of the country as shall be incident to the absorption of this
race, relying upon the inherent vigor of our stock to assimilate much
and rid itself of more, until, in the course of a few human generations,
the native Indians, as a pure race or a distinct people, shall have
disappeared from the continent.

The reasons for maintaining that nothing less than a system of moral and
industrial education and correction can discharge the government of its
obligations to the Indians, or save the white population from an
intolerable burden of pauperism, profligacy, and petty crime, have been
presented sufficiently at length in this paper. The details of
management and instruction need not be here discussed: most of them are
within the administrative discretion of the department charged with
Indian affairs; and, where power is wanting to the department, the good
feeling of Congress may be safely trusted to give the necessary
authority. But the points which have been presented are of vital
consequence, and must, if the evils we apprehend are to be prevented, at
an early date be embodied in legislation which shall provide means and
penalties ample for its own enforcement.

Are the Indians destined to die out? Are we to make such provision as
has been indicated, or such other as the wisdom or unwisdom of the
country shall determine, for a vanishing race? Or are the original
inhabitants of the continent to be represented in the variously and
curiously composed population which a century hence will constitute the
political body of the United States? If this is to be in any appreciable
degree one of the elements of our future population, will it be by
mixture and incorporation? Or will the Indian remain a distinct type in
our museum of humanity, submitting himself to the necessities of a new
condition, adapting himself, as he may be able to do, to the laws and
customs of his conquerors, but preserving his own identity, and making
his separate contribution to the life and manners of the nation?

The answers to these questions will depend very much on the course to be
followed in the immediate future with respect to the tribes not yet
embraced within the limits of States of the Union. If, for the want of a
definite and positive policy of instruction and restraint, they are left
to scatter under the pressure of hunger, the intrusion of squatters and
prospectors, or the seductions of the settlements, there is little doubt
that the number o