OCR Text |
Show lviii FIFTY-SEVENTH A ~ U A LRE PORT OF tion of parties, as fsr as the same mag be applicable, are hereby extended to all con-veyances and transfers of land mithio the jurisdiction of the United States circuit oonrt for the district of Kansas acquired cnder I n d ~ s ntr eaties with theunited States, andcovered by deeds of Indian allottees andpatentees which the Secretary of the Interior has refused to approve. The said circuit oonrt is hereby empovered and required, in cases properly before it,to hear end determine all questions of inheritance to any ofsaidlands, determine therlghtful heirs thereto,and theinterestofeach heir in and to any anohlands; in oases where monev has been a aid, advanced. or dencsitod for I thetnoa<ruf arty la&nod Illeritle tharcrifora!ly rai se f a i l ~ oir8 iv"PUrfi.;~f, rhosaid circuit court allall inqnire and derrrnmioe an to tllu rtslttful nppliruriun of any such money paid, ndunnae~,cord eposited, and ehall makosu~hoordernj,n dgments, or ciecrees in relation thereto as mill protect the rightsof innocent perties oousistently with jest-ice to all interests involved; and said cirouit court ahall, in alloasesproperly before it, hear, try, sottle, and determine all oontroversies or disputes between cocupanta on asid lands and the cvneraor holders of the titles to the same; sod all other acotro-veraies or disputes in regard to the transfer of any of said lands, the said circnit court shdl hear anddetermine, in every case, according to the principlesof law and eqnity, and enter up judgments, orders, and decrees accordingly, and enforce the aanm, an& on finel heartug apportion the costs among the pilrties as the eqnity of t,he ease may require. Thet the joint resolution of ICnrah third, eighteen bundrerl and seventy-nine, en-titled "Joint resolotion instroctin.e. the Attornsv-General nf the United States t@ I#riozaniti r~tl~enar~~uuitheC~~itedStiltr~.luqointaudrorrlarl~ctitluIlrlonlr'ktB~oeb Ioangl of Sbasruae Indinos," be, and the anme is hureby, rape~lt.d: Prot.iclrd, That this act shall not he so construed as. to affect the valid& c i any decree beretofureren-clered by the United States circuit court for the district of Kansas, nndor the provis-ions of said joint resolution, br to impair the power of saidcourt to set aside or amend or correct BOY 8nch decree, or to divest any party iu intereat of his right to ctppeal to the United States Supreme Court within the time limited by law. Section 1 of the above amended bill is in the exact wording of the joint resolution of March 3,1879 (20 St.at., 488), which the bill proposes to repeal, except that the joint resolution provides that "upou a final de-cision of said matters it shall be the duty of the President to issuepatdnts for said lantls," while tllc proposed bill, above quot,ed, provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall approve deeds for said lands. In reporting this substitute for the House bill, the Senate committee stated- (1) That to obtain the consent of the Indian patentees or their heirs to the proposed sales might involve trouble, expense, and delay. (2) That the methods used to obtain such consent might themselves be questionable, and raise su~pioiono f fraud or misrepresentation. (3) That thelimitation of $6 per acre is purely arbitrary and may be unjust. (4) That it is intended that the methods provided in the joiut rcsola-tion of March 3,1879, shall apply in the settlement of cases r!ot reached in that suit and to phases of cases uotpreseuterl in it, aud shall also ex-tend to Iudiin lauds other than Elnck Bob lands, whose titles are yet nuestablished. (5) That if referred to a court, the principles of law aud equity would be applied to the cases and'the rights of the Indians would be repre-sented by t,he AttorueyGeneral. |