Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1909-07-09

| stockade and fled, and the victory was
with the allies from the north.
NO LOSS OF INDIANS.
1t will probably be surprise to many
to be told that it is believed that there
are as many Indians living today within
the borders of the United States as there
were when the white men first landed
on these shores. l heard General Arm.
strong, the founder of the Hampton
Institute, make such statement thirty
years ago, and was so surprised that l
asked him for his authority. He could
not sustain his statement by direct refer
ence, from the nature of the case but
he told me that he knew that that was
the opinion of the well informed. Since
then l have met the statement many
times. and believe it to be the fact.
While it is certainly the case that the
number of Indians east of the Mississippi
is vastly smaller than the number who
roamed over this territory when whites
first landed on these shores, the number
of Indians who now live west of the Mis-.
sissippi is believed to be far greater than
it used to be. This is the result of the
early policy of the United States in NOV.
ing into what was then the far West all
the tribes that had proved themselves to
be uncomfortable neighbors in the eastern
portion of the country. Whatever faults
may be charged against our government
in detail in its relation to the Indian
tribes, it may at least be said that its
policy of combining Indians to reserva-
tions, and thus protecting them from
utter destruction, as civilization closed
in about them, has probably had the
effect of keeping their numbers on the
continent, as whole, as large as they
ever were.
The old France, with all its mistakes.
left, nevertheless, on this side of the
ocean its worthy monuments. You find
them in the name of Lake Champlaip.
in the name of the st. Lawrence River,
at st. Louis and in Louisiana; and
porous communities all over this region,
not only in Canada, but in the United
States. These isolated tokens of early
French occupancy are tributes to the
enterprise, the endurance and the hero
ism of the founders of New France and
of that intrepid band of discoveries who
rested not until they had discovered all
of the great lakes and had traversed the
Mississippi from it source to its mouth.
In the many military struggles for the
control of this region the mastery of
Lake Champlain has been decisive fac
tor. When the French controlled the
lake the English were driven back.
When the English controlled the lake
the French were driven back. When.
later, the English controlled the lake the
Americans were driven back, and when
the Americans controlled the lake the
English were obliged to retire
1t is the happiest feature of this cele-
bratlon that representatives of France, of
England of Canada and of the United
States and of the Indian aborigines are
met here on terms of amity and concord.
on this spot where so often in the olden
days they met as enemies under con-
tending banners. Surely the enduring
lesson of such a gathering as this is not
only that the plough gives a securer title
to the land than the rifle, but also that
" peace hath her victories no less re.
nOwned than war" The nations that
used to be constantly at war on both
sides of the Atlantic are knit together
now by ties of mutual respect and
mutual esteem. Out of this happy con- |
cord may there continually develop
spirit of good feeling, which more and
more, as the centuries roll on, shall grow
into an all-embracing brotherhood of
men.
INDIANS TAKE PART.
Judge Barnes, who was born on the
opposite shore of Lake Champlain, at
Chimney Point, where he was surround
ed with the traditions and history of the |
lake in early childhood, pointed out that
the occasion ought not to pass without
of Crown Points claim to
the site of the battle of Champlan He
caught the approval of the crowd when
he said that there, then, of all places on
this lake, should be erected monument
to the memory of this great explorer,
who more than any other of his time
was actuated by worthy zeal for state
and religion"
1t may be recalled with reference to
the remarks of Judge Barnes that the
New York and Vermont commissions
the erection of a memorial