29

"A. I did not regard it as my duty to consult them.

"Q. Was that the reason you did not consult them?

"A. That was the only reason."

Commissioner Parker made the following replies to ques-
ries by Mr. Sargent, the chairman of the Committee of In-
vestigation:

"Q. Do I understand you to say you think the words 'Indian goods' do not include flour, bacon, tobacco, coffee, and sugar?

"A. My impression is that, in a reading of the law, goods are made a separate item.

"Q. Where the law of 1869 provided that they should exercise joint control over the disbursements of appropriations made by that act, did not that, in your judgment, include expenditures for cattle, flour, tobacco, and coffee?

"A. Very likely it did, but the execution of that law absolutely, with such a construction, would be utterly impossible, for they would have to come to the Indian Office and supervise every disbursement made under the Indian bill.

"Q. Would it be impracticable in respect to the disbursement of large sums?

"A. No; but if you were to carry out that construction literally, it would be impracticable.

"Q. Could it not be carried out substantially where im-
mense contracts were made, like these you have been
speaking of this evening?

"A. Yes, sir.

"Q. By the act of 1869 it is provided that $25,000, or as much as may be necessary, is appropriated for the transportation, subsistence, and clerk-hire of said commissioners while engaged in that service; is your construction that that amount was provided for transportation and subsistence in buying a few dry goods in New York or elsewhere?

"A. No, sir."

5

30

Commissioner Parker estimates that the dry goods super-
vised by the commissioners cost from $350,000 to $400,000,
whilst it is in evidence that in the region of the Missouri
river $1,138,511.09 were expended without the supervision
of the commission, and contracts are pending for $280,000
yet to be paid.

It is in evidence that on August 6, 1870, Durfee & Peck
were paid $53,494.37 for supplies to Indians at Fort Berthold
on the Missouri river, a point to which freight was carried
at two cents a pound until the end of August, under the
advertised contract.

As this voucher was not the subject of discussion before
the committee, it may be that there was some exigency
like that of June 17, where the contractor felt justified in
charging extravagant prices owing to the uncertainty of
being paid. It would have been a satisfaction to tax pay-
ers if that voucher had been supervised by Messrs. Stuart,
Campbell, Dodge & Farwell, the committee of the Indian
Commission that is charged with that duty. Three point
blankets, at $17.50 a pair, sugar at 30 cents a pound, ba-
con at 40 cents, corn-meal at 22 cents, and flour at $20 a
sack, seem *rather high*. Tax-payers are very patient peo-
ple, and Congress has manifested much forbearance with
the Indian Office, but the time of reformation is approach-
ing. Congress requested the President to give the board
of unpaid commissioners of his own selection, joint control
with the Secretary of the Interior, over Indian appropria-
tions. No such controlling power was given, and at its
next session Congress directed the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs to call upon the board of unpaid commissioners to
supervise all expenditures; their mandate was not heeded.
Now, by the action of the House, if concurred in by the
Senate, payment cannot be made until vouchers are exam-
ined and approved by the Board of Commissioners.

31

Surely the tax-payers will not be satisfied by anything
short of this.

*Third.* Exorbitant prices paid for provisions and the consequent waste of the public money. In ascertaining the market value of supplies for the Indian Department, there is no authority for being guided by the testimony of dealers when there were existing contracts made in conformity with legal requirements. It is in evidence that the Commissary Department was paying $4.20 per 100 pounds for cattle, to be delivered weekly to all those Indian reservations, at the expense and risk of the contractor. It is also in evidence that two cents per pound is a fair difference between contracts for the delivery of the whole herd immediately on its arrival, and compelling the contractor to keep the cattle at his own expense and risk, delivering them from time to time as needed. The bids for cattle opened September 12, give a market value somewhat unfair for the Government. Instead of being advertised for thirty days to elicit bids from first hands, intermediate dealers alone could make offers, as the advertisement was to be inserted for only nine days in Washington, and three to five days in the western cities. The time was, however, extended for a week by order of the Secretary of the Interior. There were seventeen bids for 7,140,000 pounds of cattle to be delivered monthly for nine months—the first delivery to be made from the first to the 15th of October. One bid was at 3⅔ cents per pound, one at $3.88 and one at $3.90; one at $3.90 to $4.13; one at $3.93 to $4.37; one at $4.20, &c. As the bid at 3⅔ cents was by a good man with good security, it affords legal testimony of the market value of cattle to be delivered on the reservations up the Missouri monthly as required. There is a striking correspondence between this price and two other existing contracts with the Indian Department, say Dr. Burleigh's for

32

deliveries weekly at the Santee Sioux reservation at $7.22 net, or $3.61 on the hoof, and John Finn's contract for the delivery of beef to the Wfnn ebago Indians, near the Missouri river, at $6.90 net, or $3.45 on the hoof. An allowance of one cent a pound for the care and risk of keeping cattle being only half the rate testified to, brings the bid of 3½ down to 2¾, the precise rate that Captain Poole saw in the contract for cattle delivered at the Whetstone reservation. There is a somewhat striking contrast between this price and 6½ cents for immediate delivery, as per contracts of Commissioner Parker dated June 17 and August 10, the deliveries on which were made from the end of July to the 14th of November.

The existing contract for flour delivered on the Santee reservation was at $3.35 per sack delivered monthly. Three dollars and thirty cents was paid for delivery at the Ponca reservation, and $2.15 per sack for delivery at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri river. The contract of Commissioner Parker with J. W. Bosler, of June 17th, was at $6.50 per sack. For salt 8 cents per pound, when an existing contract with Finn was at 2 cents per pound. For sugar made from molasses 18 cents per pound; coffee 28 cents; tobacco 85 cents: bacon 25 cents, and soap 15 cents.

The profit to the contractor may be fairly estimated as follows:

7,911,837 pounds of beef delivered, profit estimated at 3½ cents per pound $296,693
$141,557 under July contract for flour, salt, &c., 40 per cent. profit 56,622
$100,950 for flour under contract of August 10th, 33½ per cent. profit 33,650
Estimated profit on freight, as hereinafter stated 114,104
Estimated profit of J. W. Bosler and his associates, if he had any $501,069

33

It will be hardly necessary to estimate the profit made
by Green & Wattles by furnishing groceries to the extent
of $81,481 in New York, August 26th; say, sugar made
from molasses at 11½ cents, coffee 21½ cents, tobacco 65
cents. Private purchases were also made from others to
the extent of $25,000 and more.

As Commissioner Parker attempted to justify the ex-
travagant prices indicated in the contract of June 17th by
reason of a possible delay in making payment, the follow-
ing extract from the contracts of Burleigh & Finn, already
referred to, is significant: "All articles of subsistence fur-
nished must be of good quality, and subject to inspection
and rejection by the agent of the _______. The right is
reserved to increase or diminish the amount of sup-
plies, at the discretion of the Superintendent of Indian
Affairs for _______, also to terminate the contract that may
be entered into on giving the contractor six weeks' notice.
Payment shall be made by the Superintendent of Indian
Affairs at _______, when funds are placed in his hands for
that purpose, but in the event of the Superintendent of
Indian Affairs being without funds, then payment to be
made as soon after as funds may be received for that pur-
pose." Commissioner Parker testified as follows:

"Q. Who was the commissary contractor?

