The weekly Arizona miner., 1871-05-27
EXIT OF COL. GEO. sT0NRMAN.
ADVENT or COL GEO. CROOK.


 commanders of the Department of Arizona. We have perused them all and find that the majority arc not favorable to Colonel Stone man.
 The expression of the opinions of the press is regarded by the cnlghted public much in the light of a verdict and with reason. All acts of officials, civil and military are subject Co careful observation and criticism, success is made the criterion of merit. The long continued successful warfare against the whites, carried on by the Apaches in Arizona in the teeth of the military forces, has, after the lapse of years, excited public curiosity, and the details of their last barbarous mur- ders here, have been as regularly looked for in the California papers by their readers, as the records of births, marriages and deaths.
 The spring and fall campaigns of the Indi- ans have never failed to supply a sufiicency of bloody items and each successive season the number of their victims have increased in ratio larger than the increase of the the white population. It has become gen erally known through the United States that tribes of sneaking, treacEerous savages, in Arizona and New Mexico, have, for so long a time as these Territories have been under the American flag, detied all attempts made by Government to reduce them to submission, to insure safe transit of mails, or to afford to settlers that security for life and property guaranteed by government to its citizens
 While our civil war was raging, the killing of few Arizonans, by Indians, was not cal culated to excite much attention, on account of the carnage of the war, but when peace was made between the north and south, the published list of men, women and children carried into captivity. murdered on highways and byways, in the mines, and on the farms, horribly mutilated and tortured, of the cap- ture and destruction of trains of citizen and government freight wagons, the abduction c! large herds of mules, horses and horned cat tie, from government and from ranchmen alike, caused some pertinent question:, to be asked occasionally, through the organs of the people-the newspapers the con duct of the Apache war. As week after week the Territorial papers continued to pub fish the particulars of constantly recurring atrocities, these questions become more fre- quent; leading papers demanded in the name of the people that more apparent effort should be made to avenge the death of Amer ican citizens, and the inexpediercy of carry ing on campaign in Arizona with Headquar- ters of the commander in San Francisco was fully shown.
 The Senators and Representatives in Con- gress from California and Nevada, nobly sus- tained the Delegates from New Mexico and in their persistent endeavors to se- cure such action through Congress and the War Department, as might tend to solve the Apache problem. Their efforts were success. ful, Arizona with portion of Ssuthem Cali fornia was made Military Department, and headquarters fixed at Prescott with Colonel George Stoneman as commander. This seem- ed, to Arizonans, certain to ensure vigor- ous, sensible plan of operations against our willy foes, and no military commander ever entered upon the discharge of his duties with more hearty good wishes of the people of the Territory within and without the limits of hls command than did Colonel Stoneman. His record during the war was such that the people felt justified in giving him their faith and confidence, and they gave both implicit ly. His arrival here last summer, was the oc- casion of our ovation. At every settlement he visited last fall on his trip through the Territory, he was joyfully received, and the programme of his winter campaign was ap- plauded as the very thing needed. We are not at all disposed to continue to criticise the policy of Col. Stoneman. Arizonans, as q people gave up all hope of relief from him when headquarters were removed to Will mington, California, last fall, and his report, written there, fell into their own hands.
 The incidents Of the last six months show whether the popular feeling was justifable or not. The Apaches made the winter cam gaign in Arizona, Col George Stoneman made it in Drum Barracks. The pens of abler writers have taken up the cause and have given to the world more caustic censure of his acts than las appeared in Arizona papers. We have published his report and stated our views in previous numbers. We now venture to prophecy that no officer can step into the command of the Department of Arizona. cOnouer or copciIiate the Anacbas .y;n .Lo