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Show I 44 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. sums of money not exceeding $25 at any one time, or $100 in any one month, to meet emergencies and to enable the superintendent to I supply the imperative needs which often arise in the conduct of business without the delay of fist obtaining specific authority from ! I this office. FINANCE DIVISION. I The Finance Division as at present organized includes the fol- 1 lowing sections: Booklreeping section, accounts section, and claims 1 section. In none of these sections have there been any radical changes during the year. The bookkeeping section. reports that the 1 liability record and the record of expenditures installed last year have i fully demonstrated their value and justified the additional labor . , involved in their keeping. With some slight modifications of form they are expected to be still more efficient in the future. . , LAW WORK.' I The legal work of the Indian Office during the last fiscal year can I properly he divided into two p:~rts: First, advisory; second, con-structive. The advisory work of the law office. has been, as heretbfore, largely confined to passing upon legal questions which have arisen from time to time in theoffice and to giving written opiiions on troublesome points The constructive work of the legal force has consisted in preparing the Indian appropriation bill and its justification and in taking care of all the other legislative needs of the Indians. This constructive feature of the work is summarized in Table 22 under the head of " Summary of vital legislation?' One thousand four hundred and sixty-two cases have been passed upon by the legal division of the office during the current year. Among the more important cases and problems passed upon by the ltiw officers have been the questions which have constantly arisen of employing attorneys for Indians and paying them out of the tribal funds. The policy has beenenunciated that, except in very clearly defined exceptions, it must be presumed Congress, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Justice were not only equipped, but required by law to care for and fully protect the legal interests of the Indians. The most notable exception to this general rule is that class of ca&s in which the interests of the Indians and that of the United States &re adverse. It is obviously improper that any officer of the United States should represent the Indians in this class of cases, but the great majority of the requests for attorneys for Indians originate in the de- 'sire of the Indians to obtain certain legislation. The law requires that no attorney shall act for a tribe or for a nonciti~en1 ndian without |