"A. His name, I have learned, is Fenlon.

"Q. What price was the War Department paying that
commissary contractor at that time?

"A. 4.44.

"Q. To be delivered at the agencies?

"A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Why did you pay 6½ cents when these commissary
contractors were furnishing it at these agencies at 4.44.

"A. No such offer was made to me. I got the impression
from my daily intercourse with these people, that they did
not want to supply any more at that rate; that they had

34

lost money under their arrangement with the Commissary
Department, and I had the impression that they would not
do it.

"WASHINGTON, January 27, 1871.

"Major B. DUBARRY sworn and examined.

"To Mr. WELSH:

"I am a commissary of subsistence of the United States
army; I am on duty in the office of the Commissary Gen-
eral of Subsistence, as one of the assistants to the Commis-
sary General of Subsistence.

"Question. State the price and number of cattle con-
tracted for, to be delivered on the Missouri river, in the
contract made June 18, 1869, which was to terminate on
June 18, 1870.

"Answer. I have here a copy of the contract made on
the 18th of June, 1869. It was made with Edward Fen-
lon, at the rate of $4.44¼ per hundred pounds live weight.

"Q. Were the cattle to be kept at the contractor's risk and expense until needed, or were they to be delivered in bulk?

"A. Their delivery was to commence on the 31st of July,
1869, and to continue until the number provided for by
the contract was delivered, at specified rates per month,
the rate being different for the different points at which
they were to be delivered. The contract runs that the
'beef cattle provided for at the respective places named
are required to be held by the contractor sufficiently near
thereto that he may with certainty, and at the rate and
under the conditions above specified, deliver them weekly,
semi-monthly, or monthly, as the officer or agent of sub-
sistence of the Department may require.' The whole num-
ber comprised in this contract of the 18th of June was 9,075.

"Q. After the completion of that contract, was any other
contract made?

35

"A. On the 6th of July, 1869, a supplementary contract was made with Edward Fenlon. The supplementary contract was for the same rate as the other and for the same number of cattle; it only made a change in the points of delivery from the first contract.

"Q. Then it is only a repetition of the first contract, changing the place of delivery?

"A. Not exactly a repetition, because it does not repeat all that is in the first contract, but it refers to the first contract. Subsequently, a proposition was made by the contractor, Edward Fenlon, to furnish any additional number of cattle that might be required at the five points named in the supplementary contract, (three points only being named in the original one,) at $4.20 per hundred pounds, gross weight, during the continuance of said contract—that is, up to June 30, 1870. That proposition was accepted by General Clark. The date of it was 21st of September, 1869. That was to extend up to 30th June, 1870, and was to embrace all the cattle delivered over and above the total of 9,075, provided for by the first contract.

"Q. Is there any limit as to the amount of cattle you could call for under the proposition of 21st September, 1869?

"A. I find no limit assigned in it. The contractor agrees to furnish all the cattle required, at $4.20 per hundred pounds.

(The papers referred to by the witness are annexed to the testimony.)

"Q. If the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had called on you for cattle before the 30th of June, 1870, could you have furnished him with cattle under that contract?

"A. Yes, at those points. All what the contractor furnished in excess of 9,075 was to be furnished at $4.20 per hundred pounds gross.

"Q. Did the Commissioner of Indian Affairs send to

36

your office to ascertain what supplies would remain over on
the 30th June, 1870, or what supplies it would be possible
for you to give him?

"A. I do not recollect of it.

"Q. Have you charge of the office here?

"A. I have not charge of the office, but, as assistant to the Commissary General, I see pretty much everything that comes in. My province at that time was to see everything that came into the office. The papers pass through my hands, and I open and hand them to the chief, or distribute them, according to their nature."

General Cox, the then Secretary of the Interior, seemed
to have been impressed with the belief that some legal ar-
rangement had been made with the commissary contractor
for temporary supplies, if they should be needed, and in
his testimony he distinctly disavows having given authority
to make the Bosler contract or any other contract without
the warrant of law. Any one familiar with the routine
of the Interior Department knows full well that pro forma
letters, like that from Secretary Cox, requesting military
escorts, are signed on the representation of clerks without
perusal. That letter, and the others relating thereto, were
as you know, placed in evidence after the testimony had
closed. Instead of its being available to contradict the
testimony of Secretary Cox, it shows a special considera-
tion for this favored contractor, who alone, so far as it ap-
pears from the testimony, was allowed a military escort.
Little consideration need be given to J. W. Bosler's appre-
hension of loss by the contract of $3.88, in which he is
half interested, as he testified that he did not know the
cost of the cattle being delivered under that contract.

Fourth (No. 9 in statement.) On the 11th day of July,
1870, L. H. Roberts, M. D., Acting Indian Agent for the
Cheyenne agency, receipted to J. W. Bosler for flour,
bacon, sugar, coffee, tobacco, salt, and soap, giving the

37

weights indicated in the bill of said Bosler. On the 29th of July he also receipted for 270,000 pounds net of good merchantable beef for Cheyenne Indian agency, equal to 540,000 pounds on the hoof. He testified that there were 450 oxen which he averaged at 1,200 pounds each, as is alleged, at the instance of an officer who rode through the herd. Roberts said, "I told him I was not competent to judge." Roberts was asked, "Did you ever send the certificate of Captain Irvine or any other officer on that subject?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. Have you any such certificate in your possession?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. You say you were not accustomed to estimating the weight of cattle; do you recollect the form of the receipt which you gave for these cattle?

"A. I do not. I committed an error in not retaining a copy of the receipt.

"Q. Did you know the weight of these cattle at any other agency?

"A. I did not."

The other testimony of Dr. Roberts is self-condemnatory, and no evidence of any kind was produced by him or by Commissioner Parker to verify these exceedingly loose vouchers. Dr. Roberts says that cattle were killed every Saturday. Therefore, if the large cattle-scales were out of order, as is alleged, he could have weighed quarters of beef on the scales that were used in weighing sugar, bacon, &c. Prairie fires are very unusual in July, and as nutritious grass super abounds in that region it is hardly likely that the herders would stint cattle. On the 20th day of August, Captain George M. Randall, an army officer of high standing, and the Indian agent at Cheyenne agency, notified Commissioner Parker that he had weighed a sufficient num-

6

38

ber of the cattle to ascertain that they averaged 934 pounds each, gross weight. The weight of the soap (as ascertained by weighing) corresponded with the bill, but the weight of all the other articles was short—say, tobacco 30 pounds, salt 120 pounds, coffee 1,155 pounds, bacon 1,770 pounds, sugar 1,405 pounds, and flour 3,120 pounds. This deficiency is ascertained by comparing the weights paid for, with Captain Randall's certificate. He said in his letter of August 20th: "I shall take up the subsistence at the weights according to the inventory taken. No invoices were received from the contractor, and therefore I am unable to ascertain what amounts were received and receipted for. All the papers I have to show are the steamboat's bills of lading, which will not answer my purpose. If the memorandum receipts given by Dr. Lorenzo H. Roberts have not been paid, I must respectfully request that they be withheld and I be directed to furnish correct vouchers." An intelligent agent of high standing notifies the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that he will not allow his account to be charged with erroneous or fraudulent memorandum receipts given during his absence, as is known, on official duty. The Indian Department certifies this erroneous or fraudulent voucher for payment, and then does not notify the Second Auditor of the fraud or error, that it may be corrected before the next payment is made. The following question was asked Commissioner Parker: "Was the Second Auditor ever notified of the receipt of a communication from Agent Randall of August 20, 1870?

