Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-10-30

\ INDIANS AND F1LIPINOs.
The New York Journal OF Commerce Is
indignant at this country's dealings win
the Indians in general and the Pillager'
IN particular, and takes up the cudgels
for the latter in valiant style. The Jour
knal quotes the Commissioner Of Indian
Affairs as saying that the final cause oil
the outbreak OF the Pillagers was the
| treatment Of their timber" by the
| whites. This. says the Journal, the Com
missioner does not explain. but. adds our
contemporary, white officials and specn-
lators and official spectators have so Of
| ten imposed upon Indians in the matter
of their lands and their timber and every
thing else which the red men lad or were
entitled 10 get. and which the white men
coveted, that explanations are needless.
True Then the Journal goes on to de-
clare that the Immediate occasion" OF
the outbreak was even more disgraceful
10 the white men. that is ito our enlight-
ened and progressive fellow countrymen,
whose hearts burn within them" at tales
OF oppression in foreign lands. and who
ARE willing TO rush to arms" TO extend
the blessings OF freedom to all the world.
BY Immediate occasion" the Journal
means the action Of the United States
deputy marshas in arresting Indians on
trivial charges. or on no charge at all,
and the carrying Of them couple of hun
dred miles, TO Duluth or Minneapolis,
where they were promptly discharged,
but left 10 get hack home the best way
they could. The arrests were made, our
contemporary charges. simply that the
deputies might get fees, and the keepers
of the clearinghouse with whom they
were in COLLISION might set United States
witnesses as boarders. In the opinion or
the Journal this is about the most "sor-
did and disgraceful story" that has been
brought 10 light by exposures of the re-
lations between the United States and the
Indians.
Well while It may be true that this is
the most "sordid and disgraceful story
ever developed i'm connection with the
governments relations with the Indians,
it is not a new story as connected with
the governments relations with whites.
We of the South know that for years the
people of the moonshne districts Of this
section were subjected to just such out
RACES from Federal court machinery as
it is alleged have been perpetrated on
the Pilager Indians. Hundreds of inno-
cent men-and not infrequently innocent
wOmen-were dragged miles To court sim
ply for the business that was i'm arrest
ing them And this "sordd and disgrace
full" proceeding IT may be said. contri-
buted more to the spread Of lawlessness
in the sections in questions than any
thing else. 1t caused to 'go cunning
for United States marshals many a man
who otherwise would not have thought
of such a thing.
But we are getting away from the main
point that impressed us in the Journals
article II would appear that its outraged
feelings have gotten the better of its dis
erection, and the venting thereof has
placed it in a very inconsistent position
The Journals heart burns to extend the
blessings Of freedom to the Philippines.
1t is i little less than rabid for annexa-
ton of the islands. 1t would take under
our flag and civilize some ten millions Of
Malays, Negritoes, and Mestizos. repre-
senting various and sundry admiXtures
Of blood Yet 1t must know that in deal
ing with our new wards the history Of
our work i'm "civlizing" the Indians. both
In respect Of butchering them and cheat
ing them would be repeated. We would !
not reflect upon the intelligence of our !
by suggesting that it does !
not know that "our progressive and en- |
lightened countrymen" have not been so /
regenerated as that they would hesitate /
to take from the Filipinos everything the /.
latter had, or were entitled to get, and /
which the white man coveted" Whether |
or unwittingy, the Journals |
reference in association with this matter |
10 burning hearts DER tales Of woe, and |
% willingness "to rush 10 arms TO extend |
he blessings Of freedom TO all the world" /
S a piece of irony: