do
not know whether he meant anything
personal by that on not. Probably not.
He said hc remembered very well
when hc first heard that had attacked
the Indian policy OF the United States
in one OF my school essays. lie still
! called 30 mind the feeling Of alarm and
| apprehension which at that time per.
vadcd the whole country How the
checks Of strong men had blanclcd and
! the Goddess of Liberty felt for her back
hair and exchanged her Mother Hub
bard dress for n new cast iron panOply
of war and Roman hay knife. Oh, yos.
hc SAID, he remembered il as though IL
had been yesterday.
Having at heart the welfare OF the
American people rs he did, he hoped
that would never attack the Republic
again.
And | never have. have been
friendly. not only personally, but Of
| licially, for good while. Even If I
| didn't agree with some OF the official
acts OF the President would allow him
/ TO believe thai did rather than haras5
| him with cold. cruel and adverse crit
| csm. The abundant success OF this
| policy is written i'm the country's won
dcr.ul growth and prosperous peace
BiH Ayc, IN UciTOn Free Press.