WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1830
170
of corn-meal sour, and unfit for use, and when the Emigrants call for it they are compelled to take it; beg or starve, none other is provided, and if they use this, sickness must be the conse- quence. Does the Colonel call this "mercy" to the Indians? Or will the contractor be paid for the meal? He should inquire into matters before he orders the reniittcince. s. B. IA1·/.a11sas Gazette (Little Rock), August 4, 1830. This article brought out a scathing reply in the issue of October 20, 1830.
[September 8, 1830]
Fo1· the Arkansas Gazette
THE INDIANS!! !-CHAPTER THIRD It has been my intention so often, and at times when my leisure and opportunity would permit, to prosecute the subject of "the Indians"-the manner in which they have been, and are now, treated in Arkansas. In the pursuit of this object, it has not been my design to assail private character, or to indulg2 in the range of Billingsgate vulgarity; nor will I establish the cause of the Indians by any such means.. And it would be idle to suppose that any invective, recrimination, or abuse of the suvposed author of these essays should afford a subterfuge to the guilty, who seek to make a diversion, that they may escape the just odium which must, and shall, attach to the enormity of their crimes. Two writers have appeared in the Gazette of the 4th August, one over the signature of "Hugh Love," and.the other over the signature of "Mar-hin-wa" (or truth) . The first declares, that "respect for public opinion," &c induces him to present himself, although "he is no writer." This is all very well, and I have no doubt, but that he supposes the whole world must be thrown into commotion by his convulsions, (a storm in a tea cup) ; and if he cannot write, why he can obtain some one to help him, and aid in pruning off the luxuriant suckers of his too fertile imagination. It is fine indeed, but he will not stoop to contradict any fact charged, be- cause he knows that, whether the facts apply to him or the Agent, they are true. His vaunting ambition recurs to his past honors and "offices," and he forgets, when speaking of settling matters with "near neighbors," that it was some weeks previous to his employing a convenient sort of friend to write his publication, that the "nea1· neighbo'r" to whom he re:(ers·, did refuse to accept
Powered by FlippingBook