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Show Curtis Act. On July 28 he was instructed that these provisional r e p Iations were intended by the Department to govern also in import taxes, per capita assessments, or other charges upon cattle imposed by the laws of the respective tribes in accordance with the directions contained in Department letter of July 26, 1898. These provisional instructious were enforced a8 to all of the nations in the Indian Terri. tory except the SeminoleNation, the agreement with that nation having been ratified by Congress without amendment and become a law on Jnly 1, 1898. After the ratification by the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of the agreement of April 23,1897, as amended by Congress, these instmc-tions no longer applied to those nations, but pending its ratification it appears that the agent had collected some small amounts as taxes on circuses, theaters, licensed traders, timber, and for permits, which, together with the amounts collected for royalty on asphalt and coal, had been turned into the Treasury to the credit of said nations, respec-tively, in proportion to their rights under the law. After the ratifica-tion of the agreement by the Indians, the agent's authority to collect the miscellaneous revenues in the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations came to an end, and the 1)epartment held that with the exception of revenues on coal and asphalt, dedicated by the agreement for use fer school purposes, the proper officers of the nations were the only authori-ties having a right to make these collections. By regulations prescribed November 4,1898, in force in the Chero-kee and Creek nations, instructions were provided in paragraphs 12 to 15, inclusive, for the guidance of the agent in collecting d l revenues arising nuder the laws of those nations, as well as royalties under leases for mining purposes entered into under section 13 of the Curtis Act. Paragraphs 16 to 18, inclusive, direct the agent as to making disburse-ments in the paying of salaries of officers of the two tribes, cte., as provided in the act. These regulations were printed in the appendix to the annual report for last year, page 537. It is not the purpose of this report to make a statement of the amounts of the various kinds of revenues collected by the agent, but to discuss briefly the questions that have arisen as to the legality of the tcixes imposed under the various laws. At first there was a dis-position on the part of some parties liable to certain taxes to contest the right of the agent to collect them under the belief that all laws of the various nations were repealed by the Curtis Act, and that, con-sequently, the laws imposing taxes such as permit, licensed trader, cattle, and other taxes were no longer in force. This question, how-ever, was carefully considered by the Department, and the conclnsion was reached that no laws of the nations were repealed except those that were in direct conflict with the provisions of the Curtis act, such as the laws creating the judicial offices and providmg for the salary of the officers. 8 8 9 6 4 - |