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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIOS2K OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XVII creased. the bill will be again submitted to yon for transmissio~t~o Conz gress at its next sesslon. INDIAN HOXZSTEAD ENTRIES. I again, and for the third time, iuvite attention to the necessitj- of legislation by Congress to enable Indians to enter lauds under the fifteenth and sixteent,h sections of the a,ct of March 3, 1875, extending to Indians the benefits-of the homestead act of May 20,1802,1~ithout the lmyment of the fees and commissions now prescribed by law, or to the necessity of placing a fund at the disposal of tire Department, vhich can be naed for siich payments. I bare again submitted an estimate for the sum of $5,000, :~nd,a s stated in my last Annual Report, 1 trust that Oon:.ress.~ill either amend the law so as to allow Indians to enter honresleads %~i t l~ocoustt to them, or make appropriation of the sum estimated. SURVEYS OR INDIAN RESERVATIONS. It would see111 that the experience of the last. few years had demon-strated the utter fhtility of endeavoring to procure adequate appropri-ations for the survey of Indian reservations. Year after year proper atitnates are prepared and submitted to Cougress with the most urgent recomnrendations. Last year $100,000 was asked for and but $6,000 w a ~ap propriated. For the present fiscal year $100,000 was estimated for and not a dollar mas appropriated ; and there has not been an ap-propriation of any oonseqlience made for the survey of Indian reserva tions during the past ten years. There a.re tl~oiisandso f miles of reser-ati ion boundaries that have never been defined and marked by official surrey, and the wonder is that the conflicts between the Indians and settlers are not more frequent than they are., when it is considered that in very many instances it is fonnd absolutely impossible to determine which party is in the right. The settlers. surrounding the Indians on all sides, are anxious to procure good land upon which to settle, while, the Iudiaus themselves a!-ex attohful and natural l~je alous of their rights. There 1s no vide in the matter. The settlers, miners, or herders, as the case may be, approaching from all directions, and gradoally circum-scribing the Indiana to the vicinity of tlreir agencies, are finally con-fianted by the Indians or their agent with the warning that t l~eya re encroaching upon the reserration. This, in a,ll likelihood, is disputed, and in the absence of proper marlrs indicating the boundaries of the merration the dispute continues, engendering the bitterest feeling which too often ends in unfortunate &rife. When it is understood that all surreys of Indian reservat,ions, hy express stipulation of law, are executed under the direction aud control of the GeneralT~andO ffice (see 2115, Rev. Stats.) with the same safeguards against fraud that are em-ployed in the survey oftbe public lands, it isdifficult to see why appropri-ationsfor these much needed surveys are so persistently withheld. They 5510 IN-II |
