The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1891-04-23
DEAD AND DOWN PINE.
Magnitude OF tho Lumber Interests of the
Red Men of til. Northwest.

Rcd Men of til. Northwest.
The bureau at Washington has this to
say concerning the timber wealth of the
Indian reservation in Wisconsin and
Minnesota:
During the season of 1890 the Indians
of Green Bay Agency cut and banked
for sale about -, 500. .G0b feet of pine and
1O,ODo,O,0 of other timber, while those
of White Earth banked lJ,JCO. 90 feet
The total of these two agencies, there
fore, was about 1900, ,G0) feet. While
these figures indicate the magnitude of
the lumber interests of the Indians of
Wisconsin and Minnesota. the act
passed by the last Congress permitting
the Menomonees to engage more system
aticaly in marketing all their timber
may lead to results still more rcmarka-
bic. The Chippcwas recently coded
lands amounting to perhaps 3,0Ol. 100
acres, containing a large area of valua-
BILE forest
The recent troubles on the Menomo-
nee reservation have attracted fresh in
tcrcst to their wealth in timber. I heir
sales during the season of 1896 netted
them nearly S2lS, coo, of which sum
$4,000 was deposited in the nit"d
States Treasury as stumpagc fund for
the support OF the poor and helpless and
for the ma;ntenancc of hospital. The
remainder was divided in cash among
those who had been engaged in the work.
Tho law relating to dead and down
timber on the reservations has been
made the subject of elaborate decisions
by the Supreme Court. The main point
has naturally been to find ont how much
of the timber can b cut While stand
ing it is part of the realty, and can only
be severed with a view to improving
the land and making il better ada pied
to convenient occupation. If the In
dians, under their titles. cou'd sell the
land freely to any buyer, they could
also cut and sell the timber without the
land; but since this is not the case. and
they can only make the land over to
the Government, they are held to be
practically, SO far As the forests are
concerned. tenants for lifa Hence the
cutting of the timber must not be done
for the sake of sale but only Is an incl
dent of Improvement. But. while this
may seem 10 be Il severe re friction. it is
WISE in relation 10 the question of forest
preservation. Be>i,s, the decision Of
thr supreme Court a lae that. sin the
ory AT least the land is better and moro
valuable with the timber Off than on"
SO that there has been little practical
difficulty in giving the Indians 4 fair use
of their wealth in lumber
Still, under the decision of the court.
an act OF Congress i'll I>S9 prescribed
that "whcncver there is reasonable cauSe
to believe that such timber has been
killed. burned. girdlcu or otherwise in
iur"d for the purpose of securing its sale
such authority shall not be granted. !"
In the fall of that year, 4 ter inquiries
4 ~. t,at F-.~,
su>pccting such Il violation Of TIL" law.
the Indian office granted an hority to
the Red Lake Indians and nt.rr Chip
pewaS To dispose Of their dead and down
timber. The injustice to which they
had been subjected by failures to give
them this privilege was expressed in the
following !ettcr:
"N hen We negotiated the treaty with
the Chippewa Commission ceding our
lands We were promised the privilege to
cut and diSpO q of the dead and down
timber on our reservation until the time
of valuation Of the timber preceding the
sale Of same,
During the past years millions Of feet
of timber have been allowed to rot and
waste by worms and tir-. There are
now many millions of feet which will
rot aad waste unless We are enabled to
log it, The Commits iuncr of Indian
Affairs ha, made Il ruling allowing us to
dispose of the dead and down timber on
the Red Lake Reservation, but this rul-
Ing furnishc, us with no relief. as we
are about Il miles from settlement. and
no supplies in the way of provisions or
tooS
a nder the ruling. which does not
protect the furnisher. We have been un-
Ia fn D,,I
We are now lying idle and in want"
Similar arrangements were made for
the Green Bay Agency. with the results
already spoken of. But there were still
complaints that the Nenomonees were
not profiting much by the logging busi-
ness, and that they cleared larger tracts
than they could cultivate Then the
EIfty-frSt Congress came in with an act
which. according TO Commissioner Nor
gan, removes all incentive to iniurc
growing timber by giving each member
of the tribe an equal share of the net
proceeds of its sale. by funding the
greater rart of said pro ecdS. the in
trrcSt only to be used for their benefit,
and by giving steady employment every
winter at good wages to all who are
physically able to labor" The results
OF the logging under this law will be
duly made public.
The logging conducted by Indians has
long been very important. and, besides
the sums received for the timber, tho
wages earned by the Indians for their
labor are of great consequence. as are
also the habits of industry thus formed.
Hence the Indian Office has often been
anxious that contracts with white men
for numbering sholld not prejudice the
employment of Indian labor. OF c purse,
when land is allotted to the Indians in
sevcra!ty they may dispose of the tim
Der as they pleas..