| Show the indian question one of the questions sure to be asked by the country as soon aa as the excitement of th the elections has passed is who must be held responsible pon sible for dortho the tho existing sioux war thus far no bunni sufficient clent cause has been shown for the inauguration of the summer campaign which began and ended so ingloriously for our ours arms What whatever even crimes may bo be charged against the sioux tribe they are certainly free from the suspicion of having violated their treaties with the great father at washington but aa as much cannot be said on the uart part of the white inen men the statement constantly put forward that the indian is intractable tf tractable actable and rable incapable of civilization is cont contradicted by the experience of our canadian neighbors across the border are tribes kindred to those who give us so much trouble and yet the canadian people and government manage to live at peace with them and even subject them like all other citizens to the action of the civil law that we fall in dealing with our indians Is therefore clearly our own fault and due to some defect in our policy toward them in the canadian do minion the indian is subjected to a steady cede of law jaw when he be commits a crime lie he is punished and when he be performs a good action he L is s rewarded under the american system this rule is reversed those indians who group themselves peaceably at the agencies and remain faithful to the white man are as a rule treated with indifference and injustice the annuities granted to them by the generosity of the nation are appropriated in ia great part by the dishonest agents of the indian ring and the tho complaints of the victims when they make any are as a rule dismissed wit with contempt the tho hostile indians indiana on the contrary claim the tender regard and consideration of the indian department their chiefs get the richest presents and to their air followers fol tol lowers lowera are dispensed the most liberal allowances of sugar and coffee and other articles which bribe the red man to lay aside for the time beld being his rifle and scalping knife it is not wonderful that under such a system the indians soon learn that it ia is their advantage to go on the war path at frequent intervals ter vals in nearly every case where the tribes have taken up arms they have been driven to do so by the bad faith of ton government or the encroach ments of the frontier populations the present inglorious war id Is no exception without any real necessity the govern rovern government men sent into the black hills rills a column ot of troops under general custer guster and the unlucky discovery of a small quantity of gold reused roused the cupidity of the frontier population bands of adventurers immediately began to pour into the black hills country in violation of a solemn treaty by which thova government hardbound had bound itself to secure jo sioux forever the black hills as a part of their reservation the government in this case acted with the duplicity which generally characterizes our dealings with tho the ind lud Iud indians laris the tho intruding whites were ordered to withdraw but this measure which was due to the honor of the nation vas was ras never honestly out the authorities llad had resolved to allow a treaty which had been ratified only a year before to be violated but did not have the courage to accept the responsibility of 0 doing it openly and above board the indians were therefore allowed to believe that the great father fattier would not bo displeased at their driving out the intruding white men when the soldiers failed to do so so the war began by the cutting off of the scattered and comparatively de fenceless miners and culminated in the massacre of custer and his three hundred comrades in arms this sacrifice of life must bo be blamed to the vacillating policy of the government had the indians been made to understand that the great father at washington approved the acts of violence and injustice 0 done by bad white men of the borders ders they would scarcely have risked inaugurating the war but the indecision and duplicity which ed the beginning of the trouble poor indian as puzzled r about the intentions of the government men t aa as vere were tika the people who will havo have to pay ever BO many millions to redalf the damage done by our blundering rulers it has bas already been announced that wv ve ere are to have a winter campaign against the sioux in the hope that better fortune will at attend tend our arms we suppose that something of the kind is necessary but the country would also like to know what measures are being taken to put our indian policy on such a footing that our indian tribes may be rendered as harmless as their brother red men across the border the secret of accomplishing this is the adoption of a firm and consistent policy based upon justice new york yo rk herald oct 5 6 |
