Mr. WINDOM. The gentleman quotes a letter of General Shiras, asst commis sary general, making a certain statement of the amount expended to subsist these Indians for 18 months. The gentleman’s error arises from the fact that the commissary dept does not estimate anything for transportation. According to the authority which read the other day, and now hold in my hand, the amount for transportation was greater than the amount for subsistence. I read from the report of the ComrIndAff, dated May 1, 1866: “The report of General Carleton showsthat the cost of subsistence furnished in 1865a, fterdeducting prod uce raised on the reservation, (valued at $73, 24693.) was $694, 22627. The cost of transporting this I have been unable to ascertain; but as military supplies for NewMexico are purchased in by land, StLouis and taken the land transportation from Leavenworth alone would amount(allowing 2 poundsper day to each personsubsisted) to about $800,000T.aking into consideration the cost of transportation from StLouis to Leavenworth, the cost of cartageand other incidental expenses, the cost of subsisting these Indians during the year 1865 could not have been less than $1,500,000. GeneralEaton estimates that the costof subsistenceduring the current fiscal year will pboer$t6a3ti8o, n8, 4783. This, of course, does not include trans and is based upon the supposition that the number of Indians to be subsisted will be 6,000. The averagenumber subsistedduring the last calendar year, as reportedby General Carleton, was 7,909. General Eaton givesno reasonfor supposing that this number will be reduced to 6,000, but says it is probable.” I will call the gentleman's attention to a discrepancy between himself and one of his military authorities. He estimates the Indians at 9,000 and General Eaton at 6,000. As I have shown by this report it has cost about 1,500,000 dollars for their support, including transportation. I submit the question of authority to the House. The gentleman has simply made a statement showing the subsistence, and omit ting, as I understand it, transportation, which is the larger sum of the two. Now, as to one other statement, I am in formed by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs of NewMexico, he has an offer from responsiblepersons in that Territory, to feed those Indians at 20 to 22 cents perhead, while it has cost the War Dept 20 9 and 1/2 cents per head; and that this could have been done at any time. Furthermore, I wish to call the gentleman's attention to the peonage at this reservation. I have authority in this document for stating that by order of the commanding officer, these Indians were to be returned to their “masters, ” and this after the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery had been adopted.