Arizona citizen., 1878-01-18
Bloody Sehurz.

been endeavOrlng to suppress burn
 ing indignation at the ignominious
 manner in which Secretary Schurz
 refers 10 one of the bureaus of his
 Department. His report is unworthy
 of his high position, and proclaims a
 condition of affairs which, if true,
 would be disgrace 10 the nation.
 The Indian bureau has many unjust
 and bitter enemies. It has become
 fashionable for the press generally to
 hurl abuse and invectives agalnst this
 bureau and it's officers, and it has been
 considered decidedly unpopular for
 any journal to attempt any defense or
 apology for the Indian service. It is
 not now our purpose to defend or ex-
 cuse any branch of the public service,
 but simply to discuss a principle.
 Schurz has been styled "a great re-
 former" The watch-word of the pres
 ent administration IS reform" and SC
 the aforesaid "great reformer" has
 tumbled to his work Tn the Indian
 business by first branding that bureau
 with glaring wholesale corrupt n. He
 says the fraudulent practices, and willy
 expedients of contractors and agents
 have been the cause of frequent and
 just aiscontent among Indians; that
 the records of the Indian office bear
 out this assertion; that the present
 detective force is insufficient, and the present system of inspection very like \ catching birds with brass band. He e prays Congress for an appropriation to pay a corps of detectives who can V tact secretly and bounce upon" these :, willy, scheming, interruptions, whole c sale thieves, cutthroats and renegades. ; U These are sweet morsels for the greedy !. palates of the many bitter enemies of D the Indian service and the fashionable, | inconsiderate, free press. How they will smile at this flat declaration of !, the "great reformer even though e they are aware of its injustice. We e know that some officers of the Indian ! bureau have rendered efficient services |, during the last year; the Secretary > does not acknowledge thls, and it r must be a source of extreme gratifica ton for them to realize that their good r work is ignored, and they are chased o with mass of unprinc:pled, unsuitable l. public plunderers. There may be evil :, and evil men Tn the Indian service, I but this sweeping accusation by the l. great reformer SchurZ is without foun- r dation and unjust We do not know l. of any Indian agents who have been sent to the penitentiary during last
 year, but we have such knowledge d concerning one or two army officers, II and yet the honorable Secretary of
 War frames his annual report in such
 chaste form as to lead one to believe
 that an army officer was not capable 1T of an evil thought. The War Secre- ,! ,! tary is just and honorable in defending n what little good there is in the army. e We should despise him If he followed s the course of the great reformer and . condemned the good with the evil, Q even though it is probable that the r evil predOminates among our warriors. # The real cause of frequent and just discontent among the Indians has its | origin in want of faith on the part e of the Government in its treaties with
 these Indians, the overt acts of certain 5 unjust citizens, and a want of prin-
 ciple and efficiency on the part C f the e United States Army But the parties
 responsible for all this injustice have
 been most constant in thelr declara-
 ticns that the Indian Agents were solely
 to blame for all discontent among our
 red-men. These Agents in the midst of ., wild people, surrounded by disaffected,
 troublesome whites, bitter, unPFinci- 't pied, plotting army officers, maligl 't ing press, and thousand other per
 plexities and endorsements, have
 struggled on, in some instances man.
 fully and successfully in executing the
 spirit and purpose of the peace policy, .a and as a reward for their faIthfulness,
 their chief, the great reformer, delivers
 them over to their enemies, and de-
 nounces them all as men without prin- lciple, character or shame.
 L This disgraceful weakness on the Il part of the official head of the Indian $ Department has been apparent for two : or three years past, and during that IT time It has had a direct tendency to II drive out of the Indian service every l. man whose principle and self-respect |. have the true ring This weakness Il finds Its grand final embodiment in l. the present Secretary, who, catering to s- the popular howl, proclaims, beware q of the Indian Agent, l declare him to D. be every thing that is vile and un- '. worthy, and if Congress will appro- prIate some money, l think l can = prove what 1 now proclaim. And n vet with the same breath the Secretary O acknowledged that all efforts to prove, [, disclose, or even discover the wicked = deeds of Indian Agents have thus far
 proved unsuccessful
 X great reform in the Indian service