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Show XXII REPORT 01" THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. retaliation. Indians cozifined on such re~ervationsh ould bezompelled to cultivate the soil, the proceeds of t,heir labor to be applied to their sustenance; and schools should be provided for the younger Indians, and attendance thereon made co~upulsorya, nd t h y s hould beinstructed in the mechanic arts, so that whei~th e term of their coloniaationshall have expired they may be fitted to support themselves. Deprivation of personal liberty is the severest punishment that can be inflicted upon an Indian, and if the plan herein suggested were car-ried into practical operation it is believed that a want long felt in the Indian service would be met. ALLOTMENT OF LAND IN SEVERALTY AND A PERMANENT LAND TITLE. No question which enters into the present and future welfare. and permanent advancement of the Indians is of so much importance as the quest'iou of allotlnent to themof lands in severalt,y, with a perfect and permaneut title. On the 24th of January, 1870, a report was sub-mitted to the department upon this subject, in which the views of this office were fully set out, accoinpauied.by a draft of a bill the enactment of which it was believed would bring about, the desired end. The sub-ject was treated at length in the annual report of this office for the year 1Si8, and was touched upon iu thereports of 1879 and 1880. A bill to oarrr out this beneficial object was introduced, into the Forty-fikh Con-gress, and was favorably reported upon by the committees of both Houses, but failed to receive final action. A bill similar in its pro-visions was submitted to the extra session of tlre Forty-sixth Congress. (H. R. No. 354). At the second session of the Forty-sixth Congress. Honse bill No. 5038 mas reported by the House comlnittee as a sub-stitute for House bill No. 354, but it also failed to become a law. A bill with the same objects in view was also introduced in t.11e Senate at the third session of 'the. Forty-sixth Congress (S. NO. 1773), and was discussed at some length by the Senate, but no final action was reached. Much has been said in Congress, in the public press of the countv, in public meetings, and otherwise, and various plans suggested with reference to solving the "Indian questio~l,"b ut no definite and practical solut.ion of the question has been reached. Iu my judg~nent,t he first step to be taken in this direction is the enactment of a law providing' for the allotment of land in severalty, similar in its provisions to the bills above referred to. The system of allotment now in force under the various treaties and acts of Congress is crude a d imperfect, with no provisions for a title which affords sufficient protection to the Indians. In some of the treaties which authorize the allotment of land in severalty, provision is made for the issuance of pat,ents, with restricted power of alienat,ior), (with the consent of the Presiderrt or the Secretary of the Interior). In others allotments are authorized with no provision for the issiiance of patent, but simply authorizing the issuance of a certificate of allotment, |