Parker’s reforms made the system function more honestly.

But honest management of a coercive system is still management of a coercive system.

The Investigations and What They Really Showed

The investigation of Parker’s administration of Indian affairs deserves careful examination, because the details illuminate something important about how reformers in government positions are vulnerable to the forces they are trying to reform.

The contracts that became the subject of the House investigation were for emergency purchases of supplies for reservation communities.

The specific circumstances that led Parker to authorize purchases outside normal competitive bidding procedures involved situations where the normal timelines for procurement would have resulted in delays in supply delivery that Parker judged to be harmful to the reservation populations depending on those supplies.