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Show REPOET 0'2 THE COhtMISSIONER OF IXDIAN AFFAIRS. 11 main unpatented. The case has been set for preliminary hearing at the October, 1923, term of the court. The Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, on June 6 upheld the decision of the lower court in the suit of John G. Morrison, jr., u. Secretarv of the Interior et al. The decision sustained the actlon of the lower court in dismissing the complaint fled by Morrison in behalf of himself and other Chippewas, in which legal effort was made to take the supervision of the funds and properly of these Indians out of the hands of the Interior Department. Under the decision the admmistration of the affairs of the Chippewas remains subject to departmental jurisdiction. The Interior Department made a favorable report on a bill (H. R. 12274) providing for an appropriation by Congress of $1,787,751.36 to compensate the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota for lands dis-posed of to settlers under the free homestead act of June 14, 1889, exemption from payment at $1.25 per acre having been granted the settlers by the act of May 1, 1900. FARMING AND STOCK RAISING. The limits of this report will not admit of a detailed narration of the Indian's progress as a farmer and stock grower. Every year adds steadil to the number who carry from the schools to their allotments ,!t e theory and practice of productive agriculture and live-stock improvement; and as white settlement occupies the surplus land of the reservations, the Indians readily acquire the white man's methods of handling the soil and stocking it. A comparison of the Indian's settled life and domestic activities to-day w~ t hth ese con-ditions 30 or 40 years ago is the way to form an estimate of Indian progress. Last year there was a substantial increase in the number of In-dians farming, in their, cultivated ,acreage, in the use of modern implements and machmery, and m the adoption of successful methods. There was also a marked recovery from the depressicn of live-stock interests prevalent throughout the country during the years 1918 to 1921. The Indians of the southwestern reservations have been furnished with high-grade rams for improving their sheep and as a result are receiving much higher prices for their wool. The upward trend in prices on all classes of stock is' bringing encouraging returns and stimulating interest in stock raising among the Indians generally. INDUSTSRURIVAEYLA N D FIVE-YEAPR~ o a u ~ . - T h i sm ovement was outlined in the annual report for 1922 and has received some-what special attention. Deta~led surveys have been made of 71 reservations with the view of determining the exact situation of the Indians, their needs, and resources; and s~milasru rveys will be made of other reservations as rapidly as possible. The reports of these surveys will be used as the basis for the formulation of a definite, systematic industrial program for each reservation extending over a period of five years. Programs have already been a~proved for a number of the reservations. Perhaps the most conspicuous example of the possibilities of the five-year ljrogram is found on the Blackfeet Reservation, Mont., 63527-2-2 |