The weekly Arizona miner., 1872-05-18
THE INDIAN QUESTION.
Speeches of General Howard, Rev. E. P.
 Smith. and Judge H. H. Cartier.

the citizens of this vicinity, and agreed to do so. The MINER gave due notice of the meet ing last Friday, and named the Courtroom as the place: but, during the day, it was de- cided to use Mr. Bashford's building, which is the largest in town, and the seats were transferred from the courtroom. The build ing will hold 300 persons, and was crammed full, and many went away, unable to get even standing room inside the house.
 At o'clock P. M., General Howard and Rev. E. P. Smith were escorted to the stand by Col. H. A. Bigelow, wbo said:
 Ladies and Gentlemen :-I have the honor to introduce to you General Oliver 0. Howard, Special Peace Commissioner of the United States Government to the hostile Indians oi Arizona The General proposes to explain to us the peace policy of the Administration his own views on the Apache question, and the method by which it is proposed that the reign of peace shall be established between the Colorado river and the Rio Grande. | The General arose, was greeted with cheers by the audience, and, when quiet was restor- cd, spoke substantially as follows:
 Laolies aud Geadenen: II came here to- night, not, as from my introduction 1t might appear, on my own seeking, or to serve my own purposes, but in response to your invita- ton that would meet you here. Your num- bers here testify to the interest felt by the people of Arizona in the question on which am to speak; and can assure you that my own desire to have the Indian difficulties speedily and permanently settled is, believe, as strong as that of any individual in Ari- zona. This mission was not sought by me. I accepted it at the earnest request of the President and the Secretary of the Interior, and, having accepted it, have given my whole time, strength, and all the energies of mind and body 1 possess 10 the work, and propose to continue to do so until that peace which am thoroughly convinced you Ari- zonans all most fervently desire is procured for you.
 This cannot be accomplished in day, but the foundations to build on are, I believe, firmly laid, and the work will progress as rap idly as the nature of it will permit.
 The President is in earnest in the policy of treating the Indians, in the States and Terri tories, which he has inaugurated, and believes it to be the best and quickest method of pac- flying the hostile Indian tribes.
 You are not the only people living among hostile Indians, nor are the Apaches the only tribes to be dealt with. Were it so, the prob lem would be comparatively easy of solution. Mir. Smith, who is seated at my left, can tell you of the Indian troubles in Minnesota and of the feelings of the whites in that State, which are similar to your own, and in New Mexico, Texas, and great portion of the country north of you, a like state of affairs exists.
 An idea has become prevalent that there is no sympathy in Congress and among the peO pie of the Eastern States for the whites in Arizona, and those similarly situated else where. In this you are all mistaken. True, the peculiar situation of this people is not thoroughly understood, but it is becoming better appreciated every day, and my visit to you is for the express purpose of gaining all possible information on the subject, to confer with the citizens, to aid in bringing about a good understanding between the settlers, and the people of the East, and to learn the very best means to adopt for your present and fu- ture security, as we'll as for the purpose of giving protection to Indians peaceably dis posed, and inaugurating system for forcing peace, if necessary, upon those Indians who are determined to be hostile My mission here is not to prevent General Crook from chastising bad Indians, nor is it the purpose of the Government to do SO that is proven by President Grants letter to Gen. Schofield, which is published in the Arizona MINER of to-day. Reads the letter.
 That letter is explicit, and am pleased to be able to say that, after full conference with him, I find that my own views as to the proper course to be pursued by the military force in Arizona, are almost identical with those of the gallant commander of that force, General George Crook. Prolonged cheering. l
 It is notorious and lamentablc fact that no treaty ever made by Government with the Indians has been fully kept, on our part. You all know how it has been in Arizona. I saw an instance of it on the Colorado river, as soon as entered the Territory. A treaty of peace was made more than twenty years ago between Government agents and the | Yuma Indians. The Yumas have ever since been peaceable, but the stipulations on the part of the Government have been, of late years, totally disregardcd. l had an inter view with the Yuma chief, Pascual, near Ari- zona City, and he proudly boasted that he had kept his word, and complained that the terms of the treaty by which his tribe were annually to receive certain articles of food, clothing, etc, had not been fulfilled. Pascual told the truth, and the Yuma treaty and its observance on the part of Government is a fair sample of all our Indian treaties. The fact is too we'll known that, of the large ap- propriations made annually by Congress for the Indians, but tithe has ever reached them in any way. An army of corrupt, swim ding contractors, agents and employees has fattened on the disbursements of Indian funds, Farmers and mechanics who, by treaty terms were to live among and teach Indians to work, have generally lived long distance away from them, but have never failed to draw their regular pay. Shoddy blankets and clothing, damaged and worthless pro- visions have been distributed to the poor, half-starved wrctches, until they have oiten been almost driven to hostile acts by the con- duct of the very men who, as Government officials, were expected to assist in producing opposite results. Under the new policy, all
 this IS to be changed; in fact, the change has
 already begun. The old plan of making ap- pointments of Indian superintendents, agents, inferior officials, and employees, subservient to political influences, has been oyerthrown and the matter turned ovar to O Cor,,;ss;ap