OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF TEE COMMISSIONER OF INDUX AFFILIBS. 35 gas; 3,522 oil and gas leases were approved; 49,176,000 barrels of oil were sold. There were collected during the year for individual Indians from oil and gas leases $1,301,326.99, and for the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes as royalty from coal and asphalt leases $217,- 226.61. The proceeds of lands sold for Indians under the super-vision- of the agency aggregated $502,406.36. Under existing law the probate courts of the State have jurisdic-tion in probate matters affecting minor Indians, and during the year reports have demonstrated that such matters are not in a satisfactory condition, principally because of the vast amount of business handled by such courts and the inadequate statutes affecting probate pro-cedure. A bill seeking to remedy existing evils was introduced in the last Legislature of the State of Oklahoma, and although its passage was urged by the Government and the entire Oklahoma dele- , gation in Congress it failed of enactment. LEGISLATION. The Indian appropriation act for the fiscal year 1913 was not approved until August 24, 1912. It therefore became necessary for the appropriation act of the previous year to be extended, which was done by joint resolutions of July 1 and August 1, 1912. For the fiscal year 1910 the I n d i i appropriation act carried about $11,800,000. The act for 1911 carried about $9,200,000, for 1912 $8,800,000, and for 1913 $8,900,000. The estimates for the Indian Service for the fiscal year 1914 amounted to $11,303,316.53. The Indian appropriation act for the &cal year 1914, which failed of passage at the regular session of the last Congress, but was enacted at the special session of the present Congress and approved by the President June 30, 1913, after very extensive hearings by the Senate and the House Committees on Indian Affairs, carries an appropriation of $9,461,819.67. In addition to the usual items and appropriations, the act of June 30,1913, carries an appropriation of $50,000 for the purpose of deter-miniig the heirs of deceased Indian allottees, pursuant to the act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. L., 855); an appropriation of $100,000 (reim-bursable) for the purpose of encouraging industry among the Indians and to aid them in the culture of crops; and an appropriation of $25,000 for a joint commission of three members of the Senate and three members of the House of Representatives for the purpose of making inquiry into the conduct and management of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This act for 1914 also ratfied an agreement dated May 10, 1911, with the Wiminuche Band of Southern Ute Indians, which agreement relates to the exchange of certain'lands; an appro-priation of $100,000 was made to provide school facilities for the children of the Navajo Indians; and provision was also made |