The copper era and Morenci leader., 1916-10-13
BENEFICIAL MEASURES.

sion to statehood was the Hayden bill that has passed the lower house providing for the opening of nineteen million acres of land enl- braced in the San Carlos and White river In- dian reservations for the purpose of mining development.
 It Is now up to Senators Smith and Ash urst to secure its approval in the Senate, and no doubt they will work assiduously to that end
 It has been well known to all old time miners and prospectors that this vast terri tory contains deposits of various kinds of minerals gold, silver, copper, asbestos, and tungsten, that under existing conditions are / valueless to the Indians, while the commercial world IS debarred from its benefits by the regulation of the Indian Department.
 According to the text of the bill the Indians are deprived of none of their rights, and its adoption will be the means of pro- v;ding an income from the proceeds of the minerals produced; besides opening up a large field of opportunity in the labor world.
 Our representatives in Congress should be petitioned by the people of the State to go even further in the matter of these vast reser- vations, especially the White River Reserve.
 Here is a tract of territory exceeding
  ated by sparse population of Indians, who during the years they have been in undis- puted possession, have done nothing to in nance its value or develop its resources, nor in bettering their own condition. An instance in point may be illustra- tive of the actual conditions obtaining on these reserves.
 Cibicue creek, on the White Mountain Reservation, the government supplies a set tlement of about 300 natives with doctor, boss farmer and assistant, teachers and missionary instructor, and after years of dili- gent service by this galaxy of talent, they have accomplished little in the improvement of their wards mentally or economically. They have secured one doubtful convert to> Christian influence, about 20 acres of scien- tifcally cultivated land, and not one acre of this for the benefit of the Indians. The product of this acreage is devoted to the private use of the officials
 In the immediate vicinity of Camp Apache is a body of land as level as barn floor, containing about 10000 acres of the Lest soil under the sun, susceptible of inten- siHe cultivation as some patches cultivated in the rudest manner by the Indians, annually attest.
 1HC HCNCl CCdSHlS 1OW Ol lllC WllllC river to be diverted to this acreage at com- paratively small cost to the government, and hundreds of families could be provided with prosperous homes to the benefit of the State, and without working injury or injustice to the present claimants they can hardly be truthfdlly termed occupants.
 At the present time there is not even cattle upon this tract to utilize its nutri- tious grasses.
 Besides this valuable body of land, Oak Creek, Canyon Creek, Cibicue Creek, White River Black River Bonita Creek and the East fork of the White river contains thous- ands of acres of rich aluvial bottom land, to- geographically susceptible of irrigation, and wherever the Indians have attempted to turn the soil, they have proven that dry farming can be proftaby employed.
 There are scores of Mesa Parks, beauti- fully situated, dotting the White Mountain Reservation rich in soil and pasturage where many comfortable homes could be establish ed that now contain nothing but the yelping coyote or an occasional predatory steer straved away from the main herds of the grazing lessees. ZEE
 This reservation is richly endowed with timber land of great commercial value ab- solutelv vaueless to the Indians under the present system.
 We are sending thousands of dollars annually to Washington and Oregon for for est material that we have abundantly at our own doors. Senators Smith and Ashurst and Representative Hayden would be conferring lasting benefit on the State if they accomplish