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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIO?II<R OF IKDIAN AFFAIRS. 25 of this office. Of the allotments made by Agent Piggott, 463 have been co~~siderebdy this office, reported to and approved by the Depart-ment. The remainder (687) will be report,ed for your consideration and apj~roval as so011 as certain applications corresponding thereto shall have been forwarded to this office by the General Land Office. Bernard Arntze~~of, Illinois, has been appointed as the successor of Mr. Piggott. He was iustructed July li, i893, to proceed to Carson City, Xev., to resnme the work begun by his predecessor, and as the field i~ large and the Indians are anxions for homes, ant1 milling to a.ccept allotmeuts under said fourth section, good results are expected I from his labors. The special allotting agent on duty in this office has made, since the last annual report was ~ubl i s l~e3d3,8 allot~nentsu nder said section , four. Tt~esme ere rece~~ttlryan smitted to the Department, aud a.pproved by the Acting Secretary May 11, 1893. There are now on file in this office 100 applications for allotments under said fourth section. These will receive attention, aud the i~llotmel~tsw, hen completed, mill be transrnitted to the Department. CONTESTS AGAINST INDIAN HOMESTEADS AND ALLOT-MENTS. By the provisions of s e c t io~1~5 of an act approved March 3, 1875 (18 Stats., 420), and of the Indian homestead act of July 4, 1884 (23 Stats., 96), together with the provisions contained in the fourth section of the general allot~nent act approved February 8,1887 (24 Stats., 388), as ;tmer~cledb y act of Februarr 28,1891 (27 Stats., 794), noureservation Indians are afforded ample opportunities and facilities for making entries npou the public lands \vith a view of obtaining per-manent holnes thereon. Iu view of the hot that the public domain is rapidly disappearing, contests agsinst Indian eutries have become frequent. The endeavor of this office to defend Indians against col~tests initiated by whites and to save to the111 their l~omes llas shown that, in nrost cases, t,he Indians are too poor to defray the expenses incurred in such proceed-ings, and are ignorant of tlrc regulations and laws governing in such matters. This and the groming necessity that Indians should be located in permaneut homes led the Department to ask Congress to make an appropriation of 935,000 "to pay the legal costs incurred by Indians in contests iniLiated by or against them to any entry, filing, or other claims, under the lams of Congress relating to public lands, for any sufficient cause affecting the legality or validity of the entry, filing, or claim." The appropriation asked for mas made by clause contained in the Indian appropriation act approved March 3, 1893 (27 Stats., 612). It contains the provision, however, that the fees to be paid by and on |