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Show REPORT OF THE COMMI88lONER OF IEDIAN AFFAIRS. and iliaappointments.~~in, otber ~ o r d si,f be is morally, mentally, and phy8ica.lly above tllct average of what are oonsidered good men, he will work moodel* anlong these ward8 of the nation. Sometimes such men are found who are willing to nudertake this work for the good that they hope to accom]~lish, but they soon find themselves surrounded wit11 difficulties and hampered and embar-rassed by regulations aud rulingstbat are not to be fbund in auj- other business or any other department of the Government; and in place of the support and s)mpat.lly which t l~r ye xpected from the Governneut, the) are harassed aud a1111o1edb y technical r111ings in conducting the affairs of the ageucr to such an extent that they become disheartened, despoudent, and disgusted, and abandon the work upon which theIXy '\l entered with high hopes of doing good. One agent,, who rras appointed I upon the earnest solicitation of a United States Senator from his State, wrote me a few weeks since, after being in the service about one yea,r, usiug this language: If I had known at the time of my appointment of thn heavgreaponsihility, tmnble, sleepless nights, and agony of mind I have had taundergo, $5,000 salary would not have tenlpted me to acoept the office. I vould now resign if I muld in ju~t icet o mgsolf and bondsmen. Another of our agents, alive, wide.awake, energetic man, in tendering his resignation for the second tune a fewweeks since, uses the follomi~~g language: I respectfully beg leave to renew che tender of my resignation. It is needless for me to add anyressons to the ones alreadr given, bnt I will sspthia: I am thorotxghly convinced after digest.ing all that was said to me by the chief of the Indian division of the Seeoud Comptroller's Office, that no earn, no honesty, will prevent a nlan in this posit,ion f m be ing robbed by legal process, and further, that the Indian Bureau is powerless to protect its o5ears. I nm satisfied that no agent osn perform the high& duties for which he was placed here without sooner or later being campelled to spend his own money to defend himself fmm some nnjost charge. I hare the assurance of this same ohief of division in the Second Comptroller's Ofice, that in case sn agent aoting on his own j sdgment did, by an expenditure of five dollars, save the Government a million, he would compal him to mfund that five dollars if be mnld. I cannot afford, after doiug my whole dutg, to apedd a t,llousand dollars, to prove it. and I don't propose to spend my money on olaim agents, either. The Indian service lo~evse ry many of its best agent,s because of the nnuecessary and vexatious manner of keeping and set,t.liug their ac-counts. No n~ercantileo r manufacturing business could be carried on one year on the same srstem. I am compelled to say tha.t it is wrong in principle and in practice, and is in effect discounting good men and offeriug a ~~remiuomn bad or incompeteut ones. 111 addition to t.his, inany of the Indian dgents have to live in houses which are in wretched condition, mnch less comfortable than sta.bles for hqrses and mules in civilized communities. At leaoc $100,000 should be appropriated this year for construction and repair of build-ings at agencies. |