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Show I have been so utterly disheartened as to feel tempted to abandon the work, and am free to say that I have continued to discharge the duties devolved upon me, under the limitations, restrictions, criticisms, a~ld disappointments which I have encountered, only from a stern sense of duty. The attractions of the offioe are few, its labors heavy,,its limi-tations very great, and I do not think any man wo~ildc ontinue in it for any considerable length of time and really endeavor to.disoharge the duties wuscientiously in accordance with a high standard who was not impelled thereto by a devotion to duty and an earnest desire to fulfill, to the best of his ability, the solemn t n ~ sitm posed upon him. There is, perhaps, no bureau in the Goverument that has a larger number of business questions to deal with-questions of land, of la,w, of finance, of interpretation of treaties, the maintaining of an extensive school system, etc. It exercises supervision over 250,000 people widcly scattered over a vast region of country. There are more than three hundred separate appropriations on its books, and it di8bi1rses enor-mous sums of money. The offioe in Washington is so well organized that no breath of suspicion ought to attach to the integrity of its meth-ods, and its books and proceedings are always open to anyone who has the right to inquire into its work. INCREASE IN WORK OF THE INDIAN BUREAU. The work of this offioe increases both in quantity and in perplexity of details. The quantity is exhibited by the following fmts: From July 1, 1885, to June 30, 1888, the letrters received numbered 101,992, while from July 1,1889, to Juue 30,1892, the number of letters received amounted to 130,475, an increase of 28,483 or nearly 28 per cent. From July 1,1885, to Junt, 30, 1888, the number of letters sent by the office was 67,151, while from July 1,1889, to June 30,1892, the unmber was 91,705, an increase of 24,554. Many of these letters it should be said are voluminous documents, requiring great research and care in their preparation, and the mere figures fail to represent adequately the ipcrease in the work.. There are several reasons for this increase. One is the rapid and enormous development of the educational system. The appropriation from the public treasury for this purpose for the fiscal year just closed isnearly a million dollars greater than it was three years ago. This has thrown upon the offioe a vast increase of business. The planning and erecting of .schoolhousest the appointment of teachers, the keeping of records, and the proper administration ofthis extensive school Rystem, carried on as it is under such perplexing difficulties, involves an amount of labor that few people have any conception of except those actually engaged in it. An approximate idea of the increase of work in the educational divi- |
