The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-03-29

augurate the permit system Of pasturage for
nonresident stock and to give the matter
immediate attention, so that the system shall
be in working order the 1st Of January,
1902. "
Inasmuch as this letter, threatening the In
dams with the permit system, was the cause
and beginning of the whole trouble, one
might naturally suppose that the committee
would ask the commissioner few pertinent
Questions about it-why, for example, he
did in OCTOBER thing that he had DECLARED
in May he could OF do; why course Of pro-
cedure that was clearly illegal and impossible
in the spring became legal and possible IN
we faM; and hnally, why. in Yeply 10 di-
| rect question, ne declared he had not written
a letter which was Immediately afterWard
produced and read and which he was then
forced 20 Omit was his own. No such ques-
tions, however, were propounded, and when
the commission, in what purported to lie an
explanation of the letter that he at first de-
lied having written, declared, 'There was
| no Intention Oh my part, nor any one in the
Office to force the present system the
| leasing system upon these Indians Senator
jones merely remarked, II know you could
| aot violate the law, but the question is
| whether the Indians knew it,
Other Remarkable circumstances.
| But the circumstances that attended the
awarding of these leases were quite as re-
| nIarkable and significant as were the leases
| themselves. 1t is perfectly clear, from tho
evidence laid before the committee, that GER
tain cattlemen in the neighborhood Of the
| reservation knew what going on, aad had
formed a pool or syndicate to check COM
petition, keep down rates, and, if possible,
shut out other bidders. This may tie inferred.
| not Only from the shottness Of the time ell
| lowe" between advertisement and aWarl, bur
! from the fact that the bids had very li1r-
TIED rarge--viz., iron, a minimum rate OF
cents to maximum rate of 3 cents and u a
! mill per acre. although grazing land in the
Cheyenne reservation, just south Of Standing
Rock, was leased at that very time for S
cents per acre and land the other side
| OF the Missouri river for IL cents per acre.
But the existence of this local pool" or
| syndicate of st0ckmen Is not merely a matter
OF inference and conjecture; it is a fact of
record. In reply to. question from Senator
Harris, Commissioner Jones said From the
records OF the office it appears that they (the
local stockmenl have come to some agree
ment among themselves. The land was d.
vided into two tracts, and those who have
| cattle near the reservation agreed among
themselves to put in certain number of
cattle divided proportionately on some basis.
That Understanding among the
| lessees." In other words. the local stock
men, who seem to have had early notice OF
the leasing plan, formed a syndicate and
promptly put In their low bids. Then the
quick action of the Indian Office in opening
these bids protected them from the COMPETE
| ton of other stockmen who, perhaps, were
not SO favorably situated, and who did not
have time, after the advertisement and be-
fore the award, to get their proposals in
Senator Gamble informed the committee that
ne had received complaints, based on this
ground, from ether stockmen outside the syn
dicate, and suggested that the time for the
opening of the bids might have been more
extended The Indian commissioner did not
explain why the time not more extended
and when he asked by Senator Jones
whether cents an was an adequate
price for the grazing privilege given to the
pool, he replied, 81 do not know anything
alout it,
Corruption Is Charged.
William V. Wade, however, OF Wade, North
Dakota, seems to know something about it,
and in letter to Senator Jones, which was
laid before the committee, he says: Seeing
by the papers that you taking some inter-
est in the wrong being done the Sioux In
dams by the renting of the reservation to a
company with which the commissioner of In
dian affairs is connected, take the privilege
OF writing you upon the subject. l think it
Is all wrong, for the following reasons" After
stating his reasons, Mr.. Wade adds in con-
clusion: "A thorough investigation will show
up some dark objects only slightly under
cover"
Whether Mr. Wades charge that the Indian
commissioner was connected with the syn
dictate to which the leases were made is we'll
founded not, have means of finding
out
Frightened and discouraged by the attitude
Of the Indian Office the Sioux decided to
| make no further opposition to the Lennon
lease, and even offered to extend it so as to
! take in about $50 square miles Of additional
territory, provided the commissioner would
hold up the Walker lease which covered the
homes and holdings Of several hundred fami-
lies. This, however, the commissioner refused
to do. and as no definite action had been
taken by the senate committee, the Indians
finally resolved to carry the case into the
| courts. Through their counsel, the Hon. Will
| liam NJ. Springer, they seeking an
injunction to restrain the secretary of the
interior from proceeding to execute the
Walker lease, on the ground that it is in fla
grant violation of the written agreement by
virtue Of which, ostensibly, it was author
lied.
| Bill to Disposses the Indians.
Mr.. Kennon then goes on to consider
Senator Rawlins' recent bill to deprive
the Indians of the Uintah reservation Of a
part Of their lands, without their consent,
\ which argues as follows: 1.-THE legal pro-
position involved in this: The estates
Of infants and incompetent persons, in
capable of contracting for themselves,
are constantly disposed of by the au-
thority of the state, and the proceeds de-
rived are held for their benefit. That is
| the proposit ion. These are Indians who
! cannot intelligently deal with this subject
Independently They are wards of the
government. This bill does not take away
from them anything. 1t converts their
land into a fund which will be applied
to their benefit. That is constantly done
in the courts of chancery under an order
| to sell the land of an infant to which
the infant has title in fee simple"
Regarding 1t Senator Plat, Of Connecti-
cut, said: Il do not know but what the
time has come when we may have
to disregard the letter of the treaties
which We have made, giving such title as
we have given to these Indians, and to
proceed upon your Senator RawlinsD
theory that whatever is best now for the
| Indians, years having elapsed, we will do
Mr.. KEENAN, then goes on to say:
Second Century of Dtshonor.
! In the case of Lone Wolf and other Indian
chiefs against the secretary of the interior
| which is now pending in the United States
| supreme court; the court Of appeals of the
| District of Columbia held last week that 1.-THE
| treaty of 1858" the same treaty under which
| the Standing Rock Sioux hold their reserva-
| tom certainly did not vest in the Indians
either in the Individual or tribal capacity,
anything more than the right to occupy the
| lands, as against the United States until it
| was found necessary to make other provision