Valdez daily prospector., 1914-04-11
BIGGEST OF INDIAN
 LAND SCANDALS
Paving the Way For a Sweeping
 Inquiry Into Alleged Theft. WHISKY BAIT OF DEspo|LERs

VIOPCISy dk = SutIOU AOuATo
 Stolen In One State Alone, Says United States Commissioner Sells. Criminal Prosecutions In Fight to Recover Red Man's Birthriahts. On the eve of leaving Washington to look into the relations of the govern ment with the Indians of the west Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells announced his program as fol- lows:
 A series of conferences with those in control of Indian affairs, at which the condition of the Indians will be inves- tigated.
 Criminal prosecution of those who have robbed the red men. the big Of lenders to be called to the attention of the attorney general. the small offend CTS to be dealt with by local grand juries.
 Compilation of facts for presentation to congress, with request for drastic legislation to safeguard the health and l wealth of the Indian.
 
 l the liquor traffic.
 Commissioner Sells plans to recover 1 from embezzlers the millions of dollars | which he asserts the red men have lost to land sharps. If he carries out his program there will be the most sensa- tional prosecutions, on wider scale and involving more money, than have i ever been known in the history of In. dian prosecutions in the department of justice.
 Whisky the Indians Nemesis.
 Tue value of Indian property is ssti- mated at nearly billion dollars in one state alone, and as there has been no report from those in charge of these es. tates for years it is expected that the shakeup may affect great many i'm. l portant persons.
 I "The investigations" said Commis sfoner Sells, which am to make will be largely at Denver, where l am to meet thirty special officers and clerks who will report on what they have done to suppress the liquor traffic which is obviously at the root of a great deal of the misfortune attending the Indians.
 From there 1 will go to Muskogee Okla. where l will have general con ference with the county judges of the forty counties in which there are In dian tribes. with the attorneys of the tribes, and with a number of attor neys whom will appoint, These lat ter are to look into the cases of nu merous estates of the richest Indians
 in America. which have been dissi pated and the heirs impoverished 1 we know of cases in which these estates have been reduced to nothing ; while some responsible persons have either a absconded or cannot be reached by civil process for the return of the fortunes they have taken illegally from the Indian children
 "Wherever we Hnd that men canno, be reached by civil process we will refer the guilty persons to the attor ney general for prosecution. Minor eases we can perhaps handle by ref. erence to the local grand jury. Nsw Lave to es Recommended. "Of course out of all this will cosne recommendations for specific :egisla, ton that will make such things impos- sible in the future. and we expect congress to pass the legislation.
 we propose to make it necessary that persons having charge of what ought to be the vast estates of the wards of the nation shah make month. ly reports. We shall systematize our ways of dealing with the Indians. and we propose to institute the reforms immediately. We shall remove guar dians immediately who are unworthy and will endeavur to restore in what ever way possible the property that has been stolen,
 "The regulation of the liquor traffic lies to great extent at the bottom of the morals of the case. and we expect great and substantial good to come out ] of our general conferences on that subject at Denver"