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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XLV %hey h&ve an educational influence over tl~eir associates the value of mhicll cannot be estimated. The system is ~iowin operatio11 at forty agencies, the total force em-ployed being eighty-four commissioned officers and se.ven 1111ndred and sixty-four non-commissioned officers and privates. I ~ o u l dag ain invite attention to the small oou~pensationa llowed the officers and members of the police force. The character anrl require-ments of the service are such as to demand the very best nlen at the various agencies, but these cannot often be induced to serve for the small pay ofiered. I would recommend t,hat cornmisaio~~eodf icers be paid fifteen dollars per month, sergeants ten dollars per month, and priva.tes eight dollars pe,r month. . A much more satisfactory arrange-ment would be to invest the Commissioner of Indian Affairs with dis-eretionary power as to salaries, the service at sorne agencies being of vastly rn'ore in~portanceth an at others. STOCK-CATTLE, WAGONS, AND, FREIGnTING BY INDIANS. From J u l 1~,1 878, to Jiuie 30,1881, there were purchased for the I u - dians 13,264 head of stoclr-cattle. ' A detailed report of the number fur-nished each a.gency >\-as given in my report for last year. From July 1, 1881 to June 30, 1882, stock-cattle were purchased as follows: For ' O~ages1, ,825 head; Poucds, 607 head; and Sioi~xa t Sisseton Agency, 437 head. The number of wagons purchased from July 1,1877, to June 30,1881, was 3,558, and during t.he f i~cayle ar 1882 there were purchased and ship-ped to different agencies 605 wagons, making a total of 4,163 wagons pnrchased for the Indian service in six years. A large number of In-dianfi sucrnssfull~tr ansport their goods and supplies from steamboat landings and the terminus of the railroads to their agencies, thereby earning considerable sums. Over $150,000 were remitted during the fiscal year 1882 to agents for payment to Indians for transportation services performed, of which amount the Cheyennes and Arapahoes earned $19,000, the Eiowas, Comanches and Wicbitss $15,000, the Sioux ef Pine Ridge $51,000, and the Sioux at Rosebud $33,000? The freight-ers are paid at the rate of $1 to $1.50 per 100 pounds per 100 miles, ac-cording to the condition of the roads over which the supplies are carried. The experiment mas made this 3 ear of having the mild Crows in Mon-tana" transport their supplies from the steamboat landing (Huntley) to their agency, and it 11as so far pro'pen a success. PURCHARE OF ANNUITY GOODS AND SUPPLIES. Owing to the late date when the appropriation bill for the support of the Indian service for the current fiscal year was passed [May 17,1882) bids for the annuity goods and supplies required for the fiscal year 1883 mere not opened in New York untilMa,y 23, last. The schedule of goods and supplies required comprised over 1,800 articles, and for furnishing |