Arizona citizen., 1875-02-27
LOSSES BY INDIANS.
Claims for Expectations by Indians Their Presentation for Payment --Improbabfiity of Payment--Ari- Zona Claims.


 Under a law of Congfess, passed number of years ago, ,citizens who have suffered losscss by Indian depredations, and all Indians who have sustained losses by whites, are allowed and expected to ton, a statement of them, with the par ticulars of time, circumstances, kind, extent, etc. After an examination ot them with the proofs in their support, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs trans mits them to the Secretary of the Inte- rior with his recommendations, or re- turns them to claimants or local agents for better proof. April 30, 1874, the House of Representatives called upon the Interior Department for a statement of all claims presented during the preceding ten years, to be accompanied Ly the more important particulars of each. In pur- suance of said resolution, the list was furnished on January 9, and shows an az grcgate of claims by whites of S9, 9,0l2,- 379. A, and by Indians of 62l ,053 64 Of the losses by whites, the people ot Kansas claim $4. 7O0 179. A, and the remainder is made up of claims from all the Western States and Territories. Ofthe S4, 3l2, ,200.- A claimed by whites outside of Kansas, an examination of each claim induced the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to recommend as just and proper for pay ment only SS23, ,402. 09-just about one fifth of the amount claimed. In the Kan sas cases, but small proportion of the whole number (450) received any attention. Neither the Indian Bureau Gor any depart ment could pay any amount claimed, how ever just. All that could be done was to reject for reasons, or transmit to Con- eress for further examination and ap- propriation for payment of such as that body deemed just. It is believed that payment of any claims under present legislation, is not designed and therefore the law on the subject is deluSion. One of the principal difficulties in the way of
 
 almost invariably state their losses at from two to ten times the actual amount, and this eXaggeration discredits all and destroys about all hope of ever inducing Congress to appropriate dollar to pay just claims To better illustrate the mat ter for our local readers, we will here quote the Arizona claims, their date, by whom made, amounts, and action of the Interior Department thereon:
 Johu J. Buckman, for SS50; loss sus- tained November 10, 1866, by Hualapais i; presented to Indian Bureau October 29, 1867, on which day Superintendent Dent was advised that the Hualapais had no annuity, and no further action is shown.
 w. G. Pondexter for. sl450; loss sus- tained in November lS66 by Hualapais ; presented to Indian Bureau October 29, 1867, and on same day the same action taken as ln Buckman's case.
 c. w. McNulty for S475; loss sustained in May 1867 by Mohaves; presented to Ind Bureau October 29, 1867, and on same day same action taken as in two previous cases.
 E. D. Lane for s2230; loss sustained in December 1868 by Pimas; presented to Indian Bureau April 20, 1870, and on May IS, 1874, it was reported to the Sec retary of the Interior for disallowance, and the Secretary, two days after receipt, sent it to Congress.
 NJ. H. Hamilton for S36O; loss sustain ed by Pimas September 24. 1870; present. ed to lnGian Bureau October 20, 1870, and on February 24, 1873, 1t was reported to the Secretary for allowance of $50, and was, by the latter officer, on the day of its receipt, sent to Congress.
 Henry Van Arman and c. L. Comfort for S3037.50; loss sustained in August 1871, by Pimas and Maricopas; presented to Indian Bureau March II, 1872, and was reported to the Secretary March 4, 1874, for allowance of 5000, and was transmit ted to Congress March 2S, 1874, by the Secretary.
 John Holmes for SEQ; loss sustained in 1869 by unknown parties; presented to Indian Bureau May IS, 1872, and there being no proof submitted, no definite action was taken on the claim.
 John H. Gregg for S2l45; loss sustain