"A. Not by me."

The excess in the payment over the proper voucher given by the accredited agent amounts to $2,473.20. It is more than probable that the same mode of obtaining vouchers was practiced elsewhere, possibly through error, as there were no invoices, and bills of lading give the gross

39

weight, including packages. It further appears that the fol-
lowing excess of weight has been paid for beyond the
quantity indicated in the contract:

Flour, 59,200 pounds; coffee, 3,700 pounds; tobacco,
1,843 pounds; sugar, 8,997 pounds; salt, 150 pounds;
soap, 1,500 pounds; beef on the June 17th contract, 392,-
934 pounds; beef on the August 10th contract, 1,007,903
pounds.

It also appears that at the Whetstone agency, when the
cattle were all weighed, one drove averaged 975 pounds,
another 1,017 pounds. At Crow Creek one drove aver-
aged 976 pounds, and at Cheyenne, when Captain Ran-
dall was present, 1,025 pounds. The average weight at
other agencies cannot be ascertained, as, like Dr. Roberts'
receipt, the number of cattle is not mentioned, therefore it
is possible that some of the vouchers may resemble it in
other particulars.

*Fifth*, (No. 12 in statement.) The law of March 2d, 1861,
chap. 84, sec. 10, disallows contracts for services in any of
the departments of the Government, except for personal
services, when the public exigencies do not require the im-
mediate performance of the service, without previously ad-
vertising a sufficient time for proposals respecting the same.
As this legal requirement was fulfilled by the Quartermas-
ter General, and as he, by public advertisement and by
specific contract, included all the Indian goods, all other
testimony in regard to freight is irrelevant. Indian goods
were sent up the river under these contracts prior to June
30th, and the Indian Office ought to have availed of them
thereafter, instead of making a private contract (September
26th) in violation of one law, and keeping it back from the
Returns Office until December 16th, in violation of another
law. It appears from the evidence that this private con-
tract was arranged in New York in August last, between

40

Charles D. Woolworth, secretary of the Northwest Transportation Company, and General Parker, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Woolworth testified that the company for which he was negotiating had contracted in the name of Hiram K. Hazlett, their clerk, with the Quartermaster General for the transportation of Indian goods from Chicago, via Sioux City, to all the points up the Missouri river. He also knew that George K. Hazlett had contracted with the Quartermaster General for the transportation of Indian goods from St. Louis, Sioux City, and intermediate points up the Missouri river, and that the Northwestern Transportation Company had become a party to the latter contract by agreeing to carry the quartermaster's stores and Indian freight at fifteen per cent. less than the contract price. Charles D. Woolworth testified as follows:

"Q. Had you any talk with General Parker ever about carrying Indian goods under those contracts?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. When you made a bargain with him for specific work, did you notify him that there was already a contract for carrying Indian goods?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. Are you not aware that Indian goods could have been shipped on either of those contracts?

"A. Any Indian goods delivered to us at Chicago, I suppose, we should have been obliged to carry under that contract.

"Q. Then what is your understanding of these contracts as to time? When Indian goods are delivered to you on the 1st day of September at Chicago, you date it from their receipt at Chicago; and when delivered to you on the 1st day of September at Sioux City, you date it at Sioux City?

"A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Then the date is from the time these goods are delivered to you as being ready for shipment?

41

"A. Yes, sir. But they have got to give us ten days' notice. They cannot come to us with goods without notice.

"Q But that ten days' notice could have been given ten days before the time of receiving the goods?

"A. Yes, sir."

It thus appears that under existing contracts all Indian goods delivered to the Transportation Company in Chicago or Sioux City before the 31st day of August, could have been carried at the minimum rates—say from Chicago at an average of $1.88, which sum, less 65 cents a hundred, the railroad freight from Chicago to Sioux City, gives an average of $1.23 from Sioux City to all the agencies from Yankton to Berthold. The average freight on the other contract from Sioux City to the several agencies is $1.33 per 100 pounds during August, and $2.60 during September. The freight under the Chicago contract from the 1st of September to the 31st of October, less the railroad charges, is equal to $3.11 from Sioux City to all the agencies. The private contract made by Commissioner Parker at New York in August averages from Sioux City to all the reservations $4.80½, but practically it equals nearly $5.20, as $179,247.55 were paid for the transportation of 3,281,498 pounds of freight. Of this sum $1,218.82 was paid on goods sent to Berthold in April, when the freight under the contract of the quartermaster, that extended to Indian goods, was 2 cents a pound, whilst the Government paid 7½ cents a pound by including it in the private contract of September 26th. As it appeared by the books of the Second Auditor that the entire freight of $179,247.55 was paid to C. D. Woolworth, secretary, in care of J. W. Bosler, the drafts were examined in the United States Treasurer's office. They appear to have been endorsed by C. D. Woolworth, secretary, to the order of J. W. Bosler, and by him endorsed to the order of Jay Cooke & Co., N. York. From the evidence of J. W. Bosler, it appears that he

42

wrote the name of C. D. Woolworth, Secretary, on the back of each of the notes, and it does not appear that he gave any intimation to the Treasury Department that he wrote Woolworth's name. He alleges, however, that he had a letter of authority, but he did not exhibit it, although C. D. Woolworth testified that he had given that authority. This strange transaction made it important that J. W. Bosler's account with Jay Cooke & Co., New York, should be investigated by the committee. It is in evidence and from that account it appears, that the $179,247.55 were placed to the credit of J. W. Bosler, whilst the drafts in favor of the President and Secretary of the Northwestern Transportation Company amount to $65,143.75, or two cents a pound on the freight shipped up the Missouri river, being about the average freight under the advertised contract—say to the 30th of September, from Sioux City, and the 31st of October, from Chicago. Commissioner Parker in his letter of January 12, to the Secretary of the Interior, which is in evidence says:

> "Respecting the transportation, to which reference is also made as being high, and, therefore, conclusive of fraud, I reply that nearly all the Indian freight, consisting of annuity goods and some other supplies, reach Sioux City in October, at a time when navigation on the Upper Missouri had nearly ceased on account of low water, and the near approach of cold weather, and I made the very best terms I could with the most responsible parties running boats on the upper river to insure the certain delivery of the Indian freight. The prices paid, in my judgment, were reasonable, and will compare favorably with what has been paid in former years, and that paid by the army for the Fall months of the present year. It must be borne in mind that the season was late; all Indian freight was bound to be taken up to their respective destinations, or endless trouble would be the result of failure, and water transportation was cheaper than by land, though both were high."

43

It appears, however, that most of the annuity goods, and groceries, and a large quantity of flour, had actually been shipped before September 26, the date of the contract, and that J. W. Bosler was bound to deliver the bacon on or before the 20th of September. It should have been delivered at Sioux City in time to ship it at the average freight of $2.60 per hundred pounds. Flour ordered August 10, should have been delivered during that month at Chicago, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Omaha, and other points down to St. Louis, as the freight under the contract from Sioux City advanced more than 1¼ cents per pound in the next month.

