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Show REPORT OF THE OOMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 97 title in fee to the land leased by him by paying therefor a sum of which 4& per cent shall equal the annual rental of the land. He must also pay his proportionate share of the sum of $200,000 proposed by the bill to be paid to the Ogden Land Company in liquidation of its claim affecting the Cattaraugus and Tuscarora reservations, if that claim shall be held by the courts to be valid. Section 6 of the bill refers to an action pendingin the snpremecourt of the State of New York brought to determine the validity of the . Ogden land claim, and provides that if that action shall terminate in favor of the company the Secretary of the Treasury shall use $200,000 of the amount appropriated by Congress in payment of the judgment of the Court of Claims in favor of the New York Indians in purchas-ing the interest of the Ogden Land Company in and to the lands of the three reservations before mentioned. On January 8, 1903, Senator Quay submitted an amendment to this bill so as to except any railway corporation from the operations of section 4 and to vest in such corporation the titleinfee to theland used or occupied by it upon payment to the Indians of a gross sum instead of an annual rental therefor. A subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs was authorized at the last session of Congrevs to sit during the following recess for the purpose of investigating the subject of allotments to the New York Indians. This was the only important action taken by the Senate on the Vr&eland bill. One feature of the bill that has been more or less criticised, and which I have heretofore felt should not receive the approval of Congress, is the proposed taking of $200,000 from the Indian funds and applying the same to the payment of the Ogden Land Company's daim; but I am now thoroughly convinced that it is the proper thing ' to do. There is another provision in the bill that ought, in my opinion, to be stricken out--that wbich submits it to the Indian tribe for ratification. If the enforcement of the bill, should it become a law, depends upon the consent of the tribe, it will be a long time before any change is seen. I believe that the bill should be enacted by Congress, but with the provision which requires the obtaining of the consent of the tribe thereto eliminated. . EASTERN BAND OF CHEROHEES IN NORTH CAROLINA. Its Stat-.-The question is often asked, What are the relations of these Indians to the Federal Government as held by this office and the Department? What is the status of these Indians as held by the Court of Claims, and as held by the Federal courts? The Supreme Court of the United States in ita decision of March 1, 1886, in an appeal from the Court of Claims, held that the Cherokees in North Carolina dissolved their connection with the Cherokee Nation - when they refusad to accompany the main body of that nation on its 9423-03-7 |
