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Show COMMIG~IONER OF INDIAN APFAIFS. 41 EXHIBITION INDIANS. Very few instances where the employment of Indinus for exhibi-tion purposes was desired came before me during the past year. In every case such employment was discouraged, and only those allowed to go who were not need& at home for farming and other industrial pursuits on the ground that participation in such exhibitions is not conducive to the formation of habits of industry and thrift which I am endeavoring to inculcate among the Indians. ANNUITY AND PER CAPITA PAYMENTS. Under the new .declaration of policy referred to elsewhere in this report, it has been my endeavor to make all the activities of the service contribute to the gradual emancipation of the Indians from Government control, so far as practicable. Perhaps the most im-portant and vital feature of this policy involves the placing of their funds in the hands of competent Indians for expenditure without supervision. The payment of annuities to certain of the Indian tribes is made mandatory by law, and in cases of this kind it had been the custom to make the payment at such times of the year as the money would be of most benefit to the Indians in connection with their industrial activities. For several years, however, the policy has been to discourage optional cash payments, as the Indians in many cases did not make good use of the money. Under the new policy I have thought it advisable to be more liberal in this respect, even at the risk of some of the money being squandered, in order to give the Indians actual business experience in handling their funds themselves, so that they might "learn to do by doing." DESTITUTE INDIANS. The demands ior funds for the relief ot distress among Indians dur-ing the past year has been augmented by the high cost of food sup plies. The funds allotted for this work are smell in the aggregate, and it is necessary to spread them over the entire jurisdiction, no one territory receiving a large amount. The greatest demand for assist-ance has naturally come from the Indians in the Northern States, where climatic conditions make it necessary for people to be clothed warmer and fed better than in the South or Southwest. Under the new declaration of policy I have had in mind the gradual withdrawal of governmental supervision and care of destitute Indians who are living, not on Indian reservations but in white communities. The various white communities are beginning to realize that the Indians living among them are e~rtit.ledt o the same rights and privi- |