LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., November 20, 1928. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my annual report on the operations of the Interior Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928. In presenting this report attention is called to the fact that it covers the administration of my predecessor in office, Hon. Hubert Work, whose resignation was effective on July 24, 1928, after more than five years of noteworthy and diligent service on behalf of the Government. My term of office, therefore, at the time of the preparation of this report has been brief, and did not cover the period reported; but it has been sufficient in duration for intensive study of the affairs of the department. I have been impressed with the magnitude of its functions. The numerous unrelated activities of the department as reorganized by Secretary Work represent well-knit units which give their administrative allegiance to the Secretary of the Interior, and their condition bears witness of the creditable administration of Secretary Work. The resignation of Dr. John J. Tigert on August 31, 1928, which was in contemplation before my appointment, marked the termination of more than seven years of active service as Commissioner of Education. I view his departure as a public and personal loss. In the foreword of this report I have discussed some of the more important problems now under consideration by the department. The nature of these problems emphasizes the necessity for personal contact in the field for the purpose of acquiring intimate knowledge of activities that fall under the administration of Interior officials. A thorough comprehension of the many and varied problems constantly arising for decision can be secured only in this way. The broader and more accurate view thus gained should insure more satisfactory and prompter action. Indian affairs and reclamation represent the more pressing subjects that have had my attention. I have inspected these activities in Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico since taking office. The proposed contract with the Middle Rio Grande conservancy district, which the department is authorized by Congress to make on behalf of the Pueblo Indians, was the occasion of my personal inspection for two days on foot and by motor of about 100 miles of territory in New Mexico comprised in the proposed irrigation district; in Arizona I visited the Salt River reclamation project and the proposed Paradise-Verde irrigation district; I personally held a public hearing at Safford, Ariz., which was attended by about 2,000 settlers in the Gila River Valley. They are urging more adequate irrigation of their lands from the headwaters of the Gila River. Others of my particularly active contacts with the department's work have been in the field of Indian education. The report of the Institute for Government Research, covering every phase of the Government's administration of Indian affairs, is now before the department for action. This survey, made without cost to the Government, was requested by my predecessor, who recognized the need for informative study of this important subject. Attention was called last year to the change in the form of the annual reports of the department, made under authority of the act of Congress approved February 23, 1927. This saving to the printing fund, resulting from the consolidation of the reports of the bureaus, last year amounted to $959.16. This year a further saving has been effected, estimated at approximately $2,000. This has been accomplished by omitting the maps theretofore appended to the reports of the department and of the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii and the omission of the tables of figures from the press edition. Thus the total estimated cost of the present annual reports is $7,628.73, as compared with $10,587.89 for the reports as printed two years ago. Very respectfully, The PRESIDENT. ROY O. WEST, Secretary. REPORT OF THE FOREWORD THE YEAR'S WORK IN BRIEF HE business of the department at the close of the fiscal year TH number of employees over a period of several years and to expansion of departmental activities, it was not possible to show a reduction in force as compared to the previous year. The volume of business conducted by the department as a whole was greater, however, which was made possible only by improvement in methods and an increased output by the employees carried on the rolls. The raise in the standard of pay provided by the Welch Act has resulted in a better satisfied personnel. As hereinafter mentioned, there was a net increase in appropriations for the year, as compared to 1927, of $8,547,183.71. It is gratifying to report that $4,365,021.06 of this amount was for the benefit of the American Indians. During the year the General Land Office collected over six and a half million dollars, or three times the cost of administration. The low price of oil during the year discouraged production on Government land, resulting in reduced receipts and consequently less royalty to the Government. The total receipts under the mineral leasing act, including oil royalty, aggregated $4,677,277.16. Income from other sources compared favorably with that of recent years. The total area embraced in original public land entries allowed during the year was 3,726,421 acres, as compared with 3,594,838 acres for the previous year. Filings were made to the number of 26,267 on public lands. The surveying service accomplished the survey of 2,937,688 acres. Examinations on the ground were made in more than 17,000 cases, 12,324 being reported favorably to claimants and 5,333 adversely. 