and give the names of the contractors or vendors by whom they were delivered, and the dates of deliveries.

TRANSPORTATION BY INDIANS.

240. Whenever and wherever practicable, transportation from railroad stations or steamboat landings to agencies shall be performed by Indians, for which service, in case they furnish their own teams, they will be paid at such rates as may be fixed by the Indian Office upon the recommendation of the agent. (Act Mar. 3, 1877, sec. 1, 19 Stats., 291.)

241. In case an Indian does not own a wagon and harness, or either, but desires to possess them, agents are authorized to permit him to use those belonging to the Government for transportation of supplies, as above stated, and to credit him with the amount of work performed until such time as the value thereof shall amount to the cost of the wagon and harness, or either, as the case may be, when the same may be issued to the Indian in lieu of payment in cash for the said service. When an Indian, through carelessness or neglect, breaks or otherwise damages wagon or harness, he should not be paid for services which he has rendered if they do not exceed such damage.

PUBLIC FUNDS.

242. Public funds of all classes, no matter from what source received, must be immediately taken up in the agent's accounts and no expenditures whatsoever shall be made therefrom except by authority of the Department.

ESTIMATING FOR.

243. Agents are directed to forward quarterly to the Indian Office estimates of the funds required for the ensuing quarter. In certain cases, where it is to the interest of the service, agents may make estimates for funds covering two quarters.

244. The estimate must show in detail every purpose for which the money is to be used; if it is for pay of employees, the position of each employee and the amount required for each must be stated.

245. When funds are required for open market purchases previously authorized the number of each authority must be specified in the estimate.

246. The estimate must show the amount of funds on hand under each appropriation at the end of the preceding quarter, and if the same is required to pay liabilities already incurred it must be so stated.

247. The estimates should be sent in as early in the quarter as possible, and within thirty days at most after the beginning of the same.

248. Funds placed to the credit of an agent to meet certain specified expenses shall not be used for any other purpose except by permission of the Indian Office.

CARING FOR.

249. Agents are required to deposit public money intrusted to them for disbursement with the Treasurer or some one of the assistant treasurers of the United States. In places, however, where there is no Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer the Secretary of the Treasury may, when he deems it essential to the public interests, specially authorize the deposit of public money in any other depository. (Sec. 3620, R. S.)

250. If an agent deposits any public money in any place not designated for the purpose by the Secretary of the Treasury, or unlawfully converts, loans, transfers, or applies public money, he will be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be punished by imprisonment with hard labor for not less than one nor more than ten years, or by a fine of not more than the amount embezzled or less than $1,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (Sec. 5488, R. S.)

DEPOSITING.

251. Unexpended balances of Indian appropriations made for one fiscal year can not be used to liquidate obligations incurred in another fiscal year. (Sec. 3690, R. S.)

252. On the 30th of June of each year agents must deposit all unexpended balances remaining in their hands to the credit of the United States. (Sec. 3690, R. S.) This does not refer to "Miscellaneous Receipts, Class IV," and "Individual Indian Moneys." (See secs. 294 and 301.)

253. If any portion of the amount so deposited be available for expenditure without limit, as are permanent money annuities, interest, trust funds, and proceeds of lands, the amount thereof, if necessary, will be again remitted.

254. Any portion of the funds so deposited belonging to appropriations made especially for the previous fiscal year, which are required to meet authorized expenses incurred on or before the 30th of June, will also be returned to the agent upon his requisition; but if the aforesaid expenses are not paid before the 30th of September the funds must then be redeposited to the credit of the United States, and the outstanding liabilities will have to be settled in the form of claims. (Treas. Dept. Circ. 133, Dec. 15, 1903.)

255. In accordance with the preceding section, any accounts or claims against the United States, incurred in one fiscal year and payable from annual appropriations for that particular year, which are not paid before the expiration of the first quarter of the next succeeding fiscal

year, shall not be paid by the agent, but submitted to the Indian Office in the form of claims, and settled by the accounting officers of the Treasury Department.

256. No money shall be paid to any person for his compensation who is in arrears to the United States, until he has accounted for and paid into the Treasury all sums for which he may be liable. In all cases where the pay or salary of any person is withheld in pursuance of this section, the accounting officers of the Treasury, if required to do so by the party, his agent or attorney, shall report forthwith to the Solicitor of the Treasury the balance due; and the Solicitor shall, within sixty days thereafter, order suit to be commenced against such delinquent and his sureties. (Sec. 1766, R. S.)

257. Advances of public money will not be made for any fiscal year until the account of the previous year shall have been rendered, and it is shown that all balances due the Government are ready to be paid over to the proper officer of the United States. (Sec. 2092, R. S.) No advances will be made under a new bond until all balances under the prior bond shall have been deposited to the credit of the United States. This does not, however, apply to funds designated as "Individual Indian moneys," which may be transferred from one bond to the other. (See sec. 34.)

