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Show 82 REPORT OF TEE OO~SSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIBS. and telegraph lines and o5ces for general telephone and telegraph business through Indiin lands, as follows: SBC. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and empowered to grant a right of way, in the nature of an easement, for the construction, operation, and maintenance of telephone and telegraph lines and offices for general telephone and telegraph busineas through any Indian reservation, through any land8 held by an Indian tribe ornation in the Indian Territory, through any lands reserved for an Indian agency or Indian school, or for other purpose in connection with the Indian Service, or through any lands which have been allotted in severalty to any individual Indian under any law or treaty, but which have not been conveyed to the allottee with full power of alienation, upon the terms and conditions herein expressed. No such lines shall be constructed acrosa Indian lands, a8 above mentioned, until authority therefor has first been obtained from the Secretary of the Interior, and the mapsof definite location of the lines shall be subject to his approval. The compen-aation to be paid the tribes in their tribal capacity and the individual allottees for such right of way through their lands shall be determined in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior may direct, and shall be subject to his final approval; and where such lines are not subject to State or Territorial taxation the company or owner of the line shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior, for the use and benefit of the Indiana, snch annual tax as he may designate, not exceeding five dollara for each ten miles of line so constmcted and maintained; and all such lines shall be con-structed and maintainedunder such rules and regulations as said Secretary may pre scribe. But nothii herein contained shall be so construed as to exempt the owners of such lines from the payment of any tax that may be lawfully assemed against them by either State, Territorial, or municipal authority; and Congress hereby xpreasly reserves the right to regulate the tolls or charges for the transmiasion of meaaages over any lines constructed under the provisions of this act: Provided, That incorporated cities and towns into or through which snch telephone or telegraphic lines may be constructed shall have the power to regulate the manner of construc-tion therein, and nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to deny the right of municipal taxation in such towns and cities. * * Regulations were prascribed under the foregoing section March 15, 1901, and appear in full on page 638 of this report. r Prior to the enactment of the foregoing legislation there was no + general law authorizing the construction and operation of telephone and telegraph lines across Indian lands, except as the general act of March 2, 1899, concerning rights of way for railroads across Indian lands, provides for the construction of telegraph lines in connection therewith. This legislation has already proved beneficial in the Indian Territory, where a few telephone linen have heretofore been operated under franchises granted by the several tribal governments without regard to uniformity in any particular. Applications have been filed in this office for permission to construct telephone and telegraph lines under the provisions of section 3 of the act of March 3, 1901, by the folbwing-named corporations and individuals, and action has been taken on each as hereinafter noted: Arkansas Valley Telephone Company.-Application was filed May 15, 1901, by E. D. Nims, vice-prasident. The route of the proposed line |