Year: 1875

! DEPARTME-V2 OF THE INTERIOR,

 ! INDIAN OFFICE, Oct. 8, 1875.

 DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of youI

 letter of the 29th ultimo, in which

 you ask whether law has been en

 acted requiring Indians to perform

 labor us condition requisite to re ceiving their annuities. In reply l

 have to say that by section three of tue

 Act making appropriations for the

 Indian service for the year ending

 June 30 1876 (copy herewith inclosed), 1 is this, That for the purpose of Inducing Indians to labor and be. come selfsupporting it is provided that hereafter, in distributing the sup plies and annuities to the Indians for

 which the same are appropriated, the Agent distributing the same shall re- |quire all able-bOdied male Indians be- tween the ages of eighteen and forty five to perform service upon the res ervatiOn for the benefit of themselves

 or the tribe, at reasonable rate, to be fixed by the Agent in charge, and to

 an amount equal in value to the sup iplies 10 be delivered, and the allow ance provided for such Indians shall

 be distributed to them only on condi- ton of the performance of such labor under such rules and regulations as

 the Agent may prescribe; provided,

 that the Secretary may, by written

 order, except any particular tribe, or portion of tribe, from the operations

 of this provision whenever he deems

 it proper and expedient"

 Respecting this enactment of Con

 gress, have to say that, in my judg- ment it is in the best interests of the

 Indians as we'll as of the government.

 Probably five-sixths of all the annui-

 ties of supplies and goods annually

 bestowed upon Indians are a gratuity

 to them, not being based upon treaty

 obligations. The position now assumed

 b. the Government toward Indians is that of guardian For four years the legislation of Congress on Indian matters has seemed to discard to a greater or less extent the absurd theory

 that Indians are or can be foreign or

 independent nations, and has come to recognize them more fully each year simply as wards of this nation whom

 We are bound in ri hj and humanity to protect, care for and civilize and prepare as rapidly as possible for their place among the citizens of the repub- lie This being the acknowledged first duty of the government, it will follow, think. that the expenditures which the government makes for these Indians, either for their subsistence or teaching, should look directly and cX- clusivcly to their elevation out of bar barisul. Nothing tends more strongly 10 perpetuate barbarism among Indians than the indisposition to toil To cure this. a motive must be brought to bear upon them which shall be stronger than their inclination to idleness. So long as they can procure sufficient food and clothing by any means ir idlencss or by the chase, there can be no sufficient motive brought to bear upon them to induce labor. In this state of things l suppose no one will question the eXpediency or the right of the government, if it has gratuity to bestow upon the Indians, to make labor of some sort on their part a pre- requisite to the receipt of such gratui- ty. This the Act of Congress above quoted does, and also goes further, in requiring all annuities 10 be made on such basis, except in cases where the Secretary of the Interior, at his dis cretion, makes exceptions. This Act affects few Indian tribes to whom the government has promised to pay, in cash or Tn goods, certain amounts and it is concerning these that your question is raised, whether such action is in accordance with good faith on the part of the govern ment; in other words, can the govern ment rightfully compel an Indian to labor for what the government owes him without labor9 To the question, in such unqualified form, of course there is but one answer IL cannot But if you will put the question so as to cover the facts in the case. the answer will be different. The govern ment has agreed to give a certain tribe of Indians an annuity of from ten to- sixty dollars per capita, amounting to from fifty to three hundred dollars an nually to each Indian family of the tribe. This money, if received in cash by the Indians, will be of little if any value to them. It is certain to be of some injury, tending, as all gifts do, to pauperism and idleness, and may be of materiol damage in inducing intem- perance on their part and intrigue on the part of a miserable lot of white. men who always hang around an Ind ian reservation.

 On the other hand, let these Ind ians be first given distinctly to under stand that the money is their own, and that the government proposes to.

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