Arizona citizen., 1874-01-10
WORTH A REVIEW.

administration of military affairs, is worth
 brief review at this time.
 For over ten years prior to June 1871,
 the number of troops iii Arizona averaged
 higher than since that date During the
 former period, the savageS were almost
 unrestrained in their thefts and murders :;
 during the latter, they have not only
 been restrained but about every one sub
 jugated by killing outright or forced to
 live in peace upon reservations. During
 the former time, the military had unre-
 stricteG power to make the most drastic
 war; during the first year and half of
 the latter, the troops were absolutely for
 bldden to make war at all, and the savages
 continued to pillage and murder with a
 growing belief that the Great-Father"
 authorities were their friends in the hor-
 rid business and thereby they became
 harder to whip into subjection. During the former period, occasional punishment
 was inflicted upon the savages but never continued in any systematic way as has
 been in the latter. During the former period, post commanders were permitted to exercise their choice of keeping scout out of or in the garrisons during the lat ter, they have been compelled to join heartily in the general war and its plan of operations by the commanding general, or be put in comparatively unimportart positions, and those of less rank and more worth take the positions of work, war and honor. During the former peri cd, the expenses of the troops in Arizona were simply enormous compared with those of the latter. During the many years prior to the new and successful command of General Crook, the Apaches in common with the citizens of Arizona
 became impressed with a belief that regular troops could not make effective war upon the savages, and often and often after Stoneman's supersedure, was 1t said in our presence that it would be all the same under his successor; that the Indians of Arizona were worse and harder to conquer than those of Idaho, Oregon and other northern localities; that the country here was better adapted 10 Indian security and so on and so forth. The files of THE CITIZEN, as we'll as all men who know us aright, will testify that we always took the opposite view regard ing the value of the regular troops, the capacity of Gen. Crook for success over the Apaches, etc. We know that con- temptible whelps in the military service misrepresented us, but, having faith in the head over all, we were willing to remain silent so far as ourselt was concerred, to the end that the good work of peace might not in any manner be hindered by even righteous self-defense; and, at the same time, we denounced in print and otherwise as public enemies, the confden- tial and trusted agents of the Interior De- partment-which had then as now the power to remove us from office and in- cidentally lead the country to believe us unworthy of an office we would scorn to hold by toadying to anybody. Not one of the contemptible, Awning, trimming creatures who maligned us right in the face ot our kind treatment of them, would have done as we did Their craven, avariciOus souls would then as now have utterly forbidden their acting as we did. We wanted as anxiously almost as himself, that General Crook should not only win the fight over the Apaches but brig adier's commission too. It was of DO more earthly interest to us whether these points were made by the General than to the common mass of the people, and sure- ly not of so much as to the poorest farm CT or -ancher in Arizona. General Crook knows these statements to be undeniably true, and he also knows that we have never asked personal favors of him; nor are we now asking any, nor do we pur- pose to seek any in the future. The scrubs who have maligned us in this re- spect and who pretend to be the truest friends of the General, and who hold com in the army as well as positions of trust in Arizona, and have held or do hold lucrative contracts, cannot say ill truth what we can in this behalf, if they are capable of saying any truth with full knOWledge when said that it is truth