the right has been so exercised, should be given in writing to the bidder or contractor in such way as to insure actual notice to him of the change in quantity so made. (Letter Sec. Int., Apr. 12, 1902.)

180. Contracts are not transferable. A transfer annuls the contract so far as the United States is concerned. (Sec. 3737, R. S.)

181. Payment for service or supplies under contract shall not exceed the value of the service rendered or articles delivered previously to such payment. (Sec. 3648, R. S.)

182. Where an agent is authorized to enter into contract, he should advertise for proposals for furnishing the articles or performing the services required, and award the contract to the lowest bidder or bidders, for the best interests of the service, stipulating in the contract, if for goods and supplies, for such an increase or diminution of the quantities as might be rendered necessary by the demands of the service, and for the delivery of the articles at such times throughout the year as they may be needed. (See secs. 145 and 152.) Agents, however, must not order any of the articles thus contracted for in excess of the quantity specified in the contract, without first obtaining specific authority from the Indian Office. (See sec. 222.)

183. When contracts other than annual contracts are made, they should be so drawn as to expire within a specified period after the approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior.

184. Extension of time in case of any contract can not be granted by agents or other officers, and will not be by the Department, unless absolutely necessary. The request for any extension of time must be clearly set forth in a sealed instrument, signed by the contractor and consented to and signed by the sureties to the original bond, duly witnessed, wherein such sureties agree to hold themselves, in case of such extension, as equally bound as in the original bond for the faithful performance of the contract. Such request for extension in all cases must be executed before such officer as is required in the making of a contract. Blank forms of application for extension of contracts can be had by applying to the Indian Office.

BONDS.

185. Each contract must be accompanied by a joint and several bond in the sum of at least 50 per cent of the amount of the contract price, executed by the principal and at least two individual sureties conditioned for the faithful performance of the terms thereof; but a corporate surety duly qualified under the act of Congress of August 13, 1894, may be accepted as sole surety. Corporate sureties on bonds are preferred.

186. One bond only is required with each set of contract papers.

187. The full name of the principal and each of the sureties should be written in the body of and signed to the bond, and there must be a seal of wax, wafer, or other adhesive substance attached to the signature of the obligor and each of the sureties. The printed word “seal” or a scroll will not be deemed sufficient.

188. The principal and each of the sureties must sign the bond in the presence of two persons, who shall, sign their names thereto as attesting witnesses, and it must appear for whom each witness signs, but the same witnesses may attest all the signatures if signed in their presence.

189. The sureties must justify in amounts the aggregate of which will be equal to at least twice the penalty of the bond. This rule applies to corporate as well as to individual sureties; and corporate sureties will be required to attach to each bond a copy of the last statement of their assets and liabilities as rendered pursuant to section 4 of the act of Congress of August 13, 1894, together with a certificate, under corporate seal, by the secretary of the corporation, as to the official character of the person signing for the corporation and that such person is so authorized.

190. In order that the Department may be fully secured, it is required that where a party or parties become surety or sureties to more than one bond, evidence must be filed to satisfy the Department that the said party or parties are possessed of property not exempt from execution, over and above all debts and liabilities and free from all incumbrances, of value not less than the sum of the several bonds upon which they are sureties. Hence, to secure immediate favorable action upon contracts, agents will require all successful bidders, in the execution of bonds for their contracts, to request information from the parties whom they intend to offer as sureties on their bonds whether such sureties have qualified as such upon any other bonds of existing contracts with the Indian Bureau; and, if they have, such sureties must set out, in the affidavits to accompany the bond of the contract to be executed, that they are worth in unincumbered property not exempt from execution, after payment of all their just debts and liabilities, a sum equal to the aggregate amount of all the sums for which they have so become sureties upon existing contracts with the Indian Bureau.

191. The sureties on a bond covering a contract for $10,000 and over, for erection of a building or buildings or other permanent improvements, must submit sworn statements showing unincumbered property to the value at least of the amounts for which they become sureties-one-half of said unincumbered property to consist of real estate. Said sworn statements will be attached to and made a part of the bond. Blank forms of "Affidavit of surety" can be had by applying to the Indian Office. (Letter Sec. Int., Mar. 25, 1903.)

192. The following additional requirements will be observed in the execution of bonds:

First. Bonds may be executed before a clerk of a court of record, or before any other officer authorized to administer oaths, by observing rule 3 of this section.

Second. Whenever the officer before whom any of the acknowledgments are made or oaths taken has an official seal, he must use it. There should be a separate and distinct impression of the official seal for each acknowledgment or oath.

Third. Whenever such acknowledgments are made before a notary public or justice of the peace, the jurat shall be accompanied by a certificate of the clerk of the district or circuit court, under the seal thereof, in the county and State in which such notary or justice resides, that at the time of administering such oath such notary or justice held such office and was duly authorized by law to administer such oath.

Fourth. Where the oath is administered by a "commissioner of the circuit court of the United States" the certificate should so show, and not appear in the usual way of "United States commissioner," etc.

Fifth. Bonded officers of the United States and married women will not be accepted as sureties, but unmarried women may be accepted as such, provided that the officer administering the oath certifies that they possess sufficient property in their own right to make them sufficient sureties, and that they are single.

