Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-27

ABOUT equal TO their neeos. An jurispru-
telligible-eve1 to those who studied them.
They didn't worry themselves about
tariffs, or fritter their lives away in
trying 10 hnd out wHether it was the
producer or the contumer who paid the
tax. They spent 70 strength on oues-
tons OF bimeta IN or mOnometallism.
AS said, their Currency was the pony,
and they diCh't care whether it was
whlte or yel' ow, or even piebald, provided
1t would 20.
TH Err SENSE OF JUSTICE.
Ana row a word as to the revengeful
racer of these people. 1 think it is
u Blackstone who defines revenge as
wild kind Of justice" And With the
y lllAcotahs, fair and equal reprisal GER
tainly carried the sense Of salutary and
highest virtues, and accompanied them
honor, courage, truth, self-devotion, for
titude, mistaken constancy.
We must remember that men may be
beneath revenge, as well as above 1t. 1t
is always easier to suffer a wrong than
to redress it, it may or it may not be
nobler. But it is at least GER
tain that he who Is swiftest
In forgiving his enemies may be
equally swift in forgetting his friends.
justice to a public one. The injury which
the Lacotah chiefly resented was not
that which was dolne to himself, but to
his tribe. 1t was not revenge, but simple
justice.
THE CUSTER MASSACRE.
But how about their treachery. their
subtlety, their craft their ineradicable
deceit? That is supposed TO have been
their browning infamy. 1t was that
which made it our duty to blot them from
the face OF the earth. Well, take few
familiar examples. The so-called "Custer
massacre" for instance. 1t was simply
an attempted surprise met by counter
surprise. Custer himself delivered the
battle The fight was in open field and
the numbers nearly equal. The Lacotahs
and outfought their adversaries. The
only specific charge ever brought against
them was that the "treacherous dogs"
had armed themselves with rifles, lust
like our own" when everybody knows
that bows and arrows are the proper
weapons for Indians. The success of
Sitting Bulls strategy turned on the
chance that Clusters troops, on finding
what appeared to be an undefended viii
lage, would make a reckless dash at ii,
and go to sabring the women and chill
dren; in which case an ambuscade ought
not only to repulse their headlong charge,
but should also impair their discipline,
and break their ranks to such an extent
that they might be scattered and beaten
before they could effect a rally The old
chief knew that Clusters PaWnee scouts
had made midnight reconnaissance Of
the village, and he had instructed his
outposts not to modest them. He then
prepared for the surprise party. Sending
the women and children a few miles up
the river, he supplied their places with a
detachment of his warriors ordering
them TO potter around the campfires and
impersonate old women, cuddling little
bundles of artificial babies, and keeping
their rifles well hidden beneath their
blankets. The moment the Long Knives
should come I'm sight they were 10 pick
up the bundles and scuttle off with every
mark of terror, toward the rising ground,
where number of others were to lie in
ambush and join them in receiving the
shock
THE CHARGE OF CRUELTY.
Note the situation. General. and let the
charge of cruelty fall where It properly
belongs. Sitting Bull risked everything
his lodges, his ponies, the stored wealth
Of his camp-on the single chance that
his enemies would throw themselves into
perilous disarray when afforded an op-
portunity TO crafty what he deemed their
innate sayagery and sheer lust of blood.
Custer had received full details of the
situation, and was confident Of a great
victory. And SO, in swift secrecy, he
moved toward the tranquil village in the
green valley of the Big Horn. AS the
trail led down to a ford in the river ne
divided his forces, so that none of the
indians might escape. The attacking
NOANAlAs uANloNONtitug EOl very near ana
then, with headlong rush. swept to its
prey. The frantic "squaws" fled in ter
ror towards the hills. The troopers
dashed In their spursl No longer riding
boot TO boot, but every horseman doing
his best!-eyery sabre swirling-every eye
gleaming-from every throat an exultant
shout
But just as they reached their victims
the scene changes. With swift move
ment, the "squaws' fling off their blank
cts. while all around them, from every
turf and bush and rock, springs an armed
Indian! The tables are turnedl The
ranks Of death confront theml A CLEAN
Of painted faces, grim as fate horrible
as hell, a yell in their ears hdeous as
the blast OF doOmi the tremulous cir
quivering with the twang of arrows and
the swirl OF tomahawks and the fash Of
spearsl The shock has appalled,, dis
mayed, unDerved them. Men and horses
crash down In q mass. The living steeds,
with a snort OF terror, recoil, and scatter
over the plain. Swift pursuit is made.
The fugitives reel in the saddle and
tumble, one by one, clutehng the empty
air.
And then cry OF '"rreachery'' rings
through all this land. and our moral sense
demands a crusade OF determination.
"TreacheryT' 1t Is simply the interplay
OF ambuscade--of parry and rcquitai-a
vital element IN the strategy OF war.
COMPARED TO JACKSON.
But ~ this De indeed treachery. then the