The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-13
Sentiment and the Indians.

Some of our local contemporaries are
| anticipating fear that from Eastern
| points, where sympathy with the In
| dian prevails more strongly than it does
! in these parts, there may be forthcOm-
| ing some expressions OF cant. in his
! favor as the result of last weeks mas
sacre in the North.
! There are organizations down along
! the Atlantic seabOard who do seem to
| possess streak of sympathy with the
| Indian of the Northwest, just as there
are organizations who possess some
thing of kindred sympathy with the
| Fiji islanders and other saVages whose
development has been neglected some
what in the past.
Such apprehensons ought not to ex-
! list; and there ought not to be any de-
VeloDment of hypocrisy in the present
| Illustration of how the murder of good
| and noble white men by saYages may
| be permitted to take place in Mime
sofa at the close Of the nineteenth CEN
| fury. The good people who look 'dpon
the American Indian as d product that
has not received the best treatment in
! the world are oftentimes blinded by
their zeal There are good Indians, and
! good white men, and bad white men;
| good government officials, and bad gov
eminent officials; good representatives
of the Christian church, and feeble rep
J resentatiVes of that same body. The In
! dian,if he is possessed of the noble char
acter by which he has been designated
| in history. ought not to betray 50 many
| Of the evil qualities of which he seems
70 ho
! he was in possession, in his tribal rela-
! items, of the American continent at the
! time of its discovery does not justify
him in the confidence that he can do
as he pleases after the laws of civiliza-
! ton have been introduced and put into
practice. The Indian has, in many in
! stances, been imposed upon; but he is
one Of those creatures who, the more
! you pat them on the back, develop,
from their meaner instincts. the worst
elements of treachery
On the other hand, as we view the
| government policy in favor Of the In
| dian in the past, there is not a little to
| commend SO far as the inspiration to
| good works is concerned, while there
| has been very very much to condemn
in the practical enforcement Of the laws,
! In connection with which there has
| been undoubtedly a great deal of false
! dealing so far as its influence upon the
| tribes IS concerned.
| The G l b has endeavored to traat
| all the details of the recent outbreak
| among the Chippewas with entire fair
| ness. If the government, through its
departments of the interior, of Justice
! ana OF war, had officially reviewed the
history Of all dealings with the Indians
In the past. so far as their relations
pore upon the proper control Of the
! tribes With whom the nation had to act
the tragedy Of last week would NOT
nave occurred. The savage Of TODAY
| Is as much Of a savage, from instinct
| as ne was TWO hundred years ago. He
| Is also as susceptible to straightforward
| treatment as he was when Penn made
MS treaty IN Pennsylvania in 1882 He
Is also as capable Of measuring the
spirit OF unfairness; and, thanks to the
unWlse policy pursued by the govern
Henr or placing a weapon, offensive
ana defensive in its character, In his
| haho' ne is as malignant and as de-
tefmlned In the pursuance of his ma
hgnant purposes as at any period in
his history. The incident at T-aech
lake was a simple repetition Of all that
has gone before. The Indian in his re-
! lauons to the masses Of the tribes +o
! winch he belongs is simply an unreal
| son1ng savage. There are instances in
winch the better feelings Of his nature
| have been successfully appealed to
The missionaries are entitled to ro11cb
respect and commentator for what
they have done, or attempted to do IN
the line Of his civilization
The sorrow that must necessarily, ba
felt as the result Of the death Of Mai
| Wilkinson and his heroic comrades 20
Justifiable impulse for induIoenca
The sympathy with the Indian. becausa
! OF the debasement Of his condition Is
| commendable, for he has had in his
pe1ence with the government many
good reasons for dissatisfaction there
with. But the sorrow expressed over
Inc oeath OF our soldiers, as we'll as the
| sympathy which may come from GER
tain sources with the Indian, should be
maze common platform upon which
all classes OF good people should assem-
ole ana insist that some policy be
| aoopleo through the enforcement of
! Whlch no cause for disorders of the kind
| "AAANA4 ACO " ILLS northern tragedy
should be permitted to find a. place in
| connection with the future operation
OF our laws. The Indian should be re-
garded as being as much amenabIe to
our laws as the ordinary white man
| recognizes himself to be; but above all
there should exist. on the part of the
officials, that degree Of wisdom which
shall compel them, not only to deal fair
ly with the savages, but to recognize
the quantity Of ignorance which neces-
sarily exists among them and to pro-
vide the courage and common sense
which will enable the people. when
they come into contact with the In
dian, to do so only with the entire
might Of the government 1t is no time
to indulge in spOoney talk and in shall
low sentimentality when a conflict be-
tween the government and the Indian
becomes imminent. It is always the
time for the exercise Of the supremest
power possessed by the nation.
Live Stock Industries.