Arizona weekly miner., 1875-10-01
INDIAN MATTERS.

Agent J. P. Clam of San Carlos, has writ
 ten very long letter to the Citizen, at Tue
 son. and we regret that, owing to want o
 space, we are unable to give it entire in thes,
 columns. It has been our purpose to pub
 fish all the facts in controversy between ths
 military and civil officers, so far as we could
 do so conveniently, and allow the reader to
 make up his own verdict, notwithstanding an
 effort to identify us with the m litary side of
 the question. We believe to consolidate the
 civil and military management of the tribes
 under one authority would be error, and have
 always thought so and said so, and shall con
 tinue so to think and act until convinced to
 the contrary. Indian squabbles and trou-
 bles are no new or novel questions in our ex-
 perie nee, and though we have never held a
 government appointment or fed at the pub
 lie crib, either in civil or military capacity,
 we have, nevertheless, been awake sometimes
 and seen others grow rich on very small sala-
 ries, and have never yet been able to discrim- mate between the civil and military arms of
 
 making all the money they could out of their positions, honestly if they could, and as they generally did, so far as an outsider could see, but they seldom failed to make it, and we believe it to be a good thing to have the two to hold check or each other
 Mir. Clum is, no doubt, conscientious, ear nest, honest, efficient and all that, from all We hear of him from those in whom we have the utmost confidence, he is an exception in the way of an Indian agent, in this, that he is wide awake, full of ambition, energy and determination to succeed. These are admir- able qualities in an agent, and yet we can see ho harm in the miltary's keeping watch and reporting his conduct Should the mil itary get full control of the Indian depart meDt there would be no one to watch them as the Interior department is now watched i and held in check, therefore We are in favor | of the present arrangement.
 Mir. Cum, in writing the following sen tence which we copy from his letter to the Citizen, estimates us according to standard | with which we are unfamiliar, though from the habit of seeing his own views reflected by the press, he has doubtless fallen into the error of supposing all papers written up at the dictation of some one in official position:
 "The MINER of August 20, argues that 'the removal of Indians is very detrimental to the tribes so moved" This is the voice of those officers who claim to be the cham pions of the persecuted Indians"
 Evidently the gentleman has very limited views of journalism, though he may be per feet in Indian matters. We may be mistak- en as to the policy of removing Indians from place to place. It may be just the thing to make them contented with their lot to break up their homes once or twice a year, and especially to remove them just as their corn is ripening; hut of one thing we cannot be mistaken, an that is that no off, cers voice, from General Kautz to the lowest , corporal in the service, is embodied in any i sentence published in the MINER as editorial matter. We presume the officers of the army, with all sensible people, are in accord with us on , the question of these frequent removals, but 1t is matter of no consequence to us S whether they are or not; the imputation t in the sentence quoted above is f unjust and betrayS an inclination on the part of the writer to measure other peoples corn by his own half bushel, and the hardest task c VIC find in the matter is to reconcile this man. n fest disposition of his with the extreme hon. f esty implied in the following sentence in his letter: After the military opposition was dispos ,d of at San Carlos, my conquest over these d Indians was an easy one. Any honest and earless man (and only "honest" men are s' earless,l could have done as much.' Il We have sought no quarrel with Mir. Cum, h n fact have copied nearly everything con- ( we have seen said of him, and b Ire yet inclined to defend him, notwithstand- ng the menial position to which be assigns d IS of having no opinion of our own, but act h ng simply as the echo of the voice of the W military officers. m