*Sixth*. (Nos 7 and 10 in statement.) In seems necessary, in conclusion, not only to consider the subjects embraced in Nos. 7 and 10, of the statement of misconduct in the Indian Office, but also to refer briefly to facts of a like nature that are in evidence.

WASHINGTON, D. C., February 3, 1871.

JOHN FINN sworn and examined.

By Mr. SARGENT:

"Question. State your residence and occupation?

Answer. I reside in St. Louis; I am at present engaged in pork-packing; I am also a cattle-broker.

"Q. Do you know General Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs?

"A. I do.

"Q. Did you in June last have any conversation with General Parker in his office, with reference to putting in a bid to furnish cattle for Indian purposes?

"A. I did.

"Q. About what time was that conversation?

"A. It was frequent in May, June and July.

"Q. You spoke to him frequently about it in May, June, and July?

44

"A. Yes, sir; I do not know the dates.

"Q. Did you make any proposition to him to furnish beef for these purposes?

"A. I did.

"Q. Did you have any conversations on that subject about the time of the letting of the Bosler contract in June?

"A. I did.

"Q. How near to the time of the letting of that contract?

"A. The same day; I think the day before, and the very day.

"Q. What did you propose to furnish him with beef for?

"A. I offered him Texas cattle at 4½ cents a pound, and American cattle at 6 or 6½ cents a pound, gross; I cannot say which.

"Q. Did you make any further offer to him in that connection?

"A. I did; I told him I had cattle at the Winnebago agency, and that if he did not consider them worth 4½ cents a pound, I would take less for them; that I wanted to sell them.

"Q. Had you a contract at that time to furnish cattle to any of the agencies; and if so, for how much and to what tribes?

"A. I supplied the Winnebago agency for seven cents net, or three-and-a-half gross.

"Q. Did you have cattle enough on hand to take a large contract on the Missouri river?

"A. No; I could not fill a large contract with the cattle I had on hand, but I could fill any contract; I could get the cattle.

Q. What reply did Commissioner Parker make to this proposition to furnish cattle at those rates?

"A. He told me he had not any money appropriated by the Government to buy cattle; that if I would give him

45

all the cattle I ever owned at half these rates, he could
not take them, because he had no money appropriated for
the purpose; that he could not let a contract.

"Q. Was anything said about the condition of the Indians or the necessity of furnishing beef to them?

"A. Yes; I told him I had heard from the agent at Whetstone and from other reservations that the Indians were in great need of stock, and asked him if he was not going to buy them. He told me he would not do it. I asked him what he was going to do in regard to supplying these Indians. He said the Indians would protect themselves the same as they did previously; that they could take to the plains and subsist the best they could.

"Q. Did he refuse to accept your proposition?

"A. He did.

"Q. On what day was this particular conversation that you allude to with reference to the time of making the Bosler contract?

"A. I could not swear to that; I think it was the 16th or 17th of June.

"Q. With reference to the time of making the Bosler contract, was it on the day you heard the contract was made or the day before?

"A. It was the same day. I cannot swear positively to that. I know from other parties that he made a contract that day. I never saw the contract; I understood that it had been made.

"Q. How long after the contract was made did you hear of it?

"A. I heard within two or three hours, that same afternoon.

"Q. Did you have the facilities for executing such a contract, the herders, &c.?

"A. I did.

"Q. State to what extent you had such facilities at that time?

7

46

"A. I refer to General Sherman, General Allen, chief quartermaster, and General Meyers for that.

"Q. State what facilities you had in the way of herders, buildings, &c., for filling such a contract?

"A. I had the means and the money. I could fill any contract the Government could give me at that time.

"Q. Did you have men in your employ to do that business at that time?

"A. I had; I had horses and cattle at the agency, and I was able at that time to fill any contract the Government would give.

"Q. Was your contract for the Winnebagoes for a part of the year or the whole year?

"A. For the whole year—twelve months.

By Mr. CHIPMAN:

"Q. State whether you feel unfriendly or not towards General Parker?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. Have you never expressed any unfriendly feelings toward him?

"A. I did on one occasion last year. I thought he might as well have let me have the contract at four-and-a-half cents as Bosler at six-and-a-half. I thought I could fill a contract as well as Bosler. That is the only time I expressed anything in that way towards General Parker to my knowledge.

"WASHINGTON, D. C., February 6, 1871.

"JOHN T. BALDWIN sworn and examined.

"By Mr. SARGENT:

"Answer. I reside in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I am a kind of general trader in real estate, a miller, and other things.

47

"Q. Do you deal in any kind of merchandise?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. Were you ever present at any conversation between Mr. Finn and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, at the office of the latter in Washington city; and if so, when was it?

"A. I was present with Mr. Finn, I think, about the middle of June, 1870.

"Q. State what passed in that conversation between Mr. Finn and Mr. Parker in relation to a contract.

"A. I think Mr. Finn asked Mr. Parker if he should continue to furnish supplies to Indians after the 1st of July. Mr. Parker replied that he did not want him to continue. Mr. Finn asked him what he was going to do with the Indians, and how he would get provisions and supplies. Mr. Parker remarked that he could not make any arrangement for supplies until there was an appropriation by Congress; that the Indians would have to hunt, or to do as they had been doing before they were getting any supplies from the Government.

"Q. Was anything said by Mr. Finn with reference to a desire on his part to have another contract?

"A. I do not recollect anything.

"Q. What was your object in going there?

"A. I went in company with Mr. Finn, to see if Mr. Parker did not want some flour for the Indians.

"Q. Did you make any proposition to Mr. Parker with reference to it?

"A. I simply told Mr. Parker that I had been engaged in furnishing contractors with flour for quite a number of years, and that I would like to make a direct sale to him or to the Government, in place of selling to the contractors.

"Q. What was his reply to that?

"A. He remarked that he was not prepared to make

48

any contract at that time with me for flour, but that as soon
as the appropriation bill passed he would advertise in the
Chicago and Omaha papers, and would send me a copy of
the advertisement. I asked him where the letting would
take place. He said he did not know, but that it would
take place here or at Sioux City.

"Q. How soon thereafter did you hear of the Bosler
contract being let for beef and flour?

"A. I learned it through Mr. Finn some two or three
days afterward; that was the first intimation that I had of
it; I then saw Mr. Bosler about ten days afterward.

"Q. Did Mr. Bosler tell you that he had a contract?

"A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Was that before the passage of the appropriation
bill which passed on 15th July?

"A. It was before that; it was in the latter part of June
that I saw Mr. Bosler.

"Q. Did you receive any copy of an advertisement from
Mr. Parker after the appropriation bill passed?

"A. No, sir, I did not.

By Mr. WELSH:

"Q. Did you name any price for the flour to Mr. Parker?

"A. No, sir.

"Q. At what rate were you prepared to furnish it then?

"A. I would have been willing to have contracted for
flour at about $2.50 a sack on the cars at Council Bluff.

"Q. Or at the same price on the steamboat?

"A. Yes.

"Q. What was the average price of flour at Council Bluffs
in July, August, and September, 1870?

