Osage Tribe received 2,043,458 barrels. The total receipts for the year from oil and gas accruing to this tribe approximated $17,000,000. In the Five Civilized Tribes, 717,594 acres were under leases for oil and gas. The year's total production of oil on restricted land was 10,180,862 barrels and the total revenue from oil and gas $4,073,985.22. During the year 495 wells were drilled, 307 producing oil and 57 producing gas. Outside the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma the Indians on the Kiowa Reservation received about $800,000 from oil and gas and those of the Otoe Reservation received $50,589.48 from like sources. Producing wells on the Pawnee and Ponca Reservation are also bringing a substantial income. In the Seneca jurisdiction there has been a great development of lead and zinc mining, resulting in a mining center of about 50,000 population and a tenfold increase of agency business. Under recent legislation metalliferous minerals on unallotted Indian lands in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming will be under exclusive control of the bureau. Miscellaneous matters.-Forty per cent of reimbursable funds expended for individual Indians has been repaid. The balance is not delinquent, as it is payable in installments. The beneficiaries as a rule have been doing well and in many cases need no further assistance. Tribal herds established from such funds have been profitable, and these are a guaranty of payment. Eventually this stock will be placed among individual Indians. The disbursement of individual Indian funds to both adults and minors is proceeding under more liberal principles in furtherance of the gradual emancipation of the Indians from Government control, and if an adult Indian is at all competent he is given unrestricted control of his funds. During the year over $10,000,000 of individual moneys were paid directly to the Indians or expended for their benefit. One of the principal per capita payments of the year was the distribution of $200,000 among the Indians of the Uintah and Ouray jurisdiction in Utah, a portion of which was applied to special advan tage in supplying irrigation to allotments and securing water rights to the Indians. Indians in New York.-Unusual problems have arisen in connection with the affairs of some 5,000 Indians still in New York who own seven reservations, including over 80,000 acres. The State has for some time exercised extensive jurisdiction over these Indians, and there has been supervision by the Federal Government on various matters. Recent court decisions have tended to strengthen the view that the State is without power to deal with their tribal property rights. A commission authorized by the New York Legislature to take up with Congress and the Federal departments the question of jurisdiction and administrative control of their affairs has not yet formulated its course of action, so that a more definite statement can not at present be made. The Florida and Texas bands.-Encouraging progress is being made in behalf of the Seminoles of Florida. Their interests are being supervised by an experienced field-service man whose degree of Indian blood gives him fortunate access to the nature and needs of this band. An industrial center is being created for the purchase of small beginnings in live stock, awakening their interest in education and conserving their health. An appropriation of $5,000 is being used in constructing a school building for the Alabama Indians in Texas, to be completed for the coming school year, which will accommodate all their children of school age. Homeless Indians in California.-Two inspecting officers have been detailed under explicit instructions to make a thorough survey and study of the nonreservation Indians in California and their needs, concerning whom conflicting reports as to their health, poverty, and moral condition have been received. When completed this survey will afford an intelligent basis for action. Lands and homes for certain of these Indians were purchased during the year at an approximate expense of $16,000. Papago land litigation.-There is pending at this time in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia a case which is regarded as one brought to test the validity of 16 purported quit-claim deeds attempting to convey to one Robert F. Hunter, late of Washington, D. C., a one-half undivided interest in 16 tracts of land alleged to represent the lands and grants" of certain Papago Indian villages located in Pima County, Ariz., and now embraced in the Papago Indian Reservation created by Executive order of February 1, 1917. The lands in which the interest is attempted to be conveyed aggregrate approximately 2,600,000 acres. 46 In this suit are involved questions of title to practically all the land embraced within the limits of the present Papago Indian Reservation, and its successful prosecution is of vital interest to the Papagos of that country. For this reason a special supervisor of this office has for the past year been engaged in a thorough investigation of the entire situation and in assisting the Department of Justice. PENSION OFFICE. Number of pensioners.-There were on the roll at the end of the fiscal year 624,427 names, a net loss of 22,468 from the total of 646,895 on the roll at the beginning of the year. The number of Civil War soldiers on the roll June 30, 1918, was 298,808, and on June 30, 1919, 271,391, showing a decrease of 27,417. The number of deaths of Civil War soldiers in 1919 was 27,703, as against 30,466 in 1918. The number of Civil War widows on the roll June 30, 1918, was 288,815, and on June 30, 1919, 293,244, showing an increase of 4,429. The deaths of widows, minor children, and dependents in 1919 numbered 19,217, as against 18,412 in 1918. The highest number of Civil War soldiers on the roll was in 1898, when there were 745,822. The highest number of Civil War widows on the roll was in 1912, when there were 304,373. Of the War of 1812, there were surviving on June 30, 1919, 81 widows. Of the War with Mexico, there were on the roll June 30, 1919, 215 survivors and 2,739 widows. Of the War with Spain, the total number of original claims allowed by the bureau is 41,335. The number on the roll June 30, 1919, by reason of the War with Spain, is 28,251. Unexpended balances of appropriations.-The unexpended balances of appropriations at the end of the fiscal year were as follows: For Army and Navy pensions____. For fees and expenses of examining surgeons. For salaries____ For per diem and expenses of special examiners_ $947, 170.97 38, 771. 74 118, 419. 86 None. Disbursements for pensions.-The amount disbursed in the payment of pensions for the year was $222,159,292, as against $179,835,329 for the preceding year. The amount appropriated for the payment of pensions for the fiscal year 1919 was $223,000,000, as against $183,000,000 for the preceding year. A deficiency appropriation of $3,000,000 was made in addition to the original appropriation of $220,000,000 for the fiscal year. The larger amount was due because of increases given by new legislation. The number of pensioners residing in foreign countries in 1919 was 3,747, and the amount paid to these pensioners was $1,188,188. Certificates issued and applications filed. Pension certificates issued on admitted claims during the fiscal year___ 54, 984 1, 335 20, 103 81 76, 503 Total___. There were received and classified in the Law Division during the year 61,756 applications of all kinds. Division of pension.