Year: 1872




In his letter on the subject to Mr.. George
H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, chairman Of the
Executive Committee of the Board of Indian
Commissioners General Grant says that he
does not contemplate any change in his
Indian policy; that such thing has never
been thought Of; that if his present Indian
policy can be improved in any way he is
always ready to receive suggestions on the
subject but that if any change is made it
must be on the side of the civilization and
Characterization of the Indian. Furthermore,
says the President ~ do not believe our Gre
ator ever placed the different races Of men on
this earth with the view Of having the stronger
exert all it's energies in exterminating the
weaker And again, he says, eff any
change takes place in the Indian policy of the
government while hold my present Office it
will be on the humanitarian side Of the ques-
ton"


We are with the President on the score Of
humanity, and it is on this side of the ques-
ton that we have some suggestions to submit
to him on the subject touching the deficiencies
of his present Indian policy. It is the policy
Of locating the Indian tribes, one or more,
here and there upon reservations, and the
policy of teaching them how to support them
selves from the soil, the government feeding
and clothing them meanwhile, and how in other
respects they may become good Indians and
qualified for all the rights and privileges Of
citizens of the United States. This is all very
good as far as it goes; but suppose two or
three Indians, or two or three hundred of them,
on some reservation take into their heads some
fine morning to go out upon the warpath, and
do 90 out, and massacre family or two Of
white settlers on the border, or the men,
women and children of an emigrant train,
and carry off their plunder to the mountains,
with the intention Of following up this wild
life Of liberty, what is done with them under
this existing humanitarian policy? In some
cases they are pursued and whipped into SUBJ
mission; in other cases they are pursued and
recovered without chastisement, and in some
cases, where they cannot be readily over
hauled, the pursuit is given up, and these
runaway Indians remain outside until starved
into return to their reservation but we are
not aware that in any cases where white
emigrants or settlers have been murdered and
plundered by these Indians the policy Of
ferreting out and Furnishing the guilty parties
has been put into practice Here, then, is q
great deficiency in this humanitarian policy;
here indulgence to the Indian brave in killing
and scalping becomes cruelty to the white
frontier settlers family or to the poor whites
of the overland emigrant train.


What, then, is wanted in our Indian policy
is q system Of government for these reserva-
tions which will hold the Indians thereon to
the responsibilities of white or black men, as
vagrants, robbers and murderers-a system,
in short, which will teach the 'noble savage"
to exercise as well as to enjoy the laws of
humanity and fair play. On ''the humani-
tartan side of the question" we suggest this
reform in our present Quaker policy with our
red brethren, and would commend the propo-
sition to the thoughtful attention Of General
Grant