Mr. LUDLOW. The language here says for improvement of a sewer system. I note that you say installation. Mr. DODD. What is meant is actually the re-laying of some of the laterals around the agency grounds and the carrying of a trunk line from there across the creek and tapping into the city sewage disposal. In the statement placed in the record covering this item, we quote two letters that were received, one from the State sanitary engineer of Oklahoma, written on May 3, 1937; and on the same day, one written by the State game warden with reference to the dumping of raw sewage into this creek. Mr. WOODRUM. Cannot this wait until the regular bill next year? Mr. DODD. The situation is this: It has reached the point where the city itself has been called upon, and actually has gone to the expense of eliminating the nuisance that it was accused of maintaining, and now the Government just across the creek continues to dump raw sewage into this stream. INCREASE IN LIMITATION FOR PURCHASE AND EXCHANGE OF MOTOR VEHICLES FOR INDIAN SERVICE Mr. WOODRUM. The next item is to increase the limitation of $160,000 on the amount that may be expended for the purchase and exchange of motor vehicles in the Indian Service to $185,000. Mr. DODD. There are two of these items that I would like to discuss together, one of them being contained in Senate Document No. 67, which was sent up for an earlier deficiency bill, but which did not get in. It provides that the limitation of $290,000 on the amount of applicable appropriations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs contained in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1937, that may be expended for the maintenance, repair and operation of motor-propelled and horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles for the use of employees in the Indian field service, and the transportation of Indian school pupils, is hereby increased to $430,000. This item in House Document No. 300 relates to the purchase of vehicles. I would like to explain that we are compelled to keep cost records, not only of the purchase, but, also, of the maintenance and operation of our Indian Service vehicles. We are not charging into this cost all of the items that apparently should have been charged into it, in accordance with the requirements of the General Accounting Office. Effective July 1, of the last fiscal year, we had limitation accounts set up and the agencies had to keep an accurate cost account, and charge in all of those items. We then found that the limitation of $290,000 for maintenance was going to be short. We discussed the matter with the regular committee, and told them of our situation, and in the 1938 bill the limitation has been raised. Mr. WOODRUM. How much is it in this case? Mr. DODD. The item for maintenance is $460,000 and for purchase $190,000. We have in the Indian Service approximately 1,085 passengercarrying vehicles and 150 school busses. I would like for you to know that we have charged in this limitation the operation of the school busses for the day schools, that travel anywhere from 7 to 20 miles one way, or from 14 to 40 miles on a round trip, in carrying children to and from the day schools. The total number of vehicles is 1,235, and the average amount per vehicle, with this $430,000 limitation, would be $348. Of that $348, $102 goes for the purchase of gasoline. We estimate about 850 gallons of gasoline, at 12 cents per gallon. $18 would go for oil; $60 for a complete set of tires and tubes; $12 for a battery, and about $156 for repairs, skid chains, heaters, and other accessories we must put on the cars. The average car in the Indian Service runs about 12,000 miles per year. I offer for the record two statements, one dealing with the maintenance of vehicles under the item in Document No. 300, and the other is in Senate Document No. 67. (Said statements are as follows:) VEHICLES, INDIAN SERVICE An additional authorization of $140,000 will be required during the current fiscal year for the maintenance, repair, and operation of motor-propelled and horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles for the use of employees in the Indian Field Service and the transportation of Indian school pupils. The current appropriation act authorized $290,000 for such purposes. This is not an appropriation but simply an authorization for the expenditure of applicable funds carried elsewhere in the appropriation act. It does not carry with it any additional money whatever. Specific authorization for such expenditures is required by section 5 of the act of July 16, 1914 (38 Stat., p. 506), reading as follows: "No appropriation made in this or any other act shall be available for the purchase of any motor-propelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicle for the service of any of the executive departments or other Government establishments, or any branch of the Government service, unless specific authority is given therefor, and after the close of the fiscal year 1915 there shall not be expended out of any appropriation made by Congress any sum for purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of motor-propelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles for any branch of the public service of the United States unless the same is specifically authorized by law, and in the estimates for the fiscal year 1916 and subsequent fiscal years there shall be submitted in detail estimates for such necessary appropriations as are intended to be used for purchase, maintenance, repair, or operation of all motor-propelled or horse-drawn passenger-carrying vehicles, specifying the sums required, the public purposes for which said vehicles are intended, and the officials or employees by whom the same are to be used." There are approximately 100 separate jurisdictions in the Service exercising supervision over Indian matters, in addition to officials and employees in an "at large" travel status. Most