14821-28- -2 3 As a result over 153,000 acres were restored to the public domain. Three hundred and thirty-three hearings were held. Civil suits were recommended to the Department of Justice in 64 cases. Twenty-one indictments for violations of the statutes were secured, and a sum of over $38,000 was turned into the Treasury, nearly $27,000 of that amount being in settlement of timber trespasses. During the year there were issued over 12,500 patents conveying title to nearly 3,000,000 acres; and over 4,400 permits to prospect for oil and gas, 83 coal prospecting permits, 85 potash permits, and 14 sodium permits. The Bureau of Reclamation confined its construction activities during the year to projects already commenced under the 10-year program. Considerable progress was made on the six dams under construction in California, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The irrigable area on Federal projects and of adjacent land served with Federal storage water under Warren Act or other water service contracts during the 1927 season was 3,439,860 acres, an increase of 266,290 acres over the previous year. The total value of crops in 1927 on lands supplied with water from Federal works was $133,207,210, an increase of $23,087,550 over 1926. Collections from project water users showed an increase of $1,038,928.20 in 1928 over the previous year. The Bureau of Pensions in the last fiscal year adjudicated 147,620 pension claims, a decrease over the previous year of 13,136 claims. The act of May 23, 1928, automatically increased the pensions of 103,000 Civil War widows who were 75 years of age or over from $30 to $40 per month. In order to determine what pensioners were entitled to this increase it was necessary to withdraw from the files and examine approximately 171,000 cases. There was a net reduction of 53 in the number of employees in the bureau. This was effected by permitting vacancies to lapse. The report of the Institute for Government Research, which made perhaps the most comprehensive survey of Indian affairs ever undertaken, was received near the close of the fiscal year and is now being studied by the department. An engineering survey of the principal irrigation projects of the Indians was made during the year and the comprehensive report and recommendations submitted are having he attention of the officers of the department. An appropriation of $25,000 for the employment of graduates of agricultural colleges, scientifically trained and qualified, to supervise the agricultural activities of the Indians will partially fill a long-felt need in the Indian Service. The various State colleges and universities of the Western States cooperated in working out the problems of Indian agriculture and stock raising. Farmers' short courses were held during the fall and winter of 1927-28, faculties volunteering their services and officials tendering the free use of buildings and equipment. There has been an increase in the enrollment of Indians in the junior high and senior high school years, the increase in 1928 over the prior year being 428 in the former and 231 in the latter. The reorganization of the Indian medical service, which was put into effect in 1926, resulted in better coordination of health activities. Cooperative arrangements have been made with other Federal health agencies; also with those which are State, local, and voluntary. An authorization of an appropriation of $1,200,000 has been obtained to buy lands for the large number of Navajo Indians in New Mexico and Arizona scattered over the public domain. The Coolidge Dam, on the Gila River in Arizona, under construction at an estimated cost of $5,850,000, including hydroelectric power development, to impound waters for adequate irrigation facilities for the Pima Indians, will be completed in the immediate future. By an agreement with the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association and the ParadiseVerde power and irrigation district, provision is made to insure an adequate water supply for the Pima Indians on the Salt River Reservation. This will satisfy a need of many years. The Bureau of Education has completed the survey of negro colleges and universities, and the report is now issuing from the Government Printing Office. The survey of land-grant colleges will be completed during 1930. The bureau cooperated during the year with the Bureau of Naturalization in the formulation of plans for preparing aliens for citizenship, with the Department of Justice in devising an educational program for Federal prisons and reformatories, and with the Department of Commerce in outlining a proposed survey of certain occupations related to merchandising. Preliminary steps have been taken for a survey of Indian schools. The Commissioner of Education called and held important conferences on various phases of rural education, rural teacher preparation, supervision in |