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administrative task which confronts you and your associates who are responsible for the welfare of the Indian wards of the United States.

In accordance with the practice of the Institute for Government Research the report, in preliminary form, was submitted to administrative officers of the Service to afford them an opportunity to call to our attention matters which they believed should be given consideration in the final revision.

In concluding I wish to express our appreciation of the spirit shown by the officers and employees of your Department. They have recognized that the survey should be independent and impartial, and they have not sought to influence our decision regarding the staff, the methods and the scope of the survey, or our findings and recommendations. They have, moreover, extended to us every possible courtesy and have supplied us with all the available information for which we have asked.