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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 49 Contractors complain that it requires too much capital to handle the Indian work on account of the time required in securing pay-ment for work done after the certificate is issued which entitles them to payment. This certificate provides that payment for work done shall be made in installments, the contractor to he paid 80 per cent of the value of the work at the time the certificate is made; the Cmvernment retains 20 per cent until the work is entirely completed and accepted. A change should be made in the method of making payments. The money should be available as soon as the certificate is made, as is not the case under the present routine. It is my opinion that the bonded superintendent should be authorized to issue a check for the amount due on all partial payments; the final payment only should be directly authorized by the Indian Office. Contractors of moderate means would thus be in a position to com-pete for the work of this bureau. PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES. As a result of the continued activity on the part of the office and the field in the matter of obtaining quotations in advance of the authorization of purchases of goods and supplies, resulting in the placingtbefore the office of data necessary to an intelligent considera-tion of the subject, the purchasing end of the service has been more economically administered. In purchasing goods and supplies for the service the Government land-grant advantages have always been taken into consideration where land-grant deductions were applicable. A large part of the purchasing has been done, as usual, through the medium of the ware-houses for Indian supplies at Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Omaha, and San Francisco. In those items where quality is essential to eatisfactory service the standard of quality has been raised so far as the funds at our disposal would permit. Improvements in our specifications, under which merchants and manufacturers bid, have been made from time to time, among them, for instance, being the adoption of the scale of measurements of the Cotton Knit Goods Buyers' Association in order to improve the fit of the underwear'hought. This scale is now a part of our specifica-tions for underwear and deliveries must measure up to its require-ments. Preparatory to advertising for the 1913 supplies during the month of April, 1912, descriptive matter in our proposal blanks was thoroughly revised, the revision being based on suggestions from merchants, manufacturers, and others possessing a practical knowl-edge of our requirements, so that the trade was given a clearer under-standing of what was desired, commercial descriptions being used wherever practicable, with the result that increased and more intelli- 65989-13--4 |