Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1872.djvu/7



October 31, 1872.


 * I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of this Department during the year. It has been made as concise as possible, to present an intelligent review of the work of the year, and contains, also, such suggestions and recommendations as, in my judgment, will conduce to the more successful administration of the Bureaus of the Department.

It is a source of satisfaction to be able to report substantial reforms and real progress in each and all the Bureaus during the year, and they are now, without exception, in excellent condition. The Indian-Office is working in the most satisfactory manner; the Patent-Office reports important improvements in the details of management; the Land-Office has brought up the large arrears of work which had embarrassed its operations for years; the Pension-Office has materially reduced the number of claims on file at the beginning of the year, for the first time since the close of the war; the ninth census is completed in a shorter time and in a more satisfactory manner than ever before; and the Bureau of Education is rapidly increasing its field of usefulness.

Attention is invited to the able and interesting report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, which is more than usually full of information relative to the present numbers, location, and condition of all the tribes under the administrative control of the Indian-Office.

Measured by any true standard, the present Indian policy of the Government has proved a success, inasmuch as for three years it has secured the largest and freest extension and development of our railways and frontier settlements which was possible under the circumstances, with far less of loss of life and property than would have been suffered under any other plan of dealing with the hostile and roving tribes beyond the Missouri River. In our intercourse with the Indians it must always be borne in mind that we are the more powerful party, and have uniformly regarded the Indians as the wards of the nation.