Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/172

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The Matter of Organization
145

tions would, it is believed, remedy the situation without a material increase in the overhead for purely general administration.

One further reason for the recommendation against really administrative district offices should be cited. Their establishment would involve radical changes in the organization and procedure of the Service and could not easily be made effective by a gradual transition. It would be a radical operation.

The changes here recommended would not require radical revision of present lines of authority and responsibility. The administrative lines would remain much as they are. The advancement would come through the gradual transition resulting from the advice and coöperation of the central technical staff and from the strengthening of local officers aiding the Indians in improving their social and economic condition.

Advantages of Increased Authority for Local Superintendents. The advantage of increasing the administrative authority of the local superintendents, with contact through inspections and reports from specialists in several branches, may be briefly summarized as follows:

  1. It would result in prompt and effective administration, overcoming to the maximum possible extent the tremendous handicap of distance and isolation.
  2. Through coöperation between the superintendent and his local force and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and his Division of Planning and Development, it would permit of providing for each jurisdiction a service particularly adapted to local conditions, uncomplicated by a strong tendency toward uniformity, although, through the Division of Planning and Development, the Commissioner and the local superintendents would have the benefit of the experience of the entire Indian Service and of organizations doing similar work for other groups.
  3. It would increase the responsibility of local superintendents, justifying the payment of higher salaries and the raising of the general level of requirements.
  4. It would bring to the aid of the superintendent not the coöperation of another general man like himself, higher in the official hierarchy, but instead that of several different specialists in distinct lines and possessed of training and experience to make them successful.