PP.-Statement of accounts paid from the appropriation for the survey of private land claims in California during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. 1876. Oct. 18 28 Sept. 23 Dec. 9 21 1877. Feb. 10 Mar. 10 17 Jan. 10 Mar. 28 28 May 19 June 23 30 To account of John A. Benson To account of clerk of United To account of clerk of United To account of Post Publishing To account of Los Angeles Rancho San Jacinto. To account of Riverside News To account of clerk of United To account of clerk of United To account of clerk of United To account of Post Publishing To account for salaries of 1877. July 1 $41 49 10.00 4.40 28 85 4.00 12.00 10 00 5.00 1.95 1 30 78 40 12 50 10.00 3,325 00 1, 455 11 5,000 00 United States Surveyor General for Califorma. Q.-Estimate for the surveying service in the district of California for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1879. For surveying extensions of meridians, standard parallels, township and subdivision lines and private land claims... For compensation of clerks and draughtsmen in the office of the surveyor general... For stationery, fuel, wages of messenger, draughting instruments, and other incidental expenses.. $130,000 5,000 30,000 2,750 167,750 For compensation of surveyor general H. G. ROLLINS, United States Surveyor General for California. REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C., November 1, 1877. SIR: In the annual report of the Indian Bureau, which I have the honor to present herewith, I have embodied the usual reports of agents, as prescribed by law, as also a schedule of all bids received and awards made at the public lettings of contracts, and the various tabular statements, together with the usual information to be found in the reports of this office. As a preliminary to this report, I invite your attention to the following brief outline of some of the subjects which are discussed in it, and of the conclusions reached. In considering any comprehensive scheme for the civilization of the Indian race, it is indispensable at the outset to throw aside the sentimentality that is so fashionable in our day, and to treat the subject in a practical and common-sense way. This is the only course by which we can hope to deal successfully with the matter. I assume that there is no intrinsic impossibility in the way of the great mass of our Indians being brought to a degree of advancement that will render them harm'less, as its first results, and that will assist them in working out ultimately a completed civilization. But in order permanently to lay the foundations on which to build up such a civilization, the following preliminaries are essential: 1. A code of laws for Indian reservations, and appliances for dispensing justice, neither of which at present have any existence. 2. Provision for the preservation of order and the enforcement of laws by means of an Indian police, composed of Indians under white officers. 3. The endowment of the Indians with lands, divided into farms of convenient size, the title to which shall be vested in individuals and inalienable for twenty years; and the promotion in every feasible way of the knowledge of agriculture and a taste for agricultural pursuits among them. 4. The establishment of the common-school system (including industrial schools) among them, with provision for their compulsory education in such schools. 5. Opportunity for the free access to the Indians of Christian teachers and missionaries, in order to reclaim them from a debasing paganism, and to win them to a purer and more ennobling faith. 6. The institution of a wise economy in feeding and clothing them, making sure that it is not wastefully done, and being careful especially not to make paupers of them by the encouragement of a system of gra tuitous supplies, but to minister to their self-help by insisting on their contributing their labor in return for the supplies given them. 7. A steady concentration of the smaller bands of Indians upon the larger reservations, and a discontinuance of the removal of the northern Indians to the Indian Territory. This last is essential to the wellbeing of the Indians, since the effect of the change of climate to which they are subjected by such removals tells with fatal effect upon their health and longevity. Southern Indians, however, who are in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, should be settled in the Indian Territory, the climate being favorable to them, and there being sufficient arable land for their maintenance. LAW FOR THE INDIANS. There is no act of Congress which deals with the punishment of crimes against person or property (within the meaning of the common law, as distinguished from statutory crimes against the United States) committed by or against Indians within the boundaries of an Indian reservation. It is most desirable that a judicial system or code of laws for Indians should be established, under which crimes by or against Indians may be prosecuted and successfully punished. The machinery of the United States judicial system in the States and Territories in which there are Indian reservations could be utilized to this end by proper congressional legislation. The enactment of a code, based upon the result of the experience of those familiar with Indian life and manners, as a supplement to the adaptation of existing laws, would cover the defects in the system by which the civilization of the Indian is now being attempted. These are merely suggestions, which can be elaborated by those whose duty it is to make laws. The evils resulting from the absence of law are forcibly described by Bishop Hare in his fifth annual report, dated September 11, 1877: Civilization has loosened, in some places broken, the bonds which regulate and hold together Indian society in its wild state, and has failed to give the people law and officers of justice in their place. This evil still continues unabated. Women are brutally beaten and outraged; men are murdered in cold blood; the Indians who are friendly to schools and churches are intimidated and preyed upon by the evil-disposed; children are molested on their way to school, and schools are dispersed by bands of vagabonds; but there is no redress. This accursed condition of things is an outrage upon the One Lawgiver. It is a disgrace to our land. It should make every man who sits in the national halls of legislation blush. And, wish well to the Indians as we may, and do for them what we will, the efforts of civil agents, teachers, and missionaries are like the struggles of drowning men weighted with lead, as long as by the absence of law Indian society is left without a base. INDIAN POLICE. The preservation of order is as necessary to the promotion of civilization as is the enactment of wise laws. Both are essential to the peace and happiness of any people. As a means of preserving order upon an Indian reservation, an Indian police has been found to be of prime importance. I have recommended an additional outlay of money to enable the government to extend the usefulness of a police system now in its infancy with us. In Canada, the entire body of Indians are kept in order by such force. In this country, as far as it bas been tried. it works admirably. I would recommend that the force be composed of Indians, properly officered and drilled by white men, and where capable Indians can be found, that they be promoted to command, |