1809 Government Proposal to Steal from One Group to Pay Another (we now call it taxes)

In 1809, Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis & Clark expedition across the North American continent)was arranging an escort to return an Indian Chief to his tribal home after a visit to President Jefferson. Lewis wished to employ 300 Indians from friendly tribes to help them pass through the territory of the hostile Arikara Indians. Their pay? "...as a reward for their Services, the plunder which they may acquire from the Aricares (sic)."

In other words, the government was authorizing its employees to pay themselves with assets taken from another group of people (albeit not U.S. citizens). It reminds me of the power of taxation being implemented, with the support of the citizen majority (who voted the politicians into office), to take from the minority ("The Rich"). The successful officeholder buys votes by promising government benefits (handouts) to different groups of voters, paid for with tax revenue extracted from the producers of wealth. Doesn't seem just, using their money to pay off the people who take it from them. But that's just me.