It has been my purpose from the beginning of my administration to take
the Indian Service completely out of the atmosphere of political
activity, and there has been steady progress toward that end. The last
remaining stronghold of politics in that service was the agency system,
which had seen its best days and was gradually falling to pieces from
natural or purely evolutionary causes, but, like all such survivals,
was decaying slowly in its later stages. It seems clear that its
extinction had better be made final now, so that the ground can be
cleared for larger constructive work on behalf of the Indians,
preparatory to their induction into the full measure of responsible
citizenship. On November 1 only eighteen agencies were left on the
roster; with two exceptions, where some legal questions seemed to stand
temporarily in the way, these have been changed to superintendencies,
and their heads brought into the classified civil service.