Sixth. Where a corporation is a party to a contract, no officer thereof will be accepted as surety, and the same rule applies where a copartnership is a party to a contract.

Seventh. Where the sureties are other than corporate, it must appear in the affidavit or oath of justification that each surety is more than 21 years old and in all other respects legally competent to make and enter into a contract.

Eighth. All bonds must be accompanied by a certificate as to the sufficiency of the sureties thereon, signed by a judge of a United States court, a United States district attorney, a United States postmaster (or such other officer of the United States as may be acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior), residing in the district where such bonds are executed. The foregoing does not apply to corporate sureties.

Ninth. Special care must be taken to prevent erasures, interlineations, or mutilations of any kind in a bond, but if they should occur it must be explained by a certificate of the officer before whom the instrument is executed that they were made before the bond was signed by the principal and sureties.

Tenth. Any bond not executed in conformity with the foregoing regulations will be returned for an observance thereof.

OPEN-MARKET PURCHASES.

193. Purchases allowable in open market without advertising may be made at the places where articles of the description wanted are usually bought and sold and in accordance with the following rules. (sec. 3709, R. S.):

194. When an open-market purchase involves an expenditure of money in excess of $50, or a less amount if directed by the Indian Office, informal proposals must be invited from the principal dealers in the articles needed who may be within convenient reach or in near-by cities and towns. All such proposals must be forwarded with the voucher covering the purchase as evidence that the prices paid are the lowest and most favorable that can be obtained.

This section is not to be construed as applying to purchases from Indians, who must be given the preference whenever possible.

195. Specific authority of the Secretary of the Interior must be obtained for purchases of any kind before they are made, except in cases of special exigency, such as repairs to machinery, water and heating systems, etc., when the absolute necessities of the service will not admit of the delay incident to securing the required authority. In such cases purchases may be made by agents before authority is obtained.

196. Agents are not the sole judges of the exigency provided for in the preceding section, but a full report of the facts attending purchases made without authority, accompanied by an itemized list showing articles purchased and prices paid, must be immediately submitted for the consideration of the Indian Office. With proper care and foresight on the part of agents such exigencies will seldom arise, and, so far as practicable, all purchases will be made by contract.

197. Agents making purchases without previous authority do so at their own risk.

198. The fact of an agent having in his hands public funds applicable thereto, or that funds are sent him for a specific purpose in accordance with his estimate, does not confer the necessary authority to make any purchases whatever.

199. Authorities for open-market purchases and the employment of labor expire at the end of the fiscal year for which they are granted. No indebtedness shall therefore be incurred under such an authority in any subsequent year, unless a renewal is first asked for and obtained.

200. Authorities to make purchases in open market do not cover expenses of journeys by the agent to neighboring cities, towns, or villages to make such purchases. When such journeys are necessary, authority therefor must be requested at the same time as the request for authority to make the purchase, and the action of the agent shoul conform to the authority granted. (Circ. 108, Ind. Office.)

201. Requests for authority to purchase must not only specify particularly whether sufficient funds are in hand applicable thereto, designate the title of the appropriation it is proposed to use, and the amount required for each particular item, but must show fully and clearly the facts upon which the agent bases his judgment of the necessity of the purchase. (Circ. 89, Ind. Office.)

202. In submitting requests for authority to purchase, agents must state explicitly whether or not the prices quoted include the cost of transporting the articles to the place where they are required. If not, the estimated cost of such transportation must be given. If no mention is made of transportation charges it will be understood that the prices are for delivery at the agency or school.

203. Requests for authority to make purchases or for other purposes should, in all possible cases, be made by letter and not by telegraph. (See sec. 323.)

204. When the interests of the service require purchases to be made, a list of the articles to be purchased with the probable cost of the same must be forwarded to the Indian Office for consideration, and further action suspended until the requisite authority is granted. 205. Purchases must not be made from employees of the Indian service.

ADVERTISING.

206. The law requires advertising for all purchases and contracts for supplies and services, except in the cases specified in section 129. (Sec. 3709, R. S.; act July 13, 1892, sec. 3, 27 Stats., 143.)

207. No advertisement, notice, or proposal for the Indian service shall be published in any newspaper except upon the prior written authority of the Secretary of the Interior; and no bill for any such advertising or publication shall be paid unless there be presented with such bill a copy of such prior written authority. (Sec. 3828, R. S.)

208. When an agent desires to enter into contract for any purpose whatsoever, he will submit a request for authority to the Indian Office, accompanied by a copy of the proposed advertisement, and state in what paper or papers, whether daily or weekly, and for how long a time such advertisement should be published.

209. When stock or other public property is to be advertised for sale at public auction the requirements of the preceding section will be observed unless the advertising is to be done by posters.

210. At least three weeks must intervene between the date of the first publication of the advertisement and the date designated therein for the opening of the bids or the sale to take place. (Act July 13, 1892; sec. 3, 27 Stats., 143.)

211. Advertisements will be paid for at prices not to exceed the commercial rates charged to private individuals, with the usual dis