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Show 66 00MMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. on the Omaha and Winnebago Reservations were supervised by the superintendent. On June 13, 1912, the superintendent of Yankton Indian School addressed a letter to this office concerning individual Indian money, in which he said : TO show that the office bere has done what it could to assist these people in the way of funds, there has been paid out during the four months of my incum-bency the following amounts: For seed wheat, $1,713,W: corn, $561.55; oats, $337.55; potatoes, $764.87; garden seed, $45.50: horses, $6,202.78; wagons, etc., $1,347.43; farming machin-ev, $1,769.17; making a total of $12,741.96. There has also been paid out to these people during the four months that I have been here the following: For Pehruav, $9,890.56; March, $12,020.15; April, $8,980.66; Nay, $13,032.45; total, 643,923.82. In addition to these amounts there was paid out during this tlme the sum of $12,000 in interest money, and the competent Indians who draw thelr lease money outside the office have probably received $10,000 more, mak- Ing a grand total of money expended on these people that they did not earn of $78,670.78, or about $46 per capita. Thus it will be seen that there has been no lack of money drawn by these people during the past four months, and I doubt very much if any more money could have been spent on them profitably. 3. Old Indians.-So far as Indians of this class have had means, their money has been authorized freely for such purposes as would keep them well and happy. The superintendent of Fort Lapwai Indian School on February 14, 1912, reported that there were at that time 1,440 Indians under his jurisdiction who had on deposit to their credit $105,979.48. During the month of January, 1912, 196 of these Indians drew monthly allowances, and 695 of the older peo-ple were being permitted to draw their rent money direct when due. During the fiscal year probably $20,000 was paid in the form of monthly allowances to about 200 Indians of the Colville Reservation. A long and forward step has been taken during the past year in regard to the use of individual Indian money for the promotion of farming operations. In approving each individual sale of allotted or inherited land, the Secretary, in an order over his signature, directed the expenditure of the proceeds in whole or in part. Almost invari-ably a part of the proceeds were authorized by him for the improve-ment of the grantor's remaining land. If the vendor was an old Indian and lived in a sanitary house he was in most cases provided with a monthly payment. This method precluded all possibility of the proceeds of sale being diverted to other uses than for the purposes and needs which were advanced as s, justification for the sale of the allottee's land. Efforts to promote honor and integrity during the past year were made by various means in many individual cases, As the keynote of Indian progress has been individualism, perhaps the most effective general action taken during the fiscal year was the sending of a personal letter to each superintendent handling individual Indian |