Dr. VAN ACKEREN. That is on the lower Kuskoquim. Dr. VAN ACKEREN. There is no hsopital on that river at all. There is a hospital at Mountain Village on the lower Yukon. Mr. JOHNSON. How far away is that? Dr. VAN ACKEREN. That is approximately from 130 to 140 miles away. Then, at Kanakanak on Bristol Bay there is another, which is 2 hours flying time away, or about 200 miles. Mr. JOHNSON. Have you any further statement? Dr. VAN ACKEREN. I have nothing further. Mr. JOHNSON. I would like a brief statement, Mr. Dodd, concerning the increases in this item. ITEMS FOR INCREASE IN ESTIMATE FOR 1938 Mr. DODD. The amount requested for 1938 carries an increase of $49,380 above the amount provided for 1937, taking into account the nonrecurring item of $14,380 allowed for repairs at the Point Barrow hospital. SALARIES The first item of increase is $19,400 for salaries, the details of which are found beginning on page 212 of our printed justification. TRAVELING EXPENSES We ask, then, for an additional $12,200 for traveling expenses. Transportation for some of the natives to the hospitals in Alaska, especially for emergency purposes, is expensive, because we have to resort to the use of airplanes. SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT The next item is $16,280 for supplies and equipment, principally for some of the new hospitals which we hope to put into operation next year. FREIGHT The last item is that of $1,500 for freight which will be necessary to provide for the shipment of the extra supplies and equipment. DEFINITION OF UNGRADED PHYSICIANS Mr. LEAVY. Mr. Dodd, what do you mean by "ungraded physicians"? I notice you have six ungraded physicians at $1,516 per year. Mr. DODD. They are principally contract physicians, and there is no classification to cover them. Mr. LEAVY. They are not doctors who are devoting their full time to the service, then? Mr. DODD. That is correct. They devote part time only. Mr. LEAVY. I just wondered how you would get them for that money. Mr. DODD. That is what it is. We will make a contract with a physician for from $600 a year up, depending upon the amount of service he renders. Mr. RICH. They expect to build one new hospital in Alaska? Mr. DODD. We expect to build one new hospital and to enlarge several others. We will reach that in the construction item later on in the bill. POINT BARROW HOSPITAL Mr. JOHNSON. What about the Point Barrow Hospital, Mr. Dodd? Mr. DODD. As the committee will remember, when the 1937 appropriation bill was under consideration, a representative of the Presbyterian Board of Missions appeared and urged that funds be provided for the Indian Service to take over the Point Barrow Hospital. Mr. O'NEAL. Did we not go into that before this committee? Mr. DODD. I think you probably heard Mr. Dimond on that. Mr. DODD. What happened was we took the hospital over, effective October 1, I believe. In February we had a fire that burned. the building to the ground. We have pending now in the Bureau of the Budget an estimate for $100,000 to rebuild that building. We hope that they will see fit to allow the funds. GENERAL SUPPORT AND ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT OF INDIANS AND ADMINISTRATION OF INDIAN PROPERTY Mr. JOHNSON. The next item is support of Indians and administration of Indian property, and you are requesting a total of $2,720,470. Mr. DODD. The justification in support of this item is as follows: Regular appropriation, 1937 act_. First deficiency, 1936... Total appropriations, 1937.. Deduct nonrecurring and other items not required in 1938: 1937 appropriation immediately available___ $2, 375, 000 11, 500 2, 386, 500 5,000 2, 381, 500 Due to the apparent large increase in this appropriation during the last few years we cite briefly changes which have been made beginning with the fiscal year 1936: Appropriation, 1935.. Transferred from other appropriations, including $8,700 from tribal Pay restoration allowed for 1936. funds.... Increases allowed for 1936.. Total.. Less transfers to other appropriations.. Total appropriation 1936, base for 1937. $1, 624, 040 112, 060 545, 850 46, 900 2,328, 850 74, 500 2, 254, 350 The amount of this estimate is explained in detail by items in the tabulation on the preceeding page. General. This appropriation is the one used to cover practically all field administrative expenses. It has been used interchangeably with tribal funds authorized to a number of jurisdictions for similar purposes, but the amount of tribal funds available at many jurisdictions has become so seriously depleted that it has been necessary to reduce the annual tribal fund authorizations from year to year and to increase the gratuity appropriation accordingly. There are eight Indian agencies in Arizona, three in California, one in Colorado, one in Florida, two in Idaho, one in Iowa, one in Kansas, two in Minnesota, one in Mississippi, seven in Montana, three in Nevada, one in Nebraska, one in New York, three in New Mexico, one in North Carolina, four in North Dakota, six in Oklahoma, three in Oregon, four in South Dakota, two in Utah, four in Washington, two in Wisconsin, and one in Wyoming, the general expenses of adminis tration of which and of the support of Indians are provided wholly or in part from this appropriation. Nonrecurring item.