of the reservations are quite extensive, the population scattered, and the roads only in fair condition. The life of a car is often shortened by the character of the country and the condition of the roads over which it must travel. The average period of service for our cars is about 3 years, the annual mileage ranges from about 10,000 to 30,000 miles. There are now in use approximately 1,030 passenger vehicles and 1,300 trucks, tractors, and other motor equipment. The limitation on the expenditure for maintenance and operation has been increased from year to year as Service activities have been expanded, rising from $150,000 in 1930 to $290,000 in 1937. With the initiation of the day-school program a number of school busses were purchased and placed in operation and the need of an increase in the limitation during 1937 and 1938 is occasioned largely by the expense of operation of these vehicles. New schools are being opened during the present year and additional school busses, as well as other passengercarrying cars, are being purchased. It is extremely difficult to present an estimate under this limitation, though we hope that after the present year reliable figures will be available, this being the first year in which the General Accounting Office has attempted to maintain any close supervision over such expenditures. The 1938 budget estimate includes an authorization of $460,000 under this heading. Approximately $30,000 of this amount it is estimated will be needed for the operation of additional vehicles which we contemplate purchasing after next January 1. On that basis $430,000 would be a comparable figure for the present year. This is the total which we are asking. We have a limitation of $290,000 in the 1937 Appropriation Act. VEHICLES, INDIAN SERVICE There has been submitted heretofore a modification of the limitation with reference to the operation and maintenance of passenger-carrying vehicles. The item is found in Senate Document 67 of the present Congress. When the Budget for the fiscal year 1937 was submitted no increase was allowed in the authorization for the purchase of motor-propelled, passenger-carrying vehicles notwithstanding the fact that provision was made for certain new activities that would require almost constant travel by the newly appointed employees. In the appropriation for agricultural extension work seven new employees, extension agents, and home extension agents were provided. At $650 apiece new cars would cost $4,550. There would be no cars to turn in for these seven new employees. No provision was made in the estimates for irrigation construction but the bill when finally approved contained approximately $790,000 for new construction of irrigation projects. It was necessary to purchase three new cars in order properly to supervise this work. The cost of these cars was approximately $1,950. In the general appropriation for education, an education field agent for the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, and a superintendent of Indian education for Montana, were allowed. Cars for these two employees would cost $1,300. In the appropriation for conservation of health funds were provided for a special physician, two agency physicians, and two assistant supervisors of nurses. Cars for these employees would cost $3,250. A new hospital was opened on the Sisseton Reservation in South Dakota. It was necessary to purchase a car for the physician in charge at a cost of approximately $650. In the appropriation for general support of Indians funds were allowed for a new position of general superintendent or coordinator of the Wisconsin-Minnesota area. A car for this employee cost about $650. The remaining amount of the increase is necessary to cover automobile replacements for employees engaged in supervising road construction on the various reservations. The first large appropriation for road construction in the Indian Service was through 70 or more specific allotments from the first appropriation for public works. A number of cars purchased in connection with that program had to be replaced during the fiscal year 1937. In the submission of the estimates sufficient thought was not given to the added personnel and the new conditions to be met during the year. Mr. TABER. Is this item with reference to your 1937 appropriation or your 1936 appropriation? Mr. DODD. It is for 1937. The situation has been corrected for 1938. Mr. TABER. Do you mean that the money has already been spent? Mr. DODD. Yes, sir; the money has been spent. This is not a direct appropriation, but it is a limitation on the amount that can be used from other applicable appropriations for these purposes. As I have said, we were not charging to this limitation all of the items that should have been charged to it, to that extent. The ruling of the General Accounting Office with reference to this limitation, while it has entailed a great deal of additional accounting, has served to show just what our total maintenance figures are. ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR THE SANTA ROSA BAND OF INDIANS IN CALIFORNIA Mr. CANNON. The next item is for the acquisition of land for the Santa Rosa Band of Indians, in California, as authorized by the act of April 17, 1937, the amount being $500. Mr. DODD. The purpose of this item is to carry out the provisions of an act approved April 17, 1937 (Public, No. 42, 75th Cong.), which reads as follows: That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase in the name of the United States of America in trust for the Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians six hundred and forty acres of land described as section 36, town ship 7 south, range 4 east, San Bernardino meridian, California, and for that purpose there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not to exceed the sum of $500. The land is adjacent to the Santa Rosa Reservation and is owned by Theodore J. Fessler. The Indians protested