OCR Text |
Show Fear (22 Stat., 590), p&ed an act which is the first and onlj- legislation on the subject. The act reads thus: The proceeds of all ppaatunlge and sales of timber, coal, or other product aP auy Indian reservation, exoept those of the five oiviliaed tribes, and not the result of the labor of any member of such tribe, shsllbe oovered into rhe Treasury for the benefit of such tribe, under such regtllstiana as the Becretary of the Interior shall presoribe ; and the Secretary s h d l report his mtion in detail to Cougreae a t ~ t nsex t session. The then Secretary of the Interior construed this act to mean that the Department had the right to use the money thus received in such manner as it. might decide to be for the benefit of the Indians on the reservation, without further legislation or specific appropriation. The wt, however, being somewhat ambiguous in its terms, was submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury for his views, who construed the law to mean that the money derived from the sonrces specified should be oovered into the Treasury, but that it could not be t,akeu out again without further legislation by Congress. Consequently since then mis-cellaneous receipts of the kind in question have, from time to time, be en^ covered into the Treasury under the general caption "Indian moneys," there to await aotion by Congress; Meanwhile the Indians are de-prived of the benefit of money which it is not disputed is theirs, and which it is believed Congress, by the act quoted, intended they should have. Twice since my former report I have addressed the Department with a view of procuring such legislation 's will allow this money to be drawn from the Treasury and applied to its legitimate use. On the 15th of March last I forwarded to the Departments draft of a bill, with the request that it be transmitted to Congress and that an earnest attempt be made to secure its passage. The proposed bill reads as follows: Bs it anaotsd, &., That t,he Seoretaryof the Interior is hereby authorised to Us0 the money vhioh has been or mar hereafter be covered into the Treasury under the proviaions of the eot approved Marbh 3, 1883, end which is carried on the books of that Department under the caption of "Indian moneys, proaeeds of labor," for the benefit of the several tribes on whose mcount said money was oovered in, in aooh way and for such pnrposea as, in his dirraretion, he may think best. On March 20, i886, this hill, with other papers ou the subject, was laid before the House of Representatives in an Executive eommunica-tion dated March 19, recommending favorable action thereon, and was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. The session of Congreae being near its close, and nothing having been heard from the com-mittee having charge of the bill, I again, on the 19t6 of June, urged that special effort he made to secure its passage. Uongress, however, adjourned without taking action. Thus the matter stands. . The dissatisfaction spoken of in my former report as exkting among the Indians on account of the retention of their money by the Qovern-ment has been steadily increasing, and numerous and loud complaints are received both t.hrough the regular agents and the Indian inspectors. |