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3 - Area offices

Joe Garry said he was going into the Army on September 14, but if he returned, he would continue the fight where he left off. He [[strikethrough]] was [[/strikethrough]] stated again that he was disappointed in the action that had been taken in that in tabling the resolution it had eliminated any possibility of debating the issue to a final decision.

Edward Wilson announced that he would not withdraw from the NCAI, but that he would continue his fight against the existence of the area offices.

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When the delegates met with Commissioner Myer, he refused outright to go into debate on the area office issue. He said that if they wanted to debate he would let them go along without his participation. He stated that it was his understanding that there would be a question and answer period and that there would be no long statements coming from the delegates. In the course of the discussion, Commissioner Myer emphatically stated that the area offices were here to stay. He also pointed out that he did not want to interfere with the prerogatives of the Indians. On the other hand, the responsibilities that were delegated to him should be left to him. As long as he was charged with the responsibility he was going to determine how the policies were to be carried out.

He was not going to discuss personalities and he was not going to discuss any individuals. He was going to talk on principles. The law at present provides that the commissioner of Indian Affairs shall be responsible for the selection of personnel and make recommendations to the Secretary and be responsible for their acts. As long as [[strikethrough]] they [[/strikethrough]] that happens, he expected to assume that responsibility and did not expect to [[strikethrough]] assume th [[/strikethrough]] turn it over to somebody else. He would always be glad to receive suggestions regarding people if they were not doing a good job or those who are doing a good job, or those who could probably do a better job.

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There will be more forthcoming about the convention but the time has been so short that it is impossible to render any kind of a report other than what is being transmitted herewith.

It was thought that a recording secretary would make full coverage of the convention, and I have learned that Mrs. Thomas of the Portland area office was to serve as recording secretary, but she was not on the floor to cover every session of the assembly. However, thirteen hours of the deliberations were covered via tape recordings and an effort will be made to submit [[strikethrough]] the [[/strikethrough]] a transcript if they are needed. Commissioner Myer's speech is being submitted and is a ver batim coverage, and should be edited as it is a rough copy since I took it off from the tape direct and my typing was not fast enough in a number of instances and therefore the accuracy suffered and led to typographical errors.

F. George