Omaha daily bee., 1884-09-23
Sitting Bull and Civ iazation,

Chicago Herald.
Sitting Bull ia about the last man on
earth one would expect to discover any.
thing wrong with our civilization, He is
2 savage and a dull witted one at that.
He has never been noted as q 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 bea
wild man who took things about as he
found them and asked no questions.
In this he has been misjudged. After
spending a few days in New York city he
told an 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 getters 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 forbidding 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
Of them are 30 engaged in fac
tories, stores and Offices or on the streets.
ages when the children of the well.to-
do are preparing to enter school without
IN idea as to the source of food or cloth
ing, or the value of money, these little
'ollers are experiencing the full measure
of the worlds ~selfishness, and are finding
II the rough contact with thousands of
heir elders in the struggle for bread the
tern truth that they must work or
Itarve.
That the civilization which forces
hese little ones to such eqertions is not
a success in plain. Education,
wholesome food, suitable clothing, and
recreation shsuld be within the
erch of all; yet there are thousands of l
in America who never have any
t these things, rnd whose power to gain y.
hem all through life is reduced by the =
cry fact that in youth they were with a
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 A
Dung, cannot fail to leav Its deTnriorat- =
lg imyress upon the race physically and
In all this hard ~atruggle for the poorest '
I food aud clothing, it is not strange
1at the Dakota savage wa unable to '
lsoover any advantage which civilization
light claim over barbarian. In their g
boriginal state the Sioux had an album =
ance to eat and to wear. Their children
ERE tenderly caIed for uuSil of an age 8.
nat warranted their introduction to the Ii
base, and then in all the barbaric sports
nd pastimes they were given the fullest 1
;hooling. AS their parents had sustain. q
d life 80 they were taught. They had
'esh air, exercise health and sport. Of Y
comfort they had more than
lose enjoyed by thousands of white Al
lildren. Civilization ought to offer n
'mething better than barbarism, not for Y
lie few only, but for all. =,