The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-06-26

sum of $500, 900, OOO"
But in all this he makes no mention
of the treachery, the greed, the cruelty,
the broken treaties and contracts which
gave rise to those bloody wars Neither
does he tell us that in Canada there are
100000 Indians. Yet with the excep-
ton of one little furry with the half
breeds few years since the Canadians
have had no Indian wars. Bishop
Whipple, who is a wise student of the
Indian question, says: Zone side of
the line is nation that has spent $780,
600, 900 in Indian wars. a people who
have not hundred miles between the
Atlantic and Pacific which has not been
the scene of a massacre, a government
which has not passed twenty years
without an Indian war, not one Indian
tribe to whom 1t has given Christian
civilization. On the other side of the
line are the same greedy dominant
Anglo-Saxon race, and the same
heather: yet they have not spent one
dollar in Indian wars and they never
have had a massacre.
| wish the writer of the article |
have referred to would explain this. 1t
would have been we'll for him to have
investigated it before he wrote his arti-
Gle. Despite all that has been said and
all that may be said on the subject his
tory pays tribute to the customs and
virtues of the Aborigines of America
before the capacity for liendiShnesS WAS
provoked by the unjust. unWse and
dishonest methods of the white man.
lhey We're a free people rowing over
the mountains and through the valleys
at will, with none to modest HIM until
their hunting grounds We're wrested
from them. They were in their natural
state, a friendly, hospitable people
with love of country III their hearts.
Our forefathers We're imbued bv the
spirit of the red man in the early days
OF the colonies. Smartlng under the
expressions of foreign government,
love of country asserted itself The
society known as the Sons of Liberty
was organized; with Patrick Henry's
words. Give me liberty or give me
death. ringing in their ears the mem
bers of the society pledged themselves
to oppose British tyranny and to de
fend with their lives the freedom of the
colonies. The fact that when ships
laden with tea entered Boston harbor
fifty men disguised as Indians gave the
war whoop and boarded the vessels and
poured the tea into the sea was signif-
cant, they would not submit to be de-
pendant to foreign government-they
wanted liberty. The society known as
the The Sons of Liberty gave birth to
the order you represent here today
\ on are justified III perpetuatiug the
principles which gave rise to those his
torlc struggles Of the long ago. You
do well to honor the race to whom lib
erty was sweet. Tennyson writes of
the boy who was following his fathers
pillow when it turned up a human skull,
there, where the ploW stayed. the pat
riot had fallen i'll battle. Sitting upon
the furroW with the child upon his
knee, the father caused his boy to see a
million men in arms lighting for some
great principle: to see the battlefield
all red with blood: the hillSides all
bllloWed with graves: caused him to
hear the shrieking shot and shell: point
ed out the army OF cripples hobbling
homeWard. When the child shivered
III fear the father whispered, your
ancestors would have gladly died daily
for the liberty they loved. And so. if
today good men brood over the wrongs
OF the colonies and of the red men and
breath prayer to God for those who
struggle against oppression, it is be
cause we believe in liberty-the human
heart loves liberty, and that right i'm
pines that we have Il right to liberty
II the sod of the nations must be torn
by the cannon ball. may there be buried
III It forever the seeds of oppression
and injustice. and may the angel of
peace SON Tor future generations the
seeds of liberty, intelligence and re-
ligion.
Your order stands for friendship and
in this the AbbriglneS of America was
not found wanting. They held with un-
sWervlng loyalty an unseltish affection
for him to whom it was phghted His
tory records many instances that will
bear me ont i'll this assertion. but have
not time to recall them now.
Many years ago, i'll a small village.
two men were sitting it front of
hotel talking; they were approached by
poor tired Indian. who asked for
something to eat, saying that he had
travelled all day and found 40 game,
and was many miles from his wigwam.
He was rudely ordered away by the pro-
pnetor: but his companion said, give
the poor Indian his supper and | will
pay for It.. Having satisfied his hun
ger the Indian soon disappeared into
the forest. Some months afterwards
there was an Indian uprising in that
section and a number of men were
taken away into captivity Among the
number was the man who had paid for
the Indians supper. One dark, stormy
night a few weeks later, the thongs
that bound him were cut and an Indian
took him by the hand, enjoined silence,
and told him to follow. All through
the hours of the night and OF the fol
lowing day they journeyed through the
forest, and just as the sun was sinking
in the West they stopped on the brow
OF hill overlooking a beautiful village.
Turning to his companion, the Indian
said: your wigwam is there, 60 comfort
your family, | have paid my debt" He
was asked for an explanation, and he
SAID: Il went there one time weary and
hungry and asked for food. | was told
to 60 away; you gave me my supper, |
have paid you; an Indian never forgets
a friend, 60" There was gratitude and
friendship in that red mans heart, as
true and loyal as can be found in any
human heart, and such spirit of graft
tude is worthy of emulation.
| believe in those fraternal orders
where the spirit of true friendship is
nourlshed and eXemplitied. and where
character is broadened and the facul-
ties educated. Surely such an order as
yours has right to exist; you have a