AMENDED RULES AND REGULATIONS TO BE OBSERVED IN THE EXECUTION OF LEASES OF INDIAN ALLOTMENTS. Section 3 of the act of Congress approved February 28, 1891 (chap. 383, 26 Stats., p. 794), provides: That whenever it shall be made to appear to the Secretary of the Interior that, by reason of age or other disability, any allottee under the provisions of said act, or any other act or treaty, can not personally and with benefit to himself occupy or improve his allotment or any part thereof, the same may be leased upon such terms, regulations, and conditions as shall be prescribed by such Secretary, for a term not exceeding three years for farming or grazing, or ten years for mining purposes. This provision of law is modified by the act of Congress approved August 15, 1894, making appropriations, etc., for the Indian Department (28 Stats., 305). Said section, as modified, provides as follows: That whenever it shall be made to appear to the Secretary of the Interior that by reason of age, disability, or inability any allottee of Indian lands under this or former acts of Congress can not personally and with benefit to himself occupy or improve his allotment or any part thereof, the same may be leased upon such terms, regulations, and conditions as shall be prescribed by the Secretary for a term not exceeding five years for farming or grazing purposes, or ten years for mining or business purposes. In order to give full force and effect to the above enactments, the following amended rules and regulations are hereby promulgated for the information and direction of U. S. Indian agents and all parties concerned: WHO MAY LEASE. 1. The term "age," as used in said amended act, is defined to apply to all minors under 18, and all persons disabled by reason of old age. 2. The term "disability" is defined to apply to (a) All unmarried women. (b) All widows who have no sons of suitable age under their control to cultivate their lands with profit. (c) All married women who have neither husbands nor sons in condition to cultivate their lands with profit to the family. (d) All allottees who are disabled by reason of chronic sickness or incurable physical defects. (e) All allottees who are disabled by native defect of mind or permanent incurable mental disease, such as to prevent them from cultivating their lands. 3. The term "inability," as used in said amended act, cannot be specifically defined as the other terms have been. Any allottee not embraced in any of the foregoing classes who for any reason other than those stated is unable to cultivate his lands or a portion of them, and desires to lease the same, may make application therefor to the proper Indian agent. If his inability to cultivate his lands (or the portion thereof he desires to lease) is clearly shown in the reasons assigned, the allottee may be permitted to lease. In submitting such applications the agent must state, in brief, concise terms, the cause of such inability. 4. When the allottee is able to cultivate only a limited portion of his land, and desires by reason of disability or inability to lease the other portions, the facts in such cases must be clearly and concisely stated. 5. Indian agents, however, are hereby expressly directed that it is not intended by the terms "disability" and "inability" to authorize the making of any lease by an allottee who has the necessary physical and mental qualifications to enable him to cultivate his own land, either personally, through the aid of his minor children, or by hired help, unless for exceptional reasons, which must be clearly shown, he falls within the provisions of rule 3. LENGTH OF TERM. 1. The term for which farming and grazing leases may be executed shall not exceed five years, and mining leases and leases for business purposes must not be executed for a longer term than ten years, as provided in said amended act. HOW EXECUTED. 1. The indenture of lease must be executed in conformity with the terms and conditions expressed in the printed blanks issued by the Indian Office and approved by the Department. Leases executed on other forms will not be recognized. Agents in charge of reservations where there are allotted lands will be furnished a supply of these blank forms on application. 2. The lease must be executed in triplicate, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, and acknowledged before the Indian agent within the limits of whose agency the allottee resides. 3. If the allottee or lessor does not reside within the limits of an Indian agency, the instrument of lease may be acknowledged before a justice of the peace or other officer having legal jurisdiction, whose official character must be certified by the clerk of a court of record under the seal of such court. 4. If only a portion of the allotment is leased, a definite description by subdivisions or by metes and bounds of said portion should be incorporated in said lease, accompanied by a diagram indicating the portion to be leased, whenever said metes and bounds do not conform to the public survey. 