--When the appropriation bill was under consideration in the Senate last year an amendment was inserted increasing this item by $15,000, which amount was to be used for increasing immediately the number of employees then assigned to the Yankton subagency under the Rosebud jurisdiction in South Dakota. Of the total increase, $5,000 was for the fiscal year 1936. This amount is, therefore, deducted from the amount to be used for the base for our 1933 estimates. Transfer from tribal funds $82,600.-It again becomes necessary, because of depleted tribal funds, to transfer charges previously met with such funds, to gratuity appropriations. Similar transfers have been made during the last few years, in the following amounts, omitting the details as to tribes: The amount of $82,600 consists of the following transfers: 44,000 691, 100 Other transfers have been made to health, extension, forestry, and other appropriations. Our general policy is to curtail expenditures from tribal funds for administrative purposes, and to conserve such funds for investment in productive enterprises designed to improve the economic status of the Indian groups involved. We have not been altogether successful in pursuing this policy in those cases where capital assets or annual incomes have been more than sufficient to cover the usual annual appropriation. Much of the money now authorized from tribal funds, however, is used for purposes of general benefit to the tribe. On the Fort Apache Reservation, for example, most of the money appropriated from tribal funds is used for financing livestock enterprises and operating the tribal sawmill by which lumber for Indian home building is produced. (a) We are retaining in the San Carlos tribal fund item an amount sufficient to cover expenses incident to stockraising activities from which the Indians of the reservation benefit. We are proposing to transfer from the tribal appropriation a total of $19,900. The other transfers proposed have been mentioned in the specific items as they have been reached. The amount to be transferred to this appropriation represents one-half of the salary of an operator for the pumping plant and expenses incident to the operation of that plant. The other one-half of these costs is paid from the appropriation for operating pumping plants under the irrigation section of the estimates. (b) Last year $1,600 of the usual tribal support appropriation was transferred to the conservation of health appropriation for part payment of the salary and expenses of the agency physician. A further sum of $3,500 was transferred to the agricultural extension appropriation. This amount covered the salaries and expenses of two extension employees. The transfer here proposed covers the salaries and expenses of the superintendent and five clerks in the Red Lake Agency office. It also covers the salaries of a general mechanic, two blacksmiths, and a laborer. There are also charged to the present appropriation from tribal funds cost of stationery, office supplies and equipment, telephone and telegraph tolls, travel expense, repair of office equipment and agency machinery, and purcahse of food, fuel, and clothing for indigent relief. While the income to this tribe is indicated as $83,271 a large portion thereof is required for timber operations on the reservation. These operations are authorized by the act of June 30, 1919 (41 Stat., 14). To make further inroads into the small remaining balance will result in crippling the sawmill operations-the only source of income for this group of Indians. (c) The income of the Cheyenne River Indians last year was only $22,519 or a little more than one-half of the amount appropriated for administrative expenses for the fiscal year 1937. Through the cooperation of the Bureau of the Budget and Congress certain education and health costs previously borne from tribal funds have, in the last 2 years, been transferred to gratuity appropriations. The income of this group of Indians has reached the stage where further appropriations for administrative expenses are not justified. One year ago these Indians had approximately $380,000 to their credit. In 2 years their capital has been reduced by about $160,000. We propose to transfer the entire amount of the 1937 appropriation to this fund for 1938, inasmuch as it covers strictly agency administrative expenses. Approximately $15,300 is used to pay the salaries of 10 employees and hire miscellaneous temporary labor used about the agency. For the purchase of miscellaneous supplies including food, fuel, and clothing for indigents, approximately $16,000 is needed. The remaining amount is used for telephone and telegraph tolls, travel expense, transportation of supplies, repairs to office equipment and farm machinery, the purchase of new equipment, and other miscellaneous expenses of an administrative nature. (d) The income of the Quinaielt Indians in 1936 was only $533. For the previous year it was $459. At the request of the tribe appropriations were made for the current year for improving water supplies at Taholah and the village of Queets. These expenditures have reduced the balance to their credit to such an extent that further appropriations therefrom are not feasible. We therefore propose to transfer the $1,000 usually carried in the tribal fund item to this appropriation. It covers principally the purchase of subsistence and other supplies, and the traveling expenses of agency personnel. Transfer from Chippewa funds, $29,600.