Arizona weekly miner., 1874-03-20
OUR. INDIAN BUSINESS

OUR INDIAN BUSINESS
 Since the year 1870, when 1t only cost the Gov crnment SS, 100000 to take care of the Indians, new departure has been taken, oy when aa enI peuditure much moro accordant wlth the inter ests of the Indian agents and the ring at Wasn- ineton Is permissible In 1871 they managed to squandrr @, 400 900 in thls direction. m loE, by xhoesae vigorous course of ccono.ny, tney ao9 managed to cut the amount down to s',ioVvy.V In 1873 they made amends for their seli;restrlnt and rashed the total of that year up to , Average yearly expenditure on Lo, st,ooV,ooo' There are in all, exclusive Of those in Alask', just about 270,OO0 Indians. or these, oo,oV are considered intractablc, more or Tess hosie MI thc time in spirit. but only about 1, 600 of whom can be said 10 bc inc fighting average or the 20 600, only about 75,000 are by 1oyernment treSty supposed to be regularly supplied with beef bacon, flour, coffee, sugar. blankets, etc' Thd allows Sl0 per head per annum Tor these in- diaus. But the expense of getting Blbies to the heatheu and charity to the poor of New York Is as fotbinc compared to the cost of carrying to tue red men the pittance they receive Accord Ix0sfn th. closcst and best estimates which have been made of the peculiar workings of this h. dap policy of ours 1t coets just Rtne dollars .n pay of Government officers, stcalings for Indian agents, profits for contractors, perqusites to mis- sionaries, etc, to get one dollar to Lo. Then the Indians get s75O 900 and the leeches of the lndi- an Department and its hangers-on get Sb, ,I5O,0V0 per aiatm on an average Is 1t not very evident from this plain statement of facts and figures thatboth the savages and the taxpayers of the United States are the victims of gigantic swim ,de, which Is getting worse from year to year, for the Stimates for fss4.75 are sMooien largely oyer of the years pqpotedY ? An ordinary Indian war, we told, cests $iO 900 900, and the main- .tenaace of the present system only s7,50OOO0 per ,annum; therefore we should, as measure oi economy, keep up the existing organized rascal ity! But why should we be SO outragcously swindled, either for war or peace!
 The foregoing is from the San Francisco Chronicle. The figures loom up, but they do not tell the whole tale, since the Interior Department has big deficiency bill, over and above the amount paid out in the last year, a large item of which is for feeding and taking care of Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico, which feeding was, we believe, pretty honestly done, owing, perhaps, to the presence and watchfulness of Gen Crook, who has, in manner, controlled and mould. ed Indian agents here, some of whom are naturally honest. That this deficiency bill ought to be paid is admitted by all, since those to whom the Department Is indebted have strained every point to furnish the sup plies called for.
 The statement that an ordinary Indian other wickedIy wild statements of the pray ing thieves who do the lying and make the false atfidavits for the gang of robbers who, under the cloak of religion, tunnel into the pockets of taxpayers and the stomachs of the poor Indians, as will be admitted when 1t is known that it costs but little more to main- tain troops in field than in garrison. Indeed, Crook can keep and manages few regiments of troops, here in Arizona, in active service, for less money than the same number of men can be kept in garrison. In the field, horses and other animals subsist almost entirely on the grasses of the country, and the men re- ceiye no more pay, clothing or provisions. So, all that is extra is some wear and tear of an- imals, arms, &c., and, perhaps, some wsste ol provisions.
 But, it is folly to talk of war with Indians, when, with good military management, war can be avoided. Give Crook about 5000 men and officers, and one-fourth of the money snis year appropriated for maintaining ] '::Iians. and he will, in two years, have all tue Indians in Arizona settled upon farms of their own, out of which they will be able to work their own living.
 It is not to the interest of the Army to fight Indians. Whenever they have done so successfully, they have been abused; when they have not done it, abuse has also been their portion. But a good, intelligent officer like Crook can control Indians through fear can make them work out their own salvation and civilization, without either aid or com fort from the Indian Department, which ought to be abolished.