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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 29 that there is a defect in the system of trade and intercourse wit11 them, which r e p ,a radical reform. A large portion of the annuities payable to the In lans is pad at once to the traders, who furnish from time to time during the year articles of merchandise, presumed to be suitable to the wants and neceesi-ties of that people. In some of the treaties it is stipulated that a certain portion of the consideration to be paid shall he applied to the purchase of goods and agricultural implements to be distributed to the tribes, as beneficiaries, resulting frmn onr treaty engagements. I n other cases, their treaties are mandatory, requiring their annuities to he paid in coin. With a view to correct the evil result.ing from this, payment in money, which is often filched from the Indians by unsclvpnlons white men, or used as a medium for dissipation and intestine commotion amon'gst the Indians, I would respectfully suggest ?,hat the depart-gent be authorized by law to enter into conventional arrangements w~ZJi%he respective tribes, with a view of modifying the existing treaty stipulat.ions in that respect, so that a discretion shall be vested in the Secretary of the Interior to divert the application of their funds in the purchase of goods, agricultural implements, stock animals, and other objects of a beneficial character. No recent information has been received respecting the condition of the Indians of the State of New York, but the latest intelligence from them indi-cates that they will maintain the advanced position they have so long held, vindicating thereby the capacity of the red race for indefinite moral and intel-lectual improvement. The Society of Friends at large has from time imme-morial taken a lively interest in tho condition of these people, and watched over their welfa~ein every respect with unceasing care. One of the principal a.gents of the society in these labors of love was the late Philip E. Thomas, of Balti-more, who, on account of his active and paternal supervision of thc Indians, was designated as their representative to transact their business with the govern-ment. In the death of Mr. Thomas the Society of Friends have lost a true exemplar of their own characteristic and unpretending worth, and the Indims a &end whose place it will not be easy to fill. In concluding this my first annual report, I desire to advert again to the subject of Indian reservations, as I deem it of far more importance, as a means by which their interests, social, moral,,and political, are to be secured, than any other. In a country like ours, where State after State comes into existence with such wonderful rapidity, unless some policy is adopted and rigidly adhered to, whereby a$rmanent home may be secured for the Indian, and himself he instructed and gradually conducted along the diffioult paths by whicb all nations who have attained civilization have travelled, there seems to he no means by which he can be secured from falling an easy victim to those vices and tempta-tions which are perhaps the worst feature of our civilization, and to which he seems to have an almost irresistible inclination. I t is hut a few years since the policy of locating Indians upon reservations so ample in area that they might to some extent indulge their roving propensities, has been so modified, that when they are so far reclaimed as to make it practi-cable, and desired by them, the reservation may he subdivided and allotted to them in severalty, and thus a home furnished for each member of the tribe, and, by the sale of the surplus lands, a. fund provided, whereby they may begin their new mode of life under favorable auspices. Each succeeding year has served to demonstrate the wisdom of the change. That time and esperienee will sog-gest man improvements in the working of this policy, and in its practical de-tails, is iuhtless true; but I am well assured that it is the only plan yet devised by which the end we profess to seek, G.t,he elevation of the Indian as a race in the scale of social existence, can be secured. Innumerable instances have demonstrated that he possesses capacities which, properly developed, would enable him to live creditably amongst the most enlightened nations. All expe-rience has shown, that when the red and white races occupy the same territory, |