Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-19
bal Correspondence Of The Erening Star.


most vigorously industrious. would care to
leave their companies for the seclusion of
reservation. Gen. Miles continues to insist
that military agents the only persons who
can keep the copper-cOlOred savage IN that
state of existence which is healthy for both
the aboriginal ward Of the nation and the
settler who has to skirmsh for him
now favorable to military domination or pa
ternalism whatever else you care to call it. is
quite recent. but it bids fair to last for some
time. small minority still feel that the rule
of the army officer in too strict, but the great
mass of popular and copper-tinted opinion is to
the effect that no military agent could be more
unsatisfactory than some of the civilian author
tiles have been. In an abstract manner the
Indian hates a soldier, but by this time he has
learned to fear him and with the fear has come
a certain amount of respect. Capt. Pierce was
most successful an agent at San Carlos,
where hostile Apaches frequently stirred things
up. and these Indians are going to give him
fair trial before they render an opinion as to
his ability and even handed dealing.
GEN. MILES IDEA OF IT.
While Gen. Miles refuses to discuss the ques-
ton at this time still it is generally known that
he is striving with the powers that be to
have the number of military agents increased.
He has called attention officially to the fact that
nearly all of the Indian tribes in the United
States have 1T one time or another been subju-
gated by the army and it is indisputably true
that many Of those same tribes afterward took
advantage Of civil administration to secure a
fresh supply of arms and a wealth of horsehesh,
which. with the previous experience of the
warriors, made the situation more dangerous
than ever before. Gen. Miles is evidently not
of the opinion that the growth of railways and
of settlements, combined with the departure of
the buffalo. has compelled cessation of In
dian war, for he remarked to a group of officers
the other evening that while the west has been
growing with marvellous rapidity during
the past sixteen years the army had
been called upon to do active service i'll nine
separate and distinct Indian campaigns within
that period. The Indians had discovered that
good beef, of which there was an immense sup
ply, was more easily procured than buffalo,
even when the hills ard valleys were black
with the wild food. 1t was also very plain. and
the keen intellect of the savage grasped the
situation, that frst-class horseiiesh was to be
found in every grass-growing corner of the
northwest: a civilized condition of affairs that
meant an unlimited number of remOunts when
their own horses were tired out. As matter
OF fact the Indians Of North America were
never so thoroughly equipped for fight as they
are at this time. With these facts before his
eyes and evident to every clear-sighted man on
the frontier it is but little wonder that
Gen. Miles insists on the appointment Of
ing that they and their comrades must
do the most of what fighting may be necessary.
will do everything reasonable to remove all
causes of discomfort and to prevent outbreak
OF any description. There is undoubtedly a
great deal of dissatisfaction among the Indians
of the northwest, due almost entirely to gov
ernmental failure Of some kind, and if the gov
eminent will not make good its promises 10 its
wards Gen. Miles thinks it only fair to white
settlers that the Indians be compelled to starve
under form of supervision which would pre-
vent the sacrifice OF any other lives than those
Of the Indians themselves.
SO far as Gen. Miles is concerned. whether
there be more or less of military rule on the
reservations, that portion of the army known
as the division of the Missouri will be kept in
the highest possible state of efficiency, every
component part of it ready to take the field at
q moments notice.
DIcUssISG THE FORsYTHE MATTER.
Waiting for something to happen is a condi-
ton which develops conversational inclinations
even among those who are not ordinarily
loquacious. For days the hostiles have been
within easy reach of the troops and fight has
been continuously imminent, but the military
mind does not seem to suffer any strain while
beneath the shadow of great struggle. Off
GERS and men have talked more than little of
the probabilities and possibilities of one con-
elusive battle, and this they do openly. but
when they are sitting around a red-hot stove in
their tents they whisper good deal about the
Forsythe matter. The amount of interest felt
and quietly expressed in this one-sided contro-
versy Is not surprising. for Gen. Forsythe has
a great number of friends and sympathizers.
The controversy has undoubtedly been one
sided (that sounds like an Irishism), for up to
the present time none of those acquainted
with the facts have been able to publicly de-
clare themselves on the subject Two officers
Maj. Kent, division inspector general. and
Capt Baldwin-have, under the direction of
Gen. Miles, been investigating the matter, and
II was therefore impossible for any of the
| soldiers who were at Wounded Knee to open
| their mouths until the board and Gen. Miles and
Secretary Proctor and President Harrison have
each done their respective parts toward set
ting much-vexed question. There are two
widely separated lines Of opinion in camp Just
now. The officers who are of one mind with.
Gen. Miles insist that he acted with consider
able leniency toward Gen. FOrsythe, in that he
did not order "a court-martial. Such a court
might have concluded the case within twenty
four hours. This would seem to imply that
Gen. Forsythe was guilty OF disobedience. On
the other side it is claimed that the charge of
disobedience of orders, more than
coyertly made, cannot hold for a moment.
PoRsYTHE ACTED AS A cAvALRYMAN.
Gen. Forsythe was ordered to disarm Big
Foot's band and proceeded to fulfil his mission
in the manner which his long experience as
soldier told him was proper. He showed the
Indians his strength for peaceful purposes: he
wanted them to know that any attempt ut fight
ing could only result disastrously SO far as they
were cOncefneu IL possible luat the gen.
eral believed strife improbable, but his friends
here claim that every proper precaution was
taken. Some of those who cehsure him have
suggested that it would have been better had
he dug rifle pits and stationed sufficient force
therein 10 nip any treacherous movement in
the bud, but that argumentative suggestion
would hardly receive serious consideration in
the mind Of any practical tactician. Gen.
Forsythe commanded u force of cavalry and
| had he rifle-pitted his men there can be no
doubt that he would have been the butt of
more military sarcasm than any officer known
in the history Of modern warfare. He is a
cavalryman, and his friends insist that he
handled the trouble rs any cavalryman would
| naturally have done.
THE BOARD OF INQUIRY.
As to the formation Of the board Of inquiry
there has been some little criticism by For
sythe's supporters. They claim that it is
clearly illegal for him to be practically tried by
two officers whose rank is inferior 70 his. Had
the board remained it was originally consti-
tused with Gen. Carr a member, it would
have been all right, but in its present condition,
they claim. it is all wrong. 1t is very clear.
however. that Gen. Forsythe has not attempted
to take advantage of the delays which he might
have set up as stumbling blocks He wanted
and courted the fullest inquiry and he wanted
| IL AZ onee This was quite natural. becnusa