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Show 10- all this? Did they reduce the area of their occupation and give up tho wators which made it valuable or ado.uatoY And, oven regarding the allegation of the answer as truo, that there aro springs and streams on the reservation flowing about 2,900 inches of water, tho inquiries arc pertinent. If it wore possible to believe affirmative answers, we might also believe that th* Indians were awed by the power of tho Government or deceived by its negotiators. Neither view 4s possible. The Government is asserting the rights of the Indians. But extremes need not bo taken into acooixnt. By a rule of interpretation of agreements and treaties with tho Indians, ambiguities occurring will be resolvod from tho standpoint of the Indians. And tho rulo should certainly bo applied to determine between two inferences, one of whioh would support the purpose of the agreement and tho other* impair or defeat it. On account of thoir relations to tho Government, it cannot bo supposed that the Indians wore alert to oxclude by formal words every inforencc which night militate against or defeat the declared purpose of themselves and tho Government, ovon if it could be supposed that they had tho intelligence to foresee the "double sense" which might somo time be urged ahyiinst thorn. Anothor contention of appollantn in that If it be con-coded that thoro was a reservation of tho waters of Milk Rivor by tho agreomont of 1000, yet the rooorvation was repealed by tho admiCDion of Montana into the Union, l-'obrunry 22, 1800, c. 130, 25 Stat. 676, "upon an equal footing with the original Statos." |