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Show I REPORT OF THE COMMISLlIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XLVII i I of the laws of the Statsof Arkansos relatiig to the crimss of murder, manslaughter, arenn. rans. bnrelnrv. and mbberv shall be deemed and taken to be the law. and in 1 I , . . ". fore" rlturrin; and rha CniredStute~d isrricr conrr for tltus~a~cer#oii srricro f 1hnSlate of Arkanqos shall hnvc cuclssivo ori-~ ioaj-l ~ tridicrionn vw all such 05e~1sesa rising in anid portion of tlie Indian Territory. The plaos of punishment of anS and all of said o5enses shall be the same %for other lige d5enses arising within the jurisdictions of said respeative oourta. ,It is a matter of vital importance that action sho~~lbcel taken to secure the ppassage of the above bill, or of some measure of equal efficiency to provide law for Indians, to the end that order may bi secured. A civ-ilized community conld not exist as such without law, and a semi-civil-ized and barbarous people are in a hopeless state of anarchy without its protection and sanctions. It is true the various tribes bave regulations and customs of their own, which, however, are founded on superstition and ignorance of the usages of civilized commnnities, and generally tend to perpett~atefe uds and keep alive animosities. To supply their place i t is the bounden'dutyof the governmentto providelaws suited to the de-pendent condition of the Indians. The most intelligent among them ask for the laws of the white man to enable them to show that Indians can understand and relspeot law; and the wonder is that such a code was not enacted years ago. DEPBEDATIONS ON INDIAN l'IDE3EE. The laws of the United States relative to intrusion and depredation ' on Indianlands bave proved ineffectual toprevent citizens of the United . States from cutting aud destroying timber standing thereon. Sections ,2147 and 2148 of the United States llevised Statutes provide merely for the removal of intruders from the Indian country, and for the imposi. tiou of a penalty of $1,000 in the event of the return of any party after having been removed therefxom. The intruders, as a general rule, have no property subject to execution, and as the penalty can only be col-. lected by an action of debt, the otfeuders escape without punishment. Section 2118 is insufficiept, for the same reason, to prevent unlawful settlement on lands belonging to Indians. Section 5388 makes it a penal offense for any person to unltgvfully cat, or aid in cutting, or to wanton15 destroy timber standing upon lands of the United States which iu pursuance of law may be reserved for military or other purposes. This section and the act of March 3d, 1875 (18 Stat., p. &I), which-is somewhat similar in its provisions, were evidently adopted, the former for the single purpose of protecting timber on land which had bean or might thereafter be purchased or ye-served for the use of the military, or 'tmy other branch of the govern-bent, and the latter to prohibit the destruction of trees on laud which bad been purchased or reserved for public use. Neither the provisions of the section referred to nor the act are sufficiently comprehensive (es-peeially in view of the rule of law which requims criminal statutes to be construed gtrictly) to extend to or include parties who have cut or de- |