The Florence tribune., 1898-03-05
lNDlANs-DEAD OR ALIVE.
Are Only Dead Indians Good onesi

countryl Facts are stubborn things" and figures do not lie, when truthfnlly arrayed The facts are these, and the figures will follow:
 On the Gila river at the Pima Reser- vation in Arizona, are 4,000 Pima In- dians, who are industrious, intelligent and virtuous, and who want to earn their living. In the war between the Apaches and settlers, from 1883 to 1887, first under Gen. Crook, and later under Gen. Miles, it is reported, on good authority, that these Indians saved the government about s2, 900, ,0O0. Previous to 1882, they raised from 15,00O,0 ,000 to 20, 100000 pounds of wheat, besides other cereals, and were prosperous. Since that time the settlers on the up- per Gila have built canals and have drained the river and left the Indians in poverty and suffering.
 In the spring of 1895, Col. J. Roe Young, Superintendent at the Pima Agency, complained to the Indian Com missioner at Washington, of the wrongs I done to his Indians, and asked that a corps of Photographic engineers be sent to view two or more sites on the Gila, fourteen miles east of Florence at the Buttes, and on Queen Creek, a tributary. And as result, Arthur P. Davis was sent for this purpose, in De- cember of that year, with force of competent men, who performed the work assigned, spending six months at the task.
 In March, 1897, Mir. Davis made his report to Congress through his chief, Mir. F. H. Newell, Hydrographer, as Doe. 2, 54th Congress, 2d Session." For the time spent and the means at hand, the report is excellent, and shows faithful service and skill. This document states that the cost of con- structing a reservoir at the Buttes, in- cluding land owned by settlers below, and $15, 900 annual expenses for run ming, is $2,244 ,OOo.
 Gov. Hughes, in his report for 1895, states that the Papagoes in Pima county stole cattle from the stockmen at a loss of $60, 900 annually, and solely to keep their families from starving. All those 900 or more Papagoes, when this reservoir is built, can settle on the reservation with the Pimas, and, like them, become self-supporting. When these 5000 Indians are supplied with water for irrigation, the surplus, as the above document shows, can be utilized by the settlers, who, in payment for land, water-rights and water-rents, will, in less than ten years, return the entire cost to the government. It is es- timated that it will cost $250, ,000 annu- ally for many years to support these 5000 Indians in idleness and worthless ness.
 Now, as matter of economy, is it not cheaper and wiser for the govern ment to construct said reservoir and make good citizens of them? A clause calling for $20,00O to investigate water storage on the Gila and its tributaries, looking to the construction of said res- ervoir, was inserted in the Indian Ap- propriation bill, passed the House and went to the Senate, and by the commit tee was stricken out. Far be it from me to criticise that act. They had not the information on which to base iudg- ment, and there was not time to inves- tigate the urgent demand for the call. Had those men been able to see the wrong and bitter cruelty of depriving those patient suffering Indians of means of support, they had never per petrated so direful calamity. But if they will reconsider and reinsta te that clause, there is time to avert the terri ble evil and retrieve their honor. Will the conterees, in whose hands the power lies, unanimously recommend such ac- tion? Last fall, hundred or more Pimas sowed wheat, expecting rain to mature it, but the rain came not and the seed was lost, and the government must feed them and their ponies, or both must suffer.
 Of these Indians, 430 are now mem- bers of the Presbyterian church, under the veteran missionary, Rev. c. Il. Cook, who has been their pastor over twenty-seven years. The writer has lived close to them nearly ten years and knows whereof he affirms. He has come 5000 miles to plead that their wrongs be righted, and if he returns without this clause reinstated, it will be sad day to him and more sorrow ful to them.
 It was through Secretary Bliss of the Interior, and Marcus A. Smith, dele gate to Congress, that the clause was inserted and passed the House, and the writer's object in coming and remain ing, is to aid Mir. Smith in obtaining justice to these Indians and relieve their sufferings.
 Is it not the voice of all patriots and