5. The lease must be accompanied by the certificate of the Indian agent for the tribe to which the allottee belongs, that the contents, purport, and effect of the lease were explained to and fully understood by the allottee or legal representative of said allottee; that said allottee being years old, can not personally and with benefit to self occupy or improve allotment, or the part thereof described and covered by said lease, giving the specfic reasons therefor as indicated in rules 2 and 3; that the lessor is competent to manage his affairs and thus lease said allotment; that he has examined the said land and the character thereof, which he shall describe by legal subdivisions or by natural metes and bounds, and give a general description of its surface, wood and water supply, improvements, present use, nearness to market, use for which best adapted, and any other details which will enable the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior to form a just estimate as to the desirability of the lease. He shall state clearly and in detail the specific reasons why authority to make the lease is asked, and make recommendation in the premises, stating expressly whether, in his judgment, it would be to the manifest advantage of the allottee to authorize the lease, and that he is satisfied that the land can be occupied, used, and improved more advantageously and profitably for the purposes named in the lease than for the other purposes referred to in said act; that he believes the rent or consideration agreed upon to be a full, fair, just, and reasonable rental for the premises, and the most desirable obtainable; and that the said lease is in every respect free from fraud or deception, and that he is in no respect interested in said lease. He will set forth the character and habits of the allottee as to industry, thrift, and general conduct; also the character, uprightness, and intelligence of the proposed lessee, and shall indicate whether in his judgment the presence of said lessee will be beneficial to the Indians. 6. If the instrument is acknowledged before a justice of the peace or any officer other than the Indian agent, he must furnish the certificate required of the Indian agent in rule 5. If, however, the facts shall not be known to the Indian agent or other officer, they must be verified by affidavits of not less than two disinterested, credible persons who are cognizant of the facts and of the value of said land for the purposes named in said lease, whose veracity must be certified to by such officer. 7. All the testimony and all papers pertaining to said indenture of lease must be properly authenticated under seal. 8. A certificate signed by two or more disinterested, credible persons must be furnished, setting forth from their personal knowledge the identification of the lessor as the allottee, or the heir or legal representative of the allottee, his age, and state specifically the reason why the allottee should be given the benefits of the said act, and why they think it advisable that the land should be so disposed of or leased. EXECUTION OF THE BONDS. 1. The greater portion of the third page of the blank leases now in use constitute a bond. This bond must be signed by two or more sufficient sureties, guaranteeing the payment of all the rents and royalties at the time specified, and the performance of all covenants and agreements named in the indenture to be paid and performed by the lessee. 2. Below the bond is a blank "Verification of sureties." This verification must be subscribed and sworn to before some officer who is authorized to administer oaths. If subscribed to before a justice of the peace or a notary public, the official character of such officer must be certified to before some officer of a court of record, under seal, having jurisdiction in the county where the acknowledgment was taken. The sureties must write their own names in the verification; they must not be written in by the officer taking the acknowledgment. 3. Each surety must justify under oath to an amount equal to the value of the entire rent to be paid. 4. The sureties must sign the bond in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 5. All names, both in the lease and bond, must be written in full, as initial letters will not be recognized as a Christian name. THE AGENT'S CERTIFICATE. This must be filled out by the agent in person, and all the requirements of the blank form must be strictly complied with. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, The foregoing amended rules and regulations designed for the government of the respective parties in the execution of leases of allotted lands under section 3 of the act of Congress approved February 28, 1891 (26 Stats., 794), as amended by act of Congress approved August 15, 1894 (28 Stats., 305), are respectfully submitted to the Secretary of the Interior with the recommendation that the same be approved. FRANK C. ARMSTRONG, Acting Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, The foregoing rules and regulations are hereby approved. September 22, 1894. WM. H. SIMS, Acting Secretary. INDIAN LEGISLATION PASSED DURING THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIFTY-THIRD CONGRESS. December 21, 1893. 28 Stat., p. 16. Urgent de fi ciencies appro priations. [p. 19.] Cherokee claims. CHAP. 3. An act making appropriations to supply further urgent deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and for prior years, and for other puposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and for other objects hereinafter stated, namely: For expenses of litigation in case of the United States against Thomas and others, in the interest of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina, five thousand dollars. Assistant At- For the deficiency in the compensation of the assistant attorneytorney-General, general charged with the defense of Indian depredation claims, which Indian depredation claims. compensation shall hereafter be the same as that of the other assistSalary in ant attorneys-general in the Department of Justice, two thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. creased. December 21, 1893. ern homa Territo ries. Location. CHAP. 9. An act to grant the right of way to the Kansas, Oklahoma Central and Southwestern Railway Company through the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory, and for other purposes. 28 Stat., p. 22. