Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-03-05
INDIAN DEPREDATIONS
Pending Cases and Some Diflicultie
That Attend Them.

Washington, March 5.-Congress s. seems
likely to find perplexities in dealing with
the payment Of the Indian depreciation
claims, which, as adjudicated in the man
ner recently provided for, may prove
something of a burden on the treasury.
An act passed about three years age
conferred upon the court of claims juris-
diction in these matters, and the limit OF
time for presenting the claims is now
within one week of running out. Three
years was liberal margin for this pur,
pose.
Up to the time the act was passed there
had been filed through the Indian Offices
1878 claims, and at recent date thera
was total of 1898 on record. OF these
1,454 had been already decided there and
presented to congress-; but the court of
claims was empowered to adiudicate
these as we'll as such as had not been
passed upon. The work of the Indian Of
fee in the matter has therefore largely
consisted for the past three years in
transmitting papers to the court of
claims.
Under the law of 1891 the old time
limitations were waived, except in the
case of claims accruing prior to July /,
1856, and not presented, before the pas
sage OF the act, to the interior department
or congress, or any officer authorized to
inquire into such claims. The judgments
thus rendered in favor of claimants were
to run against the United States and also
against the tribe committing the wrong,
If it could be identified. This was reviv.
ing the principles of the original law of
eventual indemnification. The judgments
rendered against tribe are to be de-
Quoted from the annuities, or, If it has
none, from funds due to it arising from
the sale of it's lands, or, if such lands are
not available, from any appropriation
made by congress for its benefit, or f.
nally, any appropriation that may here
after be made, the amount in this case
being meanwhile payable from the
treasury.
Two difficulties have been experienced
from this legislation. One is that claim
ants are in some cases satisfying them-
selves by showing that depredations were
committed by Indians without taking the
trouble to identify the particular band or
'Aioo' onuoi ouo ioHB udRo VI Ouo law the
claimant does not gain any personal ad-
vantage by identifying the band, since he
makes the government responsible in any
case, and all the good that would be
gained by his taking the extra trouble of
identification is that of giving the gov
ernment claim against the tribe. Pa
triotic anxiety on this score does not seem
to be sufficient to induce this trouble to
be taken. The second difficulty is that,
even where such identifcations are pos
sible, it may be a serious source of trou-
BILE to subtract the amounts of the jndg-
ments from the annuities of the tribes.
In some cases it may seriously interfere
with their support, and in others it must
seem to the Indians like breach of faith
and of contract if arrangements for the
annuities have been conditioned on
such deduction. This would appear es-
pecially unjust in cases where tribes of
to-day, peaceful and orderly, are to be
held liable for damage done by savage
ancestors of generations ago. Perhaps
congress may endeavor to tighten sueh
injustice by special action in individual
cases as presented.