The Indian Question [pp. 438-447]

442 THE INDIAN QUESTION. [July,
be described as "a land flowing with milk and honey," and
lacking nothing that man can need. Such is the country our
Government has set apart as the home of the Indian for all
time to come. Yet, it is this fair land that "Chickasaw curses
as a reservation.
Here, let it also be said, are already gathered the finest
tribes of the race. These are already well advanced in civilization. They make and administer their own laws; support
their own churches and schools. They raise their own food
and build their own houses. From the cotton-field and flock
they gather the material, and manufacture their own clothing.
Yea, more: at the national fair at St. Louis, two years ago, the
Choctaws took the highest premium for cotton over all competitors.
The process by which, in less than fifty years, these tribes
have been changed from barbarism to civilization. is very simple. The Government established the reservation, guarded it
from intrusion, and, transferring to the several churches the
funds for education, suffered them to do the work in their
own way. A few devoted men and women, servants of
Jesus Christ, and having the Master's blessing, did the work.
The work was well done. Schools were established. True
Christian homes were planted everywhere. The Bible was
given to the tribes in their own tongue. Thousands were
worthily gathered into the Church of Christ. Savage idleness
was changed to Christian industry.
Thus the "Indian Question" was answered. Every element
of decay was checked. War had no victim for thirty years.
Strong prohibitory laws, pretty well enforced, checked intemperance. The marriage relation, established by law, repressed
lewdness; and, through instruction, disease lost much of its
fatality. As a result, these tribes, before the war, were gaining
in population. The war brought sad changes. The missionaries were, by the Texans, driven away. The schools were
broken up. Anarchy prevailed. Pea Ridge was dotted with
Indian graves.
Now, this reverse only confirms the logic of the previous
prosperous years. All goes to show, that, give the Indian a
fair opportunity; shield him from adverse influences; give him
the teaching of the Bible; and bring him under the power of