University of Virginia Library

3940. INDIANS, Trade vs. Armies.—[continued].

Have you thought of the Indian drawback? The Indians can be kept
in order only by commerce or war. The former
is the cheaper. Unless we can induce individuals
to employ their capital in that trade,
it will require an enormous sum of capital from
the public treasury, and it will be badly managed.
A drawback for four or five years is the
cheapest way of getting that business off our
hands.—
To Albert Gallatin. Washington ed. v, 227.
(W. 1808)