Carl Schurz, Nelson Appleton Miles, Richard Henry Pratt, and others

“ Good results are inevitable as the dawn of day. More than 400 years ago the Spanish Government authorized the enslavement of the American Indians. In the early days the colonies were widely separated and the Indians were numerous. They were proud of their history and their strength. All that is changed. Their number have been diminished, their powers exhausted. They cannot maintain a separate nationality. It would be well for them and wise for us if we could adopt the best means to bring them within the pale of civilization. ”

“ I thought of the Hindu Indians, and wondered what they would think of the American people if they could see our own Indians. The Indians are as deep thinkers as any people in the world. Boston is disturbed about the Poncas. I went out to Lee with one of the Indian boys, and there I found a history of the county, telling how the land was bought from the Indians for £485, two barrels of flour, and 30 quarts of rum. That was where Massachusetts began. Indians, some of them, are just as good and loyal citizens as anybody. They want to do what is right when they know how. ”

“ Our Protestant religion stands impeached for doing so much less than we might have done. “Our people,” said the speaker, ”have developed certain features before which I stand in awe. We are a kind people. On all the globe you will not find a people so kind to the aged, the feeble, the downtrodden as we are. We have a public conscience. A recognized wrong takes the lightning quicker than any rod on this continent. ”

“ Humane statesmanship demands that we should open our eyes to the facts and see what remedies we can find. There is this great alternative—either a conflict, which must result in extermination or civilization. Let us do all in our power to induce them to fit themselves for the rights and duties of civilized life. ”

“ Hitchcock, in his introductory remarks, said that it is impossible to speak well of civilization in its dealings with the Indians. Our American Christian civilization has not done its duty by these barbarous tribes. But it must be borne in mind that when civilization and barbarism meet, they meet on a line of fire. No Government can control its frontiersmen. ”

“ We will not make them great statesmen, but industrious small farmers and tradesmen. The ultimate end must be clear to every thinking mind. It is the gradual absorption of the Indian race in the great body of the people. ”

“ That may have been the case when civilization was not in demand among the Indians. But things have wonderfully changed. The old mode of life is felt to be untenable. They know that work will become necessary—that knowledge will be in demand to that end. Even the old fogy chiefs want to see their children educated. An educated Indian is no longer ridiculed, but envied. ”

“ If we want the Indians to respect their women we must teach the women to respect themselves. I commend this object mainly to your consideration. The time will come when we will speak no more of Sioux and Apaches, but of good and orderly American citizens of Indian descent. ”

“ The system at these schools calls for a very large extension. Congress ought to be liberal to educate the Indians. Hampton is not a Government institution. Instead of two schools we ought to have fifteen in various parts of the older States. We want particularly to enable Gen. Armstrong to erect a building for the education of Indian girls. Indian women have always been only beasts of burden. No human society can be good where woman is not recognized as an equal. Woman makes the atmosphere and must make the attraction of the human home. ”

“ The Indians show a laudable zeal in pursuit of education. The first step has been the establishment of schools on the reservations. This system is necessarily imperfect, and must remain so for a time. An Indian must not only learn how to read and write, but he must learn how to live. ”

“ The Roman Catholic Spaniards have done better by the savages than our Protestant Christians. What Roman Catholic Spain could do for the Mexican Indians she did, and she puts our Protestant work to shame. ”

“ The whole problem cannot be solved at once by giving them rights they cannot understand or appreciate. They are not yearning to become citizens. Most of them would to-day look upon citizenship with suspicion. They must be educated up to it, fitted carefully for the exercise of their rights and duties. First, they should be taught to work; secondly, they should be individualized, and not hold lands in common; thirdly, they should be educated, particularly the youths. They are more ready to follow the lead of Government now than they ever were before. ”

“ It is important that when he goes back to his home he shall not go back to a wilderness.” Bishop Hare was followed by Gen. Armstrong, of the Hampton School. “We must beware of over-education,” he said. “It would be a blunder, if not a crime, to send the young Indians back to their homes with new tastes that they could not gratify. It takes them about a year and a half to learn to read intelligently. In about three years they can speak English very well. Indians are very quick to learn, particularly work in leather. An Indian boy never made a bad pair of shoes.” ”

“ We all know that it is impossible. Whether it is right or not, it is true, and we must deal with facts in this question. The power of the Government is great in some respects, but it is very weak in others. ”

“ They know that they can no longer live by hunting. They are open to tuition. Within my own experience their work has been much extended. Many of them are herders. There are 2,000 freight wagons now run by Indians, and they are honest, faithful, and efficient. On the plains of Dakota they have often suffered from hunger without even breaking open a cracker-box. Some of them are successful small traders, and have made money. A Sioux Indian who visited Washington lately, well dressed, began two years ago with $25, and had made $2,000 by trading. ”