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Show 18 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. to reward. 'The evil effects of such a coursy: have been manifested in numberless instances, which have, officially and unofficially, been brought to my attention. An agent appointed under such mnditiona does not have an eye single to the intereste of the Indians, but, as a rule, looks out more especially for the interests of his owti friends. In view of the act of Congress relative to the sale of heirship lands, greater opportunities than ever have been placed in the hands of an Indian agent to increase his salary by unlawful means. Open-marke$ purchases are unavoidable in the conduct of Indian affairs. An agent .< who is from the locality has friends and enemies from whom to pur-chase the goods, and it is all too easy for him to favor one and damage l the other, all of which is against the best interest of the Indians. In case of a bonded superintendent, there is no political pull, or otherwise, to hold him in his position, and the knowledge that such is ' the m e is a powerful factor in inducing him to stand up for the right and for the best interests of the Indians under his charge. Political bickerings, contentions with traders, etc., encroachments upon Indians' rights are generally handled in a satisfactory manner, without fear of -.; offending or favoring any factional political interests. He knows that : his duties are comprised in doing all that is possible for the civiliza-i tion of the Indians and their protection against the eucroacbments of 3 white settlers surrounding tbem. The ercssure from white men who want Indian lands is soniethiug enormous, and no Indian agent who is from that locality, who can only A expect to serve a short term of, probably, four years, can withstand such pressure. At the expiration of his term he returns to those peo-ple where he must depend upon their favors for his future livelihood. I t is unreasonable to suppose that such a man will stand against the wishes of unscrupulous and probably so-called "honest" men, in their I dealings with the Indians to such a degree as would a man who came from a different section, who is in the classified service, whose welfare does not depend upon surrounding white people, but upon his success in handling the Indian problems preaented to him, and to whom, if he I does his duty well and faithfully, there always remains the hope of ! promot~outo a, better place in tbeservice elsewhere. Such conditions 1 : undoubtedly tend to obtaining a better class of people to place in charge of Indian agencies than does the present system. : The administration of an Indian agency should be a purely business proposition. There should be no politics in it. The protection of the \ rights of the Indians and their civilization should be the sole object to ; be attained. No man with interests antagonistic to these can possibly v advance the Indian problem toward its solution. As an evidence of the justice of the above conclusions, there are the innumerable changes which have been made in the agency force dur-ing the pest-five years, the number of Indian agents who have been |