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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF I-N DIAN AFFAIRS. . 39 forward their final accounts, together &th the fact that much of this indebted-ness has been incurred iqdisregard of the instluctions of this office, and with a knowledge 0; the part of the agents thit the funds nhder many of the heads of appropriation were already exhausted, hag been and still is an element of delay. The outstanding liabilities of the Indian service for Oregon and Washington created during the present administration havebeen, in a great measure, yn-avoidable. The necessary changes in the superintendency of Washington Te; ritory, and amongst the agents in Oregon and Washington, have contributed largely to this result. .The appointment of a superintendent, and the filing of his bond, consnmes from sixty to ninety days. Until the bond is filed the office cannot place any funds to the credit of the snpcrintendent. Pending the filing of the bond a re-moval and consequent appointment of another superintendent, as was the case in Washington, involves a repetition of the delay. The funds being thus with-held, .the agents are obliged to create an indebtedness in order to c a q on the business of their agencies. To obviate this ditticalty it is sugg&ted that legislation be had by Congress, .creating depositories in those Temtories, so that moneys intended for disburse- .ment there oan be paid upon the presentation of the bond of the proper officer. CALI~ORNIA SUPERINTENDENCY. The conditien of the Indians in California is one of peculies hardship, and I k*ow of no people who have more righteous claims upon the justice and liber-ality of the American people. Owing to the discovery of its mines, the fertility of its soil, and the salubrity of its climate, that State within a few years past became the recipient of a tide of emigration almost unexampled,-in history. Down to the time of the commencement of this emigration nature supplied all the wants of the Indians in profusion. They lived in the midst of the greatest abundance, and were free, contented, and happy. The emigration began, and every part of the State was overrun, as it were, in a day. All, or nearly so, of the fertile valleys were seized; the mountain gulches and ravines were filled with miners; and without the slightest recognition of the Indians' rights, they were dispossessed of their homes, their hunting their fisheries, and, to a extent, of the productions of the earth. From' a position of independ-ence they were at once reduced to the most ahject dependence. With no one of the many tribes of the State is there an existing treaty. Despoiled by irresisti-ble force of the land of their fathers; with no country on earth to which they -can migrate; in the midst of a people with whom they cannot assimilate, they have no recognized claims upon the government, and are almost compelled to becomc vagabonds-to steal or to starve. They are not even unmolested upon .the scanty reservations we set apart for their use. Upon one pretext or another, .even these are invaded by the whites, and it is literally true that there is no ,place where tho Indian can experience that feeling of security whichis theeffect of just and wholesome laws, or &here he can plant with' any assurance that he |