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Show I REPORT OF THE COMUISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 39 About April 19,1896, under the advice of the Solicitor-General of the United States, Ralph W. Breckenridge, special assista~itU nited States district attorney, prepa,rcd a bill of complaint for an action of injunction against the Flournoy Live Stock and RealEstate Company, Anton Ahlstron, and some 263 other defendants, all of whom mere alleged illegal lessees and sublessees. On April 22 Captain Beck reported that the judge of the Uuited States district conrt at Lincoln, Nehr., and the judge of the United States circait conrt at St. Paul, Minn., had, respectively, refused to issue a restraining order upon said bill of complaint. March 29,1895, James B. Sheehan, attorney for the Blournoy Com-pany, wrote this office submitting a proposition of compromise of the differences then existing bet,ween the company and the Department. The company proposed, in consideration of a suspension of all litiga-. tion and in case it be allowed to enjoythe uninterrupted use and occu-pancy of the lands, to surrender the same January 1,1896, reserving to itself the right to remove from the lands all buildings and improve-ments they had placed thereon. To this the office replied, April 2, that any offer of compromiseon the past of the company sliould besub-mitted through the acting agent, Captain Beck. The latercorrespond-ence shows that the proposition had been submitted to Captain Beck the same day it was submitted to this office. April 2 Captain Beck forwarded the propositio~it o this office and submitted reasons why it sbould not he aocepted. This closed all overtures for a compromise. The company immediately renewed its efforts to sublease tho lands held by it, and Captain Beck renewed his efforts at evicting the illegal occupants. About this t.irne authority was granted Captaiu Beck for the employment of 16 additional police to assist in the removal of the trespassers. April 20 he telegraphed this office tbat on the preceding day the sheriff of Thurstou County attempted to arrest one of his Indian police; that in turn the police force arrested the sheriff and brought him to the agency; that he at once swore out a warrant before a justice of the peace for the formal arrest oI the sheriff; that the case was continued until the following day, and that the newspapers stated that the sheriff was organizing a posse for his (Beck's) arrest. A copy of this telegram on the same day was sent to the Department for sub-mission to the Attorney-General for such action as he might deem proper. To this the Solicitor-General replied in part that this Depart-ment had ample power under the statutes to protect and enforce the rights of the Indians as to the lands passed upon by the decrees of the 1 courts sustaining departmenta,l control of the same. About May 1 Captain Beck asked for the employment of 60 addi-tional policemen, feeling that his force was still inadequate to success-fully cope with t,he opposition that would be offered by the Blonrnoy Company and its subtenants. The matter on May 8, with a full state-ment of the facts,was submitted to the Department with' favorable |