"A. It ranged at about $2.25—from $2.25 to $2.50 per
sack of ninety-eight pounds.

"Q. Is that a double or a single sack?

"A. A single sack.

49

"Q. Do you know Mr. Hoffmeyer, of Council Bluffs?

"A. Yes.

"Q. Do you know anything of a contract that he had with the Government to furnish flour at $2.15?

"A. No, sir; I am a partner of Mr. Hoffmeyer; I was aware of a sale of flour made at the mill: the sale ranged at from $2 to $2.75, according to the quality of the flour; he sold some 1,250 sacks to Mr. Bosler; most of it was sold at $2.75; that was in October.

"Q. Do you recollect a sale of flour at $2.15 a sack, bought on October 27 and paid for on November 29?

"A: I recollect that."

The negotiation with Bosler referred to by Finn and Baldwin must have been going on at the time of their conversations with Commissioner Parker, as appears by a letter from J. W. Bosler, dated Carlisle, Pennsylvania, June 11th, a certified copy of which is hereto appended. That letter should not have been separated from the contract of June 17th, as it is appended to it in the Returns Office, and in fact forms part of the contract, being a description of the quality of the beef. The prices of every article correspond precisely with the contract, the beef being described as American cattle, at 6½ cents per pound gross. The contract says "the beef is to be of good merchantable quality, and to be delivered on foot; one-third, or thereabouts, to be delivered on or about the 15th of July; one-third on or about August 1st, and the residue on or about the 1st of September, 1870."

It is somewhat significant that J. W. Bosler should have been released from his offer to furnish American cattle and allowed to substitute Texas cattle without any abatement in the price, although it is in evidence that there is a difference of 2 cents per pound in the market value in favor of American cattle. This contract was, in violation of law, kept in the Indian Office until July 15th, when the appro-

50

priation bill became a law. It is deceptive in its appear-
ance, as the beef is stated at so many pounds net, whilst it
is to be paid for per pound gross, therefore the contract is
for double the weight indicated. On the next day, June
18th, the following instructions were sent from the Office of
Indian Affairs:

"You will receive from Mr. Bosler the supplies to be furnished under said arrangement; and should the quantity vary from the amount herein given in each or any case, either more or less, you will receipt to him accordingly; that is, you will give proper receipts for the amount of each article delivered, at the time of the delivery. You will, also, make the necessary preparation to properly care for the supplies after they have been delivered.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"W. F. CADY,

"Acting Commissioner.

"Major J. M. GOODHUE,

"Indian Agent, Yankton Agency, Dakota Territory.

"Captain WILLIAM H. FRENCH,

"Indian Agent, Crow Creek Agency, Dakota Territory.

"Major G. M. RANDALL,

"Indian Agent, Cheyenne Agency, Dakota Territory."

From these instructions, and in one case from subsequent
instructions of a like tenor, the agents were constrained to
receive 75,420 pounds of flour, sugar, coffee, soap, tobacco,
and salt, beyond the weight indicated in the contract; also
392,394 pounds of beef beyond the contract of June 17th,
and more than a million pounds in excess of the contract
of August 10th. The agents were also compelled to re-
lieve the contractor from his obligation to keep one-third
of the cattle until August and one-third till September at
his own expense. They were thus obliged to hire herders
at the expense of the Government, and to assume the risk

51

of stampeding and other casualties. Commissioner Parker testified on the 24th of January as follows:

"Q. Did you send invoices or descriptions of the various kinds of goods, sugars, coffee, and other stores sent up to the various agencies, so as to enable them to examine as to weight, quality, &c.?

"A. I did not send them personally. I gave instructions that it should be done.

"Q. Do you know that they were sent?

"A. Not of my own knowledge.

"Q. Can you produce evidence that they were ever sent?

"A. I presume I could bring from the office witnesses who would testify that they were put into the mails. It is a rule always to send copies of invoices to the consignee, and I am perfectly satisfied that they were sent; but as I did not do it myself I cannot give it as a positive statement. I had returns from the agents sometimes stating that something was missing, showing that they had the invoices."

On the 3d of February the following communication was made to the committee:

"No invoices were sent from the office to agents of the supplies furnished under the June 17th contract by Mr. Bosler. The agents receipted to Mr. Bosler for what they received.

"E. S. PARKER, Commissioner.

"Hon. A. A. SARGENT, House of Representatives."

As there was no description of the quality of the goods or any account of the net weight, the agents were left at the mercy of the contractor, although the Commissioner of Indian Affairs says "it is a rule always to send copies of invoices to the consignee." The contract of August 10th is as follows:

52

"DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
"OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS,
"*August* 10, 1870.

"SIR: It being exceedingly doubtful whether, under any advertisement for supplying the Sioux of Dakota with beef and flour, they can be furnished in proper season to prevent a deficiency, I have to request that you will at once supply 1,500,000 pounds, net, more of beef, to be distributed at the various agencies on the Missouri river, in such amounts as shall be hereafter designated to you. Said beef will be paid for at the same rates per pound as is provided in your contract with the Indian Bureau, dated June 17, 1870. This beef must all be on the hoof, and of as good quality as was furnished under your contract, and must all be delivered at the several agencies on the Missouri river on or before the 15th day of October, 1870.

"You will also be pleased to collect for the Indian Bureau, for the use of the Sioux Indians of Dakota, from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 pounds of good extra wheat flour, to be delivered in Sioux City, at as low rates as possible, which rates should not exceed 3½ cents per pound when delivered in Sioux City, ready for shipment by boat.

"Your accounts for beef will be settled in Washington, D. C., upon your presenting the receipts of the amounts received by the respective agents, who have this day been instructed to receive from you and receipt to you for the beef you may furnish under this order.

"The flour will be settled for in Washington, D. C., upon your presenting bills of lading from such transportation companies as may transport the same to the several agencies.

"E. S. PARKER, Commissioner.

"J. W. BOSLER, Esq., Sioux City, Iowa."

53

The same plan of deceiving the eye by inserting half the number of pounds paid for was pursued as in the former contract. 703 of these oxen were forced upon Captain Poole at the Whetstone agency, although Commissioner Parker knew that he had a six months supply as appears by his letter of July 13, to Superintendant Burbank. Commissioner Parker allowed J. W. Bosler not only to deliver more than a million of pounds of cattle in excess of this contract, but also to delay the time of delivery beyond the period at which the cattle purchased at $3.88 cents were due. The order for the purchase of flour seems to have been without limit as to price or time of delivery, and it is not claimed that there was any exigency requiring immediate delivery. With the range of markets indicated in the two contracts for the transportation of Indian goods, this quantity of flour could have been had at short notice. John T. Baldwin testified that he would have furnished it at $2.50 a sack, and if bids had been solicited by advertisement in accordance with Commissioner Parker's promise to Mr. Baldwin, what is called Indian flour could have undoubtedly been procured at $2.00. This grade of flour is made not from wheat, but by grinding the boltings from superfine flour.

The charge of 6¼ cents a pound freight on flour to Grand river and 7½ to Berthold, instead of $1.60 and 2 cents was the contract price, is rather hard on the Government and on the cause of Indian civilization.

