OCR Text |
Show IV REPORT OF THE COM&iISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. eou~fts. But aft,er an individual has complied with his contract and prodnoes his vouchers certified and signed by the legally appointed offi-cers, showing Ghat he has performed his undertaking in letter a,nd spirit, he is in all fairness e~~t i t letod t he prompt payment of the compensation stipulated. But such, I am compelled by personal kl~omledgeto say, is not the ease as the law now stands. After all has been done as above indicated, honest claimants havein very many instances been compelled to ~ h a s eth eir account^ through twelve or fifteen departments of the government, consuming weeks andeven months, andin some instances years of time, until hope has sickened into despair, and men have grown gray waiting for the tard~footsteposf the nlessedger from whose hands they should long before have received their just dues. It is no answer to this to say that the syste~nn ow practiced has been long in use and therefore ought not to be changed. This is 110 argu-ment for its co~ltinuanceu nless it can be shown that age sanctifies error. I make this statement in the interest not.only of fair and honorable deal-ing, hut also and particularly in the interest of economy for the goveru-ment. A prompt paymaster gets more for his money than one who is not prompt; and when it is underst004 that delay may be expected in receiving payment for labor or material furnished, those who furnish the labor or material make their calculations accordingly, and charge enongh to pay them for waiting. The system of purchasing the annual supplies for the Indian service by inviting and receiving sealed proposals is pro-ductive of a healthy competition, and the opening of these bids and awarding the contracts in the presence of the bidders leaves no just ground for charges of unfairness or favoritism, and, in my opinion, there is not much room for improvement in that respect; but I desire to re- 8 peat and emphasize it, that the law in reference to settling the accolrnts ought to be oha,nged. INDIAN AGENW. Among the many causes which exist tending to retard the improre-ment of the Indians, one very i~nportauot ne is the difficulty of procur-ing men of the right stamp to act as agents. We here over a quarter of a million of Indians scattered over many thousands of miles of terri-tory, many of the points at which they are located being difficult of access. Manj- of these Indians, outside of the five oirilized tribes, are wild roving nomads, preferring savage to civilized life. These are an untutored a.nil untractable people, who are naturally indolent, improvi-dent, and shiftless, and very impatieut of restraint or discipline. The object of the governme~lt is to transform these nilcivilized people into peaceable, industrious, and law-abiding citizens, and for this purpose a system has been devised, good in many respects; but when we come to operate that sgsten~w e make a fatal mistake, and a mistake which, if not corrected, will, in my opinion, prevent for generations the accom-plishment of good, which might otherwise be reached in one decade. I refer, of course, to the present system of appointing and paying the |