Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-13

Francis f. Leupp, former commissioner Of
Indian affairs, in discussion Of The In
dian Land Troubles and How to Solve
Them" in the American Review of Re
views sketches the primary cause In these
words
Nine attorneys out OF ten who settled in
the Undian territory and undertook to
practice under its medley Of statutes soon
discovered that there was more profit TO
be got from land than from law. Some OF
them made study Of the protective short
comings Of the various enactments, which
would enable shrewd fellow TO speculate
In agricultural property or town lots or oil
bearing lands without getting his own neck
in the halter, whatever might befall the
less skilful partners whom he drew into
his enterprises. In such a chaotic atmos-
phere not only the poor, ignorant stohd
Indians who constituted the lowest stratum
of the tribes, but also those OF fair intel
ligence, became utterly bewildered as TO
their civic status. They did not know
whether they owned anything that they
could sell, or whether they could bind
themselves or anybody else by contract
II spectators offered an Indian $8 for
farm worth $780, he was liable to sell 1t
and take his chances Of ever being COM
PEELED to make delivery Sometimes the In
strument he was required to sign before
receiving his money was an outright deed,
sometimes an agreement to sell, as soon as
his restrictions should be removed is 1t
wonderful that many Of the Indians, bad
gered and perplexed grew so weary of
these uncertain conditions that they prayed
the government TO wind up their affairs
and divide the remnants without more ado?
The reasoa was not that they enjoyed any
better than ever the prospect Of parting
with their property but that they felt that
when it was gone they would at least have
peace, and that the proceeds, in hard dol
lars, would be theirs to keep, to spend, or
to throw away as they chose.
BY way of illustrating the pernicious con-
sequences Of mixing lobby work with reg
ular professional practice, l might cite the
case of the "Old Settler" Cherokees who
won a judgment Of $4,000 against the gov
eminent in the court of claims some time
in the early sos No sooner was the re-
suit announced than It was discovered that
5000 900 of this amount was claimed by
group Of attorneys who had arranged
among themselves what percentage every
one was to take AS they were unwilling
to let the money be paid to the Indians
legged clients, congress so worded the appro-
priation as to empower the secretary of the
interior to settle the amounts to be paid
the several attorneys. Hoke Smith, who
was then secretary, made a painstaking in
vestgation of their respective services. In
some instances the claimants could not
show any work done, and in some others
so little as to be unworthy of considera-
ton. A few he found to have a reasonable
basis for their bills Having made up
schedule which he regarded as fair, he
called in the beneficiarles and took from
them receipts in full. The reassembling of
congress- however, found the whole pack
yapping at its doors, demanding more. One
of the attorneys had a kinsman in the
senate. to whom ell hands looked to see
them through. In the privacy of com
mittee room the matter was threshed out
and nearly $4,000 was appropriated for the
relief of the attorneys without any visible
justification. The total "pickings" from
that job were not far from $l2O,OOOO
Roughly speaking, there are about 10000
Choctaw and Chickas&w men, women and
children interested in the segregated coal
fields, and the coal fields are regarded as
practically of controlling importance in
the soft coal commerce OF the southwest.
With this splendid estate in full view, and
a lively sense in the mind of every local
| Spectator that II he does not get part
of II some rival will, the present scandal
! is probably only one of many to which we
shall be treated unless a radical change is
made in the plans for dispOsing Of the
! property. No matter how it may be sold
! the air will be thick with lnsnuations II
nothing worse. against the persons who
oversee the bargain in behalf Of the In
dams: II they are a government board, as
proposed by Secretary Ballingers repre-
| sentative, Mr.. McHarg, they accepted too
| low a price; II private agents they charged
| too high a commission; in either event
| they adopted an unwise method of sale; or
what not besides Regardless OF the ir-
responsible sources OF such criticism, most
! of the Indians and half the rest Of the
public, will probably suspect that there
must have been something either wrong
| or careless in the transaction. What is
worse there will be no way OF meeting
these strictures for the Indians will have
| been selling something whose value no
| human mind could forecast with accuracy,
while the purchaser will have bought at
best an attractive gamblers chance.
Il