The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-11
WHITE vs. RED CIVILIZATION.

1
 WHITE vs. RED CIVILIZATION. That in some respects. at least, the in- | fluence of white civilization has had an | unfavorable and deieterious influence is beyond doubt, and that influence has af- fected them both morally and physically. That the Indians, in their native State, had faults is not denied. but some of tho worst and most degrading vices of humanity they have certainly learned from tho whites. This is beyond ques- tion. and while in some respects the civilization and Christianity of the white race has certainly had a wonderfully ele- vating effect on them. 1t Is not to be denied that from the samo source they have learned vices and crimes without which they would be infinitely better and happier.
 But the physical injury has been even moro pronounced than has the moral.
 It Is not merely the fact that the many contagious and infectious diseases from which they now suffer and de were un- known to the aborigines. though that is bad enough. for these diseases have car ried millions of them to their graves, but that Is not all. The changed conditions and habits brought about by the influence and habits of the whites have worked a grievous injury in many cases. Former ly. as is we'll known, the Indians lived almost entirely in the open air There were no large towns and cities to crowd and enfeeble them, and they had no tight and airless houses. Their wigwams were open to the pure air, and during the hours that were spent in them they were not choked and endangered by foul and disease-laden air.
 There was recently held at the Carlisle Indian School. in Pennsylvania. the six teenth commencement exercises of that institution. On that occasion Alfred Venne, an Ojibway Indian from North Dakota. delivered an address from which we make this one extract:
 When a pupil at the Fort Tetten Indian school, l drove one very cold winter day, t, to small town about sixteen miles dis tant. Tho extreme cold necessitated my stopping at one of these log cabins on
 
 cabin was about ten by fourteen feet. the roof being about seven feet from the floor at It's highest point. The only openings were small window In one end and door at the side. Entering, I was met by a very old woman clad in ragged gingham dress, barefooted and suffering with very sore eyes. Sitting and lying around on the bed clothes which were spread on some wheat straw, and on the floor in the dirt counted nine human beings. four dogs and a cat. A pitiful sight In corner was an old blind man with very little clothing. Two young men of 15 or 16 were playing 'moccasin." gambling game. A girl of IF or IA years, with an old shawl over her head was amusing three or four dirty, sickly little children. All were afflicted with sore eyes and five or six Of the youths with scrofula. The vile ness of the air compelled me to leave be- fore. being warmed. Such a picture of human misery I shall never forget. Is it any wonder that these poor people are dying from the loathsome diseases which always accompany such conditions?
 Of course 1t is not claimed or charged that all the Indians exist under such horrible conditions as here set forth. for that would be untrue. but this speaker detailed what had come under his own observation, and as an instance of the disease, misery and degradation that has In at least some cases followed the en- forced civilization which has envlroned. crowded and confined the Indians in situations for which they are in no de- gree fitted The speaker told, too, of the injurious effect of enforced idleness, drinking. gambling, etc. and other re- suits of the new order. As MT Venne said: "To rob him of his land is bad. but to rob the whole race, imprlson and stunt 1t morally, physically and intellec- tually, is worse crime" And We can but be reminded. in this connection, of the eloquently simple words of the great jurist, Joseph Story. who said:
 The warriors of old stood forth in their glory and the young listened to the songs of other days. The mothers played with their infants and gazed on the scene with warm hopes of the bright future. The aged sat down, but wept not. They would the Great Spirit dwelt in a home prepared for the brave beyond the western skies. Braver men never lived; truer men nev- CT er,.d dreW the bow: They had courage. to be surpassed by any race. They shrunk from no dangers and they feared no hardShips. But where are the hunt CTS, the warriors and the youth? That race noted for their wonderful endurance they have practically perished"
 That was written many years ago, and though 1t would not be exactly correct to say that the Indian race has "practically pershed," there is no doubt that the class of which he spoke has vanished almost entirely. There is no help for 1t. for the white race will control this country, and those who stand in the way must perish, but we may at least sympathize with those who go, and wish that their fate might have been happier one.
 It Is not to be wondered at that a preacher has raised no little bobbery by declaring that there are no female angels in Heaven. and that the fair sex are metaphorically up in arms against such a pronouncement. True, they might counter on him by declaring that all female angels are now on earth. but that v,oOra tbor {e