against the land being patented to him on the ground that it belonged to them by reason of long occupation and use, but there was not sufficient evidence to substantiate their claim. He is willing to dispose of the land for $500. The section is valuable to the Indians because it is good hunting ground, and they have heretofore allowed hunters to go there through their reservation, furnishing horses and guides for a fee of $10. They have also gathered pinon nuts. Parts of it can be used for grazing stock. The Santa Rosa Indians do not have sufficient tribal funds to make the purchase. They have voted to exclude themselves from the operation of the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. L. 984), and, therefore, funds appropriated under authority contained in that act cannot be used to purchase lands for their benefit. In addition to the above advantages to the Indians, it may be stated that the road which runs across section 36 is the only one which, after crossing the reservation, leads to the old upper village located in sec. 34, T. 7 S., R. 5 E., San Bernardino meridian, California, which section, together with sections 32 and 36 in the same township and range, belongs to the Santa Rosa Indians. This land is adjacent to the reservation and is needed to give the Indians access to other lands nearby. Mr. LUDLOW. Is that the entire purchase price? Mr. DODD. Yes, sir; that is the entire purchase price. Mr. TABER. The land is of no good except for access purposes. Mr. DODD. Yes, sir; that is one reason for it. It is suitable also for grazing. Mr. CANNON. How many Indians are affected by this? Mr. TABER. How many Indians are affected and how much land do they have already? Mr. DODD. The number of Indians is 51. Mr. TABER. How much land do they have? Mr. DODD. 11,092.60 acres. Mr. CANNON. Is the number of Indians decreasing or increasing? Mr. DODD. The number remains somewhat stationary. This is a small Mission Band. PAYMENT TO SIOUX INDIANS OF PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, S. DAK., FOR NONRECEIPT OF LAND ALLOTMENTS Mr. CANNON. The next item is $79,038, for payment to various Sioux Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation, S. Dak., or their heirs, on account of allotments of land to which they were entitled but did not receive, and for compensation of attorneys for services performed, all as authorized by the act of June 29, 1937. We will have a copy of that act inserted in the record at this point. (Said act is as follows:) [PUBLIC NO. 175-75TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 406-1ST SESSION] AN ACT To authorize an appropriation to carry out the provisions of the Act of May 3, 1928 (45 Stat. L. 484), and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an appropriation is hereby authorized in the sum of $79,038 to pay various Sioux Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, the amounts which have been awarded to them by the Secretary of the Interior under the Act of May 3, 1928 (45 Stat. L. 484), on account of allotments of land to which they were entitled but did not receive: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to determine what attorney or attorneys have rendered services of value in behalf of said Indians and to pay such attorney or attorneys on such findings when appropriation is available the reasonable value of their services, not to exceed 10 per centum of the recovery on each individual claim, which payment shall be in full settlement for all services rendered by the attorney or attorneys to the claimants in such claim. Approved June 29, 1937. Mr. CANNON. Do you have a justification for this item? The act of May 3, 1928 (45 Stat. 484), authorized the Secretary of the Interior to investigate and determine the claims of individual Indians enrolled at the various Sioux agencies for loss of personal property and failure to receive allotments of land to which they were entitled; to adjust any such claims found meritorious, if permissible under existing law, and in the absence of authority therefor to report to Congress with appropriate recommendations. A report to Congress on March 9, 1935, which is set forth in full in Senate Report 347, Seventy-fourth Congress, first session, dealt with approved lost allotment claims of individual Indians of the various Sioux reservations in North and South Dakota. The claims' at Pine Ridge, S. Dak., had not then been adjudicated. On May 26, 1937, a supplemental report was submitted to the Congress. That report dealt solely with 979 approved claims of individual Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The awards on the other Sioux reservations totaled $81,540.49, which was appropriated by the act of June 22, 1936 (49 Stat. 1757, 1764). The per-acre valuations used to ascertain the amount due each claimant were based on reports from the superintendents giving the approximate land values at the time when allotments were made at the different agencies. That was an equitable basis because all of the awards made were for failure to receive allotments or to receive sufficient land, notwithstanding that selections had been filed by the claimants during their lifetime and before the allotable lands on their respective reservations had been exhausted. This method of evaluating the claims, is, however, not applicable to those approved at Pine Ridge, where the tribal land available for allotments has not been exhausted. There are approximately 158,076 acres of vacant, unreserved Pine Ridge tribal lands. This acreage is comprised largely of the so-called Bad Lands, which have been regarded as unsuitable for allotment purposes. Except for small isolated tracts the land is devoid of vegetation. In some places the Bad Lands extend over entire tracts of from 640 to several thousand acres in a body, with nearly perpendicular walls from 20 to 200 feet high extending for several miles without a break, so that a large percentage is inaccessible |