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Show 140 REPORT OP THE CO~ISSIONER OR INDIAN AFRAIBS. Has this Department authority under the law to remove a noncitizen who refuses to pay such tax? Has it authority in the case of a merchant refusing to pay such Lax, to close his place of business or to remove his stock of merchandise beyond the limitaof the nation ? Did the Indian Territory, by reason of the provisions of the act of June 28,1898, authorizing the sale of town lots to noncitisens, cease to be Indian country, so that thepmvisions of sections2147-2150, Revised Statutes, do not apply thereto? Will the lands of any nation in which a town or city is located cease to be Indian country, so as to remove them from the jurisdiction and operation of these tribal laws, when the lots in such town or city shdl have been sold under the provisions of mid act of 1898 ? What is the full scope of the authority and duty of this Department in the premi-ses under the treaties with these nations and the laws of the United Stah regulating trade and interconme with the Indiana? The opinion of the Attorney-General rendered September 7,1900, holds that-under the proviaions of section 2147 to 2150, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes of the United States * * * the authority and duty of the Interior Department is, within any of these Indian nations, to remove all persOnE of the claasw forbidden by treaty or law who are there without Indian permit or license, to closeall business which requires a permit or licenee and is being &ed on there without one, and to remove all cattle being pmtured on the public land without Indian permit or license, where wch permit or license is required. The opinion is published in full in this report, on page 576. Bank tax in the Creek Nation.-Section 246 of the Laws of the Creek Nation provides for a tax on each banking establishment of "one-half of 1 per cent of capital stock invested+sessment to he made on the hank on account of the shares thereof." (See Creek Laws, 1893 edition, p. 87). The inspector, July 28, 1899, reported to the Department that the different taxes, prescribed by the laws of the Creek Nation on noncitizen8 doing business within the limits of that nation, were being collected, and that the revenue collectors had made demand upon all banks within the limits of said nation for the payment by them of the tax prescribed by Creek laws, and that the banks claimed that they were exempt from the payment of the tax by reason of the fact that they were national hanks. The inspector requested to be advised whether or not the national banks were liable for the tax as prescribed by the laws of the Creek Nation. Office report of August 9, 1899, to the Department, quoted from a letter of November 5, 1893, to Agent Wisdom, of the Union Agency, relative to the same subject, as follows: The Comptroller of the Currency of the United States, in a letter of January 21, 1893, advised this ofice, through the Department of the Interior, that it has been held by the courts that under the United Statea Statntes a tax upon the capital stock of a (national) bank "in solido" is void, and that the only tax permitted by the United States Statutes is upon the shares of stock of a national bank in the hands of and owned by individuals; also that the statutes of some States provide for |
