| OCR Text |
Show I COMMISSIONER INDIAN AFFAIRS. 51 the act of May 27, 1908, conferred upon the county courts probate . jurisdiction there was involved a greater amount of probate work than existed anywhere else. This, together with the fact that Okla-homa was admitted into the Union in 1907 and that the county judges then elected did not all possess the highest standards necessarily brought about a demoralized, ineficient, and in some instances cor-rupt condition. I t is apparent that many guardians were appointed without re-gard to their fitness and insolvent bondsmen accepted. It was not uncommon for lands of minor Indian children to be sold on appmise-ments influenced by prospective purchasers and for inadequate prices. Excessive compensation was many times allowed guardians and nn-reasonably large fees paid to attorneys. Under these conditions the property of Indian children was-frequently so ravished that when final reports were called for they were not forthcoming, and estates were often found to have been dissipated andtheir bondsmen finan-cially irresponsible. Altogether it developed a condition demanding speedy and radical reforms. I found this startling situation soon after my induction into office in June, 1913, and immediately proceeded to effect an organization whereby there might be assurance that this indefensible procedure might no longer maintain. Thereupon I arranged for conferences to be held at Muskogee with the county judges,prosecuting attorneys, district judges, and others interested in betterments for the territory covered by the Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations, at McAlester covering the Choctaw Nation and likewise at Ardmore covering the Chickasaw Nation. These conferences were attended by practically a11 of the county judges, and after some 10 days' conference, during which all matters and things in detail concerning Indian minor pro-bate conditions were exhaustively discussed, rules of probate proced-ure were adopted which are said to be more complete protection than exists in any other State. These rules, formulated under my direc-tion after being adopted by the county judges, were approved by the president of the State Connty Judges' Association, and soon thereafter officially adopted and promulgated by the justices of the Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma, and have since been ih full force and effect, a copy of which rules are herein below set out. To insure the prosecution of the probate work in a systematic and effective manner a force was organized consisting of the best obtain-able attorneys, each of whom was chosen on his merits after careful and exhaustive- investigation, to assist and cooperate with the county judges. This force was made up in part of attorneys employed at the expense of the several tribes and partly at the expense of the United States under authority of section 18 of the act of Congress of June 30, 1913. |
