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A draught of a bill for the relief of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians.

JANUARY 23, 1874.-Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be

printed.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Washington, D. C., January 16, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to present, herewith, for the consideration and action of Congress, a draught of a bill authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Interior to execute the provisions of the treaty of April 28, 1866, with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, touching the survey and allotment of the lands of the said Indians, upon the request of the legislative council of either of said nations, so far as the Indians making the request are concerned; and, at the option of said Secretary, providing for establishing in the Chickasaw country the land-office for which provision is made by said treaty.

A copy of a communication, dated the 14th instant, from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, is herewith transmitted, representing the necessity which exists for the requisite legislation to enable this Department to comply with the wishes of the Chickasaws independently of the action of the Choctaw Nation,

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The SPEAKER House of Representatives.

C. DELANO, Secretary.

AN ACT for the relief of the Chickasaw Indians.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America IR Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to execute the provisions of the treaty concluded with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, April twenty-eighth, one thousand eight hundred and sixtysix, regarding the survey and allotment of the lands of said Indians upon the request of the legislative council of either of said Choctaw or Chickasaw Indians, so far as the Indians making the request are concerned; and for this purpose the land-office, for the establishment of which in the Choctaw country provision is made by said treaty, may, at the option of the Secretary of the Interior, be established in the Chickasaw country.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, January 14, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to invite the attention of the Department to the following, with a view to legislation thereon by Congress, viz:

It is recited in the 11th article of the treaty concluded with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, April 28, 1866, (Stats. at L., vol. 14, p. 769,) that

Whereas the land occupied by the Choctawand Chickasaw Nations, and described in the treaty between the United States and said nations of June twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, is now held by said nations in common, under the provisions of said treaty; and whereas it is believed that the holding of said land in severalty will promote the general civilization of said nations and tend to advance their permanent welfare and the best interests of their individual members, and it is therefore agreed that should the Choctaw and Chickasaw people, through their respective legislative councils, agree to the survey and dividing their land on the system of the United States, the land shall be surveyed and laid off in ranges, townships, sections, and parts of sections; and that, for the purpose of facilitating such surveys, and for the settlement and distribution of said land, as hereinafter provided, there shall be established at Boggy Depot, in the Choctaw Territory, a land-office, &c.

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The lands of the Chickasaws have been surveyed at their request, and their legislative council has, through their executive authorities. requested this Department to allot their lands; and the Chickasaw people, in public assemblages, have passed resolutions petitioning the Government to the same effect. The Department, however, decided, under date of the 15th March last, that in accordance with the terms of the treaty the request could not be granted in the absence of the consent of the Choctaws.

The Choctaw council refuse to join the Chickasaw council in making the request for allotments, thereby retarding the progress of the Chickasaws in agricultural pursuits, and defeating, in regard to these Indians, the policy of this Department, which is to induce the members of the various tribes to hold lands for their own exclusive use, to the end that they may be protected in the proceeds of their own labor, and thereby encouraged to cultivate the soil for their support.

A large number of freed people, also, among the Chickasaws are anxions to avail themselves of the rights accorded to them by this treaty, by selecting lands and holding them in severalty. The Chickasaws are prevented from this justice to their freed people by the action of the Choctaws.

In view of the foregoing, I have respectfully to recommend that Congress be requested to afford the necessary legislation to enable this Department to comply with the request of the Chickasaws independent of the action of the Choctaws.

A draught of a bill calculated, in the opinion of this Office, to accomplish the end in view, is respectfully submitted herewith.

Very respectfully,

The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

E. P. SMITH,

Commissioner.

POSTAL SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS.

LETTER

FROM

THE POSTMASTER GENERAL,

IN ANSWER TO

A resolution of the House of December 11, 1873, in relation to how many employés of all grades it will require to carry on the postal savings institution in the United States and Territories, and also in relation to the postal telegraph system.

JANUARY 23, 1874.-Referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency and ordered to be printed.