Although the Bosler contract was sent on the following day to the agents, requiring them to receive all that was brought to their reservations, yet it appears that the Morrow contract of September 17, was not sent until December 2d. This is significant as J. W. Bosler had acquired half interest in the contract, and Capt Poole testified that the drovers expected to deliver all the nine months supply at once to the agents, and that no provision for wintering

8

54

cattle had been made by the contractor. I could have testified still more strongly to that fact from personal observation as my presence alone checked the consummation of an immediate delivery. A brief reference to the history of this contract throws some additional light on this plan.

On the 27th day of August 1870, Commissioner Parker advertised in the Washington papers for bids to furnish seven million one hundred and forty thousand pounds gross weight of beef cattle on the hoof, and a large quantity of bacon. The cattle to be delivered at the various Indian agencies on the Missouri river, one-ninth to be delivered from the 1st to the 15th of October, and one-ninth monthly thereafter in such quantity as the respective agents shall require. The time of bidding was to cease on the fifth of September at noon, and the contract then to be awarded. This would have allowed but a few days for advertisements in the western cities and too short a time for bids with proper security, to have been received from any distant point. It appears that J. W. Bosler bid 6⅓ cents for beef, and 18¼ cents for bacon, but it does not appear in what manner the contract was to be allotted to the various bidders, whether by averaging the bids for beef and bacon as has been quite customary, or by considering the beef and bacon as separate transactions. The former course seems the more likely, for although the bacon is deliverable at Chicago, and the beef at the Indian reservations, yet the bacon is also allotted to five agencies. From evidence, it appears that the Secretary of the Interior interfered by directing the proposals under the advertisement to be extended seven days, say to September 12th. By this extension of time, seventeen bids for beef were made, and it is in evidence that after the extension J. W. Bosler united with J. A. Morrow, of Omaha, in his bid of 3⅝ per pound. It also appears in evidence, that J. McCormick of Omaha is a partner with J. A. Morrow in the contract.

55

General William Meyers testified that John McCormick, of Omaha, sent to his office a bid by J. E. Boyd, to be taken to the Indian Office on the last day that bids could be received. This bid was at 3.90-100 cents per pound, the same rate as the bid by Morrow, in which Bosler and McCormick were partners. On the morning of the 12th of September, the day the bids were to be opened, a telegram was received, signed by J. W. Bosler and J. A. Morrow, reducing the bid of $3.90/100 per 100 pounds for beef to $3.88/100, and the bid for bacon one-fourth of a cent per pound. When the bids were opened, the contract was awarded to Joseph F. Gibbs, of St. Louis, his offer being 3⅔ cents per pound. It is in evidence that his first-named surety is a responsible man. Gibbs was informed that the contract had been awarded to him, and on the 14th of September telegraphed thus, "I am compelled to decline my bid for furnishing beef to Indians, being unable to furnish required bonds." The natural inference is, that he had been bought off by the next bidder, as is quite customary. The Indian Office seems to have quietly released the principal and his bondsmen, and awarded the contract, at an advance of 13 cents a hundred, to J. A. Morrow, J. W. Bosler having half-interest in it. The control of this contract was most important to Bosler, for if it had been in the hands of others he would have been unable to force on the Government over one million pounds of beef in excess of his August contract at 6½ cents per pound; and if the beef under the Morrow contract had been delivered at the stipulated time, Bosler would also have been shut out from his late deliveries, which were made long after the time that had been agreed upon. If the scheme for immediate delivery that Captain Poole referred to in his testimony had not been thwarted, and the cattle had been delivered promptly, there would have been a profit on the Morrow contract of eighty thousand dollars, if all the cattle cost the same as those delivered at Whetstone.

56

As it is the province of the Committee of Investigation to draw its own inferences from the testimony, and to form its own conclusions, I leave the subject with you after this hasty review of the case. It should be borne in mind that more than two hundred pages of closely-printed testimony were placed in my hands yesterday with directions to furnish a written summary to-day. Allow me to thank you for your uniform courtesy towards one trained wholly in mercantile pursuits, and quite ignorant of legal forms and usages. I had supposed that the investigation would have been conducted by the Committee; but when Commissioner Parker employed counsel to procure testimony and to train and to question the witnesses, it became apparent that I must, to a certain extent, conduct the investigation or also employ counsel. The former course, although in most respects less advantageous to the case, seemed more kind, therefore I adopted it.

If, on examining the evidence, you find, as I believe you will, the wrong done to the Government and to the Indian to be much greater than it appeared to be in my letter to the Secretary of the Interior, I know you will not attribute it in any wise to skill in conducting the case, but to the development of mal-practices that have become chronic. The unusual freedom from personalities during the progress of this long investigation affords one pleasant reflection, although there is still much that is painful in the performance of this—one of the sterner duties of life. From your intelligent and earnest consideration of the case I feel confident that the cause of Indian civilization will be promoted, therefore the sole object that I had in revealing the alleged wrongs to the Secretary of the Interior will be accomplished.

WM. WELSH, of Philadelphia.

# APPENDIX.

## DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
"RETURNS OFFICE," Feb. 10, 1871.

I, George W. Evans, clerk in charge of the Returns Office, do hereby certify that the annexed paper is a full and complete copy of one now on file in this office.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this
10th day of February, 1871.

GEO. W. EVANS,
*Return Clerk.*

## DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
*February 10, 1871.*

I, Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, do hereby certify that George W. Evans is the clerk in charge of the Returns Office of this Department.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the Department of the Interior to be
affixed, the date hereinbefore written.

[SEAL.]

CARLISLE, PA., June 11th, 1870.

Gen. E. S. PARKER,
*Com. Ind. Affrs.*

I will furnish you for the use of the Government, for
feeding Indians, subsistence at the following prices, to be
distributed as you may desire on the Missouri river, at
any points not above Fort Rice:

58

<table><tr><td>Beef, "American cattle," at 6½ cts. per pound, gross.</td></tr><tr><td>Flour, No. 1 Spring, " 6½ " pound.</td></tr><tr><td>Bacon, clear sides, " 25 "</td></tr><tr><td>Sugar, " 18 "</td></tr><tr><td>Coffee, " 28 "</td></tr><tr><td>Soap, " 15 "</td></tr><tr><td>Salt, " 8 "</td></tr></table>

Delivery to commence immediately, and for any amount you may desire.

I will furnish you satisfactory security for the faithful performance of any contract you may desire to make in accordance with the above.

Very respectfully,

(Signed,)

J. W. BOSLER.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
RETURNS OFFICE, Feb. 14, 1871.

I, Geo. W. Evans, clerk in charge of the Returns Office, do hereby certify the accompanying paper is a true representation of the Record of the Returns Office relative to contracts filed by Ely S. Parker, Commissioner, and Wm. F. Cady, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, since July 1, 1870.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand the date above written.

GEO. W. EVANS,
Returns Clerk.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
February 14, 1871.

I, Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, do hereby certify that George W. Evans is the clerk in charge of the Returns Office.

59

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Department of the Interior the date above written.

C. DELANO,
Secretary.

[SEAL.]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
"RETURNS OFFICE," Feb. 14, 1871.

The following are all the contracts or agreements made by the Indian Office since June 1st, 1870, that has been sent to this office for file, with the dates that they were received.

Hon. Ely S. Parker, Commissioner, with James W. Bosler, for furnishing subsistence to Indians. Received July 15, 1870.

