Arizona republican., 1912-04-24
Aged Rev. Cook Gives a Graphic Recital of AL
 legged Wrongs of j
 Red Men %
COMMITTEE HAS
 BEGUN HEARING
Indian Affairs Will Come First; Reclamation
 Matters Are in
 Background "

The sub- committee of the house cOmittee on expenditures of the h. terior department, consisting of Con- gressmen Hensley, Hama, and Calla- way propose taking up the Indian af- fairs first and leaving the affairs of the reclamation department until the last part of their work here. This became evident yesterday when they began the examination of witnesses at the Adams hotel The affairs of the Indians in this immediate sec- tion will be prObed and also the re- lations of the San Carlos red men with their white brethren will be aired.
 In addition to the members of the committee there is quite an array Of legal talent present at the hearings. Judge NJ. C. Burch and Assistant At torney General O'Brien are repre- senting the department of justice; and former Judge John H Camp bell of Tucson. is here, representing the Casa Grande Water Users asso citation
 Before beginning the formal work Representative Hensley. chairman of the committee made a brief ad- dress in which he said it is proposed to have a full and thorough inves- tigation of such affairs as may prop erly come before that body: that there will be nc star chamber meth ods. and that interested persons and their attorneys will be given an op- portunity to be heard
 In his opening address on behalf of the government Judge Burch said that the record in the present hear ing will be complete in itself and will have connection with the other hearings on Indian affairs already held Judge Burch then made brief l statement regarding the establishment | of the Indian reservations and the | relations of these people to the gov ernment and to their white neighbors; i after which Rev. Mir Cook. who, for i almost d generation has been mis- i sionary among the Arizona Indians, was sworn as the first witness. i Mr Cook told of his coming to this 1 country 45 years ago; of his aSsocia ] tion with the earlier settlers and with 1 the Indians: of the attempts long ago to move the Indians from the lands occupied by them and of the ] eventual setting aside of the Salt i River reservation.
 According to MT Cooks testimony 1 the first attempt to remove the In | dians from the Salt River was in 1878
 l MT. Cook then told in detail of l the relations that generally existed 1 between the Indians and the whites. { He said that during the early years of his residence here there had been 1 plenty of water for their use in raising crops: but that gradually the demands of the white people had de- creased their supply until they suf-
 fered great hardship. MT. Cook paid
 a high tribute to the industry and
 frugality of the red man and said that in those days as irrigators and agricuturists they were superior to the whites
 There was further testimony along the same lines. The contention of
 Rev Cook is that the Indians want the use of the water from the Salt river and not from the wells. He
 
 and is hurtful to the land
 IL will he recalled that this has beer
 a rather mooted question and that
 some of the sensational statements
 rgardng the ill treatment of the In dians in this regard published i'll thu ; east several months ago created con siderable of q furor here. It is the intention of the commit tee and the governments counsel {, investigate the government pumpinl plants for themselves. They will g
 to the Sacaton reservation Sunda.
 for that purpose.
 w J. Murphy, E. A. Fowler, DWish T B Heard. former Governor kibbey
 the officers of the Water Users as
 sociation. and many others have beel
 subpoenaed to apper before the com
 mtttee and testify