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Show 10 COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. Indians owning stock are encouraged to form stock-growers' asso-ciations, which wlll largely supervise and handle their live-stock mat-ters. Such associations, with constitutions and by-laws, have already been formed by the Indians of the Fort Hall and Western Shoshone Reservations. On the former the association has assumed responsi-bility for the repayment of reimbursable funds advanced for the purchase of bulls. The adoption of this plan on other reservations will undoubtedly result in greater interest and progress of the Indians along these lines. The eradication of dourine has been so successful as to justify a reduction of the force employed for that purpose. INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS. G ~ m u ~ . - T h e original native industries of the Indians, with their beautiful and distinctive artistry, are being crowded out by the pressure of modern commercialism. The extinction of these in-dustries would be most unfortunate, and I have thought for some time that we should give them speclal encouragement. . FEDERATOFI OWNO MEN'SC LUBS.-A favorable opportunity was presented by the request of the chairman of the committee on ndian welfare of the Federation of Women's Clubs to have an exhibit of Indian arts and crafts at their biennial convention at Chautauqua, N. Y., from June 20 to 30, with which I gladly complied. The ex-hibit consisted of Navajo ru s and silverware, beadwork, pottery, basketry, articles made by 1ngan pupils in Government schools, and various maps, charts, and photographs. The exhibit of this office was very successful and constituted one of the attractive features of the convention. REIMBURSABLE FUNDS. A conservative expenditure of $100,000 appropriated for encourag-ing industry and self-support among the Indians proved unequal to all the demands for help of this character. Consideration was given to the relative merits of the various requests. In some instances requests were denied because the repayment conditions could not be met, or it seemed best to encourage the Indians to obtain the articles with their own money, as the whites do. Requests from 12 reserva-tions, amounting to approximately $55,000, could not be granted. In addition to the appropriation, about $100,000 were expended un-der the reimbursable regulations from money otherwise available mostly tribal funds authorized by Congress. This plan has been a material factor in the industrial progress of the Indians during the past few years. The first use of the reimbursable plan on an extensive scale was in 1911. A complete anal sis of cxpcnditures and repayments from 1911 to 1921 shows the Jllowing : Repaid (collections) ......................................... $2,400,573.02 Outstanding ................................................. 1,455,301.94 PL oo s t h g off ............... 22,711.68 on hand ............................................ 140,816.46 |