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Show 28 REPORT OF THE I t ap.. p ears from the tables hereto a.~ .~ e n d e adn.d which are compiled from the best ilcv<~+ails~uluer cvs. tl~ntt l~c.w hdr no~nbttrid " inJ:nu rl.ihcs lloidinr rrl:~riot.s with r l ~ + ,p ovrrlll,lcnt i . one I~unJrrda l ~ ~fiilt y-two, coml,~ldinx9 39,;UG -c,oli, A - seven-tweifths of whom are females. The schools of all kinds are 162 in number, having 5,950 under 186 teachers, whose compensation averages $365 per annum to each teacher. The agency best furnished with educational opportunities is that of New York; then follow, in the order of excellence, the Northern, Central, Southern, California, Oregon, and T1'aahington superintendencies; the New Mexico and Utah superintendencies have no schools as yet, which is also.the case with the new Tenitories of Nevada and Colorado. There are in all two hundred and forty-one farms (fenced) in cultivation by Indians or for Indian use, comprising an area of 6,112 acres; of which 2,956 acres are worked by employks in pay of the government, and 3,156 acres by Indians alone. The salaries of -g overnment farm em-ploy.&s averag-e $671 per annum. The aggregate valne of the movable personal property owned by the afore-said Indian tribes is set down at $4,670,053. Those in the best circumstances in this respect are the Shawnees, Wyandotta, and Delawares, who average more than $1,000 to each individual; the poorest are the tribes and hands in Utah. Indian wealth consists chiefly in horses, ponies, and mules ; but cattle, farming implements, and household furniture are rapidly becoming important objects of acauisition. ;1> h e ~norala nd rcli$ou~ culti~ationo t' the Tltdiane is committed to rtrt.nty-rracr! r~risoionnrirrt,w vnry-five uf whom nre of the .Uetllodi.~t l.:pi3ropal rl~urrli Sort11a nd Sootll, thr t'or~t~io.rf wl~irlra le inrrrnriue in nun~trtr:r ninctrcu riru in the communion of the Roman Catholic church; gine are Baptists; five are members of the Society of Friends ; three are Congregationalists ; two are of the Protestant Episcopal and one of the Lutheran church. Tile remainder are nndcsignated. Besides the moral and religious object which is served by these devoted mis-sionaries, great incidental good follows from their labors and presence amongst the Indians. Thus the Indians receive lessons by example as well as precept in industry of all kinds ; in the arts and sciences ; in agriculture ; iu domestic economy; in tem eranee, manner of life and behavior, dress and deportment. How great the dvantages which are thns communicated to those children of the forest and prairie, the imagination can more easib picture than the pen describe. By the second section of an act entitled an act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June 30, 1854, the President was authorized to enter into negotiation with the Indian tribes west of the States of Missou* and Iowa, for the purpose of procuring the assent of said tribes to the settlement of citizens of the United States upon the lands claimed by said-Indians, and for the purpose of extinguishing the title of said Indian tribes in whole or in part to said lands. To carry these provisions into effect $50,000 were appropriated. Of this sum hut $1,096 95 remains; and as it is deemed important that moneys ahould be placed at the disposal of this department for the purpose of availing itself of the first favorable opportunity to enter into negotiations with certain Indian tribes now resident in Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota, I have to recommend that the sum of $50,000 be placed at the disposal of the Department of the Interior. This amount is regmded as small, as the Indians with whom the negotiations are to be made are numerous, and the cost of the req-u isite .pro visions, .pre sents, &c., must be correspondingly large. My experience so far as regards onr relations to the Indians has satisfied nm |