56 The Book of Woodcraft 



power in the hands of one man, most of the great business 

 enterprises of the world could not have been; especially 

 enterprises that required the prompt action impossible in a 

 national commission. All great steps in national progress 

 have been through some one man, to whom the Kght came, 

 and to whom our system gave the power to realize his idea. 



The Indian's answer is, that all good things would have 

 been estabHshed by the nation as it needed them ; anything 

 coming sooner comes too soon. The price of a very rich 

 man is many poor ones, and peace of mind is worth more 

 than railways and skyscrapers. 



In the Indian Ufe there was no great wealth, so also pov- 

 erty and starvation were unknown, excepting under the 

 blight of national disaster, against which no system can 

 insure. Without a thought of shame or mendicancy, the 

 young, helpless and aged all were cared for by the nation 

 that, in the days of their strength, they were taught and 

 eager to serve. 



And how did it work out? Thus: Avarice, said to be 

 the root of all evil, and the dominant characteristic of our 

 race, was unknown among Indians, indeed it was made 

 impossible by the system they had developed. 



These facts long known to the few are slowly reaching all 

 our people at large, in spite of shameless writers of history, 

 that have done their best to discredit the Indian, and to 

 that end have falsified every page and picture that promised 

 to gain for him a measure of sympathy. 



Here are the simple facts of the long struggle between the 

 two races: 



There never yet was a massacre of Indians by whites — 

 and they were many — except in time of peace and made 

 possible by treachery. 



There never yet was an Indian massacre of whites except 

 in times of declared war to resist invasion. 



