The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-04-12


sellted by her organs as the fond and
protecting foster mother of subject
races-that is to say, of those races
whose countries she has taken possess
tion of from time to time-that it is
proper to inquire how far she is en-
titled to claim for herself the title of
being the greatest civilizing nation in
the worlds history and the most solic-
itOus for the welfare of those peoples
whom her continuous policy of con-
quest and expansion has brought I'M
der her power and control, writes J.
Grattan Grey in the Irish World.
In dealing with this important sub
iect one must go so far back as the
beginning of the seventeenth century,
and ones eyes must be cast upon the
shores Of the New World, for every
student Of history must be aware that
it was upon the banks of the James
river in Virginia that England estab-
lished her first permanent colony
across the seas. The early records in
connection with the colonization of Vir-
ginia tell us abundantly Of the deceits
and cruelties which were practiced
upon the original owners Of the soil,
the red men who were in possession
when jamestown was first settled in
1907. We know how Powhattan and
his successors were cheated, despoilcd
Of what belonged to them, goaded into
resistance Of the white mans encroach-
ments and gradually decimated by the
acquisitive system Of colonization, nay
more, Of determined conquest and ag-
sression from the days of Capt. John
Smith and the romantic story of Poca-
hontas, to the time when the Virgin
ians were driven into rebellion because
Of England's unjust exactions.
Where is the red man of Virginia
to-day? His descendants are only to
be found in the Indian territories of
the Far West and Northwest Prac-
tically he has been exterminated. Apol-
sgists Of England will tell you that the
Americans, after securing their indie
pendence, We're themselves responsible
for the wiping out of the red man, but
historical facts prove that long before
the beginning of that war which ended
so happily for the human race all the
world over. the red population of Vir-
sinia had been decreased almost to the
verge Of determination in accordance
with the colonizing tactics and policy
Of Great Britain. Mark, too that it
was i'll it's first permanent over-sea
colony-Virginia-that the course was
adopted Of setting Indians to fight
against Indians. In other words, by
presents and promises, tribes were got
to fight against other tribes who were
described as friendly" to the English,
in the same way that two hundred
years afterward "friendly" Maoris
were employed to assist in tthe deci-
nation and spoliation of their own
race.
Americans who read the works of
their own great humorist, Mark Twain.
will find in "More Tramps Abroad
how scathingIy NJ. Clemens deals
with the English practice of calling in
the assistance of "friendlies' to fight
against their own kith and kin in order
that there might be more of their pos
sessions to confiscate because they re-
fused to tamely submit to the acquisi-
tion of these territories, and We're
driven into rebellion" as it was con-
vcniently termed, in the hope that they
might not be despoiled of them. Be-
ing what Americans call the "under
dog of course the patriotic Maoris
got the worst Of it.
Turn, then, to the case of the New
England states. We know that the
same system was there pursued as in
Virginia, and the doings of Myles Stan.
dish and others are too we'll known
and authenticated, so far as the red
man was concerned, to need recapitula-
ton in the present article. Just as in the
case of Virginia, so also in that Of New
England, one asks where is the red
man to-day? Like the tribes over