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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. CXXXIII to$5,145,965.48, were not in condition For present consideration beoanse of curable defects, now only 580, amounting to $4,480,938.53, are so defective. It was formerly the practice to send claims to the special agents in the order of their filing without regard to location. This practice has been abandoned, and the agents are now located where the claim8 are most nnmerous so that both time and money are saved. With the small force of e1nploy6s warranted by the appropriation ($20,000), the work of investigating and reporting. these claims is being faithfully performed, but the fact that they have increased at the rate of more than 200 a year over the number disposed of, shows the urgent necessity for an increased appropriation, so that sufficient force may be employed, both in the office and in the field to bring them up to date. While the number of claims filed last year exceeded that of the pre-vious year, and was greater than those of 1886 and 1887 combined, a large percentage of them are for depredations committed several years ago, and must not be taken as evidence that depredation8 are increas-ing. On the contrary, as the Indians are more closely con5nett to their reservations, or as they take laud in severalty and adopt the habits of civilized life depredations perceptibly decrease, and only a few have been reported as occurring within the last few years. I submit three interesting and suggestive tables. Table 29 shows the uurnber of depredations committed by Indians and the losses occasioned thereby as indicated by claims presented each year, from 1812 to 1889. Table 30 shows such depredations and valuation of losses arranged by decades. Table 31 gives the names of the tribes to which the depre-dations are chargeable, with the number of depredations committed by each tribe, and the amount of lossks thereby occasioned. Table 29.-Shoroing t7ts numbnof depl.edationsoomndtledeaehyear, fvom 1812 to18.89, and the total arnozlnt involvad in Ma ~iainw. Year. 1-1 No. Amount. Pear. 1-1 No. Amoont. Year. |
