The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-12-06
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.
Items of Interest Cleaned from the Repor
 of Secretary Smith--Pensions,

Items of Interest Cleaned from the Report
 or Secretary administrations.
 WASHINGTON, Nov. 30.-The annual report of Secretary Hoke Smith, of the interior department, deals largely with Indian affairs and ne presents some practical suggestions for the de. velopment and civilization of the Indians
 Upon the subject of allotments he says:
 do not question the advisability of allotting land to Indians in severalty, but do most seri- ousiy question the propriety of this course be- Tore the Indians have progressed sufficiently to utilize the land when taken The allotments should be made to the Indians in severalty for the good Of the Indians, for the advancement or the Indians, not for the purpose of obtaining lana connected with the Indian reservations to satisfy the unsuitable desire Of the bordermen, who obtain 1t frequently not for homes, but for speculation.
 The secretary then states his views as to how the Indian should be edu- cated, and, although opposed to sec- tarian schools, he says:
 It would scarcely be just to abolish them en- tirely, to abandon policy so long recognized.
 
 crease at the rate of not less than 20 per cent. year. This Is the policy which is now con- trolling the department, and unless 1t Is changed by legislation it will continue. The decrease in the amount allotted for the present fiscal year is 20 per cent.
 Secretary Smith next takes up the general land office, the bureau only second in importance to the Indian office. He recommends change in the system of surveying and the establish ment of a land court in the interior de- partment. The present system of sur veying the public lands is criticized as slow and defective mode of procedure.
 Referring to the protection of forest reserves, the secretary says:
 On account of the small appropriation for special agents it has thus far been impossible to detail any of them for the protection of the Immense forest reserves which have from time to time been created Practically, this great extent of reserve land is no more protected by the government than are unreserved lands of the United states, the sole difference being that they are not subject to entry or other dis posal under the public land laws.
 Congress is urged to make sufficient appropriations to employ at least one superintendent on each reservation and upon the larger reserves to provide a sufficient force of assistants to prevent public property from being wantonly destroyed.
 The report shows that the entire number of pensioners upon the rolls June 30, 1894, was 969,544. The esti- mate for the fiscal year 1896 is $40, 0OO,- 900. Pensioners added to the roll dur ing the year were 39,O55; number dropped, 37,951.
 The greater part of the cases now pending in the bureau are old cases. Many of them have been pending for years, and have been examined one or more times prior to the present admin istration. Upon examination it has been found, in many instances, that proof was not sufficient to sustain pension. The attention of the appli- cants having been called to the defect in some cases, efforts have been made to supply the needed testimony.