Weekly Chemawa American., August 20, 1909, Image 1

VOL. 12
What the Iroquois Did.
To say that the American people are
indebted to any of the American Indians
for the political system that they prize
bo highly seems a somewhat bold state
ment to make, but an address delivered
last month by Senator Root, of New York,
goes far to justify it. To many of our
readers, no doubt, the facts narrated by
the Senator at Plattsburg, N. Y., on July
7, at the Champlain Tercentenary cele
bration will be little short of a revela
tion; for according to his statements, all
the wide differences in conditions relig
ious, political and social between the
countries of North American and those
of South American to-daj' are largely
due to the attitude taken up by the Iro
quois during the struggle on this contin
ent between England and France in the
seventeenth century.
Had France been the victor in that
struggle it is evident that there would
have been no Declaration of Independ
ence, no Constitution of the United
States, no public school system, no re
ligious liberty, no open Bible, and no
freedom of the State from ecclesiastical
control. France at, that 'lime was under
the control of the powerful Italian polit-
NO. 9
ico-religious oligarchy, the yoke of which
she threw off only a few years ago, and
the civil institutions that we most prize
are diametrically opposed to the princi
ples held by the men who represented
France here three hnndred years ago.
Bearing this information in mind, is it
possible for any American citizen to do
too much for the the benefit of those
whose ancestors did so much to secure
for him those social and political insti
tutions that he prizes so highly? The
Indian's Friend.
Brevities
Oscar Case is landscape gardener for
and has charge of .Mrs. Woods' grounds
about her cottage.
Elmer Henry is now fireman at the
power house and his wood-haulers are
Ed Lynch and Jacob Scott. '
Francis Kalama is painting the
dwelling occupied by Messrs. Van Tassel
and Swaboda and their families.
Miss Anna Bender, of the office force,
and her sister, Miss Elizabeth G. Bender,
who is here on a visit from Browning,
Montana, went over to Newport Satur
day and returned Monday. They re
port having had an enjoyable time.
AUGUST 20, 1909.