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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFBES. XXIX )c INTRUDERS ON INDIAN LANDS. In another part of my report I shall refer to the continued attempts : at settlement by the Oklahoma colonists id theIndianTerritory during : the past year, their removal b ~t.h e military, and tho action of Congress at its last session in aut,horiaing the President toopennegotiations with the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles for the purpose of opening to settlement., under the homesteat1 laws of the United States, certain dn- I assigned lands in saidTerritory. Apart from other considerations, the persistent attempts for the past I sevell Sears to obtail~a fbothold iu that Territorj arc, I understaud, due 1 in a great measore to the ineEective condition of the law relating to intrnders on Indian lands. In point of fact, the law of today upon 1 the subject is precisels that enacted in the trade aud intercourse act of 1S34, sul~plemented ours l)y the act of 1856 prescribing a penalty of $1,000 ill ease of the return of a person after removal. Experience has demo~lsiratedt hat this r rme d ~is no remedy ab all. A judg~neati s re-corded and that is the e ~ odf i t. The intruder is released, and is free io ts>-h i6 furtu~ietl giliu, with tlle k~~omlrdyteh at the Pew is powerless to pul~ish 11iu1. In the case of concerted action, the services of'the mil-itary 11aret o he broogl~ti r~tore qllisition at great incouvenience to the 7 Qover~~ment. What appears to be reqaired is, that existillg laws sl~albl euoamended as to render nu iutruder OII Iutlian lancls liable, on conviction; to fine and imprisoumentforafirstand everysubsequento5ense. With thisend in view, the Senate, at the first sessioll of the last Congresi, passed a bill (S. 1545) prohibiting any person from entering Indian lands, tribal res-ervations, or lands specially set apart for Indian purposes, with thein-tent to occupy auy such lands or reservations, under a penalty for the first offenseof a fine of not more than $500, or illlprisollment at hard labor for not more than one year,or both, iu the discretion of the court; and for every subseqnent offellse a fine of not more than $1,000, with imprisonment at hard labor for not more than two years. The bill also provided for confiscatio~la nd forfeiture of the wagons, teams, aud outfit of the intruders, by process in the proper United States court. There woubi seem to be absolute need of leg is la ti or^ of the character indicated i n order to effectoallp~u t a stop to the aggressious ol! Intliau lands, which are a cdustaut canse of complail& to this oEce. I L0,GGING BT INDIANS. ,I This enterprise was carried on during last season mainly b-j the Men-omonees in Wisconsin a ~ t dby various bands of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota. The Menomonees number about 1,300, and are located on lands given to them under second article of the treaty of 1854 (U. 5. Stats., 10, p. 1065) ''for a home," in return for valuable considerations therein |