In accordance with the act in question, a commission was duly appointed July 1, 1872, to negotiate with these Indians, and the necessary instructions were given to collect the various bands at the Los Pinos agency, and to provide subsistence for them during the council. This commission, however, after prolonged negotiations, failed of its object, and another commission was appointed June 20, 1873, to renew the negotiations. The former instructions regarding the collection and subsistence of the bands were repeated, and the Indians were finally induced to conclude an agreement, which was ratified by act of April 29, 1874. (Pamph. ed. Stat., p. 36.) The expense of the negotiation, for which an appropriation is to be made in accordance with the act of April 23, 1872, above referred to, is $25,795.13, which amount has been taken from the funds belonging to said Indians. I have, therefore, caused to be prepared, and submit herewith, for the action of Congress, an estimate of appropriation required to restore to the Indians the amount thus taken from their tribal funds, and respectfully recommend the same for the favorable consideration of the Department and of Congress. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. H. R. CLUM, Acting Commissioner. Estimate of appropriation required for the Indian service in Colorado. For this amount, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to re-imburse appropriations for the Indians in Colorado, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1873, and June 30, 1874, the amount expended from said appropriations in negotiations with said Indians, in accordance with the act approved April 23, 1872, (Stat., vol. 17, p. 55.).... .$25,795 13 CONGRESS . Doc FOND DU LAC INDIAN RESERVATION. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, TRANSMITTING A draught of a proposed bill to provide for the sale of a portion of the Fond du Lac Indian reservation in Minnesota, and for other purposes. JANUARY 14, 1875.-Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., January 12, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a draught of a proposed bill "to provide for the sale of a portion of the Fond du Lac Indian reservation in Minnesota, and for other purposes," to which the attention of Congress is respectfully invited with a view to its favorable consideration by that body. A copy of a letter, dated the 9th instant, from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, submitting the bill to this Department, is also herewith transmitted. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, B. R. COWEN, The SPEAKER House of Representatives. Acting Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C., January 9, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith, with the recommendation that it be laid before Congress for the action of that body, a draught of a bill providing for the appraisal and sale, with the assent of the Indians, of a portion of the Fond du Lac Indian reservation in the State of Minnesota, and the expenditure of the net proceeds thereof for the use and benefit of the Fond du Lac band of Chippewas of Lake Superior. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. H. R. CLUM, Acting Commissioner. AN ACT to provide for the sale of a portion of the Fond du Lac Indian reservation in Minnesota, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the Fond du Lac band of Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior shall in open council express their consent and desire for the sale of any portion of their reservation in the State of Minnesota, the Secretary of the Interior be and he hereby is authorized to appoint three commissioners, one of whom shall be nominated by the Indians themselves, whose duty it shall be to make an appraisal in forty-acre tracts of that portion of said reservation so desired to be sold, and to make their report of such appraisal to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. SEC. 2. That upon the approval of such appraisement by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause the lands appraised to be duly advertised for sale, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, upon sealed bids, or at public auction, for cash, in tracts of not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres each, at a price not less than the appraised value, and that the proceeds thereof, after deducting and paying the expenses of such appraisal and sale, shall be expended for the use and benefit of said band of Indians in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may deem most judicious and advisable. An estimate of appropriations required for certain repairs to the territorial capitol-building at Olympia, Washington Territory. JANUARY 14, 1875.-Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., January 13, 1875. SIR: I have the honor to transmit a copy of a letter dated December 26 last, from his excellency E. P. Ferry, governor of Washington Territory, inclosing a letter to me from Mr. Henry G. Struve, secretary of said Territory, dated the 23d of the same month, and submitting an estimate of appropriations required for certain repairs to the territorial capitol-building at Olympia, Washington Territory, amounting to the sum of $5,274.75. Copies of Mr. Struve's letter and the estimates are also inclosed. It is apparent from the statements of the governor and secretary that the building, which has been devoted for nearly twenty years to uses of the territorial legislature of Washington, has become very much dilapidated, and that the repairs estimated for by Mr. Struve are actually necessary to render it habitable and fit for the purposes for which it was built. The estimates submitted by Mr. Struve are approved by the governor and appear to be reasonable for the purposes named. I have the honor, therefore, to recommend that an item similar to the inclosed be inserted in the pending sundry civil appropriation bill. