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Question: Tom Yallup, Yakima, Washington. Do I understand you to say that Superintendents on the Reservations before the Area Offices were established had same authority as Superintendents on Reservations after the Area Offices were established? Answer: That, in general, is correct, except for accounting. As far as basic authority, yes, and I hope we can give him more in the future. Question: Friedlander Will the people have a voice in whether we should retain Area Offices? Answer: The Area Office is my responsibility until I am overruled. At the moment I am standing on the organization we now have. Question: (No name stated) Can we select our administrator if we are going to keep Area Offices? Answer: Whenever you get to the place where you can take over and pay your bill, then you should select your administrators. Now, it is my responsibility and I will have to retain it if I am to be responsible for the people that are hired. Question: Joseph Hillaire, Lummi, Washington. The question was in regard to the employment of qualified Indians. Answer: We are going to do our best to find and hire every capable Indian we can get our hands on. We have a lot of them in the Service now. You can't have two people running the show that I am responsible for. I will be glad to have suggestions and I will select the people. Question: (No name stated) How many people are employed in the Indian Service? Answer: There are approximately 12,000 positions in the Indian Service, most of which is on the Reservation level. Meeting recessed at 12 noon. -24-