REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. WASHINGTON, D. C., February 2, 1892. SIR: As required by the act of May 17, 1882, the Board of Indian Commissioners respectfully submit their twenty-third annual report. The only change in the personnel of the board during the year 1891 has been the resignation of Mr. John Charlton, who has accepted another position in the Indian service, and the appointment of Elbert B. Monroe to fill the vacancy. At the date of our last report the unhappy and disastrous trouble among the Sioux Indians was about coming to an end, but we had not sufficient reliable data for forming any conclusions as to the cause of the disturbance. From careful investigations since it has become clear that many causes contributed to the outbreak-causes of such a nature that such serious results could not have been foreseen. They are fully set forth in the comprehensive report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. One very gratifying truth has been settled, that education and Christian training make Indians peaceable and loyal. The testimony of Mr. T. W. Blackburn, the late superintendent of Indian education, who made a careful investigation in March last, as well as that of Rev. John P. Williamson, the veteran missionary among the Sioux, and of other competent witnesses, is that the educated and Christian Indians almost without exception remained firm in their loyalty to the Government, and did much to bring about the final settlement of the trouble. INSPECTION OF INDIAN SUPPLIES. The Board met at the warehouse in New York on the 5th of May to consult with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and to assist him in opening bids for Indian supplies and in awarding contracts. The number of bids opened and publicly read was 422. The samples of goods offered were carefully inspected, and the contracts awarded from day to day until June 4, one or more members of the Board being constantly present, and during the summer and autumn visiting the warehouse from time to time to witness the delivery of the goods, and the packing and shipping of them to the several agencies. Under the energetic superintendence of Mr. L. L. Robbins the tedious work of assorting, packing, and shipping 33,872 packages, weighing 5,023,327 pounds, was finished at an earlier date than usual, and the goods were 3 |