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Show The same act subjected the allotments to the local laws of descent and partition during the trust period. This prokision, taken in con-nection with the act of May 27, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 245), authorizing the sale of deceased allottees' land, has given rise .to a mass of con-flicting procedure by the inferior courts of the several States and Territories, resulting in far more evil than good. The mere fact of so much conflict in the views and procedure of such courts makes the Indian administrative work extremely difficult and impedes the progress of the Indians as a whole. Moreover, some of the incidental effects of the citizenship of the Indian allottee seem not to have been generally appreciated, even in well-informed circles, till the decision of the United States Supreme Court "In the matter of Heff " (197 TJ. S., 488), startled the wuntry. This case grew out of an effort to enforce the Federal laws relating to the d a l e of liquor to'Indians. The decision, tho eminently logical, simply places the ignorant, inca-pable, 'and helpless Indian citizen at the mercy of one class of evil doers. A realization of what this meant to States with an enormous Indian population, like South Dakota, set, honest people there and elsewhere casting about for a remedy. Like his white neighbor, the I ~ d i a nis of more than one sort, rang-ing from good degrees of intelligence, industry, and thrift to the: depths of helplessness, ignorance, and vice. Experience has proved that Indians of the former class do better when allowed to run their own business than when the Government tries to run it for them, hut that citizenship and the jurisdiction of the local courts are of no rrdvantage'to Indians of the latter class, because the community, as a rule, does not interest itself to compel the proper exercise of poliw or judicial powers in behalf of these poor people. The very cost o f , resorting to law for the enforcement of a right or the redress of a wrong is in some places prohibitive as far as they are concerned; Such conditions m ~ d ep lain the need of some law which would enable the Indian Ofice to manage the affairs of the helpless class with undisputed authority, but, on the other hand, to remove from the roll of wards and dependants the large and increasing number of Indians who no longer need any supervision from a bureau i n TVashington. To this need came a response from .Representative Charles H. Burke, of South Dakota, who last winter introdncod in the Congress a measure which, with some modiication, became law onMay 8. (34 Stat. L., 182.) . The Burke law materially modifies the Da%es law. . It postpones the acquisition of citizenship until the termination of the trust as to all allotments made after May 8, 1906, and declares that the allot-tees shall be subiect to the exclusive iurisdiction of the T.Jn ited States until they acquire citizenship. To nullify the injustice which |
