The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1898-08-09
JUMPING TOWN LOTS.

ers-those who take possession
of unimproved lots without
paying for them-should take
special notice. They will not
be permitted to jump lots and
hold them without any prior
claim:
Ardmore. l. T., July 22.-
Hon. A. S. McKennon, Mus
kogee, |. T.: Dear slr-The
provision in the Curtis bill pro-
hibiting Indian citizens from
collecting rent on more land
than they can allot is going to
be a source of quite good deal
of confusion in this country.
Quite a number of Indians have
come to me and wanted to
know how they should ascer
tain how much land they could
allot, or how much land they
could hold pending allotment
It occurs to me that this pro-
vision is so indefinite that it is
going to be almost impossible
to enforce it until a roll of the
tribe is made. Even then the
difference in value of the diff
ferent classes of land will rem
der it almost impossible to ar
rive at even an approximately
correct result. Have you any
idea as to what means the de
partment will take to ascertain
the amount of land a citizen
should hold?
There is one feature of the
bill in connection with town
property that | ana afraid is go
ing to be the cause of a great
deal of strife. if not bloodshed.
There is a class of people III
this country who never saw
fit to buy a town lot and pay
for it who think they can jump
any vacant property they find
now and build on it, and, being
the owner of improvements on
it, when the commission comes,
he will be entitled to buy it un-
der the provisions of the Curtis
bill. 1t occurs to me that it
would be a wise policy for the
commission to communicate
this condition to the secretary
of the interior, and that some
action be taken looking to the
protection of legitimate inter
ests in matters of this kind.
Knowing the interest you
take in having the matters in
this country fairly and equita-
bly, adjusted and seeing that no
man is permitted to rob another,
| write you thus fully in refer
ence to this matter. hoping that
you will be able to make some
suggestion that will be of inter
est and benefit to the honest
and legitimate holder of town
lots in the Southern district of
the Indian Territory. Yours
very respectfully,
S. T. BLEDsoE.
Muskogee, [. T., Aug. 6.-S.
T. Bledsoe, Ardmore, l. T.: My
dear sir-Your valued favor of
the 22d ult. came to hand sew
eral days ago, having followed
me to Clarksville, where | was
visiting my family. and l leg
your pardon for not having an
swered it before this, but |
wanted to confer with the other
members of the commission as
to what should be done about
the matter of which you write.
We conclude that it is our duty
to refer your letter to the secre-
tary of the interior, which [
shall do to-day, for his infor-
nation. | do not believe that
parties can. by such wrongful
acts as you describe, ACQUIRE
any rights, either legal or equit-
able, which will oe respected
by the United States authori-
ties, and hope that the secre
tary of the interior will adopt
such course as to prevent com
plications and trouble, such as
may be contemplated in such
cases. | do not know how par
ties are to determine exactly. or
even very approximately, what
amount of land they will be en-
titled to hold under the Curtis
bill. but all persons who hold
land largely in excess of what
might be considered reasona
BILE share of the public domain
will certainly know that thew
are violating the law. and there
can be no difficulty in execut-