The times., 1899-12-13
INDIANS FIGHT LEASES.
They Charge oil Companies With At
tempted Lnnd-Grnbbing.

They Charge Oil Companies with At
tempted Lnnd-Grabbing.
/ There is a war in the Department of
/ the Interior between the Cudahy Oil Com
/ pany and the Cherokee Oil and Gas Com
! pany on one side and the Cherokee, Creek
! and Delaware Indians on the other The
J contention arises from the application
made by the companies named, to the
/ Secretary of the Interior, for leases Of oil
lands in the Indian Territory. The brief
/ OF the applicants was filed some time ago.
! while Walter S Logan. of New York.
counsel for the Indians, fled the answer
/ yesterday
There is an understanding at the de
paTtment that the Standard Oil Company
/ is behind the applicants for lease.
/ The Indians, by their attorney, say that
4 the persons who ask the Secretary to grant
the leases are those who wish to profit
! by them at the expense of the Indians.
/ while those urging the Secretary TO refuse
to grant the leases are the owners of the
| property at whose expense the leases would
/ be granted.
The corporations ask for leases on ap-
! proXimately 49,, 600 acres of land, and pro-
pose TO pay into the Treasury for the
! benefit of the Indians fixed or minimum
/ to $57, 424 The Indians make reply that
1 there is no assurance that any more money
1 would ever be paid upon the leases, and
they say: 1T is extremely improbable that
/ any very considerable sum beyond this
first payment will ever be made Con-
tinuing, the Indians say;
The corporations have the privilege of
/ throwing up the leases on any section of
the land leased, at any time after the
first two years. 1t is not at all probable
that oil Will be found on the whole 1S3. 900
acres 1t is likely to be found only on a
J small part of IL. The corporations will,
doubtless. throw up the leases on all the
lands except those where oil is developed
/ in large quantities, and where it can b.
produced at very great profits, and Will
! throw up these leases as soon as the oil is
exhausted. After the first two years the
corporations are not likely to pay royal
ties on any very considerable part of the
land, but this land will be the choice oil
land of the Indian Territory, so long as
the oil shall last
The leases provide that the corporations
shall pay royalty Of 10 per cent on the
value of the oil produced The minimum
royalties are paid on account of this 10
per cent and nothing will result to the
indians unless this shall amount to more
than the minimum royalties fixed by the
leases. The oil is to be valued at the
mouth Ct the we'll. The corporations are
to own the pipe lines-the only means OF
transporting the oil to the market There
Is no Limitation upon their charges for
conveying oil through their pipe lines The
value of the oil when it gets to the market
viii consist principally of transportation
charges. The chance of the Indians getting
anything from their 10 per cent at the
mouth Of the well is very small
Is there any likelihood that these corpo-
rations, being the only possible purchasers
for the Indians oil at the we'll, will pay
them very much for it.
In the brief there is thrown out the init
nation that the Standard Oil Company is
involved in the proposed transaction The
Indians say:
The application is made by the Cudahy
Oil Company the Cherokee Oil and Gas
I Company, and one B. w. Pennington but
it is unwritten history that there is a
greater power even than these two COrpo-
ratons and this one rich man, behind them
all. Ii may be, as has been hinted a
British corporation or a syndicate Of mag
nifcent proportions seeking to plant its
mighty foot upon this newly opened portion
of the United States. 1t may be the Stand
ard Oil Company in disguise-the Standard
Oil Company is said to put on all sorts OF
DISCUSSES.
we may judge something of the power
behlnd these applicants from the nature
of their application. They want 183, O0(
! acres presumably every acre Of land in
: the Territory on which there is any rea-
sonabe expectation of finding oil"
The attorney for the Indians makes the
point that the Secretary of the interior
has no power or jurisdiction to grant the
leases until the 157, 600 acres of land pur-
: chased by the Delaware tribe from tht
: Cherokee nation under the agreement OIL
April s, 1867, are segregated as command
ed by the twenty-ffty section of the Curtis
bill Submitted to the Secretary of the In
terror is long discussion of various
: treaties and agreements between the Ia
dians and the United States, and also o
the provisions of the Curtis bill. The In
dians further say
. The Indian wishes the Indian Territory
: for his future home. There he hopes hi!
firesde is TO be; there he wishes TO set VI
his household gods; there he wishes tt
till his little farm and rear his children
- The Indian has not the mobility of the
a white race His character was formed
+, under harder conditions than the Whit
: mans, and he cannot so easily change hi
a / ideas, his customs and his mode OF life
His hatred OF mOnOpolies and the indus
trial system which they produce is inbred
II is a part of the nervous structure whicl
a he has inherited. II would take genera
! tions to remove it, if it could be remove,
at ALL