Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1875

Page 24

at the minimum consistent with their necessary control and the safetj of the frontier. '1 For the wilder tribes who cannot vet be controlled. excent either iu the {".est.r~ceo r n ~ ~ dtehre fear of c:ir~ilv aud i u f a~~t r~,&' t lr~set i o~h~;i s a somrn.ll;ir diKerr11t aspect. I!' tbere are HI IV tribes, or 11orti1)noaf ;L tribe, of vl~ose cix-ilization t.he Govern~nent for any reason despairs, and whom it is proposetl merely to corral and ration from this time ou until they cease to exist, their transfer to the War Department is emi-nently fit and desirable. But if it is proposed at sowe time and by some means to bring these +ililer tribes out of barbarism into a condi-tion of self-support, t,heu the present condition of cont,rol by civilian agents, if abandoned for pnrposes .of discipline through the military, mnst be resumed as soon as the Oover~~meiust r eady to pursue its mniti end inthe management of Indiaus; and, in my judgment, owing to the erlt'ire incompatibilit.~o f the methods and teachings of the Army with this civilian service, I should regard it far hetLer to continue even the wild tribes under the ool~trol of the civil agent and arrange for the required discipline a~idre straint by a hearty and thorough co-operation on the part of the a~ilitary. The di6cf1Ity which this Barrao has esperie,nced heretofore in deal-ing with Indians of this class in connection with the milita,r.v service has arise11 quite largely fi.om the unreadiuess of Army o6cers to fur-nish a force to act merely as a posse to a civil agent, and the want of acauaintance on the vart of the agents with tbe rea~iirementso f mili-ta< y routine s u ~ lre gtilatio~~s~. h i siso orrr of ii.icrio;~,i ~o\vrvern, monp officials at the fro~litn uot secioas, and can be largely o~~e r co~I>u$et h e c~rlti\.utiono f a s1)1rito f' J ' ~ I ~ C H ~ ~ I I b( y~ Ctll~eIcIo~rn ~noI )~I I~I I IOS PO~t heir superior officers, both military and civil, to bring tbe whoie gervice of the country to its highest condition. There is, however, a sphere of service nowundertaken this Bureau which might, to its great relief, be transferred to the War Department. The snpplies of clothing and subsistence required to be pnrchased for the Indian fiervice amounts to about $2,000,000. Much tbe larger por-tion of this sum is expended in purchasing for the Sioux and several other tribes a, few articles in large amounts. The Indian Blueall has never had an adequate al)pointment fix tnakir~g such large p~~rchitses and for transportation of the articles to the distant 1,arts of the country. The Quartermaster and Commissary Departmeuts of the Army hare such appointments in complete organization, through which the War Denartment mould be able to nnrchase.. iusn.e ct. s r ~ dtr ansvort the gooils H ~ I sI t ~ppliesre cloired to subs;st Indiar~sa, nd fi;lfillt hr tr6aty obligations, with LUIICII more rrgulnrity and RFatem tl1a11 id po8siI~lr fi)r thisBureau as at preaent organized ; and while a comparison of pur-chases made by the Army with those made by the Indian Bureau of the same article at the same place does not indicate that the transfer will on the whole tend to ecouomv of funds, but rat,her otherwise, it will yet tend to allay suspicion, au"d will furuish checlrs and tests for ready all. plicatioo, whenever charges of fraud in the service are made, either on good grounds or for partisan or selfish purposes, or by pereons of repute and aeting in good faith, who are themselres victims of such purposes on the part of others. If it shall be deemed advisable to transfer this portion of the service to the War Department, rnther than to fnrnisli the additional clerical equipments necessary for its proper administra-tion in ttte Indian Bureau, I would respectfully recommend for the con-sideration uf the honorable Secretary the procurement of suoh legisla-tion a6 will allow the President in his discretion to direct that any portionl .-- -- 20 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.