The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-09-29
WILL ASK HEARING
ON INDIAN TAXES
About 5000 Choctaws And Chickasaws
Are Parties to Litigation, InvOIv-
ing $5oo,ooo in Taxes.

Oklahoma City, Sept. 27.-Attorney
General West, representing the state,
and w. A. Ledbetter, one of the attor-
neys for George w. Choate and others
of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes,
will sign request to the supreme
court of the United States to advance
for early hearing the Indians case
against the state auditor to restrain
collection of taxes upon Indian allot-
ments which have not passed from
ownership of the original allottee. The
case was started in the superior court
of Logan county in October, 1909, and
decided in the following June adverse
to the Indians. The superior court
was sustained by the supreme court
of the state, from which decision the
allottees appealed to the supreme court
of the United States.
approximately 5000 Choctaws and
Chickasaws are parties in the litiga-
ton. 1t involves a construction of the
Atoka agreement of June 2S, 1898, pro-
viding among other things that in con
sideration of the Indians submitting
to a division of their land, and the TAX
ing of allotments, such allotments, so
long as the fee remained in the origi-
nal allottee, was to be exempted from
taxation for a period of twenty-one
years from the date of patent Next
came the Curtis act of May q, 1908,
known otherwise as the act of removal
of restrictions, providing that all lands
from which restrictions have or shall
be removed, shall be subject to taxa
ton, and all other civil burdens as
though it were the property of other
persons than allottees of the Five Civil
lied Indian tribes. Provision was then
made that the lands should not be held
liable for claims or demands arising
prior to the removal of restrictions.
Judge j. NJ. Sandlin of the Logan
county superior court held in his opin-
ion of June, 1870 that the Curtis act
of 1908 acted as a repeal of the Atoka
agreement; that congress had the
power to suppressed the agreement, as
well as impair the obligation of any
contract that may have existed by rea-
son thereof; also, that the Atoka agree
ment existed only as treaty, or act
of congress, until modified or repealed
by subsequent treaty or act of con
gress. The supreme court took the
same view.
In appealing the case the Indians as
sert that terms of the Atoka agreement
were based upon their relinQuishing
certain of their tribal rights, and by a
vote of the tribes was ratified before
it was ratified by congress. In a word,
they claim that such agreement, the
validity of which depended upon their
assent, could not be revoked without
their consent; therefore the Curtis act
in so far as it undertakes to repeal the
twenty-one year taxation clause, is
void There is about 100000 in taxes
which the state is claiming.
There is no doubt but that the case
will be advanced, and an early decision
said w. A. Ledbetter, associ-
ate of J. F. McMurray, attorneys for
the allottees. "The ground on which
the motion is based is that the legal
and constitutional question involved
is one of great public moment, and it
is necessary to have the question de-
cided at an early date in order to pre-
vent further delay in the collection of
taxes in about twentyeight counties of
the state, and that the collection of the
public revenue of the state has been
seriously hampered by reason of the
in the law ITO whether
the taxes can be legally collected The
attorney general has agreed to join in
the motion to advance the case in order
that the questions involved may be
decided at the earliest moment, and
further complication in the collection
of the states revenues prevented. I
have no doubt but that the decision
will be rendered in the early part of
the fall"