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Show 48 COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. it is in a position to submit a recommendation for definite action within a short time. The Indians, realizing the stand this o5ce has taken, have submitted several petitions, praying that no action be taken whereby they will be deprived of the use of peyote, and they have sent delegations to Washington, whose sole mission was to present their point of view. ADMINISTRBTIVE PLANT. The estimated value of the Government plant, including chiefly agency and school buildings, is upward of $9,000,000. The amount of money available for repairs and general up-keep is $180,800, or 2 per cent of the estimated present value. Many of the buitdings are , reconstructed forts; many of then% are in sections of the country where storms are heavy; the occupants of the buildings, both Indians and whites, are perhaps not quite so careful as other communities. These, among other causes, make it a fact that Indian Service build-ings have to sustain a higher rate of depreciation than is allowed m the usual tables of depreciation. I t is poor economy for the Gov-ernment, and demoralizing as an example to the Indians, not to keep the buildings up to their value when constructed. I feel that a general provision of 5 per cent of the cost of buildings should be made annually for repairs, and in special cases a larger percentage will be required. After these ordinary repairs are made the depre-ciation on the service buildings should be carried at a per cent for brick buildings and 5 per cent for frame buildings. The estimates for repairs and improvements submitted by super-intendents for the fiscal year 1913 have been submitted in a much more businesslike manner than in past years. The old habit of asking for an inflated amount in the hope of getting a part of it is happily dying out, and both the office and the superintendents in the field are more fully than ever before realizing that the way to get appropriations from Congress is to make a businesslike statement of actual needs in a form that can be substantiated in every detail. Much important work has been postponed for several years be-cause it has been found impossible to make the appropriations pro-vided by Congress go round. In construction work, distance from civilization frequently much increases the cost. Contractors find it difficult to secure workmen, and material has to be transported long distances over bad roads. An effort is being made to simplify the method of handling the less important projects by soliciting informal proposals from build-ers located reasonably near the proposed work and having the super-intendent submit them for approval to the office. In this way it is possible to save often much time and money, and the fact that more work is being done in the open market than usual saves still more time and money. |