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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 91 (I and that if it will he any advanta,ge to the oontraotora he may allow them to give written statements to him of sueh supplies as they may purahase, on which statement . he :may indorse one-half of the amount then due to the oontractor as soon es he asoertains it, but must expressly state iu said indorsement that he does not guarantee mnypart of the indebtedness inourred by the contraator. That, however, if the prioes charged are reasonable and the articles furnished proper for the Indians to have, he will endeavor by advice and persuasion to prevail on the loggers to pay promptly. Thirteenth. That if it is found that any of the contractors oan not prooeed without additional ox-teams, sleds, eta., the agent may submit to this office an estimate for the porohwe of what may be aotually necessary, provided that he has,satisfaotory proof that any oontractor asking for suoh assistance will undoubtedly have suffioient. funds aoming to him at the end of the season to pay all hia other debts, including his lehorers' wages, and also pay for such oxen, eto,, as he may request the egant t o , . purchase for him. Fourteenth. That hills showing in detail the ilrtieles furnished the loggera, end the orioes ohsr-ee d therefor. he submitted to the ag-e nt for his information a t the end of each month. Fifteenth. The superintendent and the assistsot superintendent to have entire aharge of the logging oparationa, under the direation'of the agent, ~ i t whh om they . I will eoosnlt in regard to all matters of cane6quenoe in connection therewith. As provided in rule one the agent and superintendents entered into agreements or contracts with various Menomonees as ohiefs of squads to pay a certain sum per thonsand feat for a specified quantity of logs de- % livered on the bank. The rate agreed npon with each was governe(l by the quality of the timber, its accessibility, distance to be hauled, etc., and, though varyinggreatly, averaged about $3.25. ! The attention of the agent and superintendent of logging was re-peatedly called to that clause of the act which limited the timber to be disposed of in any one gear to 20,000,000 feet. But many were slow in making contracts, and it was almost impossible to tell in ad- ' vance how many feet each squad could bank. The result was that some of the first applicants received contracts for such large quantities as would hare exclnded many later applicants from any share in the work; therefore many of the contraots were arbitrarily reduced by the agent and superintendent. This caused some dissatisfaction, but the . . situation could not well have been foreseen, especially as the first sea-son's logging under the act *as somewhat in the nature of an experi-ment. As the work progressed,and it became evident that much more than 20,000,000 feet af green growing timber could be banked, the Indians requested that they be allowed to market dead and down timber in addition to the 20,000,000 feet of green timber. The opinion of the ~ s s i s t a n tA ttorney-General on the subject, given February 13, 1891, was that the request could not be complied with, as the terms of t,he act limited the autting and banking of timber of all kinds to the quan-tity named. February 11,1891, the Department directed that the following adver-tisement be inserted for a period of two weeks in the Inter Ocean, of |