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Show 62 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. received allotments under the act of 1887 to sell a part of their lands and refuse the same privilege to those who took their allotments under the act of 1872. As statedin last year's report, the rule should be made uniform. The act of 1872 requires the "permission of the President" to make conveyances valid. The President should be relieved of the duty of attending to such a minor detail as the approval of India11 deeds. In an opinion rendered June 8,1897, the Department held that the authority given by the act of August 15,1894, to make sales of por-tions of allotments taken under the general allotment act was confined to adult Indians, and did not include sales made by or on behalf of minor heirs. Further legislation seems necessary to authorize the sale of these lands when held by adult and minor heirs as tenants in common. The Peoria and Miami I n d i a ~o~f st he Quapaw Agency, Ind. T., were allowed to sell a part of their lands by a provision of the act of June 7, 1897 (30 Stats., p. 72), which reads as follows: That the adnlt allottees of land in the Peoria and Miami Indian Reaervation in the Quapav Agency, Ind. T., who have each received allotment8 of 200 acres or more may sell 100 eores thereof, nnder such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interlor msy prescribe. This law does not provide for the sale of their lands by heirs of allot tees,which would seem to be au unfair and ilnpracticable discrimination. The draft of a bill to cover the poiuts above indicated was subm~tted to Congress at its last session, but failed to become a law. It will be resnb~nittedfo r tra~ismissiont o Oongress at its next session. TELBPHONE LINBS ACROSS XESERVATIONS. The act of February 9,1899 (30 Stat., 834, and p. 494 of this report), grants the Missouri and Kansas Telephone Oo~npanyt he right to con-struct and maintain line^ aud offioes for general bosiness purposes in the Ponca, Otoe, a ~ l dM issouria reservations in the Territory of Okla. homa. Section 2 of the act provides that the company shall pay the nations or tribes through which it exteuds its line, ill wl~oleorin part, the sum of $5 annually for each 10 miles of line co~lstrncteda nd main-tained. Section 3 provides that before the line xl~all be constructed consent shall be obtained from all persons iu the lawful possession of improvements authorizing the construction across said improveme~~ts; and if the right to construct can not be obtained by agreement, the11 the amount of damages shall be determined by arbitration, one arbi: trator to be selected by the company and one by the owner of the improveme~~tasn, d if they shall fail to agree, they shall select a third person, and the award so made shall bebinding upon t l ~pea rties thereto. This act is the first act of Congress antl~orizing the coustruotion of a telephone line through Indian I%n~ls, |