events by which the Indian was compelled to never-ceasing retreat before the advance of the white man is thus described:
" Since the discovery of America a system of extermination, of moving the Indians, thrusting them further back, has been pursued and practiced by the whites, little by little at first, more and more as the European settlers multiplied and gained strength. At this day this same policy is marching with giant strides; the drama of spoliation has reached its last act, both east and west of the Rocky Mountains. The curtain will soon fall upon the poor and unhappy remnants of the Indian tribes, and they will henceforth exist only in history."
And how this irresistible process drove them to desperation and war with all its savage horrors is thus set forth:
" The unhappy war which is now raging so fiercely over all the extent of the Great Desert east of the Rocky Mountains has, like so many other Indian wars, been provoked by injustices and misdeeds on the part of the whites and even the agents of the Government. For years and years they have deceived the Indians with impunity in the sale of their lands, and by the embezzlement, or rather open theft, of immense sums paid by the Government therefor. The Indians, driven to extremity, after being swindled and robbed through a long series of years, and unable to obtain any justice against their oppressors, utter at last their terrible war cry against the whole race of the enemy."
Here follows a statement, replete with wisdom, of the situation as it appeared to thoughtful observers when our Sioux wars were at their height. Its exoneration of the Government from complicity in the wrongs practiced upon the Indians is an example of broad-mindedness which one does not often meet with among the so-called " friends " of the redmen.
" In order to form a just idea of their critical position, and of the melancholy consequences which will be the result unless restrained by special protection of divine Providence,