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Show 40 BEPOBT or !rm COMMI S ~ ~ON FO~F INDIAN AFFAIIB. the Fort Berthold Reservation. These new lines will materially enhance the value of the lands in that vicinity, and give new incentive , to industry on the part of these Indians, whb, heretofore, because of the lack of railway facilities, have been out of reach of a market for their farm products. The Great ~o r t h e r nR ailway Co. has agreed to complete and put. into operation by December 31, 1913, its entire line from Wenatchee to Oroviile, along the Okanogan and.Columbia Rivers, in the State of Washington, for which right of way was acquired almost three years ago. This liqe will undoubtedly stimulate the development of lands under the Okanogan reclamation project, heretofore without convenient transportation facilities. Pipe line.-To furnish an outlet for the great production of oil from the new Cushhg field, located within the Creek Reservation in Oklahoma, about 8 or 9 miles east of the town of Oushing, the follow- . ing companies have been granted pipe-line rights of way across Sac and Fox and Creek lands: Creek County Oil & Gas Co., Jane Oil & Gas Co., Chanute Re- Go., Charles B. Shder, Gulf Pipe Line Co., the Texas Co., and the Prairie Oil & Gas Go. PATENTS IN FEIE. The act of May 8, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 182), provides for the issuance of patents in fee to Indian allottees who are shown to be competent. In 1907 and 1908, when the issuance of fee patents under this act was in the experimental stage, a very large percentage of Indians who received patents in fee sold their lands and now have nothmg to show for the proceeds of sale. The Indians receiving patents in fee during the later Xem have been more successful in the care of their property, the superintend-ents in the field having learned, through experience, how to judge thore accurately the competency of the Indian applicant. During the past year,90 per cent of the fee patents which have issued cover land allotted to Indians of one-half blood and less. , , While it is true that the fact of being a mixed blood does not of itself constitute or prove competency, yet it is undoubtedly true that the mixed blood, both by reason of his inherited capacities, and because of his somewhat more advanced home environment, is, as a rule, better able to care for his property without supervision , , than is the full blood. . During the fiscal year ,779 applications for fee patents were received, 259 of which were denied, and 520 approved. The area patented embraced 67,477.49 acres. |