Arizona silver belt., 1883-03-24
WIlcOxs "lfTTER OF DEFENSE,'
In Which Nc lndulges In. Bil. nngsgate and Makes no Denial of the chargestof Misappro.
 priating Govt Property.

-
 There are few exceptions to the gen. era rule that wrong-doers contain within themselves the elements oftheir own destruction. Give them plenty of rope and they will sooner or later hang themselves. Serious charges were recently preferred by .ex-chief of scouts Burgess against P. P. Wilcox, Indian Agent at San Carlos, and backed by sworn affidavits were for warded to tEe Secretary of the Interior Department, and an investigation de- handed. One of the charges was the misappropriation of government prop erty; another was cohabiting with a squaw, and another the violation of a -statute. MaHifestly if MT. Wilcox was innocent, no publication of a letter of denial was necessary; in fact it would be improper. A thorough investiga- ton would be what an innocent man would seek, and use his influence to obtain. But Wilcox is evidently guilty, and naturally kicks against an inyes- tigation, and he has acted the part of a scrub all the way through. He so- licited and obtained from Gen. Crook letter of indorsement. No person of judgment can carefully read Crooks letter without feeling that while it lifts nothing from the shoulders of Wilcox, it shows Crook to be man of defective judgment and little sense of propriety. The. eliminating act of foolishness on the part of Wilcox is the illumination of an uncalled-for ''letter of defense" The letter was addressed to his friend Teller, Secreta- " of the Interior, and has been pub lished in the Tucson papers. He makes very lame denial of the charge of violating the following statute of the United States, found in title XVIII, ch. 1, R. s.:
 SEC. 2O78.-No person employed in Indian affairs shall have any interest or concern in any trade with the In dians, except for and on account of the United States; and any person offend ing herein shall be liable to a penalty ofS5,0OO. and shall be removed from his office,
 No denial is made of the charge of misappropriating government proper ty, nor the charge of cohabiting with a sQuaw. Wilcox says that the charge was made by Donald Robb, of Globe, fisopa, eA- by. sfiiaayits of four persons who claim to have good cause to believe that Agent Wilcox pur- chased the store of Hise Brothers, with its stock of goods on his own account In alengthy affidavit reciting all the circumstances attending the purchase of the store by John A. Showalter, hls son-in-law, Agent Wilcox denies hay ing any interest in that or any other store on the reservation, and intro duces the sworn statement of John H Hise, of whom the store was pur- chased; John A. Showalter, the al legged purchaser; H. H. Callahan Hise's clerk; and James A. Taggart and c. B. Ayres, who were present when the transfer was made, and who helped to take an account of the stock all of whom assert in positive terms that nothing was said by Agent. Will COX to indicate that he had or expected to have any interest in the store; but on the contrary that they had good reason to believe that J. A. Showalter was the sole owner-Showalter's own affidavit, asserting this to be true.
 Wilcox closes with the following frantic attack on every one directly ol indirectly connected with the attempt to effect his removal from the respon' sible position he has disgraced by his dishonesty and fragrant immortality:
 "Placed in position where an an swer to the vapory and incoherent let. ter of ofcomplaint of Donald Robb made necessary, l see no other way of per forming a disagreeable duty except by opposing the dignified and candid statements of honorable gentlemen to the dribble of disreputable knaves whd.. without, exception, have been subjected to merited' agency discipline and warning. and, who, because o] their animal interests of malice, have taken up as mouth-pieces of the fel. lows referred to by General Crook in his letter tQ. you of the 23 ult., as the remdant of the old Indian ring of this territory, vampires who fattened on the blood of their fellow creatures"
 These assaults have been made upon mo, and these hounds missed on by C. T. Connell, Indian trader; A. H. Hack ney, editor BELT, (newspaper) Globe Charles Fisk, banker, Globe; J. C. Tiffany, ex-Indian agent, and Reuben Wood, Indian trader; a corrupt cabal joined together by common interest of plunder, in a union cemented by the near prospect of being driven from their prey.
 Connel1 is the man who harbored that blotch upon society, John B. Bur gess, who was driven from the reser- vation for selling firearms to Indians. It was ,Connell who had in his employ