Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-03-31
WASHINGTON CHAT.

An amendment OF considerable Inn
portance To homesteaders of the
Northwest has been offered by Senator
Mcbride of Oregon, intended to be
proposed TO the sundry civil bill.
amending the act of June, 1897, au-
thorizing the settlers or owners of
land included within the limits of a
forest reservation to select other
lands in lieu thereof. extending the
provisions OF the act and making them
applicable to any state or territory to
which no public lands have been or
shall be granted, reserved or pledged
for the use of schools and colleges,
wherever such lands or any part there
of. and before or after being sur
veyed, are included within any forest
reservation, and ether lands of equal
area are hereby appropriated and
granted and may be selected by state
or territory in lieu of such lands so in
cluded within Such forest reservations.
The plan is approved by the senate
committee on public lands.
Senotors Davis and Nelson have
agreed upon the recommendations for
the appointments of United States at
torney and collector of Internal
rue in Minnesota, and the names TO be
sent i'm are Fred Won Baumbach of
Alexandria, for collector, and Robert
@. Evans of Minneapolis for attorney.
The terms of the present incumbents
of these offices do not expire for sew
eral weeks, that of the attorney not
until about the 1st of May; hut the
senator's, having agreed upon what
should be done, made the announce
ment at once. This action clears the
decks of federal appointments In the
state for nearly a year to come, as
the two remaining appointments CU.
S. marshal and surveyor generaD will
not be due until next year.
The delegation of Chippewa Indians
| from the Leech Lake reservation now
here were to-day augmented by the ar
rival Of several Pillager Indians from
the reservation. The latest delegation
also have grievances which they will
lay before the Indian commissioner to-
morrow, having arrived too late to-day
to do anything but pay their respects
The Indians are here to request that
several thousands of acres OF land
which they turned over to the Menom.
inees several years ago be returned to
them. They claim that they were paid
IL L. NG@N ah a1tt W NhN ia NtsiNa
that ii was merely placed in the hands
of the Menominees temporarily.
y y
Senator Davis and Tim Byrnes to-
day had a hearing before the assistant
attorney general of the interior de-
partment on the claim of Minnesota To
sections 16 and SO on Red Lake and
Chippewa reservations, to be used for
school purposes. The Minnesotans did
| not base the claim of the state to the
lands on the ground that the r%eserya-
ton was not coded to the government
at the time of the school grant, but
| claim that the act admitting the state
| into the Union gave the state the right
TO take sections rs and 80 in each
township for school purposes, and that
the subsequent creation of Indian re-
| %servations could not deprive the state
| of its rights TO these lands. 1t is not
expected that the secretary will allow
the claim of the state, as the interior
| department officials assert that IL
would establish a dangerous prece-
dent. In this event h case will be
carried into the courts.
/ =
The committee on rivers and harbors
since the decision was made not to re-
| port a river and harbor bill at this ses-
sion. appear inclined to treat leniently
special measures that are
by report covering minor improve
ments in various sections. The COM
mittee has reported favorably a joint
resolution directing the secretary OF
/ war TO submit estimates for the con-
%struction of a pier for the harbor OF
refuge on the east shore of Lake Pep
in, zeal the village of Pepin. The re-
port says that the lax Is twenty-five
miles long "a ~treacherous body of wa
ter, and navigation upon it is extreme
ly dangerous. 1t Is shown that con-
gress. in 1896, provided for the con-
struction of Il harbor of refuge on the
Minnesota shore. appropriating S30.OO0
for this purpose. 1t is now shown that
| the village of Pepin is opposite Kings
| Coulee and. in case Of rough weather,
tows are broken and logs and lumber
| lost. The committee says that the ex-
pense of the proposed Improvement, on
account of the shoal water neal Pepin,
would be small.
The Indian commissioners has recon-
mended to the president that 100000
be paid to the Sisseton Indians of
South Dakota, to be taken from their
| permanent fund. This money was re-
quested by the Indians recently, n is
to be used by them in the purchase of
seed. cattle. etc.
Representative Curtis of Kansas. OF
the committee on Indian affairs, has
reported f%ayorably on the bill intro
duced by representative Johnson, to
refer to the court of claims the claim
of the Turtle Mountain band of CHIP
pewa Indians Of North Dakota. The
report Is accompanied by a lengthy de-
tailed statement in the form Of a me-
mortal by the Indians.