Year: 1873

aMlUerS WIN less IeputdllOu Jo lOSc'


THE RESULTS OF OUR INDIAN POLICY


The Modoc War, which began in petty mu-
tual wrongs and has dragged its course along
in folly and vacillation ever since, Is saved
from being ridiculous by the horror OF Its
latest scenes. The massacre of Good Friday
in the Lava Beds will preserve to all time the
memory of this discreditable and ignOble quar-
rel No other event in our history is so char
acteristic Of the british ferOcity and ignorance
of the Indian, and no victim of that blind fury
can compare in dignity, in virtue, and in posi-
ton, with Gen. Candy. When we consider that
for three centuries our race has been engaged
in almost constant warfare with the aborigines,
il is remarkable that so few men OF rank or
wide reputation have been sacrificed upon the
Caucasian side. The name of BraddOck is the
only one to be mentioned with that of
Candy in military rank, and there is no
comparison between the two in merit or in
fame. A glory which was withheld from King
Philip, from Red Jacket, Black Hawk and
Tecumseh, has fallen to the lot of the most
brutal and groveling of the long line OF saw
age chiefs. He probably knew nothing of the
importance of his achievement. But among
his accomplioes and followers the anger and
vengeance Of a nation will only add luster to
his crime. Cooper in one OF his most striking
passages, describes the honor which the regi-
eide COTE met with among the Massachusetts
braves when it was known "that he had
"taken the scalp of Sycamore" Whether
the murderer Of Gen. Candy is strangled by
the law, or shot by the soldiers, or escapes to
the mountains, he will posses now and here
after, among the tribes of the Northwest,
the power and prestige which among savage
races always 60 to the man who has dipped
his hands in noble blood.


This frightful catastrophe is the natural
and legitimate result of the conduct of the
Government during the whole progress of this
petty war. There has been show of force
too small to accomplish anything, alternating
with assurances of friendship which the In


dams despised, and promise of concessions
which could not be made. The chiefs have
seen themselves treated like foreign princes,
vet could not be insured against hanging it
they surrendered. The Commissioners have
made them offers, which they evidently did
not trust, Of safe transportation and kind
treatment upon reservations of which they
knew nothing, and have refused them perms-
sion to settle on land which was familiar,
with promptness which must have confirmed
the suspicion of the Modocs that the
intentions of the white men were treacherous.
When we have tried force it was with equally
disastrous results. The savages defeated our
attack with an ease which doubled their con-


fidence and their exactions. When we tried


to chastise them, we only gave them a vic
tr;o IN fbpir
we only excited their distIust. This fatality
pursued the most trivial details. Only week
ago, while negotiations were pending, some of


our soldiers stole some of Captain Jacks
horses. He insulted the Commissioners and
refused to talk further, and the horses were
brought back. To the savage mind,
incapable of any conception of JUS
tice or generosity, such an act could
only seem dictated by fear. Every
hour of negotiation and delay strengthened
! their belief in their own advantages and of
the timidity and treachery of their enemies.
| Convinced that the whites would give them


no concessions worth having, and that the
| best course to pursue was the boldest, they
! resolved upon the murder of their leading


men as a prompt and energetic manner of
! closing the talk and opening the war. 1t is


saddening TO think how perfectly and how


easily they succeeded. There is an enormous


advantage in fight on the side


where there is no conscience. The
! saualid savage was thus enabled to overreach
! three gray-haired men, two of them leaders
| in civil and spiritual pursuits. and one vet
! eran soldier, equally distinguished for his
character, his learning, and his honorable expe-


rience of two great wars. The savages carried
out their plan effectively. Two of them came
into camp with professions of friendship and
submission. The Commissioners, who had


given up all hopes of success, accepted with
eagerness this unexpected overture. They
met; the Indians repeated again their already
rejected nltimatllm. 1t was refused, and they