New-York tribune., 1875-05-20

of establishing another agency the Northern Sioux
sion of which Bishop Hare Chairman, / had the
honor To indorse said recommendation. submitting at the
and Of Congress aS esma for the sum IN of 9oeooo Of
which $4,000 for the establishment of the
and for the and subsistence Of such Indians
as woud be brought within its control No
appropriation having been made in response TO
the above, and the greater portion of thu In
dans referred 10 having been subsisted from
means viii he required. the exact amount Of whlcl it
impossible AZ this early date 70 determine. but IL be
eved that the inelosed estimate for $629 900 will prove
nearly correct This estimate is based the sppo
siton that there will be- upon average. at least 5000
Indians 10 subst from the lst January To the LIST July
1873 in addition to those embraced in the general esti
mate and provided for in the Appropriation Act Of June
days. above, will be at the rate OF 10 cents per day
r. H. CLuM, Acting Commissioner.
In response 10 this bequest $20OOO was appropriated
for the Northern Sioux in the Deficiency BILL has al
ready been shown. The Deficiency bill for the previous
year contained extra appropriation of 100000 for
the Sioux at the Red Cloud and MILESTONE Agencies and
had the Indian Ring been successful in their first appi
cation for the Northern Sioux, they would have had
100000 last year. besides the regular annual appropr
atons. The Indian Committees were appalled, at the
amount, and granted only one-half of IL.
Commissioner Smith said in his first letter quoted
above that the contractor eoud not furnish beef at
$2 72a per pounds after the st OF April 1874 and he
urged this of the reasons why Congress should
make the appropriation at This assertion was a-
parenty made pave the way for paying larger price
after that date If the extra appropriation granted,
for the annual letting only short time after Mr. Smiths
letter written the contract for beef TO he delivered at
the point given OF the Ring at - 80
per 0OpOunds 422 cents per 100 pounds less than the
contractor furnishing it for the time Mr. Smith
told Congress he wanted 10 raise his price Mr. smith
and the contractor both intended 10 raise the price
had obtained the 5000 600 asked for the contract
would have been made without advertisement and with
competition, and somebody would have made money
Tho haHh hoo flv dol
it had not.
CONTRACTS OF TIE PRESENT YEAR.
That thiss fair suppostonis is shown by what has been
done this year. The $4,000 granted. and what Is
the resu Does Mr. Smith take the beef To be paid for
out OF it OF the contractor at 50 80 per hundred pounds
dos he open the contract TO fair competition
Neither No public notice given that the contract is to
let nobody invited send in bids but the job is
privately awarded TO member of the Ring al 50 hun
dred pounds-70 cents than the annual contract
let for The pToviso requiring public advertisement
and free competition which applied to all the regular In
dian appropriations accidentally omitted from the
Deficiency BILL and the Interior Department takes ad-
vantage Of this fact give Of its avores contract
at a exorhitant rate.
But the Indian Bureau misrepresentcd the true needs
of the service in both instances and there is abundant
crcumstantia evidence TO show that the number OF In
dans TO he fed was greatly overestmated in all of the
communications quolcd in this letter. Mr.. smiths com
munieaton is dated March 16 1874 that very month
the Indian Appropriation bill for the year ending
July 30 1875, reported IL the House and taken up
for consideration In this letter the COMMISSIONS says
" II is estimated that there will be $4,000 Indians AT
the agencies named that Will have to I've subsisted
&c Now, If that number were really there. why did
not Mr. Smith see 10 1t that Congress-n the
Appropriation bill which il at that time con
siderDg-prOvded sufficient f0r the subsistence OF
the whole number $4,000, for the 1S77j. so as TO
prevent another deficiency appeal and appropriation at
the of the yeari But hardly had the second session
assembled Winter before Mr. Clum Act
ing Commissioner Dee 4. 1s74, called for money and
said: AT the time the appropriation was made there
about $4,000 Indians 10 he provided for at the Red
Cloud and spotted Tail agencies; but by subsequent
accessons from northern baDds OF SIOUX the number has
increased until II amounts 10 over 10000 with
strong possibility OF further increase during TIE WIN
ter II appears therefore that there were only 10000
Indians there the very time at which Mr. Smith told
Congress that there We're $4,000 ana that answers the
question why he did not estimate for 1000 III the reg
lar Appropriation bin.
Ii also seems that the number kept increasing-these
agencies very convenient FOR my tcal lnddns-for
Mr. Cum tells Congress in December that there are
over 10000, with strong probability OF further in
crease during the winter and calls for 10000
subsst them from Jan. TO July l, adding that this
estimate is based upon supposition that there will be-
upon at least 5000 Indians to suhsist d.
Now, G,000 added 10 $4,000 makes only 10000 and al
though he declares there are " over 10000 and more
coming he only asks for money enough - suhslst
10000 surely the Indian population is very elastic
quantity ana accommodates ltsei 20 IDe amount oi
money That the Inferior Department can wrng from oat
OF the Treasury. There necessity for any def
cheney appropriations for every one OF these Indians ad
been provided for AT some other point and because they
increase the expense Of maintaining them Here II what
agent OF Milestone Agency in his annual report
Mr. Smith and Nj Dclano wanted 5000 " soon
after the distribution indians from tribes living in the
here and continued arriving III large numbers until the
middle Of Winter Ile hlnnec@non comprised tne prii
Winter added greatly 70 the issues of beef and other pro-
visions Al this agency, which additional expense here
probably saved at he agency where these northern
The agent a Red Clord says his report: Toward
the last Of September when the annuity goods were he
distributed large number OF Indian from ihe n0 theIh
tribes OF MnnecOnOU sans Ares Uncpapas and Onkapa
band Of Ogalallas, came 10 the Agency Commissioner
smith says in his annual report: The Mnneconjous
sans and Two Kettle bands. which have made the
Black Hills country their home and special retreat are
for the most part via ana nOl-tredty lhGans, t9uen
probably majority of them have been accustomed for
the three or four months OF the Winter az different
agencies, but mainly AT Red Cloud ani spotted Tai!
Here we have the testimony Of Mr. Smith himself that
these very tribes of Indians have been accustomed to re-
exipenrv thai demanded S20o 900 last year or 81
tins year for feeding them Why have they not been
ns for several years The truth is they have been
pected these points each year and the provision made
has always been sufficient for their Subsistence, and the
agents very naturally, did not ask for any additional
shows how much he wanted money Tor some
II too late for the Indian Secretary Deano
to SET up The theory that there are large number OF In
discovered and provided for. This great influx OF north
Hills where they sald 10 belong were occupied all
Last Winter by prospecting miners without moestauOn
reveals it, There Northern Sioux just as there are
Teton Sioux bur they do not form distinctive body or
tribe. The Northern Sioux are Teton Sioux. and vice
versa but both provided for at the agencies on the
Missouri, in Montana, and Red Cloud and MILESTONE
agencies in the general appropriation bills When the
Indian Ring used the name Northern sioux or Teton
Sioux procure separate appropriations, they knew
they practcing fraud III using general term 10
represent mythical body already provided for a. Min
neconiOus. Ares, Ogallallas, TWO Kettles Cut
Heads, &c., DC.
ERIEs ADvERsITIEs