The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-10-24
rrr Nrono ANp THE INDIAN.


query:
II being taken from home and made to
live with fertilization destroys a savage
race" why has the negro race Increased
so greatly, though transferred from the
tropic to the temperate zone ana scat
tered everywhere among our people, with
all his tribs1 relations and language Ut.
teriy and at once taken from him II
the home and tribe building method and
treatment Is so good for savage races;
what causes the steady depletion and
final passing away of our Indian tribes?
There have always been two directly
opposite views on this question. There
have all the time been those who con-
tended that the only and proper way OF
dealing with the Indian problem Is TO
induce or force them to adopt the whlte
mans civilization and to become In all
respects American citizens, subject to all
the laws and pules and regulations gov
erning other inhabitants of the Union On
the other hand, there have been those
who declared that to force the Indians 10
adopt the ways Of the white man was to
sound the doom of the race, and they
point to the undeniable fact that whole
tribes and nations of them have disap-
peared under the efforts Of the white
man to civilize them. These say that I'M
deniable facts upset all theories. ana
they make out strong case.
Comparing the American Indians with
the negro race is unjust to the former,
for there is no similarity between them
The negroes of Africa belonged to the
lowest grades Of humanity. They were
In one sense more abject slaves in their
native homes than they have ever been
in this country for their lives and their
persons were absolutely at the mercy OF
their kings and chiefs. They had no
sense OF freedom, no pride Of race and
no desire or capacity for Independence of
thought or action. Their transfererce TO
America was a distinct elevation of them,
and was the beginning for them of indie
pendence. In short, the African at home
four or 1--WE centuries ago, was without
intelligence. pride or ambition. and they
are so yet. In their own country, and left
to follow out their own inclinations, they
are sodden. ahject slaves.
The American Indians, on the other
hand, were entirely different. No race OF
people of ancient or modern times, were
naturally prouder or more thoroughly in
dependent than were the ahorigines OF
this continent. Pizarro in Peru. Cortez
in Mexico. De Soto and his contempora-
ries. John Smith and Miles Standish. the
Puritans and the Cavaliers. all found
proud, naughty and unbendlng race who
preferred death to slavery. and who I'M
hesitatinglys chose the former rather than
submit to the servitude of the white man.
The meagre and not always fair histories
OF those early days furnish numerous in
stances where the Indians either took
their own lives or suffered themselves
nut to death rather than perform the
mental Offices required of them by their
white captors. Within the memory of
men now living some Indians committed
suicide in Montgomery rather than be
forced to leave the country.
1t is this spirit Of independence. this
| pride of race, this naughty determination
to adhere to their ancient life which has
stood in the way Of attempts to confer
citizenship on the Indians. That many OF
them have given up their old life and
| have in all respects become good Ameri-
can citizens is beyond question, but in
most cases the attempt to forcibly drag
them by the hair of the head. as it were.
into the white mans mode of life has
been attended with disastrous conse-
quences. especially to the Indians. Every
| trial of strength, every conflict of will
between the white man and the red man
Is against the latter. Iste-hatke is too
| strong for Iste-chate, and always will be.
There is nothinafor the Indians of this
| continent but assimilation or annihila-
ton. When the Pilgrim fathers FIRST fell
on their knees and then fell on the abo-
| rhymes the beginning. of the end came.
From that day to this they have been
going the same inevitable road and moth
ing can stop them. They cannot remain
savages in a civilized land. Tfey must
forever discard the ways of their ances-
tors or cease to exist. They must become
American citizens or become nothing but
a memory. That our government and our
people have not always pursued the best
policy towards the Indians is undoubt-
eddy true, but that cannot stop the march
of events. Complete, quiet and orderly
citizenship is all that is left for them,
| ana the sooner they realize this fact the
better for them.
But it is absurd to refer to the history
of the negro races and on this try to build
I'D a theory to fit the Indian.
The esteemed Alfalfa Mirror is whoop
| ing UP the dispensary plan and one of it,
reasons is that "when you buy quar-
you get a quart" That is the kind o
argument one can understand To buy
| a quart of red ticker, thinking to have