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Show 12 REPORT OF TEE GOMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. Let it be remembered that the demoralization resulting l?om the pres-ence of military posts is not confined to the Indian, but reacts, with accnmulated power, upon the soldier. The nature and objects of the War Department, as indicated by its very name, WAR, ?re essentially military, while the nature of our relrs-tions with the Indians ought to be, and the objects aimed at in their conduct are. essentiallv civil. 1 h:i\.e lnrt maug ;ribea.within twelve months, and co~~soltewdi t11 their el~iefsa nd warriors, puWicly ~ I I IpIr ivately, 311,1,w itbunt ex('rptio~~, thrv bare dvrl.lretl their unrvilli~~cneus)& h ave tbr lllilitarr amour them. It & of paramount importance tcthe interests of peace i$d to ;revent wars, that respect shonld be paid to the wishes of these people iu this matter. I believe there should be no soldier in the Indian country in time of peace. m o can wonder that these people do not wish to be placedunder thecontrolof our military authorities? Whathave they ever done to conciPlate them 1 Is it to be supposed they can desire to be gov-erned by those vho have visited upon their race most of the woes they hare experienced? Can they forget who have been employed to drive them from the Atlantic to the nlains. and who stiU nursue them in their moun-rsius and valleys, n~alp drciel:oie them even uito death ? Can rhtsg ever for::et the iudguia of t l los~w ho yl~otd ou*~b~y .m ilitnry orders, thvir olr( IIIPII, wonlcn, :~ndc llildrrn, u~lderth e \vl~itet i q a 1 ~1111 1derouro w11~ R I I - uvr, at S: I I I r~r r ~ k ?\ \'ill they forget that o~~rlnilitnsroym rtimes 11ur11 their hou~cy:,I S :it t l ~lr'a vu~.eF ork: nut1 turn theu. u.omen a11d ~chiltlrrn unsheltered into the wilderne%%? As a rule, with rare exceptions, if any, Indian tribes never break the peace without powerful provocation or actual wrong perpetrated against them k s t ; , if they are properly treated, their rights regarded, and our promises faxthfully kept to them, our treaty engagements promptly ful-filled, and their wants of subsistence liberally supplied, there is seldom, if ever, the slightest danger of a breach of the peace on t)leir part. If for want of anvrouriations the Indians now at mar had not had their snpplies of S I I I I S ~ <&~ ~~. ~nfr,rtuuatrlsgt opped tllin spring, in iny ju~lg-lut; l~th e Clte~r11nmn ntl their wllien would 11aw 1,rc.n nt pracr \\'it111 1s to-rlnv. 1tesr)cct tileu their wislles: keel) tl~eluw ell fed. ilnd there will be nd need o? armies among them. ' But-violate our pledges; postpone, ~leglecto, r refuse the fulfilment of our treaty engagements with them; permit them to get hungry and half-starved, and the presence of armies will not restrain them from war. 8. In the repwt,7th January last, of the peace commissi.on, afta full examination of the lolwle questim, the commission manimou$ly recommended that the Indian afa6rs should beplaced, not in the War Ofloe, but upon t7~e foot in*^ of an indgendent department nr bareatc. Then their facts were correct, their reasoning a i ~ dc onclusion sound, and to go back now upon that report and repudiate their own deliberate and unanimous recommendatiou, it seems to me, will subject the com-mission to severe criticism. I have no reflections to rest unon those gentlemen of the commission a l w have rltangnl trunf, for rews;,~~d.n; l~brl;>ss :lt isfiu,tor.v tru t11en1srlvr.s; hut as uo PLIVII rrilsolls have a~l~lwssetdl~ r~nar l \t.oc ~UI S mind, 1 adl~r r r to the unanimous recommendation of our Janiiary report. I think I can readily understand, however, why my colleagues of the army might desire the transfer. It is but natural they should desire it. It is the hietory of power to seek more power, and the dispensation of patronage is power. Besides, it is but natural that gentlemen edu-cated to arms, and of the army, should desire to see the aggrandizement . of the army. |