62 NOTES TAKEN. 
the civilization and enlightenment of the nineteenth cen- 
tury ! 
A bill has been introduced into Deeceea. by the young 
and talented Senator from Arkansas, to organize a terri- 
torial government, which, sanctioning the privilege of pur- 
chase in, and settlement upon, the Reserves, by the white 
population from the States, would soon change the face 
of affairs for the better, for what clearer proof is necessary 
of the inefficiency of the pure blooded’ native to manage in 
a civilized community, than the fact, that in almost every 
instance, the leading men in these tribes are either half- 
breeds, or have a tincture of white blood in their veins, 
* The Senator has displayed the highest grade of philan- 
thropy and sagacity by his efforts in this cause, and if 
successful, will not only elevate and retrieve the Indian 
character from aspersion, but relieve the general govern- 
ment from a heavy burden of imputation of wrong and 
injustice, under which it now labors. 
Two views are to be taken of the savage state. Either 
it is a state of degradation from original greatness, or else 
the natural condition of man. If the former, it may be 
restored ; if the latter, it may be improved, 
That nations may decline in civilization, is evidenced in 
the degraded condition of the nomadic hordes that roam 
the vast plains of the East, descendgnts of a people who 
built the greatest. cities of their time, but that they may 
be improved, is a cardinal principle of philanthropy, 
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