The San Francisco call., 1905-02-05
WRITES ABOUT
INDIAN AFFAIRS
President Declares No Law
Was Violated When Funds
Were Given to Institutions
MONEY OF THE REDMEN
Executive Says Braves Have
a Right to Direct DISPOSE
tiOn of Cash That Is Theirs

WASHINGTON, Feb. president
Roosevelt has sent a letter to Secre-
tary Hitchcock on the subject Of au-
thority to grant contracts for the edu
cation of Indians in UNCONVENTIONAL
schools.
The President says that inasmuch as
the authority exists to grant the re-
quest of the Indians, unquestionably
they are entitled by moral right to have
their moneys used to educate their chill
dren at the schools they choose. The
President directs that the Interior De-
partment continue the practice unless
Congress directs otherwise or the
courts hold that the decision Of the
Department of Justice to this effect is
wrong. The President also urges the
passage of the Lacey bill authorizing
the allotment OF annuities in severalty
to the Indians in the same way as their
land is allotted. The Presidents letter
follows:
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON,
d. c.. Feb 3, 19o5.-To the Secretary of
the Interior: 1 have received from you
the letter from the Commissioner Of
Indian Affairs of January 81. 1905, in
relation to the inquiries of the Hon.
James S. Sherman as TO the authority
for granting contracts for education of
Indians in denominational schools. This
letter of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs asks that the general questions
raised in Mr.. Shermans letter of Jan
uary 23 be united with the special ques
tion raised by the Commissioner in his
letter of January u and presented to
the President for submission to the
Attorney General
THE letter of January 21 concerning
the payment of a claim filed in the Of
flee of Indian Affairs in connection with
the contract with the ST. Labres School
on the Tongue River reservation stands
by itself and will be submitted to the
Attorney General for his consideration
and report.
RECEIVES PETITIONS.
LAS regards the general question I
have received from the Attorney Gen
eral under date of February 2 a letter,
copy of which is enclosed. Early in
1902 petitions on behalf of the various
Catholic and Episcopal schools were
brought to my attention by certain &c
clesiastics and laymen who requested
the Interior Department to distribute
the rations and annuities through the
mission schools of their several
churches, when the children were in
the care of those schools The Attor-
ney General decided that this request
was illegal and could not properly be
granted Over year afterward the
request was made originally on behalf
of certain Catholic schools in 1903, also
on behalf of a Lutheran School in
1904, that where there were Indian
moneys held in trust for the Indians by
the Secretary of the Interior, the inter-
est ON these Indian moneys being dis
tributed among the individual Indians
or such other ways as the Secretary of
the Interior might direct, and where
certain Indians petitioned that the
moneys so distributed to them should
be used for the support of the particu-
lar denominational school which they
desired their children to attend, this
petition should be granted.
The question raised was, of course.
wholly different from that originally
raised on behalf of the Episcopal
church and of the Catholic church.
This new request was submitted to the
Department of Justice and the depart
ment decided, as set forth in the ac-
companying report, that the pronibi-
tion of the law as to the use of public
moneys for sectarian schools did not
extend to moneys belonging to the In
dians themselves and not to the public,
and that these moneys belonging to
the Indians themselves might be ap-
piled in accordance with the desire of
the Indians for the support of the
schools to which they were sending
their children
TNnUANc HAVE Dr~r