Page:Visit of the Hon. Carl Schurz to Boston, March 1881.pdf/71

58 way for the time,—not far distant let us hope,—when like the African, who is no longer slave or freedman, the Indian, dropping his exceptional status, shall be registered only as an American citizen.

On the Indian question there is one pre-eminent authority,—Bishop Whipple. With him this is no new sensation, no fresh topic of declamation. He has known the Indian for a quarter of a century, not afar off, but by immediate intercourse in camp and wigwam. He has been quick to see the red man's wrongs, and fearless in denouncing them. By his consecration to the work he reminds us of kindred services to aboriginal races rendered, within our memory, by Selwyn and Patteson on a distant continent. Says this distinguished expert on the Indian question:—

“It is due to Mr. Schurz that I should say, that, in twenty-one years' intercourse with this department, I have never found an officer of the government more ready to examine into the wrongs done to the Indians; whenever proof has been submitted, he has tried to redress the wrong. He has shown a courage and fidelity in the discharge of duty which called out my hearty gratitude. To him we owe the establishment of Indian police, the employment of Indian freighters, the removal of bad white men for immorality, and many other reforms.”

To my mind the testimony of this saintly bishop is worth more than that of the critics whose newborn zeal for the Indian has behind it no toils and sacrifices in his behalf.