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Show REPORT 03 THE COMMISSIONER OB INDIAN bFFAIR8. 65 PAYMENT OF INDIVIDUAL INDIAN MONEYS. In the report last year considerable space was devoted to t6e industrial conditions existing among the Indians and the steps which had been taken to furnish them with employment. While the prog-ress of the Indians toward self-support is encouraging, thereare many obstacles in their path which will have to be removed if they are to reach the goal. The most serious of these are present methods whereby the Indian is enabled to eke out an existence without effort on his part, thus in time sffectually destroying any ambition which may have been awakened in him. . For some time I have been of opinion that the payment of 810 monthly allowances to certain Indians has retarded rather than con-tributed to their progress, and on March 3, 1909, instructions were issued to superintendents and agents to discontinue them. On April 29 further instructions were given, directing that an investigation be made of the needs of each Indian individually, and that if it was found that he was able-bodied and capable of supporting himself and those properly dependent upon him by his own efforts, be should be denied the use of any of his individual money for the purchase of food or-clothing, except in cases of Indians who were unable to obtain employment after a reasonable effort or who were farming their allotments. An Indian not coming within the class mentioned will be allowed to draw a monthly allowance commensurate to his needs so long as he has funds to his credit, or until present conditions shall have changed. The adoption of this policy has naturally been the cause of consid-erable complaint on the part of the Indians affected, as it is hard for.. them to understand why they should be expected to work so long as they have any land or money; but its effect so far fully justifies it. A greater number of Indians than ever before have been induced to go upon their allotments and commence to improve them, and while it is not probable that they will be in every case successful in raising a crop and marketing it at first, the experience gained by them from continued effort will be of incalculable value when they can no longer. depend upon the Government to provide for them and solve their problems. The use of money is freely authorized when an Indian wishes it for permanent improvements or for the purchase of such things as tools or stock. TOWN SITES IN OKLAHOMA. Three hundred and six towns have been surveyed and platted by the Government among the Five Civilized Tribes. The tribal public property is being gradually sold under the provisions of the Indian appropriation act of April 30, 1908 (35 Stat. L.? 71), the most notable |