The Jersey City news., 1906-03-10
Congress Seeks a Method Of
Disposing Of Them Which
Will Defeat the Proj, cted
Grab
INDIANS ASK CITIZENSHIP
DISSOLUTION OF THE TRIBAL
RELATIONS ENDS THE COM
PACT BY WHICH THEY OWN
THE TERRITORY


ing the time for the expiration OF the
tribal relations Of the Five Civilized Ma
tions, the way is open to fnduig some
method Of disposing of the Indian lands,
by sale or purchase. i'll manner that
will defeat the projected grab Of the In
dian Territory Railroads, to whom thou
sands of acres of these lands, worth
millions in money, would have gone free,
without cost Of cent, had the original
plan of allowing the tribal relations to
expire tomorrow been left in effect.
This action, however only defers a set
Element of the problem Of what to do
with these lands 1t is a peculiar compli-
cation. The lands belong to the Indians
as long as they remain in tribes. They are
anxious, though, to sever the tribal re-
lations and be placed on the same foot
ing as other American citizens, with in-
dividual rights. just as soon as this
is done, their tribal lands revert to the
government and become public lands. In
the same moment that that occurs, an
old law showed through by the railroads
years ago becomes effective, and big
lot of the most valuable Of those public
lands, worth anywhere up to $50, ,0O0,0 900,
pass into possession Of the railroads.
BY extending the tribal relations it
makes it possible to sell these lands be-
fore the tribal relations cease and thus
defeat the grab in measure. A sale dur
ing the existence of the tribal relations
would annul the railroad claim but the
trouble is that its bad business to sell
them. These lands are mineral lands
coal fields. Nobody knows what they are
worth. To sell them now means to sac
rifce them at small price, and probably
let the railroads get them for almost
nothing. The way to derive the most
revenue from them for the Indians is to
lease them on royalties, but there rises
the old difficulty. As soon as the tribal
relations cease the leases will be worth
less. AS usual. it looks as though the
railroads had the best end of it.
This applies, though. to only COM
partively small, although very valuable,
portion of the Indian lands. The dis
position of the remainder of them is an
even bigger matter. although they are
not in such precarious condition. AL
together the territory held by these
Five Nations is about the size of the
State of New Jersey. There are already
100000 acres of coal lands in the terri
tory leased, which last year produced
coal to the value of something like
S., 600, GOO. Something like 100000 acres
of other coal lands now held by the
tribes remains to be disposed Of. 1t is
concerning the maner of disposing of
these lands, for the benefit of the In
dians. that the present Senate contro-
yersy has developed. 1t is to prevent
these coal fields being gobbled up and
monopolized by the railroads that Sena-
tor Ia Toilette is making heroic fight
against odds in the Senate.
A few days ago told something Of
this problem of the Indian Territory
coal lands. The reason it is again re
ferred to IS simply to show how the rail
road rates question permeates almost
every problem that comes before the
country, and to show. too, that the com
| plant Of West Virginia against railroad
monopoly infthe coal business is not con
| fined to that State-that it is one of the
most serious nrenaces to fair prices and
decent conditions that exists in the
country to-day.
It is an absolute impossibility for a
railroad company to own or operate, di
rectly or Indirectly coal mine or Goa
mines, and to market its own coal, and
/ at the same time give q square deal te
Independent miners and operators. That
isn't d ahysterical QUERY against the rail
roads and coal trusts. Its a decision ol
! the United States Supreme Court. which
has just declared that a railroad supply
ing both the coal and transportation can
not be fair to its competitors. Yet prac-
tically all the important coal fields o.
the country are being owned and oper
ated by railroads, either directly or in
directly. The railroads fix the quantity
of coal to be mined. the amount to b
marketed, the price.for mining. the prlc'
for transportation and the price paid +,
the consumer. That is the condition i