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Show I 48 REPORT OF THE COMMI98IONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. benefited in proportion to the amount of money received by him. As soon as he receives the money he is free to dispose of it w he sees fit and is absolutely without any restraint. A number of suggestions have been submitted which seek to protect the Indian from being defrauded out of his money after it is received by him, and one of these suggestions appears to be worthy of serious consideration, to wit: That the land be sold on time, the consideration to be paid in annual installments covering a period of ten or fifteen years, and the evidence of indebtedness to be nonnegotiable and the deed withheld until the consideration is fully paid. It is agreed that this method of disposing of the land would cut off speculation, make it possible for many home seekers to acquire it who are unable to buy for cash, and would best subserve the intereats of the heirs,since it would provide them with an annual income and cut off the possibility of an early dissipation of the proceeds. The legal heirs to the land sold have in most cases been easily asaer-tained, and but little litigation has grown out of the distribution of the property. By reason of these conditions but few Indians have been put to any expense in establishing their heirship, and much of the expense that they have incurred by having estates probated has been entirely unnecessary. Some of the heirs have been induced to probate the estates in which they are interested by attorneys whose sole object is evidently to collect a fee, since the facts show in most of such cases that no complications whatever existed and that a decree of court was entirely unnecessary in order to determine the legal heirs. This prac-tice of probating estates has been discouraged by the officials in charge, and this item of expense will no doubt constantly decrease. There are estates in which it becomes necessary to determine the legal heirs by decree of court, and the expense of obtaining such decree in these cases is unavoidable. It is questionable whether or not the sale of land inherited by minors should be generally permitted. The fact that the land is in most cases rapidly increasing in value and is readily l e d to good advantage would seem to make as desirable an investment as could be procured by a guardian after the proceeds are in his hands. The risk which always attends personal property in the hands of a guardian, together with the cost of administering the trust, would be largely absent if the land remains unsold; and it yet remains to be shown where it is any advantage to the ward to have his property converted into money with the attending risk and expense. This view is further supported by the fact that most of the land heretofore sold has been purchased by from a half dozen to a dozen individuals at each agency, show in^ that to buy this land is considered by them a good investment; for from the amounts purchased it is quite evident they are buying the land for investment purposes and not as homes. If, then, the busi- |
