The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-08-11

claims under the treaty with the Cherokees Of 1885, and
pay ?, ssehss and ,0p Indians during the
thousand i've hundred dollars; and for aeages II s late
board % sndsr saTs treaty one thousand hve
If the RENEWAL of the board of commissioners,
after its dissolution in 1889, "was the result Of an
act of Congress-" the above ia that act and most
certainly il does not limit the term of the commits
sion! The commissioners (Messrs. Eaton and
Hubley) were appointed AFTER the passage Of the lao,
and continued in Office until the nth Of January,
1874, when they were informed that their services
were no longer required, by order Of the Secretary
OF War, whom they had denounced in unmeasured
terms and declined holding any further official COM
munication with him. Here a vacancy was created,
and Col. Washington and Gen. Mason were APP
pointed to fll il. Their appointment sent to
the Senate IN February, 1874, and their commits
of the Senate" on the 23d day of May, 1874. |
have copy of one Of them now before me. After
the usual beginning, il reads I" | do, by and with
the advice and consent Of the Senate appoint him
commissioners to adjust and settle certain claims
arising under the treaty with the Cherokees of
1885; and do authorize and empower him to execute
and fulfil the duties Of that office according 10 iao :"
That Law is the 17th article ofthe Cherokee ireafy!'
l have here shown that the late or present COM
mssioners were appointed in pursuance Of an opin-
ion given by the Senate of the United States, and
under the authority Of an act Of Congress, which
nave COpleu. now, tnen, can tue OpiHioH NC suS-
tanned, that this commission "owed its existence to
Of Congress limiting its term TO one year from
the passage Of that ac The last commissioners were
appointed by the President to discharge the duties
assigned by the seventeenth article of the Cherokee
treaty, in February, 1874, but were not confirmed
by the Senate until the 23d May following. There
was considerable balance of the appropriation
under the act Of August Goth, 1912, unexpended;
and they ictre first paid from that appropriation The
law, which, il is now said, limits the term of the
commission, was approved June IL, lS44-nemly a
month after the appointment Of The last commissioners
1t is an error therefore, to say that this commits
sion owes its existence to the act of Congress APP
proved June II, 1874. ! ask the attention of the
Attorney General the dates Of the several of
appropriation, and of the appointment Of the COM
missioners. The act of June, 1874, reads as fol-
lows
"For compensation to two commissioners to examine
claims under the treaty with the Cherokes of thousand
eight hundred and thirty five and pay secretary nclu
ding provisions for Indians during the session Of the board
and for contingent eleven thousand five hundred
dollars" Here follows an item Of appropriation to defray
the expenses of commission to settle claims arising under
Proded That the duration Of either Of said commissions
shall not extend beyond year after the passage OF this
II is evident that this proviso was only intended
to refer to the Choctaw commission. That board
was brought into existence by an act of Congress,
and Congress had right to limit its duration. The
Cherokee board was created by TREATY; and the
proceedings of the Senate upon the subject and the
wording Of the appropriation bill in 1912, under
which it is said the board was recognized, taken
in connection with the proceedings upon the joint
resolution passed in June lS44 Gas published in
my last number,) shows concusively that Congress
entertained an opinion adverse to the proposition
that it possessed the power TO CONTROL in anywse
limit restrict, the operation of that tribunal.
Ii was my intention to make this communication
very brief-to do nothing more than present the
nues fq form &C whether nffer n bOard
of commissioners is constituted, under the 18th ar
ticle Of the Cherokee treaty it can be DISSOLVED be-
fore ALL the duties assigned by that article per-
formed, without perperating violation of the com
pact which created it" Will the Attorney General
near me? Is not a TREATY--ths Cherokee yeaty-a
CONTRACT! And can Congress pass law i'm
pairing such contract without violating that clause of
the constitution which says "No bill Of aftainder or
Elk POST FAcro lno, shall be passed ?" The adudi-
cation and payment of the individual claims arising
under, and provided for by, the Cherokee treaty,
involve material part of the CONSIDERATION offered
for the lands coded by that instrument. Can the
Congress of the United States now, after the govern
ment has Obtained possession of these lands under
the CONTRACT, prevent payment Of this consideration
by limiting the term or restricting the action, of the
only tribunal which can be instituted 10 ascertain
the amount which may be due, on this account to
the several caimantsl lfit has the power to do So
why, it at any time suspend the wheels Of
government, by Withholding appropriations to pay
the several officers. The Cherokees believe the Pres
ident has the POWER and that it is his DUTY, to
tinue the board of commissioners until all their
claims are adjudicated as contemplated by the treaty
II is known that there still remains in the treasury
upwards of t,oentysspen hundred dollars Of an unex
pended balance appropriated by the of june 1874
If this is insufficient to pay the expenses of the COM
mission, and Congress does not Immediately make
another appropriation, let the deficiency be taken
from the CHERoKEE FUND remaining in the treasury
IN kinds of ~ have herefOfore bpon mid
from that fund; and the government need not affect
delicacy upon the subject now, when the object to
be attained is Of much interest to the Cherokee
people, to whom the money belongs. Was not part
Of this fund taken to pay the expenses Of the first
commissioners, and after their appropriation became
exhausted There is an item in the appropriation
bill of August, 1912, above quoted which supplies
81 5SS to pay arrearages Of the late board Of
nissioners under treaty" That board adjourned
in March, 1885, and, as the commissioners did not
remain the creditors of the government until the APP
preparation was made to pay arrearages, think il
probable that our Indian guardian " swallowed the
camel,n and distracted" loan from the Cherokee
fund.
The Cherokee treaty of 1895 is a singular COM
pound of inconsistent particles That accomplished
lawyer, benjamin F. Butler,) who filed the high
place of Attorney General Of the United States at
the time il was negotiated, and who had been often
called upon for his opinion upon questions presented
in the progress of its execution, and had given the
subject much attention and reflection, very candidly
declares, in August, 1888, in the last official opinion
he ever gave in relation to that treaty: 81 will OBJ
serve that am by no means surprised that they do
not, (rsteing to his former opinions hch had been OBJ
jeetedto) in all respects, meet the views of others,
more familiar that am with the probable intent Of
the makers of the treaties referred to- and with the
practical construction which has been given to those
instruments; that ncongruities should be detect
ed in the views presented in those opinions on the
various points discussed therein. From the great
obscurity of the treaty provisions, and my want of
accurate knowledge on many parts of the subject,
have found it exceedingly difficult (and in some
cases almost impossbe) to Satisfy myself on the ques-
tons referred to me-" The Attorney General then
acknowledges that he became convinced, from a
careful examination Of the treaty, that all his opin
ions were extra-oficial and unauthorized;- that no
department of the government had the right to inter
fere with the action of the commissioners appointed
under the 18th article Of the Cherokee treaty. But
since the reorganization of the board in lS42 the
whole and sole control Of its proceedings is vested in
the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the "great obscu-
IF fhe frea which nuzzled Aftnrnev Gem