Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/173

 any one to live upon game; it would be driven away or killed off. Far better for every one to make up his mind to plant and to raise horses, cows, and sheep, and make his living in that way; his animals would thrive and increase while he slept, and in less than no time the Apache would be wealthier than the Mexican. So long as the Apache behaved himself he should receive the fullest protection from the troops, and no white man should be allowed to do him harm; but so long as any fragment of the tribe kept out on the war-path, it would be impossible to afford all the protection to the well-disposed that they were entitled to receive, as bad men could say that it was not easy to discriminate between those who were good and those who were bad. Therefore, he wished to ascertain for himself just who were disposed to remain at peace permanently and who preferred to continue in hostility. He had no desire to punish any man or woman for any acts of the past. He would blot them all out and begin over again. It was no use to try to explain how the war with the whites had begun. All that he cared to say was, that it must end, and end at once. He would send out to all the bands still in the mountains, and tell them just the same thing. He did not intend to tell one story to one band and another to another; but to all the same words, and it would be well for all to listen with both ears. If every one came in without necessitating a resort to bloodshed he should be very glad; but, if any refused, then he should expect the good men to aid him in running down the bad ones. That was the way the white people did; if there were bad men in a certain neighborhood, all the law-abiding citizens turned out to assist the officers of the law in arresting and punishing those who would not behave themselves. He hoped that the Apaches would see that it was their duty to do the same. He hoped to be able to find work for them all. It was by work, and by work only, that they could hope to advance and become rich.

He wanted them always to tell him the exact truth, as he should never say anything to them which was not true; and he hoped that as they became better acquainted, they would always feel that his word could be relied on. He would do all in his power for them, but would never make them a promise he could not carry out. There was no good in such a manner of doing, and bad feeling often grew up between good friends through misunderstandings in regard to promises not kept. He would