Arizona citizen., 1878-01-18

habitual lack of circumspection in the
 Finance Division, the uselesSneSs with.
 out instructions of the force of the Civilization Division, and, finally, the | general demoTalizatiOn of the force Oi
 the Bureau throughout, did not afford
 data, for which the late Commissioner
 could find no excuse.
 ! In connection with the annual let
 ungs at New York City for the bulk of
 supplies for the Indian Service, a
 temporary office has cen annually established there, where bids have b, en
 opened, awards made, and supplies
 inspected and shipped. This office
 has been in charge of a clerk detailed from the Indian Bureau, with dele
 gated powers to act for the Commits
 sloner in matters of routine and to per form such duties incidental to the of fee as circumstances might require. The duties of the person in charge are often of a delicate nature, and require sound judgment, tact, the highest in- tcgrity and good business qualifica tiOns. Upon him depends in a large degree the faithful compliance with
 contracts, the timely forwarding of supplies, and the measurable reputa- ton of the administration of Indian
 affairs. The Board has found little tO commend i'll the management of the
 Annuity Clerk in charge during the past two seasons. There has been an
 utter lack of system and of records, a
 marked inclination to disregard the
 wishes or directions of the Board of
 Indian Commissioners and to follow
 only the opinions of certain of his as- Sociates m ihe IrCian Bureau. Neither
 Dy business education or experience
 wgs he qualified for the duties of the office. The evidence shows that the conduct Of his officers has been irTeg- ular and defective in the receipt and
 custody of proposals, in the nOn-regis- iratiOn of samples, in the unnecessary inspection of supplies on the premises of contractors, in the inspection and passing of specific lines of supplies by persons others than those designated, | in the passing of certain lots of sup plies upon the inspection of only a small portion, in ignoring 10 a greater
 or less degree, by representatives of the | Indian Bureau and officials thereof, the prerOgatives of the Board of Indian 1 Commissioners, in the lack of specific ! instructions from the Bureau and the | delegaung of too much authority 10 persons in charge, and finally in the | lack of system and records as to the
 operations of the office. That the late i Commissioner or the clerk in charge
 of the office is responsible for all these ! irregularities and defects, may not be
 entirely true; yet the Board thinks that
 a proper spirit of cooperation and the application of common business meth
 ods would have corrected many, if not all, of them.
 The Board then elaborately describe
 and discuss the existing modes of man.
 agement and practice concerning the
 details of the Indian Service, treating
 of awards, inspections, transportation,
 the care and issue of supplies pur- chased in the open market, contracts
 and contractors. They find much to criticise and condemn. Agents have disbursed money on account of sub
 sisience for empl oyes, without receiv- ing in return payment from employees. In such cases the Indian Bureau has failed to suspend the allowance of such | disbursements.
 X tabular statement of public money
 advanced t1 G. W. Ingalls,, an Indian
 Agent, was prepared from the Bureaus
 books. and showed that from August ! B, 1872. to October 4, 1875, the sum
 advanced tO this one man, without the
 settlement of an V account up to July I27, 1877, was $502, ,206. The bonds and surelies of any Indian Agent cannot secure any such sum to the Govern
 ment. and, as appears from the evi- dence, that sum has never been satis- factOrily accounted for.