Ditto with E. C. Paquet for furnishing dies for Indian medals.

Ditto with Northwestern Transportation Company for transporting supplies to Indian agencies. Received December 16, 1870.

Ditto with James W. Bosler for bacon to Indian agencies. Received February 3d, 1871.

Wm. F. Cady, Acting Commissioner Indian Affairs, with J. A. Morrow for 7,140,000 pounds of fresh beef. Received September 22d, 1870.

GEO. W. EVANS,
Returns Clerk.

The contract of the N. T. Co. above referred to was dated September 26, 1870, and signed by Chas. D. Woolworth, Secretary.

60

LETTER

FROM W. WELSH, ADDRESSED TO

To the Hon. ELI K. PRICE and the

Hon. W.M. STRONG:

DEAR SIRS: As co-laborers in the inception of an important work that is now awakening much public interest, I ask your consideration of the following paper:

Is it not increasingly apparent to you that the public mind is rapidly tending towards a determined demand for a thorough reform in public expenditures? During the recent period of political and military strife and of inflated currency little thought was given to the wasteful expenditure of public money. Indeed, many who were amassing fortunes out of a public calamity proclaimed our rapidly-increasing public debt as a national blessing. Now, as party passion has subsided, and currency is approaching a specie basis, taxation is realized as a grievous burden, for commerce and manufactures flag, because, being hampered with debt, we can no longer so successfully compete with other nations. The high cost of house rent, and of the necessaries and comforts of life, has forced upon the minds of our intelligent working people the truth, that the consumer is the real taxpayer, and also that they have become the willing bondsmen to a clique of office seekers insignificant in number. The belief is gaining ground that our present onerous taxes can be reduced at least twenty-five per cent. if public business is conducted honestly and intelligently. Most of our thinking people seem already to have resolved on having this reform, the public press, both partisan and independent, has proclaimed it, and surely ere long it will be in successful practice; therefore woe be to the political party that throws obstacles in its way. With intelligent and skilful leaders, entitled to the full confidence of the people, reform measures can even now be successfully introduced into every department of our Government, whether National, State, or Municipal. It is, however, natural that the public mind should first fasten on the department where corruption is most glaring, and where its baleful influence is demoralizing or stirring up to strife a people who should be protected and nurtured by a Christian nation.

Recent events show that the following issue is now fairly

61

before us: "Shall a clique of avaricious contractors, backed
by a few ambitious politicians and some unprincipled land
jobbers, be any longer allowed to defraud and demoralize
the aborigines of this country—to disgrace this nation, to
jeopard the lives of our enterprising frontiersmen, and to
involve the Government in costly and shameful wars?"
Although it is hardly likely that any one can be found to
vote openly in favor of such a proposition, yet there are
hundreds, and perhaps thousands, who privately throw
difficulties in the way of every measure likely to rescue
public money from either partisan or personal grasp. The
report of our committee, printed for private circulation in
April, 1869, shows that the present Board of Indian Com-
missioners was originated by yourselves and others of your
fellow-citizens, as a measure of reform. Its progress was
slow until within the last few months, when the whole com-
munity have been aroused to the importance of a thorough
reform, by an exposure of a few of the existing malprac-
tices in Indian affairs. You both will remember that be-
fore our prearranged interview with the President of the
United States and the Secretary of the Interior, on March
24, 1869, our committee had unanimously agreed that the
only available mode of rescuing Indian affairs promptly
from political and other corrupting influences, was by the
appointment of a Commission of the best men in the coun-
try, empowered with joint control with the Secretary of the
Interior, over the disbursement of money appropriated for
Indians. Prominent Congressmen had assured us that little
over twenty-five per cent. of the money appropriated for
the benefit of Indians ever reached them, three-fourths
being taken by political and other plunderers, chiefly in
Washington. Our committee, being composed of thor-
oughly practical men, some of whom are in business more
extensive than that of the Indian Department, well knew
that a check on the disbursement of money, held by men of
the highest integrity, not subject to political pressure, could
alone free the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from in-
fluences that would, from long usage and political domina-
tion, be irresistible without such a positive restriction.

The following extract from the report of our committee,
printed for private circulation, gives the result of such a
proposal made at the Executive mansion:

"The committee told the President and Secretary that they

9

62

desired perfect frankness; for, although the proposal was
not made with a desire to have any member of the commit-
tee placed upon the Commission, yet it did seem presump-
tuous to suggest that a Cabinet officer should share his
responsibilities with others. The committee, however,
wished it distinctly understood that whilst the Commission,
as suggested by them, could effectually check the misdirec-
tion of funds by a joint control over every expenditure,
yet it desired that all the Government machinery and agents
should be continued.

The committee further stated that through the associa-
tion of Christian philanthropists with the Secretary of the
Interior, the lost confidence of Congress could be regained,
the Indians made more hopeful, and the whole Christian
community aroused to co-operate with the Government in
"civilizing, christianizing, and ultimately making citizens
of the Indians." The committee thought that Government
money should not be expended by churches, and that suffi-
cient sums for teaching, caring for the sick, or preaching,
would be freely proffered when the charitable people of this
country were inspired with confidence.

The committee then told the Secretary of the Interior
that, although he was entitled to the highest confidence of
the people, and they felt sure he would gain that confi-
dence, yet he must be aware that the Indian Department
had hitherto been prostituted to the most flagrant abuses
to increase political patronage. What had been before
might be again, unless some plan could be devised to pro-
tect him and the Indian Department from the claims for
patronage by political leaders, which, through usage, were
well nigh irresistible.

After a long and frank conference between the President
and the Secretary of the Interior and the various members
of the committee, all of whom expressed their sentiments
more or less fully, the President gave his cordial assent to
the proposal, and the Secretary of the Interior magnani-
mously desired that it should be extended to all appropri-
ations to the Indian Department.

On the next day he gave the following letter to our
committee, to assist them in procuring favorable legisla-
tion:

63

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

WASHINGTON, D. C., March 25, 1869.

GENTLEMEN: I take great pleasure in saying to you that the proposition submitted by you to the President yesterday, for the appointment of a Commission to co-operate with this Department in the work of civilizing the American Indians, and expending such funds as may be appropriated by Congress for that purpose, under existing treaties or otherwise, meets his heartiest approval, as well as my own.

I believe that a concerted effort between the good people of the country, whose hearts are interested in this work, and the Government itself, will give ground to hope for results which former systems have failed to effect.

The condition of several tribes on our frontier is now such, that the question of immediate and thorough action looking to civilization is the only alternative or mode of escape from exterminating wars.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

J. D. COX, Secretary.

TO HON. ELI K. PRICE, Wm. WELSH, Wm. STRONG, and others.

To carry out the spirit of our agreement with the President and the Secretary of the Interior, Senator Harlan prepared an amendment to the Indian Appropriation Bill to the following effect: The President to have authority to organize a Board consisting of not more than ten Commissioners to serve without pay, "who may, under his direction, supervise and control the disbursements of money," all contracts, erection of buildings, removal, and subsistence of Indians, and the selection of employees; having also authority to suspend, temporarily, Indian superintendents and agents, &c., &c.

