8873. WAR, Bribery vs.—[continued].
I hope we shall give the Indians a good drubbing this summer, and
then change our tomahawk into a golden
chain of friendship. The most economical as
well as the most humane conduct towards
them is to bribe them into peace, and to retain
them in peace by eternal bribes. The
expedition this year would have served for
presents on the most liberal scale for one
hundred years; nor shall we otherwise ever
get rid of an army, or of our debt. The least
rag of Indian depredation will be an excuse
to raise troops for those who love to have
troops, and for those who think that a public
debt is a good thing.—
To Charles Carroll. Washington ed. iii, 246.
(Pa.,
1791)
