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Show i n clos in~m y Isst annual report relstire to the gratuitous distribution of aonuityand.other g o d s The more I re0eot opon this subject the more I am Impressed with its importance in the development of Indian charaoter and civilization. It would he s kind of com@nl-sory mode of inducing them to walk slone. Nor would I have anything furniehed them -hut such articles as are necessary for subsistence and clothing, snd articles to be used in ' fsrming and domestic aperationa. I would soggeat further, as a means of compelling them to nae their best exertions to prepare themselves for self-suntenanoe, that a time be set, s t a . reasonshls distance in the future, and that they be distinotly noti6ed of it, st which all Gov-ement supplies shall cease. It would be well, before such a measure he adopted, that they be furnished pretty liberally with teams and farming implements, and slaa, those thst heva none, with stock, 80 thst,.sfter the expiration af the time appointed, moat, if notall,would be enabled to subsist comparatively comfortably. Most of them, as things now stand, though I hsve endeavored to convincethem to the contrary, seem to think thet the Govern-ment will always supply them ss heretofore. This, though the people and Government of the United States are proverbislly Keneraus, wiil not be the ease, and the sooner all those who have the meaus and opportunities for providing for thomselres sre made aware of the f a ~tfh e better. Ihe suggestions thus given might not be suitable or applicable to all spocies, hut I am clear in thinking that same course similar to the one shove indicated wauldbe for the heat futureintereats of lodisns under my charge; sod this leads me to this further remark and suggestion, thst legislation in Indisu matters should have reference to the chsracter and degree of progresa they have made in civilized pursuits. Geosrel laws are frequently inap. plioable to particular cases. Respectfully submitted by yoor obedient servant, J. J. CRITCHLO%', llnitsd States Indian Agant: The C o k w ~ s s r o ~OF~ nIN DTAAFNF AIRS. -. SIR : I have the honor to auhmit my fifth annual raport of the condition af the Indian ~ I Y - ice under my charge. Oaiog to the limited appropriations for the apnoiea in this Territory, fer the psst fiscal year, the Indiana of this ageocrhsse received little or nothing in the wsyof assistsnce from the Government. They have, nevertheless, shown the same commeodsbls efforts to improve .their condition, by engaging in civilized pursuits to the extent of their mesns,snd are, sa I think, entitled to mush credit in declining to take any part in the neighboring hostilit' s, although often im ortunsd ta do 80, but havesteadilymaiotainsd their peaceful and frienxy disposition towarfthe whites. The couooil called at this place by Co1.E. C; Wstkina, United States Indiso inepsctor, for the 27th of June, 1877, being postponed on aocoont of the Indian outbreak, was coo-vend at the Spokan Falls on the 16th August followine, when the question of locating the Indians apon soitable reservations was considered, a o d i n addition proposed to the present Colville reserve, which would include the principal fisheries on the Columbia and Spokan Rivers, and furnish sufficient arable land for the tribes located upan it. Aa the Upper SPo2ans and Colaillr band of Pendd'Oreille, manifest some reluctance to go upon the reserve assigned them, many of them having farme and improvements where they are st present, it is my opinion that ample time sbonld be given them to dispose of their property ere 18mOV-in ns the country will not, in all probability, he required for settlement for some years. $ha recent sssignment of the Gear d'AldncIndisos. numbering 450, to tbis ageocy,in-oreases the number of Indians under my charge to 3,457, ila oesr as can beascertained with. aut.actual count. Since my last annual report, it has hsen found that the tribes of Sen Pads and M~lhoulsh ave been overestimated in numbers, or that they hsva suffered a reduo tion of about llO,hy members uniting themselves, ss is often the case, to other tribes The Iodiso hoarding-aohnol hss been carried on during the past year noder contract be-tween the Ron. Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Rev. J. B. A. Broaillet. dated De-cember 8, 1876. A full complement of scholars have been in attendance, apd the progress of the pupils has been sstisfaotbry in every respect. There has bean no laokof zeal on the pert of the C&tholio and othermisaionarieswbo have labored so long among the tribes of tbis agency to induce them to embrace a Cbriatianlifq; and their efforts are rewarded by the peaceful bsarin of their eongre~ationss,o d the read>- nsss with which their sdmonitions are listened to. %fuch credit is also due the Sisters of Charity for the caro and attention given the sick in the absence of regular medioal attend- BnCB. The advantages to the sgencp from the employment of s physician and miller, from the commencement of the present fiscal yesr, ale slready apparent; the usefulness of the former, |