-This is another tribe which has been called upon to defray the expenses of Government operations conducted for its benefit. A once vast capital has been diminished to a balance of approximately $440,000. Income during the last year was only $5,723. For the present year appropriations are made from tribal funds for: If expenditures at this rate were continued for 2 years the entire balance to the credit of these Indians would be wiped out and their income would be insufficient to swell the capital fund to any great extent. The income for the last 2 years from ordinary sources has been less than $10,000. We are retaining in this Budget $103,750 representing the amount required for tuition and other costs of children in public schools and $40,000 for indigent relief. We propose to transfer the item of $80,000 for hospital support to the gratuity health appropriation. This situation has already been discussed. The amount to be transferred to the gratuity support appropriation covers the salaries fo lá agency employees on duty at the Consolidated Chippewa jurisdiction, Cass LakeMinn., and the Red Lake jurisdiction, Red Lake, Minn. Resettlement of Pima Indians, $5,500.-With the completion of the Coolidge Dam in 1929 activities were begun on the Pima Reservation in Arizona to subjugate approximately 50,000 acres of Indian-owned land-one half of a total project of approximately 100,000 acres. The other half of this area is in white ownership. As rapidly as land was brought to a state where it could be cultivated Indians long deprived of land upon which they could make a living, were moved. This process has been going on since 1929. Appropriations were made over a period of years at a rate of approximately $150,000 per year. With the beginning of the Public Works program, earlier appropriations then available were impounded and a Public Works allotment of $1,000,000 was made to complete this subjugstion work. At the same time funds were made available for completing the Sa Carlos irrigation project on the Pima Reservation. The irrigation project and the subjugation of the lands to be brought under cultivation will be completed by June 30, 1937. Expenses of moving the Indians to newly developed tracts has been borne from the regular appropriations and from the Public Works allotment for subjugation purposes. With the expiration and exhaustion of that fund of June 30, 1937, it becomes necessary to provide funds for paying the salaries and expenses of employees engaged in resettlement activities. This item covers the salaries and expenses of two employees engaged in this work. To cease operations at this time will mean the loss of some funds expended in irrigation and land developments, because of nonuse of the land. Expenses of probate employees, $2,000.-When the appropriation for lega services was transferred to the Solicitor's office we transferred all expense moner with it. In 1936 this appropriation was increased by $21,500, a similar reduction having been made in the appropriation for the Solicitor's office. This amount is used to cover the expenses of examiners of inheritance and probate attorneys. This step was made because the Solicitor's office had no fiscal or other agency to handle vouchers, purchase equipment, and perform other miscellaneous adminis trative duties. The amount now available is insufficient to provide for the expenses of these employees. The purchase of automobiles where necessary, pur chase of office equipment and stationery, and per-diem and other incidental expenses in connection with the work of these employees is chargeable to this appropriation. Assistant superintendents, $13,050.-The increase in Federal activities on numerous Indian reservations has emphasized to a greater degree the need for employees who are competent to shoulder some of the responsibilities now borne by the local superintendents. This is particularly true where Indians are taking the first step toward local self-government following acceptance of the recently enacted Indian Reorganization Act. But activities along other lines have also grown as the program of economic development for the Indians has developed. Numerous activities, such as emergency conservation, public works, roads, and Indian rehabilitation have placed on the superintendent å great amount of responsibility which he has never had before, and which he cannot possibly absorb and continue to conduct the affairs of his jurisdiction efficiently. While each new activity provides for a certain type of reservation personnel, the local superintendent is the ranking official on the reservation, and he is held responsible for results and for general administrative leadership. He stands in relation to the affairs of his reservation in the same position as the Commissioner in relation to the Service as a whole. The amount here requested involves salaries of 3 assistant superintendents, at $3,200......... Office equipment, travel, etc.... Total...... $9,600 3, 450 13,050 These employees will be acquainted with local problems and needs and will work not only with the superintendent and his staff but with the tribal council as well. There is a particular need for this type of personnel at those jurisdictions where several tribes widely scattered are under ote sLeter. For example, the Great Lakes Agency has jurisdiction over a number of small reservations in |