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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 43 In Seminole County the cases of alleged fraud becxne so numer-ous the Congress recognized the necessity of giving special assistanm rtnd attention, and provided for the employment of a special assistant to the Attorney General to aid in prosecutions. These prosecutions have been carried on through the cooperation of the two departments and with the aid and assistance of the State court o5cials, with the result that five or six of the principal defendants have been convicted and given sentences in the State penitentiary of from 7 to 14 years, principally for forgery. And recently the Seminole County grand jury returned 21 additional indictments against 7 individuals. In McCurtain County the probate conditions having been very unsatisfactory, a concerted effort was made by the State, Federal, and tribal o5cers to clear up the situation. On July 1, a separate district Indian agency was organized for that county alone, and special agents of the department and of the State and the Choctaw tribal attorneys actively took up the investigation of numerous com-plaints of irregularities. The investigation culminated first in the resignation, to take effect immediately, of the county judge of that county, the recovery and refunding to the proper credit of guardians of minors of approximately $65,000, the quitclaiming of over 4,100 acres of land, and the securing by the State o5cials of articles of agreement with three of the largest purchasers of land through the probate court, under which agreement they are to submit to an arbi-tration board, to be composed of a representative of the State, a member to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior, and a thiid member to be selected by the land owner, all of their titles procured through this probate court. Results thus far have been most gratifyjig, and show an earnest desire on the part of the authorities of the State of Oklahoma to assist the Government in protecting the full-blood and minor Indians. CREEK TOWN-LOT SUIT@. Two hundred and thirty-one Creek town-lot suits, involving 1,500 lots in different towns of the Creek Nation, have been been brought by special counsel. Various persons, being excessive lot holders, attempted to pm-cure title thereto at one-half the appraised value by the use of L'dummies," to whom such lots were scheduled and appraised, and by subsequent conveyances back to the conspirators. As a result the Creek Nation was defrauded of one-half the value of these lots, in violation of the Creek agreement ratified May 25, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 861, 866). Twenty-five Creek town-lot suits are still pending and nndeter-mined. There has been paid for attorneys' fees and expenses ap-proximately $26,000. There has been recovered in money for the |