The Tomahawk., 1924-03-27

tOreSt reserve. lheSe allotments
had been rendered virtually value
less by the creation of the Forest
Reserve. In addition the children
of these allottees we're excluded
from the advantages of public
schools at their home, and that it
was necessary to send them to
boarding and other schools, at an
annual expense to the tribe, which
was paid by the annual sppropria.
tions from the trust funds. No
suggestion had come from the
Indian Bureau or the Departme1 1T
to compensate The Indians for this
enormous loss, both to the allottees
and to the tribe.
Mr.. Ballinger pointed out that
under the Act OF 1908, the timber
on the Swamp Lands should have
been cut and disposed of; that the
Act commanded its sale, and that
no attempt had been made to dis
pose of this timber, much of which
had deteriorated, resulting in
heavy losses to the Indians, and
that if the two bills under con-
sideration were enacted into law,
there was no existing authority
under which this timber could
ultimately be disposed of, and the
Indians paid for it.
Mr.. Ballinger also pointed out
that the Secretaries of the Inter.
ior, since 1908 had possessed the
power to cancel out every State
Land Selection unpatented, touch
ing any of the ceded lands, that
the, Secretaries had been remiss in
their failure to do so. He insisted
that it was the duty of the govern.
ment officers to cancel out these
Swamp Land Selections of the
State and throw the burden upon
the State of maintaining any suit
with reference to the lands and not
upon the Indians. He asserted
that throughout the entire admin
istration of the Chippewa estate
the Indians under practically every
ruling of the Department, had
been given the bot end of the
poker, and the big interests in
Minnesota, the cream.
He pointed out that under the
Act of 1908, it wat the duty of the
Secretary of the Interior to sell
and dispose OF all the timber on
the lands classified as agricultural
lands, within the Reserve, which
the Department had failed to do,
and that this land was being taken
over with no provision made
whereby the Indians would be
paid for the remaining timber.
Mr.. Ballinger finally asserted
that there was no necessity for the
creation of the Minnesota National
Forest Reserve; that if a Forest
Reserve was to be created, it
should be restricted to the ten
sections, The islands and points,
and the great Government of the
United States should pay its wards,
the Indians, the full value of the
land and the timber; that over
200, 900 acres of the land within
the Forest Reserve was admittedly
agricultural, if not chiefly valuable
for its mineral. When placed in
the Forest Reserve, this land i'm
mediately became subject to entry
under the Homestead laws appli.
cable to Forest Reserves, with the
result that title would ultimately
be acquired to this valuable min.
eral land. under the Homestead
laws, at $1.25 per acre. He insist
ed that the maintenance of this
great Forest Reserve was over the
protests of the Indians and the
white people of that country; that
it accomplished no possible good,
but on the other hand entailed
tremendous loss. Towns were
dwarfed, all forms of development
precluded, and the tax payers in
the three counties in which the