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Show 18 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. production of about 350 barrels a day brought in by the Midwest Refining Co. under an exploration lease approved last year. In view of the interest manifested and the frequent applications for leases on the Hogback and other structures, regulations were ap-, proved on April 24, 1923, outlining the method by which oil and gas leases on this reservation will be let. Leases on the Hogback structure in the neighborhood of the producing well will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder in tracts of not exceeding 640 acres each. On other structures, a single ex loration lease may be granted and in case oil and gas develop, t\ e r emaining lands will be offered for lease at public auction. A similar plan for leas-ing lands on the Southern Ute Reservation in Colorado and New Mexico was adopted on May 24, 1923. To promote better and more uniform administration of the affairs of the Navajo Tribe of Ind~ansp, articularly as to matters affecting their interests at large, such as oil, gas, and other mineral deposits, tribal timber and the development of underground water, regulations were approved January 27, 1923 (revised A ril 24, 1923), providing for the appointment of s conlmissioner to t I? e Navajo Tribe and the or anization of a Navajo trlbal council with which administrative o 2 cers of the Government may directly deal in all matters affecting the tribe as a whole. Hon. H. J. Hagerman was appointed com-missioner to the Navajo Tribe and the organization of a Navajo tribal council has been completed. On November 7,1922, the regulation limiting the oil and gas hold-ings of any one lessee on the Kiowa Reservation, Okla., to 9,600 acres in the aggregate was abolished, as the danger of monoply it was designed to prevent is now eliminated by the remaining small area of restricted land and the active competition of oil operators in the field. All existing regulations governing the leasing of restricted Indian lands for mining purposes were amended on April 10,1923, so as to prohibit the making of such leases to emplo ees of the United States Government, whether connected with the &an Service or otherwise. The ruling of November 9,1922, prohibiting the making of mining leases to foreignefs and noncitieens was revoked by the Seoretary of the Interior on May 16, 1923, the decision being rendered in a case involving oil and gas leases to the Roxana Petroleum Cor oration covering lands belonging to members of the Five Civilized $ribes in Oklahoma and in the Osage Reservation. A cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Mines and the Indian Office regarding the supervision of operations for mining coal, oil, gas! and other minerals from leases on restricted Indian lands, except in the Osage Nation and the Five Civilized Tribes, was ap-proyed June 29, 1923. Under this agreement thoroughly competent engineers and practical men will be available for regnlar field service and it will be their duty to see that mining operations are conducted efficiently and economcally. FORESTRY. A marked interest on the part of operators in offerings of timber on Indian lands developed last year, due partly to improvement in |