Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1891-11-26
THE CHEROKEE COUNCIL.
Two Very Readable Letters A
Rumor of Sl.36 for the Strip.

economy" The Zone blll'' is the
much talked Of "Cow Bill,n so it
ia thought. This bill passed both
houses by an overwhelming ma
jority, receiving only two oppos-
ing votes in the house, Geo. CLARK
/ of Cooweescoowee and Thos. Blair
of Sequoyah. In the senate it
passed IL to 8, four members be-
ing absent; two OF the senators vot-
ing against it being Ellis Builing-
ton, Of Flint, and George Sanders,
of Saline-we cannot find out who
cast the third opposing vote This
bill differs from the old bill in
these respects Cattle may be in
troduced into the Cherokee nation
east of 96 they must be intro
duced from Dec. 1st to March 1st,
and tax of 81 90 per head must
be paid for their introduction. and
in case the introducer does not
comply with the law the penalty is
that the sheriff and revenue col
lector may remove the cattle and
keep them out until the tax is paid
1t is to be supposed that this
harsh rebuke falls upon only one
of the three ways in which the
law may be violated-in the fail
ure to pay the dollar per head. Il
the cattle come in before Deeem-
Der, or after March, it would seem
that there was no penalty so long
as s1.00 per head was paid in to
the revenue collector Then the
question arises, why were any
dates set for the introducing of
cattle
Wednesday the report of the
Superintendent Of Education was
received, in which he reports a
possible expenditure Of s62, 900 a
year and advises the abolishing OF
the primary or INDECENT depart
ments of the male and female SEM
inaries, which would save the ma
ton about 50 900 year.
Another monopoly bill was in
troduced-and defeated. 1t seems
hard to decide upon such a bill
One of them provided that each
adult should be allowed to oulti-
vate 800 acres Of land, but for
each acre above that amount in
cultivation he should pay rental
of $5 per acre. That bill had
scarcely opened its innocent eyes
upon this wicked world when the
chilling blast Of the opposition
nipped it in the bud and it turned |
up its little toes to the daisies.
Another measure provided that
each adult should be allowed 400 |
acres, but that measure shufiled d |
off the mortal coil before you
could say "scat. Another bill,
like Banquo's ghost, truth crushed
to earth, and other such mush-
rooms, serenely bobbed up. 1t
provided that a man might culti-
vate POO acres any way he wished,
but, for all over that, he should
hire none but citizen laborers
clerks were not to be permitted
and Indians from other tribes
could not work in the Cherokee
nation without permits. This bill
received the fate of Ananias and
Sapphira The young men arose,
wound it up, carried it out and
buried it.
Instead Of amending bill until
it suits the majority, our council
simply kills bill and begins anew.
The next bill that passed Eek
cepting bill re-admitting certain
persons to citizenship was a bill
to cut down the clerks and inter
prefers to three each. The vast
majority of clerks and interpreters
that were employed at the begin
ming of council were left in the
cold and had nothing TO do but
"pack their grips"
Saturday bill providing for an
attorney general to represent the
instead Of hiring lawyers
every time the nation became a
party to a suit, was passed. This
is really good measure and will
save the nation much money.
Another thing that is needed,
and will be made, is a citizenship
court. Over one hundred petitions
for citizenship will be introduced
this term; and, if council gives
them the deliberation they ought
to get, our Legislators will have no
time for other business.
As to the Cherokee commission,
It is not buying much land yet, and
the nation still holds possession Of
the Strip. We understand the Z.
5. commission offered about s13 ,
per acre for the Strip. Our COM
mission replied by asking them to
give the metes and bounds Of the /
land they wished to buy-a peril
Mont i,o,,ir.r Ot,r .r.r,,r,,f1.e5,,f, 80, / .