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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIOBER OB INDIAN APRAIBS, . 63- duplicate on forms, and the applicant must consent that the lands shall be sold on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, and that the proceeds shall be handled and disposed of by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the benefit of the applicant. The sale shall be made at public auction to the highest bidder, or under sealed bids, rn the Secretary may direct in each case, the right being resenred to reject any or all bids. Public notice of not less than thirty days shall be given of all sales. The land shall be sold for one-fourth cash at the time of sale, the remainder of the purchase money to be paid, one-fourth in two years, . one-fourth in three yeais, and one-fourth in four years,respectively, from the 1st day of December next following the date of sale. Only one sale has been consummated under t,he act. PATENTS IN FEE. GENERAL STATEMENT. The act of May 8, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 182), known as the Burke Act, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to issue patents in fee to Indian allottees whom he considers competent to manage their own aff aiirs. During the past year it was found that on many reservations where land speculation was active Indian allottees had been importuned to make applications for patents in fee, and in many instances the Indi-ans were defrauded out of a large portion of the value of their lands. , From the investigationsmade, morestringent regulations have been promulgated regarding the points to be considered in meakuring an applicant's competency to care for his or her own affain. For this reason the number of applications approved has fallen from, 1,787 in 1908 to 1,166, and the denials increased from 68 in 1908 to 836 dur-ing the past year. (See Table 35.) A list of 33 questions, aU bearing on the applicant's competency, now make up the report in each application for a patent in fee. From July 1, 1908, 1,934 applications we.re received, of which 1,166 were approved, the patents covering a total area of 133,331.69 acres. PATENTS IN FEE ON WHITE EARTH RESERVATION. The ac..t of June 21,1906 (34 Stat. L., 325-353), provides: That.all restrictions as to sale, incumbrance, or taxation for allotments within the White Earth Reservation in the State of Minnesota, now or hereafter held by any adult mixed-blood Indians, are hereby removed, and the trust deeds heretofore or hereafter executed by the department for auch allotmenta are hereby declared to paw the titlein fee simple, or such mixed-bloods upon application shall be entitled to receive a title in fee simple for aueh allotmenta. Under this act 416 applications, covering an area of 33,882 acres, were approved up to July 1, 1908. During the year endedJuly 1, 139-10-5 |