258. When an agent deposits to the credit of the United States any public moneys that may have come into his possession, he will transmit the original certificate of deposit to the Secretary of the Treasury and the duplicate to the Indian Office.

259. Certificates of deposit must not be filed with accounts rendered; such a disposition of certificates of deposit will not secure to the officers transmitting them the desired credit. Credits are given officers in the settlement of their accounts only upon warrants, which warrants are issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, and are based upon the original certificates of deposit.

260. The original and duplicate certificates of deposit must be accompanied by a statement in detail, showing the character of the funds deposited, i. e., whether they are (1) advances from regular appropriations; (2) miscellaneous receipts; or (3) moneys deposited to offset disallowances made in the examination or settlement of accounts. The total unexpended balance should be included in one certificate of deposit, the making of a separate certificate for each class of funds. being neither necessary nor desirable.

261. The statement should also show the several appropriations of which the funds deposited are unexpended balances, and the quarter in which credit is taken on the account current of the agent for said funds as having been deposited to the credit of the United States.

262. If they are miscellaneous funds, the statement must give in detail the dates of receipt and specifically the sources whence they were

derived. If derived from sales of subsistence, it must be shown whether the subsistence was sold to employees or to others, and whether it was raised on the reservation or purchased from appropriated funds. 263. When funds are deposited to cover a disallowance, the statement should give the title of the appropriation from which the erroneous payment was made, as well as the number of the voucher showing payment and the quarter and year to which it pertains.

264. In making a deposit, the date of the bond and the appropriation to which the amount involved is to be credited must be designated. 265. In taking credit for a deposit on the account current, the agent should state specifically the date of the deposit and the designation and location of the depository in which it was made, as well as the source from which the funds were derived.

266. Failure of an agent to render accounts, or to pay over, in the manner and in the time required by law or by the regulations of the Department to which he is accountable, any public money remaining in his hands is by law constituted embezzlement, the penalty of which is imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than ten years and a fine equal to the amount embezzled. (Secs. 3624, 3633, 3634, 5491, 5492, R. S.)

REPORTING BALANCES.

267. The rules of the Treasury require agents to report at the close of each week and month the balances of public funds in their hands or on deposit to their official credit.

268. These reports must contain a correct statement, and be promptly forwarded every Monday morning and on the first day of each month. (Forms 5-300 and 5–301.)

DISBURSING.

269. Special care must be taken in the disbursement of public moneys to prevent their misapplication. No sufficient excuse can be offered for misapplying funds received by requisition from the Indian Office, as with each notice of the issue of such requisition there is a tabular statement, setting forth clearly and fully the applicability of the funds under each head and subhead of appropriation, and even the objects for which they shall be used. Furthermore, at agencies where funds are provided under treaty stipulations the treaties generally prescribe the manner of expending such funds. Treaty funds can not be diverted from the objects for which appropriated without the consent of the tribes, expressed in general council, which consent, stated in writing, must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and the approval communicated to the agent, before the diversion can be made. A copy of the approval referred to must accompany the quarterly accounts when forwarded to the Indian Office. (Sec. 2097, R. S.)

270. No credit can be allowed an agent for money expended under a head of appropriation exceeding the amount in his hands under that head, and under no circumstances must a transfer of funds be made from one head of appropriation to another.

271. Funds on deposit in a United States depository must be drawn out only as they are required for payment. (Sec. 3620, R. S.)

272. When practicable payment must be made by check drawn to the order of the payee. (Sec. 3620, R. S.; Act Feb. 27, 1877; 19 Stats., 249.)

273. Upon each check must be stated the appropriation upon which it is drawn and the object or purpose to which it is to be applied. Such statement may be brief, but it must clearly indicate the object of the expenditure, as, for instance, "pay," "traveling expenses," "purchase of subsistence," etc.

274. Checks will not be returned to the drawer after payment, but the depository with which the account is kept will furnish the agent with a monthly statement of his deposit account.

275. No allowance will be made for expenses charged for collecting money on checks. (Sec. 3651, R. S.)

276. In case of the death, resignation, or removal of an agent, checks previously drawn by him will be paid from funds to his credit, unless such checks have been drawn more than four months before their presentation, or reasons exist for suspecting fraud. (Circ. 107, Treas., 1876.)

277. An agent when opening his first account, and before issuing any checks, will furnish the depository in which funds are placed to his credit with his official signature, duly verified by some officer whose signature is known to the depository.

278. Agents are required to make a report on the 30th day of June, annually, of all checks issued by them, which may then have been outstanding and unpaid for three years or more, stating the number, date, and amount of each check, the name and address of the payee, for what purpose given, the institution upon which drawn, and the number of the voucher received therefor.

DEFICIENCIES.

279. In order to prevent deficiencies the law requires that supplies shall be distributed and paid out to the Indians entitled to them in such proper proportions as that the amount of appropriations made for the current year shall not be expended before the end of such current year, and that no expenditure shall be made or liability incurred on the part of the Government on account of the Indian service for any fiscal year, unless in compliance with existing law,

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