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Show REPORT OF COMMISSIONER. 11 1s far less than is generally supposed. A large extent of territory is not required for them. They are in such condition as to be cornpelled to ' ,s tarve or steal. And if Texas will not consent to the arrangement sug- gested, necessary as it is to the security of her frontier, and the very exist-ence of the Indians, she can have no just cause to complain of depreda- 1 tions committed by famishing aborigiries of the country, who certainly have the right to live somewhere; and nowhere, more certainly, than on the lands which they and their fathers have occupied for countless genera-tions. The conimissioners appointed for the purpose of negotiating lreaties with the Indians on the borders of Mexico, and for other purposes, being in-structed that their expenditures must not exceed the amount of funds, which had been placed in their hands, and finding them insufficient to ac-complish the objects of their appointment, deemed it proper to dissolve the commission. The instructions under which they acted in bringing their labors to a close, together with a condensed account of their proceedings. while in service, will be found in documents hercrvith submitted. The Indians in Florida have long been the occasion of enormous ex-pense to the Government, and of annoyance to the people of the State, who, with great unanimity, are deeply anxious for their removal to the coiintry provided for their tribe west of the Mississippi river. Recognising the obligation of the Government to persevere in its endeavors to accom-plish this desirable object, and satisfied that other means than those hereto-fore employed !\-ere indispensable, the Department has deemed it expedient to test the efficiency of individual enterprise, stimulated by the hope of gain, con~ingent on succes. This lras been done by an arrangement en-tered into with General 1,utlser Blake, of Alabama, the particulars of which are set forth in his letter of instroctions, a copy of which accompa-nies this report. Xany causes combine to render tlie remol.al of these In-dians a work of extreme difficolty ; not the least of which is the offer here-tofore made by officers of the army to pay them individually large sums of money, ranging from one hundred to ten thousand dollars, in consequence of whrch they naturally expect that they will not be required to remove without the payment of equal, or larger amounts t,han they have already refused. I am by no means sanguine, therefore, that the plan for removing them, now in operation, will be attended with success, hut it is worthy of a trial; if it fail, the loss to the Government will be a mere trifle; if it succeed, the gratifying result will amply vindicate the wisdom of the ex-periment. The regular estimates of the office for the present, exceed those of the last year $59,445. This excess is caused mainly by the increased nnm-ber of agents and interpretersfor New Mexico and Utah, authorized by the act of the 27th Febmary,.l851, reorganizing this department, and the transfer from the special to the regular estimates of the item, $43,600, re-quired to pay the interest on Choctaw scrip. The difference between the amount appropriated by Congress at its last session on speczal estimates, and the amount of that class of estimates for the present year, is very,large, - being $884,954 66, exclusive of the interest on the appropriatson of $724,603 37, to pay the Cherokees, amounting to $402,802 86. The entire amount appropriated at the last session, on Indian account, exceeds the aggregate sum of tlie regular and special estimates now submitted, $1,228,312 52. It is proper to remark, however, that additional appro- |