-Under the act of March 3, 1899, providing for division of pension of resident pensioners of the United States who have deserted their wives or children or who are inmates of soldiers' or sailors' homes, 429 cases were acted upon. Under the act of August 8, 1882, of all claims of widows and children of pensioners undergoing imprisonment or insane without a guardian, 26 cases were acted upon. New legislation.-The act of July 16, 1918, provides pension to widows and minor children of officers and enlisted men who served in the War with Spain, the Philippine insurrection, or in China: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act if any volunteer officer or enlisted man who served ninety days or more in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States, during the War with Spain or the Philippine Insurrection, between April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and July fourth, nineteen hundred and two, inclusive, service to be computed from date of enlistment to date of discharge, or any officer or enlisted man of the Regular Establishment who rendered ninety days or more actual military or naval service in the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps in the War with Spain or the Philippine Insurrection between April twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and July fourth, nineteen hundred and two, inclusive, or as a participant in the Chinese Boxer rebellion campaign between June sixteenth, nineteen hundred, and October first, nineteen hundred, and who has been honorably discharged therefrom, has died or shall hereafter die leaving a widow without means of support other than her daily labor, and an actual net income not exceeding $250 per year, or leaving a minor child or children under the age of sixteen years, such widow shall upon due proof of her husband's death, without proving his death to be the result of his Army or Navy service, be placed on the pension roll from the date of the filing of her application therefor under this act, at the rate of $12 per month during her widowhood, and shall also be paid $2 per month for each child of such officer or enlisted man under sixteen years of age, and in case of the death or remarriage of the widow, leaving a child or children of such officer or enlisted man under the age of sixteen years, such pension shall be paid such child or children until the age of sixteen. Provided, That in case a minor child is insane, idiotic, or otherwise permanently helpless, the pension shall continue during the life of said child, or during the period of such disability, and shall commence from the date of application therefor after the passage of this act: Provided further, That said widow shall have married said officer or enlisted man previous to the passage of this act: Provided, however, That this act shall not be so construed as to reduce any pension under any act, public or private. Under this act pensions have already been granted to 992 widows, 72 minor children, and 1 helpless child. Attention is called to the fact that a distinction was made between services of volunteer officers and enlisted men and those in the Regular Establishment as a prerequisite to the allowance of widows and minors pensions in said act. In the case of Anna, as widow of Oscar J. de Rochmont, decided by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, January 31, 1919, it was held: Volunteer officers and enlisted men mentioned in the act of July 16, 1918, refer to those who were members of volunteer organizations as distinguished from the Regular Establishment. Their dependents are pensionable if such an officer or enlisted man served during the period of any of the wars mentioned in said act for 90 days or more and was honorably discharged, independent of the geographical locality of such service. The dependents of an officer or enlisted man of the Regular Establishment are not pensionable under said act unless such officer or enlisted man rendered actual service. "Actual military service" mentioned in said act are words of limitation, and are descriptive of such duty in a war as is to be performed by one in the Army and Navy from being on the scene of conflict; that is to say, at the theater of operations on sea or land, of invasion of enemy territory, of repelling invasion by the enemy, and the like. When the bill was pending before the House of Representatives, Mr. Keating of Colorado, in charge of the bill, made a preliminary statement, page 9672 of the Congressional Record of July 9, 1918: This bill does not provide pension for the widow or the minor children of a soldier or sailor of the Regular Establishment unless he actually left the confines of the United States and participated actively in the War with Spain. In the case of Rebecca, as widow of Jeremiah Cottrell, decided by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, May 19, 1919, it was held: Enlistments in the Navy under the naval appropriation act approved May 4, 1898, for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, were enlistments in the Regular Naval Establishment, and such persons were not “volunteer officers or enlisted men " as are mentioned in the act of July 16, 1918. The claimant's husband was enlisted under the provisions of the act of May 4, 1898, was a member of the Regular Naval Establishment, and as his entire service was outside the zones of conflict in the War with Spain, Philippine insurrection, or Chinese Boxer rebellion campaign, his widow has no title to pension under the act of July 16, 1918. Special acts of Congress.-During the year 28 omnibus bills to grant pensions by special acts of Congress were enacted into law. These acts granted pension or increase of pension to 3,442 individuals, among whom was the widow of ex-President Roosevelt. Marriage and divorce.-Many claims require determination of the marital status of the parties. During the fiscal year 589 such cases required formal opinions by the Law Division for their determination. The fact that hardly any two States have the same laws concerning marriage and divorce complicates the situation. Complaint has been made with increasing volume because of the rigorous requirements of the law, and the practice in the Pension Bureau, as to proof of validity of the marriage relation. After living with the soldier as his wife for a long period, as his widow a claimant is often called upon to show the soldier's previous marital history for a period sometimes covering more than 40 years. Under existing laws the Pension Bureau has no power to change its practice in this respect, and as the hardship imposed upon worthy women increases with the lapse of time, it is thought that Congress should pass some legislation looking to relief. It might, for instance, declare that |