The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-02-21
INDIAN LAND SCANDALS
Senator LaFo||ette Picks Flaws
In The Senate Bill.
ALLEGES SENSATIONAL CHARGES
CLAIMS SPECTATORS WOULD BE
ONLY ONES TO REAP ANY
Benefit.
ALLEGES SENSATIONAL CHARGES

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21-An effort
to get possession of $500, 900 worth
of Indian lands in which relatives of
officials high up in the interior depart
ment are directly implicated, was
brought to the attention of the senate
late yesterday. 1t will be investigated
thoroughly and sensational disclosures
showing a colossal conspiracy to rob
the Indians are certain to follow.
The lands in question are in the
Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of the
Indian Territory, and the senate bill
providing for the closing up Of the
affairs of the five civilized tribes was
ready to be reported by the committee
on Indian affairs when Senator La
Toilette of Wisconsin asked a few
questions that brought the entire mat
ter to a standstill.
Prominently mentioned in cOnnec-
ton with the deal is the Choctaw, Ok
lahoma & Gulf railroad. This COM
pany is said to control a majority OF
the leases covering $1,000 acres Of the
coal lands in the neighbOrhood of
South McAlester, 1. T. AS operated at
present, these lands are netting the
Indians about $14 an acre a year, and,
according to statements made before
the committee, will net at a low es-
innate $500 an acre before exhausted.
Lands Were to be Sold.
By the terms of senate amendment
put into the Indian bill as passed by
the house, these lands were to have
praisement made by board appointed
by the secretary of the interior and
the lessees these two to shoose a
third. The senate amendment to the
bill provided that in making such
valuation, said appraisers shall not
consider any increased values of the
lands caused by Improvement and de-
velopment by said lessees.''
If this Joker had gone through, it
is charged by attorneys for the Indians
that it would have given the lessee,
the right to purchase them for a song,
as the apraisement would have been
based on the value of the land twenty
years ago. This would have Melted the
Indians only ST. an acre for land which
at present is paying them $14 an acre
on an IS per cent royalty basis.
La FoIeItte's Bomb.
The first intimation that there was
anything wrong with the Indian bill
in the committee came when Senator
La Toilette asked for information as
to the rule under which the Indian coal
lands were to be sold. He announced
that he would reserve the right to
vote on the bill in the light of any
subsequent information he might re-
ceive, and refused to be bound by the
committees action.
This resulted in calling James Nc
Murray and other attorneys for the
Indians before the committee These
representatives insisted that the only
fair way to dispose of the Indian coal
lands would be to put them on the
market and sell to the highest bidders.
During the discussion that followed
Senator Clark of Montana said that
on the present lease under which the
lands were being operated, they were
worth at least S5O,000,J0O and would
eventually be worth over 100000 200.
Senator Long'sI Scheme.
On the vote for the adoption of the
senate amendment to the house bill it
was lost and Senator Long proposed
that the lands be put up at auction
and that the lessees be allowed to buy
them at the highest bid This was OBJ
jected to, as it would discourage any
one else but the lessees from bidding
on the lands.
Senator Clark then moved that the
matter be taken out of the hands of
Secretary Hitchcock and the interior
department and be placed in the hands
of a committee of appraisers appointed