Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-01-16
The Indian Bureau.

At last the shocking abuses which have
for so many years disgraced our official trans
actions with the Indians seem in fair way
to be exposed, aud, we trust, corrected
Seven months ago, Secretary Schurz APP
pointed commission to Investigate charges
against 5. A. Galpin, chief clerk of the In
dian Bureau, and concerning irregularities
in said bureau" The three gentlemen Sc
lected were emnently fit for that work, and
their investigation has reached nearly the
whole range of the Indian service. They
have made their report. The first noticea-
BILE fact is this The report says the officers
and employees did not aid the investigation,
hut, on the contrary, frequently hindered it.
March 20, 1877, Commissioner Smith said,
in letter to Secretary Schurz: 81 know of
10 custom in the bureau which can properly
be termed an abuse, unless, perhaps, the dis
position manifested on the part of some of
the clerks to enlarge the customary leave of
absence given by the department, should be
so considered" Nevertheless, these com
missioners found the bureau overrun and
demoralized by "customs " that were afro.
cious abuses. Irregularities seem to have
been the rule: The investigators found
there an office ring" that operated in its
own way, substituted private for official cor.
respondence, in order to keep such communi-
cations from record, and dealt in all sorts of
devices and "sly circumventions," to hood.
wink the Secretary and conceal their opera
tons Late dispatches have given some &C
count of this report, which, with the testi-
Inony is described as "voluminous." 1t
reveals a prevalence of dishonest practices,
swindling devices, and corrupt collisions,
which should bring everlasting disgrace
upon all concerned in them
It is, and always will be while it shall re-
main in the Interior Department, very diff
cult to maintain a rigid and wholesome
supervision over the Indian Bureau That
department is too full of very important
bureaus to allow the Secretary to watch care
fully every important movement in it. The
Patent Office itself is equal to some of the
other departments. Besides this, there are
the Pension Office, the Land Office, the Office
of Scientific Surveys, and the Census Office.
as well as the Indian Office He is an ex.
traordnary man who can maintain an eff
fective supervision of all important matters
in these several Offices aud keep himself
well informed about all that is done in re-
gard TO them by his suborlnates The
Indian Office presents more difficulties than
either of the Others, because it is responsible
for ali army of Indian agents who are long
distances away from Washington ubserva-
ton, and for all dealings with them. The
truth is, the Indian Bureau should br tran-.
ferred to the War Department, which ha,
facilities for managing it with much better
effect and with greater satisfaction to the
Indians themselves. Every Indian agency
is near some military post, where it could
have responsible supervision. Let army
officers be made TO feel that they have a
responsibility to the War Department for
what is done at the agencies, and the prac-
tices at these agencies will quickly become
very different from what they are now, aud
we shall hear much less of Indian hostili.
ties. The Indian rings, in aud out of the
bureau, have always opposed such transfer,
because they know that it would put an end
to their opportunities for swindling aud
stealing. They will continue to oppose it
until the transfer shall be made