Evening journal., 1903-01-09

Lieutenant-ColOnel r. II. Pratt, SUI
|perintendent of the Indian School, at
Carlisle. delivered a lecture on the In
dian question before the Y. M. G. A.
last night The lecture was attended
by a large audience, which expressed
warm approval of the colonels defense
of the Indians and his denunciation OF
those who have in various ways done
so much to malign the race 'and keep
them without the pale of civilization.
In opening his address Colonel Pratt
said:
On the Indian question the country
is full of doubling Thomases, and there
ARE large and aggressive forces at work
TO increase the doubt Thomas said he
would believe when he saw, and was
then permitted to see and forced to be-
lieve. Thinking there might be those
to hear me tonight of this sort. | have
brought two Illustrations. 1t would be
practicable to assemble here in a few
hours and present before you two hun
dred Indian youth of both sexes, from
many tribes. living in the homes Of our
best people, within eighty miles Of your
city, and just now attending the public
them as they do the children Of our
own race, men and women equal to the
demands of our best citizenship; and
this way of helping Indians has been
going on twenty-three years in this
very same locality"
Indians Also Speak
Colonel Pratt then introduced Rich
ard Heyl, of Camden. and Mr. Cans
worth. who, in addition to graduating
from Carlisle, has also been graduated
from Dickinson and Princeton, and is
n W assistant disciplarian at Carlisle
Both of them made addresses.
Following them, Colonel Pratt said:
"Official statistics tell us there are
100000 Indians in the United States
proper, omitting Alaska. This is ABOUT
the population of the city of Washing
ton. / venture to say that never in the
history of the world has there been q
people which caused another people so
much trouble and expense through so
long a series of years. The present
Commissioner of Indian Affairs very
recently declared that the Indians in
one way and another had cost the
the cost has been in human life it
would be difficult even to conjecture.
They have been driven from their
homes to reservations, some of them
from reservation 90 reservation, and
there imprisoned under guard. The
driving and guarding has cost us many
thousands of lives of our people. but
lmoreIndian lives have been taken by us
because we had the best and most de-
lstructive equipment
Have we at any time in any sense
given him a fair chance in dealing with
this red man or in the telling of cur in
tercourse with him? Read any Of our
American histories, either general or
for the special instruction Of our youth,
and what is the opinion Of the Indian
to be formed from such reading?"
Several extracts from histories deal
ling with the subject Of Indian cruelties,
together with comments on them by
Carlisle pupil were then read by Col
onel Pratt, after which he continued;
Contention With Fabricators
In addition to these permanent his
torical records. in these times we are
lcontending with a syndicate of news
paper fabricators. During the past few
years many purely fictitious articles
have been written about educated In
dians, accusing them of committing
Icrimes and of behaviour most ridicu-
lous. More than twenty of these arti-
lcles have been pointed at Carlisle, in
not one of which was there a word of
truth Generally no such students ever
attended the school and in almost every
case no murder or wrong had been COM
lmitted. II an Indian does wrong any
where it is likely to be alleged he is a
Carlisle graduate. Within a week an
Indian, probably with some Buffalo Bill
show struck a former policeman with
a toEahawk In Memphis, Tennessee,
and the account telegraphed over the
country alleged that the Indian, Creep
ing Bear. was a graduate of Carlisle. l
have a careful record Of every student
ever at Carlisle. No Creeping Bear
ever attended the school. I immediate
ly telegraphed the chief of police, stat
ing the fact, and asked telegraphic re-
lply. He telegraphed back that the In
dian stated his name at Carlisle was
Joe Yellow Man, and that he was at
the school only six months. No Joe
yellow Man ever attended Carlisle, one
day. | telegraphed again to the chief
and asked further information, but
ihave received none
Equity is to be reached by a knowl-
edge on both sides and an impartial
comparison. Have any of our histor-
ians before writing judicially sought to
know the Indians side? Full knowl-
edge and just comparison alone will
give rs righteousness.
Strategy in War
IL am an army man, having served
Il through the war of the rebellion and
since through Indian campaigns. Ap-
lproaching the enemy by stealth and
overcoming him by surprise is strategy.
In civilized warfare il often results in
loaptHre OF the enemy. but in Indian
war where commands were remote
from any support the fighting lnevi-
tably meant practical destruction to
IIona pr ba otIhrr ,,I a. .ft...-4