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. For furniture, carpenter and mason work and materials, painting, plastering, and other work necessary to the proper repair of the capitol-building at Olympia, Washington Territory, five thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars and seventy-five cents, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. TERRITORY OF WASHINGTON, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, SIR: I have the honor to state that I have carefully read the subjoined letter of Henry G. Struve, secretary of Washington Territory, and I believe all the facts therein stated to be strictly true. I have also examined the estimates thereto annexed and believe them to be reasonable and correct; and I can also state that the persons who submitted the estimates at the request of the secretary are known by me to be reliable, trustworthy, and skillful mechanics residing in the city. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. P. FERRY, Governor of the Territory of Washington. Hon. COLUMBUS DELANO, Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D. C. TERRITORY OF WASHINGTON, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, SIR: I have the honor to call your attention to the condition of the building known as the territorial capitol, which is occupied by the territorial legislature when in session, and wherein the territorial library and other public property is kept. By custom the charge and custody of this building has been with the secretary of the Territory, as the disbursing officer of all legislative expenses, by direction of the honorable Secretary of the Treasury. By a provision of the organic act of this Territory, approved March 2, 1853, (see United States Statutes at Large, volume 10, page 178, section 13,) the sum of $5,000 was appropriated and granted to the Territory, to be applied by the governor to the erection of suitable buildings at the seat of government. This sum of $5,000 was expended by the governor in 1854, in the erection of a large frame building, which has been occupied by the legislature ever since that time. That sum was entirely insufficient for the purpose contemplated, and the building was left in an entirely unfinished condition. The walls of the main chambers, committeerooms, library, entrance-halls, &c., have never been lathed, plastered, or painted, and a portion of the same were, and remain to this day, covered with rough, unplaned boards, with a coat of common whitewash. By the civil appropriation act approved March 3, 1857, (see Statutes at Large, vol. 11, p. 227,) Congress made an appropriation of $30,000 for the erection of a temporary capitol for this Territory. The then acting governor of this Territory, Hon. R. D. Gholson, was designated as the officer to disburse this fund, but refused to execute the required bond, and consequently (the amount remaining unexpended) the sum of $30,000 was covered into the United States Treasury under existing laws, and has remained unavailable ever since, as the records of the Treasury Department will fully show. In the mean time the old building has approached a state of utter decay and wretched worthlessness Such small sums as the limited contingent fund of this office would permit have, from time to time, been expended to render it habitable, but these were miere temporary make-shifts, and entirely insufficient for the purpose. The foundation of the building, consisting of wooden blocks, is decayed in part, causing the floor to sink in many places, and twisting the building out of shape. The exterior has not been refreshed with a coat of paint for eighteen years, and presents a sad picture of melancholy dinginess. The interior of the building is quite as shabby. Old carpets, which have been in use for twenty years, and which cover the floors of the council-chamber and house of representatives, are so faded, soiled, and ragged that the most ingenious patch-work could not even give them an appearance of shabby gentility. The old wooden chairs, with raw-hide bottoms, used by the members and officers of the legislature, are no longer fit for use. No convenience for lighting beyond a few tin sconces nailed on the walls have ever been provided. Not a single stove used for heating the building is now safe for use. The five committee-rooms consist of nothing but the naked walls, uncovered with paint, plaster, cloth, paper, or whitewash, and without carpets or furniture of any kind whatever. Several of the old windows must be replaced by new ones, and all of them are without blinds and shutters or any fastenings of any kind whatever except such as have been improvised by tenpenny nails. The building is located some distance from the town, on the border of a dense forest, and some means ought to be provided to cut and clear away the timber and undergrowth, which endanger the safety of the building owing to fires which often occur in the woods, and a substantial fence ought also to be erected to protect the building in its isolated condition agaiust trespassers. A |