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Show REPORT OF TEE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS XCVII (11) Cite soine of the more prominent of the results of his work among theIndiana, I. such as number of Indians he has induced to begin farming who had never farmed' before, giving the names of the Iodiaua who have so commenced, aud the number of wres now cultivated by each; increase of stock held by iudividual Indians, stating the number and description of that owned by each; the number, character, and present condition of the wagons, plan.8, and all agricultural implements in the pas-masion of each Indian farmer, stst,ing whether any hare failed to provide proper shelter for their stock in winter and for their agricultural implements, wagons, etc., when not in nse, and the reason for failure; aud give in general your opinion in re-gard to him personally, nod the manner in which he discharges his duties, making spch recommendations a8 yon may desire for the best intereats of the service and the Indians, and as would, if carried out, result in a more strict compliance with the re-quirements and purposes of the act. In short, has he succeeded in establishing farm-ing among his Iorlisna on a pajing basis, and if not, what is the cause of failure t It is not the desire of the office to make any nnneeesasry changes in the force of farmers, nor to unneeeussrily distnrb those who are competent and faithful. On the other hand, the quality of the service rendered in sparamount consideration, and the ' good of the Indians mnst he regarded aa ontweighiug any peraonal interestsin favor of the farmers. With these cpusideratioos in view, I wish to know whether, in your opinioo, the good of the service wowld be promoted essentially by any ohange. If so, state it frankly, sad give your reasons for thinking so. The replies to this letter were in general satisfactory, and called for bat few changes among the farmers eml>loyed. None were madeexcept for cause. In all cases of employment of farmers since the passage of the act, the requirements of the act have been strictly complied with. 4 The answers to the qoestious embodied in paragraph eleven are im-portant, but are too volu~uinousto be quoted here. I may very briefly ,refer to some of them, however, as they contain suggestions which are pertinent and of general application to the subject. : One agent (from North Dakota) writes: I &;sire to state in regard to the farmers (employ6s) at this agency that they are men of more than ordinary intelligeuoe and well qualified for the positions they hold; in short, they are praotioal farmers in every sense of the word * . At the time these Indiensahsudooed their village life (that is, all living close to the agency) they scattered over such an extent of territory that it is now impossible for two farmers (all that oan be sllosved that agency under existing sppropriat~onst)o visit them and give inatruotioos as often as necessary One farmer reaicleles permanently in a settlement Zi miles west of the agenoy. The Indians ere scattered along the river for a distance of more thsn 20 miles on both aides of it. In visiting theae Indiana he is required to crass and recross theriver and toawim his home at the same time. Another agent says that his agency-one of the largest in south Da-kota-- is allowed only an agency farmer and three additional fhrmers; .that all were actoally engaged in agricnltoral pursuits for much longer than five years previous to appointment, and that they are men who en-deavor to discharge their duties faithfully, and who try to interest the Indians in farm work, care of stock and its increase, care of farmillg implements, etc.; that until very recently the Indians made noprori-sion for wintering their stock, but, now nearly all have good shelter for their work horses, brood mares, and stock cattle, and understand the necessity of putting up a s n p~~olfy h ay in season. 9975-71' |
