The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-31

90 the Indian Mineral Lands Valued nc
From 500. OOO. 900 to $500 900. 900.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30.-If a bill that is TO
be introduced in Congress early in January
3 ,enacted into law the modern corporation
method in the management OF business
properties will be introduced to the Indian
tribes of the United States. Francis E.
Leupp, the Commissioner OF Indian Affairs,
has submitted to President Roosevelt the
outline of a plan to be put In the form Of
a bill, under which it is proposed that the
coal and asphaltum lands OF the Choctaw
and Chickasaw tribes in the Indian Terri
tory, estimated to be worth anywhere
from 500 .OOO, 900 to 5000, 600 600, shall be
managed by a joint stock company the
board of directors Of which shall be COM
posed of officers of the Government and
representatives Of the tribes named. This
scheme, it is understood, has the approval
of the President and Of James r. Garfield,
! prospective Secretary Of the Interior.
Secretary Hitchcock has commentedfavora-
bly, upon it.
saws are immensely valuable, and under
the corporation plan such ,as is proposed
by COMMISSIONS Leupp the Government
WOulu Dt III u pOslJlOn " III III hcy "
the whole output of coal and asphaltum
of the mid-continent field for years to
come. COMMISSIONS Leupp's plan in brief
is as follows:
He would have the title to the lands and
deposits owned by the Choctaws and Chicka-
saws pass TO an Incorporated company for
the use and benefit OF the persons whose
names shall appear on the rolls Of citizen
ship of the two tribes. The company should
run for a period OF twenty-five years, sub
ject to continuation by Congress on the
expiration of the original period, with
power to take title to the property and
manage it, including the sale Of the surface
of the land; to lease any Unbiased deposits
for not exceeding the authorized life OF
the corporation, and to pay all expenses
incident to and connected with the business
OF the corporation.
The permanent officers OF the mpa
would be: The President OF the United
States, ex-officio, president; the Secretary
of the Interior, ex-oficio, treasurer and
transfer agent; the Commissioner Of Indian
Affairs, ex-officio, secretary; and these
officers, together with the Secretary of the
Treasury, the Secretary Of Commerce and
Labor and one member of each tribe Sc
lected by the stockholders, should always
constitute the board of directors of the COM
pany The stock of the corporation should
be issued per capita to enrolled members
OF the tribes, with provision that IL cannot
be transferred, sold, assigned or encum-
bered except by the consent of the Secretary
of the interior as the transfer agent OF the
corporation.
After paying expenses IN reserving
a prudent percentage for working capital
and surplus account" said Commissioner
Leupp, to-day, "the royalties and other
income should be distributed in the form
Of dividends, thus completing the change
OF the whole business from a triba COM
munal basis, alien to our national institu-
tions and our common social order, to the
basis Of private ownership, on which sub
stantially all great industrial enterprises
OF our day are conducted.
You should bear in mind, in this con-
nection,' said Commissioner Leupp, -the
Presidents desire to s~egregate and to keep
under Government control all the great
miner deposits which nave become neces-
sary in our lives, such as coal and oil. As
far as the lands of the Choctaws and Chick
asaws are concerned, the Government
could 90 in and buy them and thereby re-
tain control as an owner. Then, again,
the Indians could sell their lands TO the
highest bidder, and the lands would thus
pass entirely from Government control.
The present system could be maintained,
in which the tribes, as tribes, would con-
tinue in the ownership of this property
and the Government woul go ahead and
administer il. The advantages of the cor
p~oration plan are these:
I'm the first place you would no longer
treat with these Indians az tribes. In the
Rh@SN VI NAS 1--WE " - wi
ton. such a thing as tribal ownership
and tribal management of property IL an
anomaly in this country. Corporate owner
ship and corporate management OF prop
erty is the common and everyday thing.
All big industrial enterprises are conducted
by corporations. That ia the primary
advantage. You get away from a system
that has no parallel anywhere else in our
social order and adopt a system in its place
which effects the same results so far as
the service of property interests is oon-
cerned, and it is in harmony with what
we are doing in every other direction.
MY plan provides for a businesslike
management Of the properties of the Choc-
taws and C~hickasaws, with the Govern
ment retaining control and the Indians
having a voice in such management. When
the time arrived in twenty-five years for
winding up the affairs OF the company
Congress would have the privilege either
of extending its life for In indefinite period
or of allowing the directors to dissolve the
corporation in the usual way.
The country is now entering upon an
era drifting toward a larger measure OF
state socialism," continued Commissioner
Leupp. Existing conditions nave caused
this 70 come about in the ordinary, natural
processes of national evolution. There is
no telling how far this is going on or how
long the movem ent will continue. II il
goes on and the country seems to thrive
under the conditions gradually evolved,
il may be continued indefinitely. If, on
the other hand, by the time a new genera
ton has come 10 the front of the stage, there
is a disposition among the people to Gala
halt and q ackwa movement results to
some extent, this proposition Of mine leaves
the question open as far as Government
control of these big deposits is concerned.
Should the present movement continue OF
having the government keep control of
great natural resources, and perhaps nav
ing the Government acquire public utilities,
II would be a simple matter TO extend the
life OF this corporation, still retaining Gov
eminent control Of this great mass OF SUBJ
terraneous deposits"
Wore Appointments by COmptroIIer-Elect
Glynn.
ALBANY, Dec. 3O.-These additional ap-
pointments were announced by Comp
troller-elect Glynn tonight:
Tax Appraiser for New York county in
place of James Yearance, to take office
February /, Joseph F. Burke, salary 1900;
Tr ansfer Tax Appraiser for Duchess
county, Richard f. Connell; Tax Appraiser
for Rensselaer, county, James s. Brearton.
and his attorney, John T. Kelly. Transfer