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Show i REPORT OF THE CO&I%fISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 19 1 lumber market conditions, but quite largely to the special activity 1 of our Forestry service in drawing public attention to the oppor- ; tunities for sncccssful logging and milling operations on Indian reservations. This reviving interest was favorable to efforts of the previous year to dispose of timber on the Quinaielt Reservation, Wash., where the Mounts and the Quinaielt Lake units were sold. On the latter unit $5 per M was received for Douglas fir, amabalis 1 fir, cedar, and white pine,, and $3 per M for hemlock. These were record prices for that regon. Nearly a half billion feet of yellow pine on the Colville Reservation, Wash., were sold for $3 per M; and an equal amount on the Warm Springs Reservation, Oreg., was sold for $2.88 per M, which were satisfactory prices considering the relative inaccessibility of these units. Both contracts provide for increases in stumpage price after four years and each three years thereafter. On the Flathead Reservation, Mont., the large Valley Creek unit was sold at $5.12 per M for yellow pine and $3.01 per M for Douglas fir and larch; and the smaller Big Arm unit brought prices of $4.55 and $2.50 per M for the same species. There were several smaller sales on this reservation. Prices of $3.80 and $4.30 for yellow pine were received on two sales within the Nez Perce timber reserve, Idaho, and a large unit within the Klamath Reser-vation, Oreg., the Antelope Valley, brought $3.75 for yellow pine and lower prices for inferior species. The total value of the Indian timber sold during the year exceeds $6,000,000 at the minimum prices, and the increases in price, for which provision is made in the contracts, together with the overrun of the estimates anticipated, mill probably raise this amount very substantially. As the cost of administration will not exceed 8 per cent, the ultimate net return from the year's sales will exceed $7,000,000, to be used exclusively for the benefit of the Indians hold-ing the timber lands. Valuation surveys and land classifications were continued, and distinct progress made in the improvement of tele-phonic communication, lookout systems, and other means for ade-quate protection from forest fires. The losses from fire were very small when compared with the protected area of nearly 7.000,000 productive acres, with a value of approximately $130,000,000. SUPPRESSION OF THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC. The continual reduction of the special appropriation for suppres-sion of the liquof traffic among the Indians, now only one-sixth of what it was previous to national prohibition, has placed the respon- 1 sibility for that duty more and more upon the superintendents in , charge of reservations and the employees under their jurisdiction. I t can hardly be admitted that the means for enforcing constitu-tional prohib~tion have made up for the consequent curtailment of the special force of this bureau for liquor suppression. The boot-legger 1s a sly, resourceful, and persistent offender who too often finds the Indian a willing accessory. Everything possible is done through our regular employees to aid the limited number of special officers allowed, and the results are believed to be commensurate with the available agencies for law enforcement. |