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Show 16 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. SHALL O m INDIAiVS BE CIVILIZED 9 AND BOW 7 HIJIcUa nmlr Indiastribes becivilizpd ?-Assu~ningthnt thegovt~rnmeut has a l i d ~ ta,1 1d that it is its ~lurvto solve tile In~lia~~c~uesctli~o~nti nitc~lv and dec?sivels. it becomes necesiarv that it determine at once the beit ~~~ ~ ~~~.~~~~ and speediesi method of its solution, and then, armed with right, to act in the intrre.4 of both races. If might makes right, we are the strong and they the weak; and we would do no wrong to proceed by the cheapest and nearest route to the desired end, and could, therefore, jnstifj ourselveu in ignoring the natu-ral as well as the conventional nchts of the Indians. if thev stand in the way, and, as their lawful masters, assign them the& statusand their tasks, or put them out of their own way and ours bv extermiuation with the sworl, starvation, or by any other method. If, however, they have rights as well as we, then clearly it is our duty as well as sound policy to so solve thequestion of their future relations to us and each other. as to secure their rishts and orornote their hichest ~ ~ - intereat, in the sihplest, easiest, and mkt Pvonokicnl way ~~os3il1la. R I It~o asslrule they hare no rigbtn is to 11c11yt he thnd:~ment;rlp rinci-ples of Christianity, ns well as toeontradict the whole theory iipou which the governnleut has unil'orollg a r t r~tlo wards t hm~ ;w r arc tl~rrc.foro bound t~ r~specth eir rigl~ts,n ull, it' loossibla, lnalir oor ieteresls 11;lr- 1~1t1nizwe nrh thew. 'Chis brines us to theec,~~dideri~toiof nth e ouwrioll : How can the 1ndia%prob7m~seol ved so as best toprotect and secure the rights of the Indians, and at th same time promote the highest interesh- of both races?-This question haslong trembled in the heartsof philanthw pists,, and perplexed the brains of statesmen. It is one that forces itself at t h ~ms oment upon Congress and the couutry, for an immediate prac-tical answer. The time for speculation and delay has passed ; action must be had, and that promptly. History and experience have laid the key to its solution in our hands, at the proper moment, and all weneed to do is to use it, and we at once reach the desired answer. It so happens that under the silent and seemingly slow operation of efficient causes, ccrtain tribes of our Indians have already emerged from a state of pagan bar-barism, and are to-day clothed in the garments of civilization, and sitting under the vine and fig tree of an intelligent seripturalChristianity. Within the present century their blanketed fathers struggled in deadly conflict with our pioneer ancestors in the lovely valleys of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi ; among the mountain gorges and along the banks of the beautiful streams of western North Carolina and East Ten-nessee, and in theeverglades of Florida; and madeclassic the fields of Tal-ladega, Emnckfau, and the Ho:se-shoe, which gave to history and fame the illustrious name of Andrew Jackson. Within the memory of living men, their tomahawksreflected the light of the burning cabins of white settlers on the Nolachucky and French Broad, the Hiawassee and the Tennessee rivers and their tributaries ; their scalping-knives dripped with the blood of our border settlers, and their defiant battle-yells woke the echoesamong the green savannahs and vine.tang1ed forests of the south. But behold the contrast which greets the world to-day ! The blanket and the bow are discarded: the soear is broken. and the hatchet and mar-cl~~lieb bwied; the xkih l t~lgdsn d prin~itive'wpeh ave f i ivt :~pl ave to b e c ott.igc au11 the mnurion; rbe b~~cksl iriolb~e lthe 1,;rint a1111b e:~dx have vauielteil, and nre no\\. ~.ex~laeewdv ith thc mateful fabrics of civil. ization. ~ e d i c i n elo dges and their orgies, and heathen oeerings, are |