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D. C., January 20, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a certified copy of a resolution passed by the House of Representatives on the 11th December, 1873, in the following words:

Resolved, That the Postmaster-General be, and he is hereby, directed to inform Congress how many employés of all grades it will require to carry on the postal savings institutions in the United States and Territories, as recommended by him in his report, and that he furnish like information as to the postal telegraph system he recommends, when the same is in operation.

In reply to so much of this resolution as relates to postal savings institutions, I have to state that it is proposed to confine the operations of postal savings depositories to money-order post-offices, of which there are at present three thousand and sixty-eight, classed as follows:

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It is proposed to apply the system during the first year of its operation to post-offices of the first class only, and gradually thereafter to extend it, as may seem advisable, to offices of the second, third, and fourth classes.

The number of transactions (deposits and withdrawals) at each of the respective depositories will doubtless bear an approximate proportion to the population of the cities and towns in which such depositories are located, varying most in the neighborhood of large manufacturing, mining, and internal-improvement localities, where the laboring population is largest, and would very generally avail itself of the benefits of the system.

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As the system of postal savings depositories will require an account to be kept at the central office with each depositor, in which every transaetion with such depositor will be entered, the clerical force at the central office will necessarily be proportioned to the number of depositors, and not to the number of depositories, and the largest proportionate force will be needed at the commencement of the business, when offices at cities of the largest population will be opened.

Exclusive of ten first-class post-offices in the cities of the largest population, there will probably be required about thirty-five clerks to every one hundred such offices; that is to say, the duties of the postal savings business at each office will occupy a little over one-third of the time of a clerk, leaving the remaining two-thirds for other duties.

In offices of the second class the proportion would not exceed twenty clerks to every one hundred offices; in offices of the third class teu clerks to every one hundred offices; and in all other money order offices, over seventeen hundred in number, the postmasters would perform all the duties required without clerical assistance, in consideration of the threeeighths of one per cent. commission allowed them for such services.

After an experience of one year with offices of the first class, the system could probably be extended during the second year to all, or nearly all, offices of the second class; during the third and fourth years to those of the third class, and subsequently, as might seem expedient, to those of the lower grades.

The offices at which it is proposed to open postal savings depositories during the first year, are ranked by population, according to the census .of 1870, as follows:

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For the business of receiving and forwarding for deposit remittances of postal savings funds from other depositories, it will be necessary during the first year to designate the following first-class post-offices as

DEPOSITORIES OF THE FIRST CLASS.

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It is believed that in post-offices at which the transactions of the money-order business require the services of a chief of division, the postal savings business could with advantage be placed under the charge of such chief; that at the majority of the second and third class postoffices no additional force would be necessary, as the money-order and registry clerks could easily perform all the additional labor required, and for such service a portion of their salaries should be paid from proceeds of the savings business.

In my opinion, the employment of seventy clerks by postmasters at the one hundred and ninety-eight first-class offices not enumerated in the above table, whose aggregate salaries would not exceed seventy thousand dollars, would meet all the requirements of the postal savings business at those offices during the first year.

For correspondence, examining and keeping accounts, and for the other duties required to be performed at the central office, there would be needed for the first two hundred and eight first-class offices twentyeight clerks, messengers, and laborers, or fourteen to each one hundred offices, classified as shown in the subjoined table. For the next four hundred offices, thirty-six clerks would be needed, or nine to each one hundred offices. For the next eight hundred offices, there would be needed seven clerks to each one hundred offices, and for the remaining money-order offices, not to exceed five to each one hundred offices.

Table showing clerical force required during first year at central office, on the basis of two hundred and eight depositories, at post-offices of the first class.

General duty...
Correspondence branch
Examiners' branch..
Account branch..

Total

Designation.

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$35,200 00

70, 000 00 9, 200 00 38,600 60

153,000 00

It is believed that the proposed allowance of three-eighths of one per cent. on deposits, as commissions to postmasters, will cover all necessary expenditure for clerk-hire of the force required in transacting postal savings business at depositories; leaving the extra amount required to pay additional clerks at the ten depositories of the first class,

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