The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30
INDIAN ADVANCE
DAWES c oMMissIoh REPORT

! SS"6o ~ ~ " ~ y 90 " ~ neVO"b
Preparing for Allotment Of laNdB.-
Ninety thousand Families to r.
esivs Farms. - Seven Year, ei
Work.
Washington. D. c.. Dsc 26.-Ths an.
nual report Of the Dawes commission
on Its work for the I'VE civilized tribes
Of Indians In Indian Territory. which
was made public to-day. is a general
review Of the partition and allotment
OF the lands Of those Indians during
the past six years.
The time consumed In the change
from the old system to the new" the
report says. has been q most irksoms
period to the people Of Indian Terri
tory and the commission is not uu.
mindful of the fact that to many can
did observers the execution Of the
task has seemed to be both tedious and
expensive"
While admitting that a criticism was
to be expected. the report goes on to
say that 1t is not just, and to show
that the time has been well occupied
In securing q correct roll Of the people,
In obtaining correct inventory Of
their property and in locating i'm.
provements.
OF the difficulties Of these various
divisions of the work the report says:
Every adult or head Of a family in
total OF more than 100000 citizens.
and claimants. was personally exam.
ined and his previous tribal record was
looked up. OF this number and in this
way more than 10000 have been ex-
amined since June %. 1898. The pro
ceedings were all taken down. espe-
cially as every case could b0 carried to
Washington on appeal. and often the
record Of single person was hun.
dreds Of pages in extent.
"Of the above number of people. ap-
proximately 10000 will be finally ad-
judged to lawfully possess tribal men,
bership and property rights. and 1t can
readily be seen how a less careful
course of procedure would have ut
terly dissipated tho properties of the
tribes.
"As to the appraisement OF the land.
1t was thought that tracts Of forty
acres or quarter section was az
small division as could reasonably be
made the subject Of personal inspeo
tion. This acreage was adopted as
the unit in determining the grade and
value of lands: but even this required
the locating. inspection, classifying
and valuing Of nearly 100000 tracts ol
land.
''As for safeguarding the Improve
ment rights and occupancy rights Of
the people, their houses and barns,
fences and other improvements ad to
be located by actual surveys and with
minute accuracy. Perhaps hardly man
in the territory knew the sectional d.
visions Of his farm or the sectional 10
cation of single one Of his improve
ments. and hence there was no source
Of accurate information respecting
these matters except the surveys and
location Of Improvements made by the
commission"
The report adds:
I'VE have been daily Witnesses Of
the distress Of the people caused by
delay, not only Of the approximately
90. 900 citizens of the tribes but also Of
the estimated 100000 other residents
of the territory whose legitimate inter.
ests suffer from an unsettled state Of
affairs.
There will have been seven years
consumed in this work II it Is com.
pleted. as we expect. by July 1. 1905.
and the administration Of these com
munal estates. amounting to nearly 20..
100000 acres of land and to perhaps
hundreds of millions Of dollars In act
ual values. will then have consumed
that amount Of time and have cost less
than 10 cents per acre"
I'VE trust that q consideration Of tho
facts here stated will lead to the con-
clusion that under the circumstances
the time consumed has not been un-
reasonable nor the cost unduly great"
Speaking of the difficulties con-
nected with the allotment work the
commissioners say that "speculators.
not over-scrupulous in their business
methods, have attempted in every way
to influence the work with q view OF
personal gain"