Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1895 — THE INTERIOR. [ARTICLE]

THE INTERIOR.

Secretary Smith Tolls of Hia De- - partmout*s Work, Politic** Should B© Klimlnated from tha ■ IrniiiiU Bureau— The I“ui)lic Laniis— I’riitfCtioii of the Forests—--Boutl-Aid Railroads. Washington. Nov. 29.—The report of Mr Hoke Smith, secretary of the interior, elaborately reviews the varied work of —tlie* interior department.— It begins with the Indian service and calls attention to enforcement which has been given to civil service reform, both as to 1 those places covered by ' the classified Service anil those to which the rules of this service do not apply. It dwells upon the necessity of eliminating politics from the ducting each reservation upon strictly make every Indian who remains upon the reservation self-supporting and ready, as soon aa oossihie. to assume the duties of citizenship and be freed from the paternal care of the government. He recommends that Instead of a single commissioner of Indian affairs the service be placed in charge of three commissioners—two of them to be be appointed from different political parties and one to be a detailed army officer. The report shows that the attendance upon the Indian schools increased 1,500 during the past year, nearly one-half of the increase being in the government day schools. The reduction of 29 per cent which the law required to be made in connection with the contract schools has been strictly carried out, and the secretary adds that there seems to be no reason why such reduction should not continue from year to year until the system SS government aid to sectarian schools j snail terminate. T ' ’ . , • To B<“H Reservations. The secretary also recommendsthatgeneral authority, with the approval of th» president, be given the Indian bureau to sell parts of Indian reservations, the mpriey to be used exclusively in the improvement of allotted lands or for the -purpose of f implements and cattle to the Indians who may ■reside upon the remaining lands. The report reviews the Jackson's Hole disturbances and gives an account of the active means taken by the department to secure justice for the killing of the Ban-" nock Indians on July 15 last, and also to

preserve peace between the Indians and ttr©-.,whites. He commends the peaceful coursCo! the Indians * under circumstances so extremely aggravating' on the part of the whites. ~~ - - == ~——- The Public Domain. The report estimates the amount of public lands undisposed of to be-about (00,900,000 acres at the clone of the fiscal year, and shows that the total receipts during the year for public lands amounted to over $200,000,000. The unadjusted land grants to railroads amount to nearly 90,000,000 acres. The secretary suggests the advisability of patenting the arid lands to the states after It is fully determined that the selections made by them under the Carey act are arid lands. Protection of Forests. Under the subject of forests the secretary calls attention to the-fnet that 17.00 U- . acres are now included within forest reserves, the object being to thus preserve the forests for future use and througn their preservation to control the supply of water so that it may be stored and utilized for irrigation. There are but 80 special agents to protect' the timber upon tlie entire public domain, to examine swamp lands, to investigate fraudulent land entries —a force too Small to permit anything to be done towards guarding the forest reservations. Unless some plan is devised ky congress for the protection of the forests, either by the army or by foresters living upon the reservations, it is that the object sought to be accomplished will fail. The Pension OdHce. The review of the pension office shows the aggregate of the, pension roll at the close of the year to be 1,012,935. ' Referring to the number of pending,cases, the.statement is made thai the greater part of these are old cases, lacking some “quality of proof which the law requires,— Bond Aided Roads. One of the interesting features of the report- iedh e-discussion- of the relations between the government and the bondaided rpads and the possibility of collecting the amount due the government from these roads. The report urges that two things are to be considered. 1. The co!ectlon pf the debt due to the government. 2. The Crfeation of a great through line from the Missouri to the Pacific, which was the original purpose of the govCfttmeM leading to the issue of subsidy bonds. H< states that the government is already out $117,436,000 upon these roads, and that the first mortgage bonds only amount to $64.613,000; that the property is worth vastly more than the first mortgage bonds, an 1 that the government interests can be pro tected, if necessary, by taking up tnese bonds.