Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-10-10

THE Indian problem m Arizona seems
 10 be as far from satisfactory solution
 as ever, and all theoretical plans so far
 presented have been set up only to be
 knocked down again by some impractI-
 cal conditions. The question Is one of
 too serious nature to be treated lightly
 or to be pass'd by with sneers and ridi-
 cule. Human blood is precious, and
 demands the protection for which gcv-
 ernments are organized, only condition
 ed upon a principle of exact justice to
 all. The Indian has many Bpologists.
 The eastern philanthropist will talk elo.
 quently of the wrongs heaped upon the
 head of the red man, but they will not
 relinquish foE his benefit a single foot
 of the lands their fOretathers wrong
 fully deprived him of. But they go
 farther, and imply retrIbutive justice
 in the act of baud Of red mnrderers
 and p'rates-outlaws among Indians out
 oRsts-lesying a trail of human blood among the innocent settlers who have no such sins as thsir forefathers had to answer for, against the Indians. Some B, of them even thInk We ought to bear 10 silence Bnd resignation the burdeC of the sins Of the whole people, and pay the bloody atonement with Christian humility. That Is a very pretty sen;l- | ment. and exhibits heroic willingness | in them to sacrifice anyone else's life or property in expiation of crimes they | have inherited; but in practice it re- quires different sort of faith in the | justice of such immolstion-such as the stu rdy, practical, common sense from tiersmen possess.
 Neither do we favor the other extreme | of the total auDihilation of the Indians in !iscrimiuatsly. but Va hold that they | should be held responsible for the crlmes | they commit and be subjected to to, | penalties of the law. If they are ex | emp;ei from this responsibility there + no good reason why they should not be suspected to the ex.erminating hunt | that is Waged RgaInst predatory wild | beasts.
 Indians. maintaining their tribal re- lRtIODs and assigned to re e3ervations with fixed boundaries, are considered | and treated as wards of the govern ment. The government provides for their needs beyond their productive cs- pRcity and 1t is responsible for their acts of lawlessness and depreciation. In the case of the savage Apaches, assigned | to the White Mountain reservation, the utmost latitude of freedom has been | given, and they have been permitted | tO retain theIr arms and ammunition | and even the plunder taken from then dead victims. Some people have said that the arms were necessary to hunt for game, but the government contracts for supplies offresh beeftha fully meets all their requirements, and go far they have hunted only human game. IL has alsp been stated that the Indians were robbed of their Tations by mercenar. agents, but We ask, if even this be true, were they tine agents of the settler upon whom the sgvages wrecked ven geance, or Of the goverDment-the re- sponsible party in theIr maintenaDceE If, with arms, ammunition, horses ano dcgs they were starving upon the reser- vation, what argument can be produced to verify the statement that the en- croachment of the settlers have aroused their resentment? The military were protecting the savsges against any in- truders from the outside, but are power less to protect the whites from the en- slRughts of the governments's wards. Is there any semblance of justice in all this?
 The people have right to com plain of their treatment in this respect and they should be praised for theIr long tried patience and their regard for law and order that restrsins them from wiping out the breeding nest of murder and pillage. They have sui fered long and sorrowed in patience and no relief has yet come, and the problem still unsolved. J
 There is, however, one promising re- hef. and that the people DEMAND of their servants at Washington: The Indians must be dissrmed. Robbed of this , sting there will be prospect of peace. ( The spirit of the people that is now re- [ strained from laying hands upon them Tn violation of the law, will be equally zealous to protect them ip peace. This spirit IS seen by the very friendly rels- [ tons existing between the whites and {