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Show . individual own's an undivided interest in the whsle this is but just &nd ! equitable.. Others maihtain hhat eaah individual without regard. to age, inclnding'married women. should secure the same quantity of !and, - , ' instead of the differing amouits provided for the various classes in the ~ , general allotment act. Still others claim that allotments of equal should be made and in larger qna,ntities than are provided for in that act, and this plan was adopted in the caseof the Miamies, Peorias, and a l i a t e d bands by the act of March 2,1889. (25 &tat., 1013.) In my opinion the 5rst claim does not deserve much attention, espe-oiallr as to reservations containing an area largely in excess of the amount necessary to fill the requirements of the general allotment , sot, and entirely beyond the actual needs of the Indians. The plan might be adopted on smaaler reservations, where an.equa1 division would ' not give each individual more than, say, 200 acres. The second claim seemi just and equitable, aud if the general allot- ' ' ment ,act should be amended so as to give each person, without regard ' to age or condition, including married women, an equal quantity, say 160 acces, it would 'prove satisfactmy to a large majority of the Indiana, and would avoid many of the difficulties which now stand in the way of induciug them to take their lands in severalty. The act provides for ' , the allotment of different quantities of land to heads of familiea, single .adults, orphans, and minors, while married women are not entitled to any. The looseness of the marriage relation among many of the'tribes often renders it difficult to determine the exact status of the women, slld them is danger that many who are living as wives at the time al-lotments are made will be discarded and thus be landleas, while their husbands, having the maximum quantity of land, will take as wives , ' . : other women who have land. An Indian reservation is the common property of the tribe by which it is owned, or for whose use it is as-signed. Each member has an &qua1 right therein, and upon division shonld receive an equal share. It does not seem just to divide this ' common property so as to give one member four times as much as an-other, aud also to deprive a considerable umber of all share in it. The allotment of an equal quantity of the tribal landed estate to , esch member of the tribes occupying or interested in the reservation would remove the principal inequalities of the general allotment aat, so strongly complained of, and there would be less hesitation on the part of many of the tribes to the taking of land in severalty. There are now seven special agents engaged in making allotmeuts in severalty to the Indians, as provided by act of February 8,1887 (24 . Stat., 388), as follows : Alice 0. Fletcher, at Nez Perc6 Agency,Idaho; Spencer Hartwig, at Quapaw Agency, Indian Territory; Dana C. Lamb, Oneida Beservatiou, Wisconsin ; Malachi Krebs,' Devil's Lake Agency, Dakota; N. 8. Porter, AbsenteelShawnees and Citizen Potta- , 'The desthaf Special Agent Krebs was reported to this offloe on September 23d. 9692 IND-2 ' |
