OCR Text |
Show 24 COMMIBSIONER OF INDIAN APFAIXS. year of operation it appears that the act should be amended, for at present in the frequent cases where the devisees are minors or other-wise incompetent they may alienate the land at will. With a view to retaining in trust the land devised in such cases, an amendment to the present law has been submitted to the Congress; by the proposed legis-lation the devisee, if competent, will be able to get a patent in fee under the act of May 8,1906. Under the act of 1910 in its present form 26 wills were approved during the year. This act of June25,1910 (36 Stat. L., 855), is mandatory in requir-ing that after a. hearing pursuant b notice the Secretary of the In-terior shall determine the heirs of deceased allottees and, in case they are competent, shall issue patents in fee. This act entails a vast amount of work; many allotments are now of 20 years' standing; estates are contested; and the questions of law, and particularly of fact, become extremely diEcult, largely through di5culty in obtain-ing Indian testimony of value. As allotments have been made on 55 reservations, and upon the Winnebago Resenration alone--one of the smaller reservations-there are 600 heirship casesahe work to be done under this act will become one of the greater tasks of the o5ce. During the year it has been possible to determine the heirs in approximately 800 cases. In conducting sales of Indian land the office has inaugurated a plan which results in saving from two to four months in the completion of each sale. Immediately after the department approves a sale and without delay through waiting for a patent to issue from the Gen-eral Land OEce, the superintendent is authorized to put the pur-chaser into possession of the land, and at the same time the purchaser is required to deposit the purchase price to the credit of the Indian. Because of this change in routine there has been freer competition for lends, with corresponding higher prices. LEASES OF M D . The leasing of Indian allotted lands raises some of the gravest questions of policy with which the Indian O5ce has to deal. Under certain conditions leasing is of real use to the Indians. Where an Indian is farming a substantial amount of his allotment and has not capital or hands enough in his family to farm more, it may be advisable f& him to lease the surplus, provided his character has reached a stage where the coming in of a steady rental will not cause him to lessen his labon. The chief question ip a case like this lies between leasing and sale. If he can get a good price, it is frequently better for him to sell and have the capital value of his surplus land to put into substantial improvements on his retained farm. The . market, however, may not he good at the time, or he may also desire |