The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1885-01-08


! lle says ~ part that the Interior depart
: Insnt has Tor years recognized the righ
OF Indians "a receive compensation
for the pastursgo of stock o'
reservations and such right
/ have also beon recognized by the cJiTt
: aud the senate commiltee. The privi
lege 10 pasture cattle IL only q license
not a lease, and conveys no ointerost Ia
! the lands occupied. Tho Indians, Ih'
"a lease, but the department refused I,
, recognize them beyond treating thom A.
licenses reyocable 10 the Indians AT will
No one can question their right "a make
such dis, osltiOn of the grass growing on
their lands. Cone rning the pecuniary
gain which tho Indians now
derive nom tho license 10
use the products OF their lands when
they grant IL 10 the whites, the secretary
SAYS they ara now receiving 800
for every dollar received under
the old systom. With respect
u allowing the Indians u control large
and valuable tracts suitable for ayricnl-
tural purposes the secretary cou-
cluaos that they should no. be
permitted 10 own such tracts ~ the On
uiusion OF settlers, whom such lands are
not not needed by the Indians, and that
IL Is n misfortune 10 any country
10 have its lands held In large quaint.
ties by few owners; the more 30 II
held by owners who neither make use
OF IL or allow Others TO do so.
/ Co-T or COLLECTIONS.
\ WAsHINoroN, Jan. G.--it IL estimated
that the cost OF collecting tho revenue
NJ all ports ofentry for the fiscal year IT,
For salaries .,,,,,,.,,, ,.,,.,..,... S,20b ~
Miscellaneous ..,.,. ,,,..,... ...,,-., l,iCo,6!j
The employees number i,li7.
kINvEsI INDIAN LAND LEAs IS.
The investigation into Indian liant
llouses was begun by the senate cont
| mittre on Indian affairs to-day.
John W. Scott, agent ior several tribes
tho Indian Territory, was called.
| He said all tribes under his charge had
leased portions of their lands. The
ePoncas had leased $1,000 acres. ar one
lhalf of their possession, at $1,000 per
annum. The land was not sublet hut
occupied by Sherburne, the lessee, for
grazing purposes. The present policy
| Gf leasing, witness considered the best.
He was asked ii tho price paid by
| Snerburne WAS u fair one, put he was
| not prepared To express an opinion ON
| this point. lie thought, however, tha' H.
would bring more II open To c0mpeti-
tiUn. the Mes Perces had leased u pOr-
tion of their reservation for $1,000 year.
| The Pawrees had leased $4,000 acres at
"
Witness was present and advised the
Indians in maxim" some OF these lease.
Since public attention had been SO wide
ly called TO this matter, witness thought
the lands might now be leased for Il
higher price.
John &. Tufts, agent for tho five civil
lizrd tribes, testified that the Cherokee
strip 200 miles long and iiity.siX iniles
Il q, was leased 10 an association tor
500. 600 per year. lhe land would now
pr badly rent for $4,000 more.
This evening several Witnesses were
examined, all of whom were lesseos o!
lands from the Cheyenne and the ARA.
pahoes, as follows:
III. L. Newman, st. Louis, 33600C acres
a. +. Givens, st. Louis, 4560Jo.
w. L. Mul ally, Caldwell, Kansas,
500, 900, and Edward Fenicn, Letyel-
worth, Kansas, JGl,OJO.
The testimony OF witnesses wa, simi
lar in general purport, and may be
briefly summarized:
These gentlemen filed applications
with the agent of the Cheyennes and
Arrapahoes for leases, aud Miles said
to them he thought, inasmuch
ANYTHING for the Indians, II would b
Tor their interest 10 lease them. He
thereupon called council of the tribe
and represented the matter TO them
in favorable light, stat
who was present, that the secretary OF
he interior thought fayorably of the
proposition, and that the price ohered
was 2 , cents io..Is per an"rla rI,l per per
years, and the Indians, after
several days deliberation by themselves,
IL cep.ed the offer, and Agent Miles ex-
ecnted the leases and him
self divided the lands among |
the lessees, refusing to give
any one of the latter the privilege of
making his own selection. The lands
since have been fenced III anu party
stocked, and the leases as made, have
embodied the provision that
orcupa,ion and payment of
rent should begin when the secretary OF
the interior formally approved the
eases. The secretary mad, however,
refused formally to approve
he leases, though. he had
given tacit approval, ana had
promised protection as iar 90 IL could
legally be extended as against parties
who had no contracts ana phid
no rents, and upon this alone
the lessees began paying rent
in cash to the Iudians. la reply toa |
series of inquiries, wiLncsses said' ' SUI, sub
stantially, that nnatnra",TT%T,, r,, ,Te,,sr " hevnnd
~, ,v,H y
that con.n1ned in his letter of April |
:. iss:s 70 Edward Fenlon, already pub
Isbed in the senate executive docu- |
m6nt, and this letter stated in effect
nat it was not the present policy o! the
department to affirmatively re-
cognize any agreement OF
u lease, character and question;
them, if made by responsible parties
and upon fair terms to the Indians The
department would not assume he re-
sponsibility of settling controversies
that might arise between the different
parties holding leases, yet it .wonld
en1eavOr to see that parties having no
agreement with the Indians were not
allowed entrance with those VINO had.
FenlOn's reply to enquiries, described
the Cheyenne and Arrapahoe Cattle |
company as an organization having |
headuuarters in New York, Of which |
lhe officers were r. w. Raymond, presi- |
lent; A. + Child, secretary and treasurer,
and witness as general manager. The
property of the company consisted OF
witnesses lease and that Of Mullaly,
covering together 1,064,000. It's capital
stock was S1,OOO,OO0; it had sold
bonds at par to the amount of $50O,OO0,
receiving cash from every purchaser,
and among the original incorporators
the estate of Peter Cooper had 100000
worth of bonds and the purchasers OF
the bonds had received stock bonus
equal to 60 per cen!. of their purchase,
the remaining 40 per cent. being paid to
witness and Mullaiy as considerat1oh ~ th tao,
for their leases and the rest Ot the STOCK
remained uiisoia.
Each witness testify that Ne did rot
pay or promise any consideration 70
any one Tor securing the le,ses, and
ld,d not know that any. payment,
direct or indirect, for such purposes
" as made by any one else, nor lad any
empoye or officer Of the government
any interest, direct or indirect, Yin tho