Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1875.djvu/11

Rh have taken the necessary steps to procure a full and unbiased report of the condition of things in that territory, and will ask the privilege of submitting to you a special report on the subject at an early day after the meeting of Congress, at which time some further recommendation in that behalf may be found to be necessary and proper.

The peculiar condition in which the so-called Mission Indians of Southern California are situated is clearly stated in the Commissioner's report, and he makes suggestions in regard to their treatment. The unsettled condition of this people is a source of embarrassment to the white settlements in that portion of California, and will continue to be an element of irritation and danger until some measures are adopted for their relief.

It would be beneficial to the Indian service, in my opinion, and would tend to promote its efficiency, if the laws preventing the detail of Army officers for civil service were so far modified as to allow their employment in the Indian service at the discretion of the President, in case of emergency. Such a change would place at the disposition of the Executive a corps of disciplined, intelligent officers, whose familiarity with the entire Indian country and the needs of the service would render them invaluable in an emergency such as has arisen during the present year, and such as is liable to arise at any time in the treatment of large bodies of wild Indians.

The Secretary of the Interior now holds in his possession, in trust for various Indian tribes, bonds of the United States and of several of the States, the par value of which is about $5,000,000. Authority has been conferred upon the Secretary of the Interior, from time to time, by Indian treaties and acts of Congress, to invest the proceeds of the sales of lands ceded to the United States by Indian tribes. The authority so given to invest, as trustee, seems to have been construed as implying also the authority to hold such securities in possession by the Secretary of the Interior in trust, and he now holds such stocks and bonds to the amount of $5,107,516. Whether the right to hold those securities is conferred by the laws and treaties referred to or not, I recommend that the necessary legislation be made authorizing their transfer to the Treasurer of the United States, by whom the interest thereon, as it accrues, shall be placed to the-cretlit of the proper tribe, to be drawn on requisition of the Secretary of the Interior, as in the case of appropriations. Such a disposition of these securities will relieve the Secretary of the Interior of a disagreeable responsibility and duty not in any way homogeneous to the general duties of the office, and place the bonds where all such valuables should be kept.

The co-operation of the religious bodies having in charge the duty of nominating Indian agents has been harmonious and satisfactory, and they have evidently been careful in their selection of proper men for those positions.

The Board of Indian Commissioners has been efficient in the