130 The Winning of the West 



the use of their people the Sioux hunting-grounds. 

 Nevertheless, it is the men actually on the borders 

 of the longed-for ground, the men actually in con 

 tact with the savages, who in the end shape their 

 own destinies. 



The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a 

 war with savages, though it is apt to be also the 

 most terrible and inhuman. The rude, fierce settler 

 who drives the savage from the land lays all civ 

 ilized mankind under a debt to him. American 

 and Indian, Boer and Zulu, Cossack and Tartar, 

 New Zealander and Maori, in each case the vic 

 tor, horrible though many of his deeds are, has 

 laid deep the foundations for the future greatness 

 of a mighty people. The consequences of struggles 

 for territory between civilized nations seem small 

 by comparison. Looked at from the standpoint of 

 the ages, it is of little moment whether Lorraine 

 is part of Germany or of France, whether the 

 Northern Adriatic cities pay homage to Austrian 

 kaiser or Italian king; but it is of incalculable 

 importance that America, Australia, and Siberia 

 should pass out of the hands of their red, black, 

 and yellow aboriginal owners, and become the her 

 itage of the dominant world races. 



Yet the very causes which render this struggle 

 between savagery and the rough front rank of civ 

 ilization so vast and elemental in its consequence 

 to the future of the world, also tend to render it 

 in certain ways peculiarly revolting and barbarous. 

 It is primeval warfare, and it is waged as war 



