leasing advisable. During the year the sale of 340,000 acres was considered by the Indian Office, and 150,000 acres were sold for a total of almost $2,500,000, an average of $16 an acre.

There are some $10,000,000 on deposit in banks throughout the country to the credit of individual Indians, but only subject to disbursement under the supervision of the Indian Service. Able-bodied Indians who can get work are not allowed to use their money for ordinary expenses, but are liberally encouraged to use it for building houses, buying stock and farm implements, and generally improving their lands.

Protection of Indians against fraud.—Most of the long-pending suits to annul deeds of their allotted lands made by the Mexican Kickapoo were settled in the Indians' favor. Out of 75 allotments 69 are to be restored with mesne profits, and the Government will use its influence to secure the return of such consideration as the Indians had received. Similar settlements are expected in the remaining six

cases.

Since the close of the fiscal year prosecutions in Seminole County, Oklahoma, for frauds against minor and full-blood Indians have resulted in the conviction of 5 of the 6 principal defendants and their sentence to the State pentientiary for terms of from 7 to 14 years, and recently 21 additional indictments were returned against 7 individuals. In McCurtain County, Oklahoma, concerted efforts by State, Federal, and tribal officials resulted in an investigation of probate matters that brought about the resignation of the county judge and the recovery for Indian minors of over 4,100 acres of land and about $65,000; furthermore, State officials have secured an agreement by which three of the largest purchasers are to submit to a special board of arbitration the titles to all lands acquired from Indian minors through the local probate court.

As the outcome of 207 suits involving town lots fraudulently acquired in the Creek Nation $85,000 have been recovered, together with 94 lots worth about $60,000. Twenty-five suits are still pending.

On the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota vigorous action has been taken to annul deeds unlawfully procured from full-blood and minor Indians and to punish the guilty persons. In the fiscal year 901 suits in equity were filed and the total number will be 1,086. Complete success in these suits will mean the recovery of 142,000 acres of land valued at over $2,000,000 and timber estimated to be worth $1,755,000 on behalf of more than 1,700 Indians, forming almost 34 per cent of the White Earth allottees.

Irrigation and drainage.—For the year 1911 Congress appropriated slightly in excess of $1,300,000, all but $259,000 of which was made reimbursable to the United States, for irrigating and draining Indian

lands. In the State of Washington the Indian Service is very economically draining 30,000 acres of swamped land. In the course of new irrigation construction under this appropriation the Indian Service during the year provided facilities for irrigating about 25,000 acres and through the use of other funds it placed 7,300 acres under ditch Furthermore, the Reclamation Service has had under construction for the Indian Service four extensive projects; the Pima project in Arizona, the Blackfeet, Flathead, and Fort Peck projects in Montana.

Altogether, more than 300,000 acres of Indian land have been placed under ditch at a cost of about $5,000,000. The bulk of the money appropriated by Congress for this irrigation is, under the various statutes, to be reimbursed when the lands are in successful cultivation. In constructing irrigation works, care is taken to employ Indian labor as much as is possible. Only a small portion of the acreage placed under ditch has as yet been cultivated by the Indians. There is need of persistent effort to persuade the Indians to use the irrigation facilities provided for them.

Timber. The timber on Indian land is now estimated at 34 billion feet, worth approximately $76,000,000. The work of taking proper care of this timber and disposing of the mature trees is furnishing employment for a very considerable number of Indians, as well as increasing the revenue of various tribes and thus furnishing means for development of the Indian lands. In the past fiscal year no large sales were made. The two most extensive logging operations continued under contracts were at the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin, where 84,000,000 feet were cut, yielding $503,000, and upon the ceded Chippewa lands in Minnesota, where 80,000,000 feet were cut, yielding $578,000.

The Neopit lumbering and milling project on the Menominee Reservation, in Wisconsin, for the first time showed a clear profit— $11,200; the total receipts from sales of manufactured lumber were $424,000. On an average 205 Menominees, slightly in excess of 38 per cent of the male members of the tribe over 18 years of age, were employed, together with 56 Indians of other tribes. Thus the project has become an important school of industry for the Indians.

FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES.

Much progress has been made in the matter of closing out the tribal affairs of each of the Five Civilized Tribes. The work of enrollment of citizens and allotment of lands has been practically finished. In the Cherokee Nation some deeds are yet to be delivered, and there remain small amounts of surplus lands which are now being offered for sale. There is also still pending litigation affecting the claims of some 5,600 newborn Cherokees, and another case involving the rights of about 1,720 freedmen who claim to be entitled to enroll

ment. Until these suits are disposed of it will be impossible to complete the closing out of the affairs of the Cherokee Nation.

In the Creek Nation there are also some deeds yet to be delivered and some surplus lands yet to be sold, which it is hoped to close out very shortly. Under the Creek agreement, each citizen was entitled to the allotment of land at the appraised value of $1,040. The land actually subject to allotment fell short of this valuation to the amount, in all, of $6,913,291. The funds and resources of the Creek Nation fall far short of this sum. It will therefore be impossible to close out the affairs of the Creek Nation until additional legislation can be had.

In the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, the distribution of funds to equalize allotments has been continued during the fiscal year. Beside the necessity for completing this, there are still four matters to be disposed of. There are 1,142,071 acres of unallotted lands not reserved or segregated which are now being offered for sale at public auction. There are 1,333,324 acres of land reserved from allotment on account of timber. The timber on this land has been reestimated and appraised, and regulations for offering the land and timber for sale at auction are now almost completed. There are also 445,000 acres of segregated coal and asphalt lands in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, considerable portions of which are under coal and asphalt leases. The nations are anxious to have these lands disposed of so that the proceeds may be divided. On this subject the Department has made reports to you and to Congress. Nothing can be done by the Department until appropriate legislation is enacted. There have also been reserved from allotment about 16 sections of matured timber. These lands have been repeatedly offered for sale, but no bid has ever been received equal to the appraised value. If the lands are to be disposed of, apparently either lower bids must be accepted or the Department must be authorized to sell the lands upon credit.

