The Portland daily press., 1897-05-22
Washington, Corr. N. Y. Post. J

10 olueTeu Tor the 6nQ Oh une present
month, the experiment of adding an In
ulan contingent to our regular army
comes to an end. This was a favorite pro-
Ject OF Secretary-now Standardization,
and the order for the first enlistment was
Issued in March, 1891. The purpose of
the plan was manifold On its public
sloe, the idea was to utilize the warlike
spirit which the Indian is popularity sup
poseu TO inherit from many generations
OF nghtlng ancestry, and thereby supply
to our army q native element such as the
French have added to theirs in Africa
and the British in ASIA and at the same
time to give the whole American Indian
race a sense of nationality, of loyalty to
the United States government, through
the assimilation of the flower of its
younger generation with one branch of
the public service. On the personal sid e
there was hope that the constant disci-
pline, the methodical habits of life and
| work, the outwardly decorous and respect
full behavior, and the rules of cleanliness
and wholesome diet imposed in the army
would have good effect upon the young
Indian and help to wean him away from
the barbarism in which he had grown up.
The army as a rule did not take kindly
to the Secretary's project, and, but for
the fact that it was the Secretary's, it
would have Jared hard in the earlier re-
ports from the field. Under the circum-
stances, nearly everybody felt under COM
pulsion to help it along with word and
work. The scheme was to mass the In
dams in small companies, and scatter
these through the army, assigning one to
each Infantry regiment except six and to
each cavalry regiment except two, this
arrangement ruling out the negro regi-
ments among others. The Indian COM
panies were to be differed at first entirely
by whites, with the understanding that,
as fast as any of the privates acquired
sufficient training, they could be made
non-commissioned officers-this promise
| of promotion and extra pay serving as a
stimulus to obedience and painstaking.
| The handful of clever and ambitious
| junior officers who were put in charge of
| the Indian companies generally tried hard
| to make the best of, their men, and, as
they saw changes in the right direction
here and there, were sanguine of the final
result. And such changes did occur The
Indian is not initiative, like the negro,
and usually takes unkindly to new
things. But commonly he admires the
| soldier; and this chance to be himself a
soldier, wear a bright blue uniform with
Inns TWIN
| gun or both all the time, won his fancy
Moreover, few of the older white cam
paigners shared the enthusiasm of the
! juniors, inferring from their experience
with Indian scouts that Indian soldiers
would make an equally good or better
record. But the difference between the
scout and the soldier soon showed itself
The scout was enlisted for six months,
the soldier for five years. The scout in
time of peace, had little to do, and could
lie about in a cosy camp in familiar
| country, with his women and children
round him, as long as he reported periodi-
cally to his commanding officer; whereas
the soldier must live in barracks separat-
ed from his family, must hold himsel4
ready for the daily exercises of the post,
and was liable at any time to pull up
| stakes and be transferred to some distant
point, among new people and unaccus-
toned scenes. The family feature, by the
way, was serious consideration for
everybody concerned. His patriarchal
style of living when at home caused the
Indian to be unhappy when separated
from his wives and children; but the
| government could not afford to transport
two or three women, half dozen child
rem, and the ever faithful mongrel dogs
for each soldier whenever the company
moved, and, even if that had been posi-
| bic, it would have been out of the ques-
ton to keep this domestic outfit from
hanging about, and practically living in
the post or camp, where their presence
would have spread general demoraliza-
ton.
Then it was found that the Indian.
with his slow way of yielding his conf
dence, and his habit OF attaching himself
to persons rather than organizations,
could not accommodate himself to the
more or less frequent changes of officers
which the demands of the service made
necessary. Another thing which caused
trouble was the need of taking each In
dian company away from the neighbor-
hood of the tribe or tribes from which it
was recruited as the tribal ties are
strong, and the influence of the non.pro-
gressive element was always exerted in
the direction of making the soldiers dis
contented with their new lot, and espec-
tally with its restraints, which contrasted
zoo VlVluly WITH the easy going lie OF the
stay -at-home tribeslnen. Akin to this
drawback was the conflict of authority
and allegiance, when it happened, as it
did here and there, that a chief or head
man was enlisted side by side with some
members of the rank and file of his tribe
then the latter were distracted in purpose
between obeying the white officers whom
the government had set over them and
listening to the adverse counsels of their
tribal superiors, who We're apt to OBJ
struct any plan which the officers had laid
without first showing them the Difference
of consultation The slowness of the
average Indian at acquiring our tongue
presented still another difficulty The
Indian soldier vc:y promptly learned his
drill commands by sound, after having
| them first translated to him by an inter-
prefer; but his intercourse with his Off
GERS off the parade ground, or when under
discipline for an offence against the regp
lations, was stumbling and unsatisfactory
to both parties.
in spite, therefore, of the patience with
which. to give them due credit, the bulk
of the white officers labored to bring their
men up to the required standard of eff
cheney, the experiment showed signs of
being short lived. The Indians tired of
army life, and the reports from the field