ANS OF THE UNITED STATES. COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Muskogee, Okla., May 10, 1920. ...mittee met at 9.30 o'clock a. m., at the Federal Build ing, Hon. Homer P. Snyder (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. This hearing is called to-day as the second step in an investigation ordered by Congress in the appropriation law of 1920, section 28, that reads as follows: SEC. 28. That during this Congress those members of the Committee on Indian Affairs of the House of Representatives, not less than five in number, who are Members of the Sixty-fifth Congress, are authorized to conduct hearings and investigate the conduct of the Indian Service at Washington, District of Columbia, and elsewhere, and the sum of $15,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be immediately available, is hereby appropriated for expenses incident thereto. The said committee is hereby authorized and empowered to examine into the conduct and management of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and all its branches and agencies, their organization and administration, to examine all books, documents, and papers in the said Bureau of Indian Affairs, its branches or agencies, relating to the administration of the business of said bureau, and shall have, and is hereby granted, authority to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer oaths, and to demand any and all books, documents, and papers of whatever nature relating to the affairs of Indians as conducted by said bureau, its branches and agencies. Said committee is hereby authorized to employ such clerical and other assistance, including stenographers, as said committee may deem necessary in the proper prosecution of its work: Provided, That stenographers so employed shall not receive for their services exceeding $1 per printed page. As the committee are all well aware, we have held exhaustive hearings and compiled a record of the same as far as we could go at Washington. Not only a careful investigation of the bureau at Washington but of Indian affairs in the field as a whole, as far as we could go from that standpoint, is contemplated. We are here to-day to take up the investigation of the bureau as to its relations with the bureau in the city of Washington and for the purpose of finding out how, if possible, the service can be improved, and how, perhaps, duplication can be eliminated, thereby reducing the expense not only to the Government and to the Indians but eventually bringing the service nearer to the Indians, so that when complaints are made or applications are filed they may be examined and final decision made on them. For the purpose of getting information with regard to these matters, we desire to hear as the first witness Mr. Parker, Superintendent for the Five Civilized Tribes. 3 |