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Show f REPORT OF TEE COMMISSIONER OF WDIAN AFFAIRS. VII vicinity, mode the sale of intoxicating beverages his principal husinees, and, fa;. the pupnl&ion, the amount was simply enormous; that while he was there, a single st,eenlhoat landed for this man six car loads of Wer and fifteen barrels of whiaky ; that while he was not allowed to sell to Indians he sold ad libitum to officers and sol-diers, and the scenes of drnnken debauchery in which not only soldier8 and Indians mingledpromiscuoualy, and not infrequently officers also, were too shamefal tonanate, sod the degradation to which these gnardiana of the nation'a honor subjected the Indian women is too disgraceful to be name& I also submit that the pul~ishments imposed by exist,iing statutes on this subject are not commensurate with the enormity of the crime wm-mitted. The law, as it now stands, makes the penalty for its violation not more than two years imprisonment., and l~ot more than three huu-dred (lollars fine. It should read not less than two years, and not less than three hundred dollars. I deem this change absolutely necessary, ic view of the fact that some of the courts are extremely tender-hea,rted when sentence is to be pronounced on a wretch who furnishes liquor to Indians. In some cases, after an expenditure of much time and money, the guilty party has been fined one dollar, or imprisoued one.day, and, as a consequence; the violator of the law laughs at the farce, and goes on with his nefarious business. So much has been written in almost every report. for the last thirty gears, and so little has beengiven by Congressto the wrious recommendations for more striugeut laws on this subject, that it would appear superfluous to bring the matter so constantly to your attention; but I am so clearly convinced that the suggestions made, if enacted into slaw, would materielly aid the Department in raising the Indians to a higher state of civilization, that I would be derelict to my duty, if I failed to repeat and reaffirm my offleial observations and couvictions in this regard. If my space woold allow I wuld fill pages with the testi-mouy of civil and military oficeru in support of whatis here stated, and I earuest.ly hope that Congress will see the necessity of making such changes in the law as will make it possible to punish those who furnish intoxicating liquors to Indiaus. APPROPRIATIONS. Under the present system of making appropriations for the Indian service, audthe ruiingsof the accounting officers of the Treasury io the settlement of accounts, this office is r7ery much embarrassed, and large loss of funds is occasioned. Money t.hat; might be very advantageonsly used if the Department had any pomer to exercise its discretion in tile matter, now goes back into the Treasury every year, to the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars, because some cliange or circnn~stance occurs that coold not possibly hare been foreseen at the time the appro-priation was made. If the appropriations were made more in bulk, or so as to allow the Department to use its discretion in their expenditure, so that any part of an appropriation not needed for the object or pur-pose for which it was made, or that could be spared therefrom, could |