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Show I 4 l%El'OET Ol? THE COMMI8810Ni3B OF INDIAN BPFURS. 2079.) Since that time only ag~eements have been made with the In dians, subject to the approval of Congress. The number of such agreements that have been approved or confirmed .by Congress is 74. The first wae made September 20 et seq., 187'2, with the Sisseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux, and the last was made March 21, 1902, with the Choctaw and Chickasaw. A schedule of these treaties and agreements appears on page 469 of this report. LNDm TRADERS. The Indian appropriation act of March 3,1901, provided that any person considered by this Office tb be a "proper person to engage in such trade" should be allowed to carry on business within the Osage Reservation. In its last annual report this Office suggested that a similar policy might he carried out to advantage on other reservations, leaving Indian trade without restrictions save as to the character of the trader and his compliance with Office regulations. The Indian appropriation act of the 3d of last March extended this provision so as to make it apply to all Indian reservatiihs. This allows practically free trade upon Indian reservations, except that a trader must be licensed as hitherto, must be a "proper person" to be allowed to reside among Indians, and must comply with the regulations of the Indian Bureau. Office letter of March 10 notilied agents of this legislation and in-formed them that a '' proper person " would be construed as one whose personal character and influence among the Indians would be conducive' to their welfare and whose dealings with them would be both honest and just. Among the disqualifications should be counted bad morals, dishonest methods, or extortionate prices. The number of traders to he allowed at an agency or on a reserw-tion will hereafter largely regulate ibelf according to the law of s u p ply and demand whioh obtains elsewhere, and the hoped-for result will be to give the Indians the benefit of all the competition practicable. One restriction the Office still adds, whichis that a t,rader shall have only one store upon a reservation. Bmch stores, for whioh applica-tions are frequently made, tend, of course, to cut off competition. The record for the paat year demonstrates in a marked degree the-activity of the o5cials of the Indian service in apprehending and pros-ecuting persons charged with having violated the law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to Indiaus. These o5ciah have been hampered in the performance of such duty because of the difficulty experienced by them in securing evidence against the offe~ders, |