Year: 1874

been more elaborately discussed and less
efficiently treated than that of our Indian
policy. Year after year we have exposures of
the ineficiency of the existing system and
debates on propositions for reform but
hitherto they have been unproductive of
practical results, and the evils are per-
mitted to continue in spite of the accu-
mulating evidence of their enormity.
There is a universal recognition of the cor
ruption of the Indian agencies of the failure
of the praiseworthy efforts of the Peace Com
missioners; of the folly of expecting to bring
a savage race into civilization by the teach
ings and persuasions of handful of excellent
men. But we still keep on in the old rut,
appointing agents, appropriating moneys and
perpetuating the errors of which we complain.
When some such horror as that of the lava
beds occurs, or when the summer months
bring in their regular Indian outbreaks, we
momentarily awake to the necessity of a
change in our policy. AS we read of the de-
vastation of settlements, of the outrage of
women and of the slaughter of men and chill
dren, We feel naturally indignant at the system
! which, under the specious guise of humanity
towards the savage, withholds or paralyzes
the protection that is due to their victims. But
when the necessities of the Indians drive them
from the warpath and compel them to throw
aside the tomahawk and the scalping knife
We are too ready to accept the excuses made
for their crimes and to return to the policy
which regards them as erring children.


No doubt the inefficient treatment of the
Indian question by Congress is due in great
measure to the large interests involved in
the Indian Bureau. Patronage, salaries and
perquisites are at stake, to say nothing
OF the illegihmate gains that are said
to be attached to the Indian agencies. The
evils are far removed, and the conduct of the
agents cannot readily be inquired into. If
the borders are undisturbed during the ses-
sion Of Congress, if there are no raids, MUIR
ders and outrages while our legislators are
debating, the people are too apt to pass over
the subject as one of only remote interest,
and to look upon the result with
indifference. Now and then some startling
story of the corruptions connected with our
Indian policy attracts attention, but it is soon
forgotten, or is overshadowed by matters that
affect us nearer home. The warming words of
some intelligent and thoughtful soldier may
make momentary impression Oh the public
mind, and there may be spasmodic de-
mand for reform in our treatment
Of the savages but while the politicians
remain Indifferent or are interested in
the continuation of the existing policy it is
useless to hope for change. If the red glare
of burning villages could cast it's reflection on
the Capitol; if the shrieks Of women and
children could ring in the ears of
our representatives; if the reeking scalps
of the victims of savage warfare could
be held before the eyes of Sena-
tors and congressman, We might expect
some efficient legislation on the Indian
question. But these practical evidences of
the evils Of our Indian policy are reserved for
remote regions, and only the persuasive voice
of the Indian agent is heard in our Legislative
halls. So we travel on from year to year in
the same rut, playing into the hands of the
venal agents, sacrificing the lives of our
soldiers and citizens, making a weak and in
effective against the savages, feeding
them in the winter, striving to win them to
civilization, and all the time laying the ground
work for new outbreaks and horrors as soon
as the grass grows and the buffaloes are in
good condition for killing.


There have been NUN mberless suggestions in
regard to the treatment of the Indian tribes


The best of them have come from expert
enced officers of the army, men who are
familiar with the character of the savages and
with the subject of which they speak


These counsellors all concur in the
opinion that the bullet and the bayo-
net are the best rulers in Indian
territory. 1t is sometimes said that the trade
of war makes such advisers merciless; but
this an error. true soldier is always hu-
name and mercifuE No peace advocate would
go any further in the effort to prevent needless
bloodshed than would such men as Grant,
Sheridan or Sherman. But they understand
the Indian character, and they know that the
savages must be controlled by the strong
| arm; that where an outbreak exists
the sharpest and severest punishment is the
truest mercy. Our military commanders have
been almost unanimous in the opinion that
the whole Indian management, in peace as
well as in war, should be vested in the army,
and we believe that the people at large indorse
this proposition. Army officers are, as
a rule, upright, honorable men, and
the business of the agencies would
be more honestly administered by them
than by politicians or the friends of
politicians. Outrages are practised on the
Indians by the agents, and, no doubt the
wrongs the savages suffer are often the main
cause of Indian outbreaks. This evil would
be removed by the transfer of the business of
the agencies to the United States Army. At