The establishment of district agents to assist in handling the affairs of restricted members of the Five Civilized Tribes has proven of the greatest benefit both to the Indians concerned and to the Department. The work of these agents has made it possible for the Department to perform its work both more efficiently and more promptly, and I believe that the questions affecting individual Indians are now being thoroughly well handled.

More than 20,000 suits brought to set aside conveyances of allotted land on the ground that the Indians were incompetent to convey are still pending, awaiting the decision of a case in the United States Supreme Court, which has been submitted and which it is expected will soon be decided. In the meanwhile, however, equitable settlements have been reached in a large number of such cases, and the work of settling is steadily progressing.

A great deal of work has been done, largely with the aid of the district agents, in protecting the rights of minor Indians who have suffered from negligent and, in some cases, dishonest guardians. Much land and large sums of money have already been recovered.

PENSION OFFICE.

At the beginning of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, there were 921,083 pensioners on the roll. There were added thereto during the year 26,200, made up of original allowances, restorations, and renewals. There were dropped therefrom 55,185, occasioned by death, remarriage, minors attaining the age of 16 years, failure to claim for three years, and all other causes, making a net reduction in the roll of 28,985, and leaving the total number on the roll at the close of the year of all classes 892,098, of whom 570,050 were soldiers and sailors, 321,642 were widows and dependents, and 406 were Army

nurses.

The unexpended balances of the appropriations at the close of the fiscal year covered into the Treasury were as follows:

For pensions......

For medical examinations....

For salaries and clerk hire, pension agencies..

For rent and contingent expenses............

For inspection of agencies.....

For salaries, Bureau of Pensions...

For salaries, per diem, and expenses of special examiners......

Total....

$182, 199. 39

43, 234. 67

15, 492. 85

10, 027. 98

1, 331.05 16, 430. 04 22,780. 66

291, 496. 64

The amount expended for pensions during the year was $157,325,160.35, a decrease as compared with the previous year of $2,648,895.73. The cost of administration in connection with the adjudication of claims and the payment of pensions was $2,517,127.06, a reduction in the running expenses of the Bureau and agencies in one year of $140,546.80. This is the smallest amount paid in any one year for such administration for 29 years.

The appropriations for the current expenses of the Bureau of Pensions and agencies for the fiscal year 1912 show a reduction of $629,650 as compared with similar appropriations for 1909.

There was disbursed for pensions from July 1, 1790, to June 30, 1865, $96,445,444.23. From July 1, 1865, to June 30, 1911, the total disbursements for pensions were $4,133,936,285.93. The expenses and cost of maintenance for the same period were $120,879,861.74, making a total of disbursements since July 1, 1865, of $4,254,816,147.67.

At the beginning of the year the number of applications pending of all kinds was 47,295. At the close of the year there were pending 36,793 applications, exclusive of a large number placed in the abandoned files. The total number of applications filed during the year

was 120,814. There were admitted during the year 92,274 claims; rejected, 30,980; adjudicated where no benefits were derived other than those rejected, 1,065; making the total number of claims of all classes adjudicated 124,319.

Allowances of accrued pension were made in 20,618 cases, being issues for payment in cases of deceased pensioners from date of last payment to date of death.

There have been granted since 1861 by special acts 35,987 pensions, of which number 22,323 are now on the roll with an annual face value of $6,611,357. Only a part of this amount, however, is properly chargeable to special acts, as most of the beneficiaries had been previously pensioned under the general laws at lower rates. During the third session of the Sixty-first Congress 3,586 persons were included in special acts.

The largest number of pensioners on the roll at the close of any fiscal year was on June 30, 1902, when the total was 999,446. There has been a net decrease of more than 100,000 in the last six years, and the number is now less than at any time since 1892.

Since the passage of the act of March 3, 1899, providing for division of pensions of resident pensioners of the United States who shall desert their wives or minor childern; or who are inmates of National or State soldiers' and sailors' homes, 13,423 claims have been filed thereunder, 7,209 of which have been allowed and 5,987 rejected, leaving 227 pending.

Three bounty land warrants were issued during the year, granting 480 acres of land. The total number of such warrants issued to the close of the fiscal year 1911 is 598,685, granting 68,791,550 acres.

On June 30, 1911, there were also pending 1,427 claims for expenses of last sickness and burial of deceased pensioners. There were disposed of during the year 7,574 claims, of which number 5,808 were allowed, 1,166 disallowed, and 600 abandoned.

There were 59 new cases presented to the Department of Justice on account of offenses against the pension laws, and indictments found in 57 cases. There were 53 cases brought to trial during the year, in 51 of which convictions were secured. Only three of these cases were against persons who had rendered military or naval service. At the close of the year there were 109 cases pending in the hands of United States attorneys. Two civil suits were instituted; one was disposed of and a judgment for $538.54 obtained, and one dismissed by reason of a heavy fine being imposed upon the defendant in a criminal case. There was recovered $2,407.94.

As a matter of historical interest it is noted that the last pensioner of the Revolutionary War died during the past year. The last surviving pensioned soldier of that war died in 1869, and the last widow pensioner of that war died in 1906. The last surviving pensioned