The weekly Arizona miner., 1872-09-07
ABOUT CLAIMS FOR INDIAN
 DEPREDATIONS.
Rules and Regulations Adopted by the Department of the Interior Relative to the Presentation and Examination of Claims on Account of Expectations Committed by Indians.


 press making concentrations for the Indian Department. approved May %, 1872, it is en- acted: "That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and cause to be published, such rules and regulations as he may deem necessary and proper, prescrib- ing the manner of presenting claims arising under ezistiag taes or tTedty stiputationS, for compensation for depredations committed by the Indians, and the degree and character of the evidence necessary to support such claims; he shall carefully investigate all such claims as may be presented, subject to the rules and regulations prepared by him, and report to Congress at each session thereof, the nature, character, and amount of such claims, whether allowed by him or not, and the evidence upon which his action was bas- cd: Prouided, That TO payn,snt on accO,ta of said claim shaU De mode withOm G specific ap- propriation by Congress"
 In compliance with the requirement of the law as quoted above, the following Rules and Regulations are prescribed:
 |. Application for indemnity or satisiac- ton for the loss or injury sustained must be made by the claimant, his attorney or duly authorized agent, witiiR three gears after the commission of the depreciation or injury, to the United States Superintendent of Indian hudtIS, UT Ol "ieh'h whose jurisdiction or charge the nation, tribe, or band is to which the offenders or depreda- tors belong.
 2. The necessary documents and proofs must accompany the application of the claimant, his attorney or agent, and should be in legal form and consist
 First Of the sworn declaration of the claimant, setting forth when and where the depredation was committed, and by what h. dians, their tribe or nation being named; de- scribing fully the property stolen or destroy cd, and giving the quantity of each article or number condition or quality thereof, and the just value of each article or piece of property at the time the same was so taken or destroyed Should the depreciation have been committed while the claimant was in the Indian country, he must state whether he was lawfully there, either having license to trade with the Indians, passport, or a permit from the proper Indian authorities, or was ea route through said country to place of ultimate destination at some point within the limits of any State or Territory, not in cluded within the limits of the reservation for any nation or tribe of Indians set apart by treaty provision, or by Executive order and he fin such declaration must further state whether any of the property so stolen or de- stroyed has subsequently been recovered by or for him, the claimant; and whether the claimant has at any time received part com pensation therefor, and if so, how much, when and from what source; and further, that the claimant has in no way endeavored to obtain private satisfaction or revenge.
 Second. Of dispositions of two or more per sons having personal cogniZance of the facts or any of them, as embraced in the declara- ton of the claimant, which dispositions must set forth the means of knowledge which de- ponents have as to the fact of the depreda- tion, when, where, and by what Indians, and under what circumstances the depreciation was committed, what the property consisted that was so taken or destroyed by the 1ndl- ans, describing it as fully as practicable, and stating the value thereof. If the deponents or any of them were at the time of the dep relation in the employment of the claimant it must be so stated, and in what capacity. Tn addition to the foregoing the claimant must show, by his own evidence or that of other persons, that at the time the depreda- tion was committed the property then stolen or destroyed was being properly guarded and cared for, and that the loss thereof was not occasioned by the negligence or careessness of himself or employees.
 3. The testimony adduced by the claim ant must be taken before some officer author ized by law to administer oaths, or 1t may be taken before the proper Superintendent of Indian Affairs Indian agent, or sub-agent. It taken before a justice of the peace, the official character of that person should be certified by some proper officer empowered thereuuto. All interlineations or changes that it may be necessary to make in the tes- timony of any person testifying in behalf of the claimant either before or at the signing of the same, must be duly attested by the officer before whom the testimony Is sworn to and subscribed.
 4. When the application, documents, and proofs shall have been received by the Super intendent of Indian Affairs, Indian agent, or sub-agent, said officer shall carefully investi- gate the case; shall ascertain by inquiry of reliable persons, from advertised prices, or otherwise, whether the prices fixed by the claimant upon the articles of property men, tioned in the claim are just and fair as com pared with the market prices ruling at the time in the State or Territory in which the depreciation was committed, with due all lowance for enhancement of price by reason of transportation; and where it is possible to procure it, said officer shall, if deemed ad visable, take testimony as to the credibility of the claimant, or of any person testiiying in his behalf; and also respecting the state ments set forth in the application, documents, and proofs submitted by the claimant Up on the performance of this duty, the Super intendent, Indian agent, or sub-agent will, without unnecessary delay, present the case to the proper nation or tribe assembled in conncii. according to the custom of such na- tiou or tribe, and, after fully explaining it to them, he will then ard there demand satis- faction for the claimant. If within reason able time the nation or tribe shall not have complied with such demand, the fact of the depreciation by some ot their peopie oe,pe admitted in such council, or if they deny the charge as made and peremptorily refuse te render any satisfaction, the superintendent agent or sub agent will in such case submit report of the proceedings had, together witn all the papers, to the Commissioner of Indian Amars Such report shall state whether the
 ino,sns m council recognized, remembered
 ana sdmittsd the depreciation charged; and
 so, aoW lar and with what particularly
 the 1Ik6Q1tlouc If fAo