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Show 54 REPORT OF THE C O ~ S S I O N E R OF INDIAN AFBIRS. The agent of the Fort Peck Agency reported that the excellent deportment of the Indiaus and their fine display of garden and farm produce, school work, and industrial products at Glendive was a reve-lation to a great many visitors who previously had but a faint coucep-tion of what the Government is really doing in the way of educating its wards in the duty of self-supporting citizenship. The Indians were very much pleased and highly benefited. They secured three first pre-miums, one of which was for the largest and best display of agricultural products. Not a single case of drunkenness or disorderly conduct occurred among them, and they were treated with great courtesy by the citizens. Upon this excellent showing, the Department granted authority, June 24, 1902, for these Indians again to take part in this annual fair, upon the same conditions as in 1901, and also for the Pop-lar River Indian training school to make an exhibit of its work. TRADE AMONG OSAGE INDLANS. For many years the system governing trade with the Osage Indians in Oklahoma has been unsatisfactory and a constant source of com-plaint both on the part of the Indians and the traders. In order to enable Indians to be furnished with such supplies as they need at fair and reasonable pricas, and to restrict the practice which has hereto-fore largely prevailed, of allowing the Indiaus practically unlimited credit at the stores maintained by the traders, it was determined to create the po.sition of Indian trade supervisor at the Osage Agency, whose duty it should he to supervise trade and enforce such regula-tions as might be essential to maintain proper trade relations between the Indians and the traders. February 13, 1901, the Department, upon the recommendation of this Ofice, appointed Mr. H. C. Ripley as such Indian trade supervisor and he entered on duty February 19. At the next quarterly annuity payment succeeding his appointment the supervisor issued to each annuitant a card marked with his name, and upon that wrd each trader with whom the Indian desired credit was required to enter at the time of purchase the amount of such pur-chase, the total amount credited any annuitant not to exceed 30 per cent each month of his quarterly annuity payment. Subsequently the amount of credit to be given was modified under the Indian appro-priation act of March 3, 1901 (31 Stats., 1065), which restricted the credit to be given to any individual Indian or head of a family to 60 per cent of the next quarterly annuity payment. The supervisor, pursuant to his instructions, required the traders to open new ledgers, and to itemize all accounts and to re-mark all of the goods in their stores, in letters or figures, with both cost and selling prices. If a cipher is used for this purpose, the traders are required to acquaint the supervisor with the cipher. All of the goods sold to |