Secretary Cox, thinking that too much power would be conferred on the Commission by this bill, suggested as an amendment, in his own handwriting, the words, "Exercise joint control with the Indian Department over the disbursement," &c. With the assistance of Senator Fessenden the amendment prevailed, and the Commissioners were appointed under the authority of a law stating that, if appointed, they were to have "joint control with the Secre-

64

tary of the Interior over the disbursement," &c. No other
duties were indicated, except that these Commissioners
were to "enable the President to execute the powers con-
ferred by this act," which gave him two millions of dollars
for civilizing Indians, &c., independent of the Indian
Office.

The *peculiar influences* that have long been brought to
bear on the Interior Department, and especially on the
Indian Office, forming an infectious malaria within its
walls, became manifest soon after the enactment of this
law. Commissioner Parker was sent to New York to
open and accept bids for the dry goods needed by the In-
dians, proposals for which had been duly advertised in the
*usual manner*.

As the board of Commissioners appointed some time be-
fore had not yet been convened, General Parker was in-
structed not to act without the concurrence of Mr. George
H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, and Mr. William E. Dodge, of
New York, two of the board of unpaid Commissioners.
These experienced business men, discovering evidences of
the customary fraudulent intent on the part of some of the
bidders, obtained a ware-house without cost to the Govern-
ment, that the goods might be strictly examined before
shipment. For after shipment to the distant reservations,
frauds could not be detected, or reclamations successfully
made, and there might be accomplices of the skilful Indian
ring at the agencies, or peculators who would not report
discrepancies from the invoices in quality and quantity.

Commissioner Parker, under the specious plea of a great
loss of time, urged by the habitual sellers of Indian goods,
proceeded to Washington, and got the original order re-
voked, so far as to direct Mr. Stuart and Mr. Dodge to ex-
amine the goods in the stores of the sellers.

This Executive order was issued without any conference
with the unpaid Commissioners, who were, under the terms
of the law, to have joint control with the Secretary of the
Interior. If asked, they would have satisfied every mind
open to conviction, that there would not have been any
great delay, and that an honest administration of affairs
could be secured in no other way. Of course these gentle-
men refused to examine, as they could not protect the in-
terest of the Government; therefore the Indian goods were
shipped in the customary way.

65

I believe President Grant and Secretary Cox had as honorable intentions as any member of the Board of Commissioners. Their disposition to be influenced by the heart instead of the head, their surroundings, and their lack of experience in detecting frauds in Indian supplies, may have prevented them from realizing the important bearings of the law, that had been enacted with their sanction. When the Board of Commissioners was convened in Washington, on the 10th of May, it became apparent that little, if any "joint control," or any other kind of controlling power would be allowed, and the Executive order dated June 3, took from the Commissioners all power to reform a single abuse.

The Secretary of the Interior in his annual report to the President said: "No direct responsibility, either pecuniary or administrative, was put upon this commission, because it was believed, that their usefulness would not be increased thereby." It is hardly probable that any member of that Commission desired an office so profitless, so arduous, and so offensive to those who are enriching themselves at the expense of the Indian; therefore, I feel confident that each member felt constrained to serve solely from a stern sense of duty. Acting as their chairman, my mind was specially directed to the importance and the extreme difficulty of the task, and therefore this remarkable nullification of an important law constrained me to send to the Secretary of the Interior a note of the following import: Please say to the President that as all the power intended to have been given by the act of Congress, has been withheld, I decline to render further service as a Commissioner, but I will, at my own expense, aid him in caring for the Indians by visiting them on their reservations.

At that time some of my friends questioned the wisdom of the act; but after due consideration I am fully convinced that I was right, although I am very glad that my former colleagues were willing to continue in office. They had no responsibility in framing the law and procuring the necessary legislation, therefore the members of Congress could not censure them as they would properly have censured me had I consented to act under a law after it had been emasculated.

This Board of unpaid Indian Commissioners has accomplished much good, and will, I have no doubt, claim its en-

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larged powers, so as to assist more effectively in correcting abuses that still exist. A single instance will suffice to show how fully the Commission was stripped of power. A prominent clerk in the Interior Department was charged with the distribution of $90,000 to a tribe of Indians. One of the Commissioners was asked to supervise the distribution, and he begged the clerk to desist until special instructions were received from Washington, as he learned that a man, who alleged that he had procured the appropriation, was to get one-third of the sum. It seems that the claimant is the bondsman of the Clerk of the Interior Department. The remonstrance was unheeded, and the $30,000 was taken by him from the Indians by a previous agreement.

Although many of the friends of the Indian were disappointed and somewhat disheartened when the power to reform abuses was withheld from the Commissioners, yet they soon rallied again, and the work of reform outside of the Indian Office has steadily progressed.

Dry-goods are now examined and packed in a ware-house that is under the control of the Government, whilst manufacturers and other honest dealers, who had become disheartened by being unsuccessful bidders, now supply Indian goods at the lowest market rates. Through the independent, and therefore highly commendable action of the President and Secretary of the Interior, Indian superintendencies and agencies are no longer shared out as political patronage. The fornicator, the pilferer, the drunkard, and the whisky-seller are being driven from Indian reservations. Some of these, however, and their political upholders impugn the motives of the new agents, and try to prejudice the Indians against them. The good work progresses steadily, but the missionary associations that have consented to recommend and supervise agents, find it difficult to procure suitable men at $1,500 a year, because high capacity is required, and the cost and inconvenience of living on many of the reservations is very great. Heretofore, an Indian agent was not thought clever who did not enrich himself in four years, while now the work of reform has progressed so far that a man with a blemished character is sure to be exposed as soon as his name is subjected to public scrutiny. Both political parties now consider it politic to show mercy to the Indian, and Congress

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seems ready to act liberally, if the Indian service can be
administered intelligently and economically.

As the first Congressional effort to restrain the Indian
Office failed, through the action of the President and the
Secretary of the Interior, Congress, in July last, made it
the positive duty of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
to consult the board of unpaid Commissioners in all his pur-
chases of Indian goods, and to invite them to inspect said
goods, and also to supervise all expenditures of money. Ex-
cept in the purchase and inspection of dry goods, this law
was completely nullified by the Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs, as he made large purchases before and after the enact-
ment of the law without notifying the Commissioners. This
subject is being considered by a Committee of the House
of Representatives; therefore Congress will undoubtedly
see that hereafter its laws are strictly complied with.

All agree that a radical reform in the Indian Office is es-
sential to the work of Indian civilization; and, as the peo-
ple and the press have resolved on it, this reformation will
surely be accomplished or the office abolished. It is im-
possible to say how much of the wrong-doing in that office
is attributable to tardy and imperfect legislation, or how
much is chargeable to the officers and employees who may
lack the power or the courage necessary to reform chronic
abuses that are often abetted by men in high places. Let
us be charitable in regard to the past, and more watchful
in the future, holding to a strict accountability all who are
charged with the care of the Indians or their appropriations.

I trust this sketch of the origin and progress of one of
the attempted reforms in Indian affairs will serve to stir up
my former colleagues and others to still greater efficiency
in a work that claims and requires the assistance of all who
are entitled to public confidence.

Yours sincerely,

WM. WELSH, 1122 Spruce Street

PHILADELPHIA, January 11, 1871.