New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-10-07
THE INDIAN Troubles.

The outbreak of violence among the Chippewa
Indians Is to be regretted. but need scarcely
be regarded with much anxiety or alarm. 1t
will not in all probability. lead to any extensive
Indian war. The Chippewas are a valiant ana
warlike tribe. in old times ranking among inc
foremost In that part of the country. But IN
their struggles with their hereditary enemies,
the Sioux. they were decimated and are now
mere fraction of their former numerical magnl-
tude Moreover, there is no adequate cause ap-
parent for general war. and IL does not appear
that the spirit Of widespread revolt is abroad.
| The present disturbances are chiefly personal.
local and temporary, and will doubtless soon he
ended
There will be- nevertheless, the usual outpour-
ing of criticism and counter-criticism against
the Indians. the Army and the Government-an
Indian war of words II not Of bullets and toina-
hawks. The vast bulk Of such uttcrances. it
NAV ms well be frankly said in advance, is likely
to he injudicious and ill-founded. We shall hear
on the one hand that there is no good Indian
but the dead Indian, and on the other that this
Government is incapable Of honest and humane
conduct toward the Indians. both Of which will
be wickedly untrue On few subjects. we fancy,
is transformation more cOpous ana Is tradi-
tional prejudice more potent than on that OF the
Indians and Indian wars. There Is on one side
the glamour Of 10, the poor INDIAN and on
the other the lurid horror Of the red devil
neither invariably false nor invariably true, but
each sure 10 be accepted in absolute entirety by
the champions of that side.
1t may be just to speak of our dealings with
the Indians as "a century of dishonor." But II
is idle to say we have eyterminated or are ex-
terminating the race On the contrary, the
numbers Of those tribes which are most In con-
tact with us are actually increasing. Our con-
duct toward them may have been bad but when
compared with that of the Spanish in Central
and South America. or of the Dutch. Portu-
guese and Germans in Africa, it does not seem
by any means atrociOus. On the other hand.
the Sioux and Apaches and others have been
guilty Of unspeakabe Outrages. But if you
are seeking to uphold the credit Of the United
States and the AnglO-SaXOn race you had better
not bring into comparison Herewith the treat
mcnt of the Chinese at Rock Springs or that Of
any of some hundreds Of recent victims of
lynchings in all parts of the land. Playing alive
and burning at the stake are not exclusively
Indian practices.
The fact of the matter Is, we apprehend, that
the North American Indian is a man Of like pas
siOns with ourselves and all the rest Of the hui
man race. Some of his passions are more
strongly developed than in some other people,
and some are less so. That Is all Sometimes
he is loyal unto death and sometimes as false
and treacherous as fcnd And so have we
been in our treatment of him. In most, per-
haps in all. OF the wars we have had with him
there has been some fault on both sides. We
have no doubt there is in the present case. One
of the best-inforned observers declares he is
not sure that he bames the Indians at all for
this outbreak However that may he. the obvious
duty OF the hour is TO restore and to maintain
order with strong hand. If that Is done with
out prejudice. and the causes Of the outbreak
are then searched ont and remedled honestly.
there need be only brief chapter entered in the
history Of our Indian troubles.