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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 57 Pioneer work, during the two preceding years, was necessary in order to accomplish the organization of an adequate for& of probate a.ttorneys, the- divisionof the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes into districts,' and the preparation and promulgation of a code of rules and regulations to govern procedure i u probate cases. With these primary accomplishments assured, the way stood open for the performance-in a systematic way of the work that seriously de-manded attention with respect to individual cases. A special effort has been made this year to put all probate cases upon a sound financial basis. In the past straw bonds were accepted , in many cases and reports of guardians were allowed to drift along for years without being audited or checked. But the attorneys are now rapidly correcting this situation. They have checked case after case, and whenevera 'guardian has been found delinquent they have becured an order from the court citing such guardian td appear,and make good his shortage, and if necessary to give a new and satisfac-tory bond. In doing this they have caused citations to be issued in 7,198 cases, and have secured the discharge or relioval of 2,584 guardians. They have also caused 2;277 new bonds to be filed, aggre-gating in amount $9,625,945. These beneficial results were attained partly through the institu- . . tion of suits in the State courts, suits that would not and could not have been filed and prosecuted without the assistance of the probate attorneys. There wire 91 suits in criminal cases and 41G snits in civil . cases instituted during the year on behalf of members of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the amounts involved in the civil actions totaled $1,382338. ' It is always one of the mbst difficult problems to cope with in the Indian Service to make proper and profitable disposition of funds belonging to individual Indians, especially where, as in the oil dis-tricts, they ar'e in receipt of large incomes. Here again the services ' of the probate attorneys have proved of great value, for they have been able to follow up their !epal ~c tor i e sb y supervising the con-servation and investment of the funds of their Indian clients. This they have done during the year, in the amount of $1,814,972. They have, moreover, prcvcnted, by their supervision of probate cases, by .cheAking repirks of guardians, by requiring new bonds, and inother ways, losses to dependent Indians in the amount of $1,487,158 since July 1,1915. Altogether there has been saved and conserved to the restricted and adult allottees during the last fiseal year the total sum of $3,302,130. In no other branch of theprobate work in the past have fraudtnd graft perpetrated their crimes upon helpless Indians more than in connection with the sales of minors' allotments and of inherited lands. |
