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Show . . 86 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF IXDIAN AFFAIRS: . , Dommunica\ions from the Solicitor and Assistant Secretary of the . Treasury to Mr. J. M. Vale, of this city, attorney for the Fond du Lac Indians (both of which are Bled by Mr. Vale with his letter of Septem-ber 15,1891, to this office) show that Mr. Hines' proposition was ac-cepted by the Secretary of the Treasury June 8,1891, and that in pur-suance of the compromise agreed upon Mr. Hines has paid the sum of $20,446.52, which has been covered into the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt derived'from depredations on public lands. As frequently expressed in reports on the subject of Beprcdations. upon timber on this reservation, this office maintains that the' In-dians located thereon have an equitable right to receive the bepe6t of all moneys recovered from the parties committing such depredations. This view is strengthened by the action taken by the Government in providing for the sale of the timber standing on the lauds recently ceded by the Chippewas of Uinnesota and the use of the proceeds for their benefit, which is a recognition of the rights of the Indians. In view of the fact that they would have received the va111e of this tim-ber had it not been unlawfully cot and removed I believe that the rule : of lawwhich gives the Government absolute property in the timber, upon its being unlawfully severed, should not be permitted to stand in the way of devoting the proceeds to the benefit of the Indians, \ ' especially as it doe$ not appear that they were in any manner re. , spcnsible for the depredations. I have, therefore, included in my estimates of appropriations for the Indian Offlce, to be submitted to Congress, an item of $20,446.5'2, to be appropriated for the benetit of the Pond dn Lac Indians, the same being the aluoiiut recovered on account of Mr. Hines' depreciations upon the timber on their reserva-tion. Notwithstanding the fact that the Government has been prosecuting its suit against Mr. Hines for the depreilations comrnitted by him upon the timber on this reservation io 1888-'89, the recent investigations of an inspector show that other and extensive depredat~ous Gave been . 2 comnlitted during the seasons of 1889-'90 and 1890-'91. March 28, 1891, Bishop Marty advised this office that he had been informed that Mr. Stack, the Governulent farmer, was robbing the Indians by selling timber from the Bond du Lac Reservat,ion, and April 7,1891,'a copy of Mr. Marty's letter was transmitted to the Department with the request that an inspector be sent to investigate the charges. Inspector B. H. Miller was assigned to this duty, and reported tha during the season of 1889-'90 about 4,000,000 feet of timber were cut and sold under t.he direction and maragement of Farmer Stack, while dur-ing that of 1890-'91 over 11,000,000 feet were cut and sold under the ' direction and management of the additional farmer for that reservation. , . In this report of July 22,1891, Inspector Miller states that he is satis- Bed that witlrin the past year millions of feet of standing green pine and thousaods of cedar telegraph poles, ties, and paving havo been cut i . |