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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 37 Allotting agents have been instructed that where an Indian woman is nmrrierl tb a white man she is to be regarded ns tho bead of a fmuily, ;~ndw hile her husbnlld is excluded fromthe direct henefitsof the law, she and her ohildrenare to hs~eitafull benefits. Eleventh. It is also worthy of oonsideration in this eouneot,ion that the United States Government bas been and is the trustee of vast sums of Indian money, and that it has from t i l e to time disbursed this money by paying it per capita to the Indians, recognizing as Indiana all who are borne upon the rolls and recognized by the Indians themselves as members of their tribes, including half-breeds and mixed Moods. If therefore these lahter ere not Indiana and an such ase not entitled to share in the Indian money, it is a serious question whether the "red Indians" to whom the money rightfully belongs have not an equitable claim against t.he United States for misappropriation of their funds. I n view of theso considerations i t seema to me,with my pr e~enlti ght, that in de-temining the rigbts and privileges of mixedbloods we mtwt give to the term "In-dian" s liberal and not a technical or restrictive construction. It must be oon-strued in its histarioal and not in its ethnological aignificsnoe. The law of descent must be determined not after Roman or English precedents, but in rtooordance with Indian usage and our Ameriom adminintrative sanction. Any other eanclusiona an-nounced now aa s binding mle, having retroaotive COnseqUwCeR, would result in in~didi t t ingt reaties and sgrenments, diaregmding vested rights, and introducing oonfusion into the entire Indian question. Of oourae, when the Indiana shall have become oitieens of the United States by taking bllotments, or otherwise, the law of inheritance, where not fixed by speoifio statutes, will he determined by the common law as applied to all other classes of people. EDUCATION. During the past three years the work of education has been pushed with great vigor and with ceaseless vigilance, and I think it safe to say that this has been the best year of the three. Few people can have any just conception of the enormous amount of labor and the perplexi-ties involved in the development of an adequate school service for the Indians; the schools are so far removed from the office, are scattered over anch an immense region of country, are surrounded by couditions so wholly different, that it has been well nigh impossible to put into execution any definite plan that should apply equally to all. '. RESTRICTED COST OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS. There has been nuavoidable delay connected with the building of sohoolhouses and the development of proper plants for s-,hools. I have been met all the time with the very great difficulty of securing euough money to erect suitable buildings. I have had occasion in for-mer reports to show conclusively that the legal limitations fixed by Congress heretofore have rendered it, in some cases, absolutely impos-sible to do the work that ought to be done. For example, three years ago the law restricted the cost of any school building on an Indian reservation, including furnishing, to $10,000. Last year, after.a great deal of persumion, the limit was raised to $12,000, exclusive of fur-nishing. Under this restriction I advertised, for instance, for bids for |