Source: https://openjurist.org/204/us/415
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:57:48+00:00

Document:
MRS. ELLA ADAMS, for Herself and as Natural Guardian and Next Friend of Henry McSwain and Roma McSwain, Her Minor Children.
Messrs. George A. Mansfield, J. F. McMurray, and Melven Cornish (by special leave) for Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.
This was an action commenced in September, 1904, by Mrs. Ella Adams, for herself and her minor children, defendants in error, in the United States court for the southern district of the Indian territory, to recover possession of a tract of land in that territory. Defendants answered, and, upon trial, judgment was rendered in favor of plaintiffs. This judgment was sustained by the United States court of appeals of the Indian territory, and, on further appeal, reaffirmed by the United States circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit. 143 Fed. 716.
The case arises out of the legislation of Congress designed to secure the disintegration of the tribal organization of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian territory, and the distribution of the property of those tribes among the individual Indians. A full r esum e of this legislation and the general litigation following it is to be found in Stephens v. Cherokee Nation, 174 U. S. 445, 43 L. ed. 1041, 19 Sup. Ct. Rep. 722, and a full statement of the facts in this case is to be found in the opinion of the United States circuit court of appeals. An entire restatement of these matters is, therefore, unnecessary.
In order to divide the lands of these Indian nations an enumeration of the individuals entitled thereto became necessary. By the act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. at L. 645, chap. 209, § 16), the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, generally known as the Dawes Commission, was empowered to negotiate and extinguish the tribal title to the lands and to make an allotment thereof to the members of the tribe in severalty. By that of June 10, 1896 (29 Stat. at L. 339, 340, chap. 398), the commission was authorized to hear the application and determine the right of each applicant for citizenship in either of these tribes. The act also granted an appeal to the proper United States district court in the Indian territory to any party aggrieved by the ruling of the commission, and declared that the judgment of that court should be final. It required the commission to make a complete roll of the citizens of each of the tribes, to be 'hereafter held and considered to be the true and correct rolls of persons entitled to the rights of citizenship in said several tribes.' Hill, who is the principal defendant, applied to be enrolled as a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and his application was finally sustained by the court, and he was, on March 8, 1898, adjudged to be a member of the Choctaw tribe by blood and entitled to be enrolled as such. The land in controversy was selected and taken possession of by him in reliance upon this adjudication of citizenship. On July 1, 1898, Congress passed an act (30 Stat. at L. 591, chap. 545) granting to the tribes an appeal to the Supreme Court from the judgments of the United States courts of the Indian territory in citizenship cases. Under the authority of this act many of these cases were appealed to this court, which affirmed the judgments. Stephens v. Cherokee Nation, supra. On March 21, 1902, an agreement was made between the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, which was confirmed by act of Congress July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. at L. 641, chap. 1362). This agreement and act were substantially that a court known as the Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship court should be created, and that that court should have power, in a suit in equity brought by either or both of these tribes against any ten persons who had been admitted to citizenship or enrolment by the terms of the judgments of the several United States courts in the Indian territory, as representatives of all persons similarly situated, to determine whether the judgments of those courts should be annulled on account of certain alleged irregularities. The agreement and act also provided that, in case the citizenship courts should decide that those judgments should be annulled the papers in any action in those courts, wherein such a judgment had been rendered, should, upon seasonable application of either party, be transferred to the citizenship court, which should proceed to a hearing and determination of the question of citizenship. Under this agreement and act the court was established and test suit brought, in which a decree was entered to the effect that the judgments of the United States courts in the Indian territory, whereby persons were admitted to citizenship in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations under the act of June 10, 1896, were annulled and vacated. Hill was not named a party in that test suit, nor did he thereafter apply for a transfer of his case to the citizenship court. The above statement of facts is sufficiently full for an understanding of the single question presented for determination.
'The contention is that the act of July 1, 1898, in extending the remedy by appeal to this court, was invalid because retrospective, an invasion of the judicial domain, and destructive of vested rights. By its terms the act was to operate retrospectively, and as to that it may be observed that while the general rule is that statutes should be so construed as to give them only prospective operation, yet, where the language expresses a contrary intention in unequivocal terms, the mere fact that the legislation is retroactive does not necessarily render it void.
'And while it is undoubtedly true that legislatures cannot set aside the judgments of courts, compel them to grant new trials, order the discharge of offenders, or direct what steps shall be taken in the progress of a judicial inquiry, the grant of a new remedy by way of review has been often sustained under particular circumstances. Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall. 386, 1 L. ed. 648; Sampeyreac v. United States, 7 Pet. 222, 8 L. ed. 665; Freeborn v. Smith, 2 Wall. 160, 17 L. ed. 922; Garrison v. New York, 21 Wall. 196, 22 L. ed. 612; Freeland v. Williams, 131 U. S. 405, 33 L. ed. 193, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 763; Essex Public Road Board v. Skinkle, 140 U. S. 334, 35 L. ed. 446, 11 Sup. Ct. Rep. 790.
This decree was followed by legislation which, in a general way, provided that the rulings of this court on appeals from the judgments of the court of claims should be in effect judgments. While that case is not entirely parallel to this, yet the line of thought pursued in the opinion is suggestive. We do not feel called upon to enlarge upon it. It is enough now to hold that Congress, in giving to the Indian territory courts jurisdiction of appeals from the action of the Dawes Commission, did not place the decisions of these courts beyond the reach of further investigation. Hence the act of Congress of July 1, 1902, creating the Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship court, and giving to it power to examine the judgments of the Indian territory courts, and determine whether they should not be annulled on account of irregularities, was a valid exercise of power.
The other question is one of procedure, and not of power. It is objected that the defendant Hill was not made a party to the proceeding instituted in the citizenship court, but there were a multitude, according to the report of the Dawes Commission, probably one thousand, in whose favor judgments of citizenship have been entered in the Indian territory courts, and the act provided that ten should be selected as representatives of the class. It further authorized any individual, in case of an adverse judgment by the citizenship court, to transfer his case from the territorial to that court. Now, it is undoubtedly within the power of a court of equity to name as defendants a few individuals who are in fact the representatives of a large class having a common interest or a common right,—a class too large to be all conveniently brought into court,—and make the decree effective not merely upon those individuals, but also upon the class represented by them. Mandeville v. Riggs, 2 Pet. 482, 7 L. ed. 493; Smith v. Swormstedt, 16 How. 288, 14 L. ed. 942; Bacon v. Robertson, 18 How. 480, 489, 15 L. ed. 499, 504; United States v. Old Settlers, 148 U. S. 427, 480, 37 L. ed. 509, 529, 13 Sup. Ct. Rep. 650. It was by way of extra precaution, and in order to more effectually secure the rights of the individuals other than those named as parties defendant in that suit, that Congress provided that anyone might transfer his individual case from the territorial court to the citizenship court, and there have the merits of his claim decided. Hill, as every other citizen, was bound to take notice of the legislation of Congress, and it is not to be doubted that he, as well as others similarly situated, was cognizant of the proceedings that were being had in pursuance of such legislation. He made no application to transfer his case, but chose to abide by the outcome of the case against the ten representatives of his class. The answers to these subordinate questions fully dispose of the main question. Without further discussion, we refer to the exhaustive opinion of Circuit Judge Sanborn, in delivering the judgment of the court of appeals, with which, in the main, we fully concur.

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