By direction of the Honorable Secretary of the Interior, the Regulations of the Indian Office, 1904, are hereby amended by inserting after section 11 thereof the following:

11 a. An agent or any employee of the Indian Service is not entitled to receive from the Government any further compensation or allowance, either in subsistence, materials, fuel, feed for animals, or otherwise, than the amount designated as his salary; but, where necessary, a reasonable allowance or provision may be made for offices and office contingencies. (Sec. 2076, R. S.; I. O. let. 74571–1904.)

The foregoing is the same as section 179 of the Regulations of 1894, which section was left out of the revised edition of 1904.

Please acknowledge the receipt of this circular and paste the same between pages 10 and 11 of your book of Regulations.

Very respectfully,

15522b1500-11-04

W. A. JONES,

Commissioner.

official to immediate suit on his bond. Instructions for depositing money will be found under the head of "Public funds." (Sec. 3624 R. S.; Cir. 65, Treas., 1875.)

18. If there are any funds on hand of the class excepted by the preceding section, they will be transferred to the new agent, whose receipt will be taken in triplicate, two copies to be forwarded to the Indian Office with the final accounts of the retiring agent, and the other to be filed at the agency.

19. If he has sufficient funds in his hands applicable for the purpose the outgoing agent will, before being relieved, pay his own and the salaries of the employees up to and including the day preceding that upon which his successor takes charge. Should he not have sufficient funds he will prepare certified receipt rolls for amounts due and forward the same to the Indian Office, with a sworn report of all employees, whether paid or not. His own name will not be included in such certified rolls, but a claim for the salary due him will be submitted to the Indian Office for consideration in connection with the final settlement of his accounts.

20. Such rolls will show the name, period of service, rate of pay, and amount due each employee, and be supported by the agent's certificate to the effect that the employees named thereon actually rendered service for the periods and at the rates of compensation set opposite their respective names; that their services were necessary, and that there is due to them the amounts for which claim is made, aggregating (the amount to be expressed in words) no part of which has been paid, and that the rolls are issued in duplicate only. When payment is made by the succeeding agent a true copy of the certified rolls will be made and placed in the agency files.

21. For all other authorized liabilities outstanding on the date of his relief the outgoing agent will issue certified vouchers, as provided for in sections 468 to 476, inclusive. Salaries of employees constitute the only indebtedness incurred by his predecessor which can be settled by a new agent, and even salaries must not be paid except upon specific instructions from the Indian Office, after the required certified receipt rolls shall have been received, examined, and found to agree with the records of such office.

22. In case of an agent dying in the service, the person or persons desiring to settle his accounts with the Government must take out letters of administration upon the estate of the deceased, of which proper evidence must be filed in the Indian Office, and any correspondence had for the purpose of adjusting said accounts must be signed by such administrator or administrators in his or their official capacity.

23. A pay roll showing the services rendered by and salary due the employees of a deceased agent up to and including the date of his death will be prepared and submitted to the Indian Office for payment. To

this roll each and every employee will be required to make affidavit before a notary public or other officer qualified to administer oaths, in the following form:

We, employees of

Agency,

solemnly swear that the above account is correct and just; that we performed service for the periods of time and at the rates, of compensation stated; that such service was necessary, and that there is due us therefor the sums set opposite our respective names, no part of which has been paid.

24. Agents, after leaving the service, are expected to keep the Indian Office and the office of the Auditor for the Interior Department advised of their post-office addresses until their accounts are finally settled.

25. Agents are authorized

(1) To take acknowledgments of deeds and to administer oaths in investigations committed to them in the Indian country under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. (Secs. 2064, 2157, R. S.)

(2) To administer oaths, etc., in Indian pension claims. (Sec. 4721, R. S.)

(3) To administer oaths to persons giving testimony relating to Indian depredation claims.

(4) To administer such oaths to employees as may be required by these regulations, or found necessary in the preparation of agency

accounts.

26. When a disbursing officer makes an illegal or double payment on the order of a superior, he does it at his peril, and the Government reserves the right to charge it to either or both. (Cir. 13, Treas., 1877.)

27. An agent must not accept presents from, nor by any other like means allow himself to be placed under obligations to the Indians, or any of them, under his charge.

BONDS.

28. Sureties on the official bond of a disbursing officer can not be released from the responsibility thereby assumed, so long as the officer retains the appointment by reason of which the bond was given, nor until his accounts under such bond are finally settled. (Asst. Att. Gen., June 8, 1892; Ind. Office L.; 21615–92.)

29. Bonds of disbursing officers shall be renewed every four years, but a noncompliance with this requirement shall not be held to affect the liability of principal or sureties, and such bonds may be continued without renewal after the expiration of the specified period, pending the appointment and qualification of the officer's successor. (Act Mar. 2, 1895, 28 Stats., 808.)

30. Bonds of disbursing officers shall be examined at least once every two years, and as much oftener as deemed necessary by the Depart