The Washington herald., 1906-11-19
URGES INDIAN TRUST
Leupp Says Reservation Own
ers Should Incorporate.
ADVOCATES JOINT CONTROL
Commissioner Thinks stock Certifi-
Gates should Be Issued to Every
Common Property Rights of the
TerritOry-Fewer Pupils Enrolled.

In order to hasten the dissolution Of
the Indian race as a separate social en-
tity and the absorption Of it's individual
members into our general body polite,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Leupp ad
vocates a joint rather than a separate
administration of the real and personal
property Of the various tribes.
In this connection he says: THE Usage
tribe. for Instance. has surplus lands for
sale. and mines and oil wells to lease,
as well as trust funds in the Treasury
drawing interest. Among white persons
a large party Of unrelated persons COM
ing into possession Of a complicated es-
tate, IN which the beHefciaries have equal
interests, undivided and temporarily in
divsble, would solve their difficulties by
filing articles Of incorporation and issuing
joint stock certificates representing the
shares Of the several parties individually.
Thinks incorporation Good Plan.
i have had IN mind a plan Of this sort
with regard to some Of the Indian tribes
II seems TO me that II all the members
Of tribe, living and enrolled, on a Ger
tain hxed date could resolve themselves
into a joint stock corporation. the plan
would accomplish two desirable ends; II
would conserve the property interests at
large, and yet clothe each beneficiary
with that sense Of personal possession
which. among ali races, serves as an in
centive to progress.
Suppose. by way OF Illustration, that
a tribe had Sl,000,O00 in the Treasury,
100000 acres of agricultural land. and
mines that pay royalties OF 100000 a
year.
For hypothetical purposes we may
suppose the tribe TO number loo souls
Now let a census be cast on a certain
day say the lst Of January next year
and 10 each person on the roll let there
be issued one share Of the stock Of the
tribal corporation already organized.
That stock IN the outset would represent
81 900 in cash. 900 acres Of land. and 81 600
OF annual royalty. The mixed property
would be no greater in the aggregate
than before the act Of Incorporation. but
20 would be removed from the communal
20 the business basis Of ownership, and
brought into line with the vast mass Of
the property OF the country.
Secretary Would he Head.
Under the terms Of the corporation
the Secretary Of the Interior should be
the perpetual treasurer and transfer
agent of the company other officers of
the government. il II were deemed desir-
able might be placed and kept In i'm
portant official positions In the director
ate, and into this board it might be well
to induce also certain numbers Of the
Indians themselves"
The question of the sale OF liquor 70
the Indian occupies considerable por-
ti0n Of the Commissioners report. He says.
"Since the Supreme Court Of the United
States IN the matter Of HeT Q97 l. s,
44Sl. held that the Indians who have re-
ociyed allotments are citizens Of the
United States. and therefore have the
right TO purchase intoxicating liquor, 81
has been much more dihicult 10 suppress
the sale 90 tribal Indians and to prevent
dealers from taking liquor upon the Teser-
vations.
An effort has been made to enforce
the statutes Of Washington against the
sale of liquors 10 Indians. but with no
success. The superintendent in charge Of
tho Yakima reservation on July q, 1876,
reported that the prosecuting attorney Of
the county informed him that as the In
dians did not pay taxes he did not pro-
pose to put the county 20 any expense in
prosecuting them or in giving them pro-
lection. especially when crimes are COM
mitted on the reservation: this policy, he
says. is in accordance with the instruc-
tiOns Of the county commissioners.
The deplorable state Of affairs which
exists on the Yakima reservation Is the
result Of the decisions Of the distric courts
Of the State OF washington, that allotted
lands are not Indian country. and that 1t
is no violation Of the law to take intoxi-
eating liquors thereon. This Is one Of the
many instances which could be cited 10
show the great necessity of having this
question passed upon by the Supreme
Court Of the United States, for which the
Office has been laboring throughout the
year.
For several years the Office has point
ed out the necessity Of having a fund for
use and employment of detectives to OBJ
tain the evidence required 10 prosecute
the violators of the law that forbids the
sale OF LIQUOR 20 Indians. and has recon-
mended that Congress be asked 10 make
an appropriation Of $4,000 for such pur-
pose, but no funs were obtained until last
session.
Fewer Pupils Enrolled.
Two special officers have been ap-
pointed by the department 10 undertake
this work, and they viii be appointed as
needed 10 meet the exigencies OF the situ-
alton 1t is hoped by these means to
diminish greatly the sale of intoxicating
liquors to Indians"
The report states that twenty-five non
reservation boarding schools were main
tanned by the office last year, with an ag-
gregate enrolment Of 9,Z79 pupils, and
an average attendance of S,35. a de-
crease Of 457 in enrolment, but an in
crease of I49 in average attendance from
the year before.
Much legislation of vital Importance to
the Indians was passed at the last ses-
sion of the Congress, according TO the
Commissioner, who says in this connec-
ton:
No Congress I venture to say, has in a
single session passed so much legislation
Of vital Importance to the Indian pOpula-
ton Of the United States and that part of
the white population whose interests are
more or less bound up with those of the
Indians, as the Fifty-ninth Congress, at
its long session. which ended concurrently
with the fiscal year Of 1896"
Football Rules an Improvement,