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Kansas, Okla. States of America in Congress assembled, That the Kansas, Oklahoma homa Central Central and Southwestern Railway Company, a corporation created and Southwest- under and by virtue of the laws of the Territory of Oklahoma, be, and Railway the same is hereby, invested and empowered with the right of locatCompany, may build railway, ing, constructing, equipping, operating, using, and maintaining a etc., line through railway, telegraph, and telephone line through the Indian Territory Indian and Okla and Oklahoma Territory, including lands that have been allotted to Indians in severalty or reserved for Indian purposes, beginning at any point to be selected by said railway company on the south line of the Indian Terri-State of Kansas, in the county of Montgomery, on the south line of tory. section numbered thirteen or section numbered fourteen, township numbered thirty-five, range numbered thirteen east of the sixth principal meridian, or on the south line of section numbered thirteen or section numbered fourteen, township numbered thirty-five, range sixteen east of the sixth principal meridian, and running thence by the most practical route through the Indian Territory to the west line thereof; thence in a south or southwesterly direction by the most Oklahoma Ter- practicable route into and through Oklahoma Territory to a point on ritory. the Texas State line and on Red River between said State of Texas and the Comanche and Apache Indian Reservation, in said Oklahoma Territory, by way of, at, or near Stillwater, Guthrie, and Elreno, in Oklahoma Territory, and passing through the Osage, Pawnee, Wichita, Comanche, and Apache Indian reservations, and through the organized counties of Payne, Logan, Oklahoma, and Canadian, in said Oklahoma Territory, with the right to construct, use, and maintain such tracks, turn-outs, sidings, and extensions as said company may deem to their interest to construct along and upon the right of way and depot grounds herein provided for. Right of way. SEC. 2. That said company is authorized to take and use, for all purposes of a railway and for no other purpose, a right of way one Provisos. hundred feet in width through said Territories, and to take and use a strip of land two hundred feet in width with a length of three thousand feet in addition to right of way, for stations, for every ten miles of the road, with the right to use additional ground where there are Stations, etc. heavy cuts or fills as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the roadbed, not exceeding one hundred feet in width on each side of said right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said cut or fill: Provided, That no more than said addition of lands shall be taken for any one station: And provided further, That no part tions. of the lands herein authorized to be taken shall be leased or sold by Sale, etc., prothe company; and they shall not be used except in such manner and hibited. for such purposes only as shall be necessary for the construction and convenient operation of said railway, telegraph, and telephone lines, and when any portion thereof shall cease to be used, such portion shall revert to the nation or tribe of Indians from which, or to the persons from, the same shall have been taken. Reversion. Damages. Referees. Substitution on failure to appoint. Hearings. SEC. 3. That before said railway shall be constructed through any lands held by individual occupants by allotment under any law of the United States or agreement with the Indians or according to the laws, customs, and usages of any tribe of the Indians, nations, or tribes through which it may be constructed, full and complete compensation shall be made to such occupant for all property to be taken or damage done by reason of the construction of said railway. In case of failure Appraisement. to make amicable settlement with any occupant, such compensation shall be determined by the appraisement of three disinterested referees, to be appointed, one (who shall act as chairman) by the President of the United States, one by the chief of the nation to which such occupant belongs, or in the case of an allottee or by his duly authorized guardian or representative, and one by said railway company, who, before entering upon the duties of their appointment, shall take and subscribe, before à district judge, clerk of a court, or United States commissioner, an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their appointment, which oaths duly certified shall be returned with their award to, and filed with, the Secretary of the Interior within sixty days from the completion thereof, and a majority of said referees shall be competent to act in case of the absence of a member, after due notice, and upon the failure of either party to make such appointment within thirty days after the appointment made by the President, the vacancy shall be filled by the judge of the United States court for the first judicial division at Muscogee, Indian Territory, or by the judge of the United States court which has jurisdiction over said Indian reservations; upon the application of the other party the chairman of said board shall appoint the time and place for all hearings within the nation to which said occupant belongs. Each of said referees shall receive for his Compensation. services the sum of four dollars per day for each day they are engaged in the trial of any case submitted to them under this act, with mileage at five cents per mile. Witnesses shall receive the usual fees allowed by the courts of said nation; costs, including compensation of the referees, shall be made a part of the award and be paid by said railway company. In case the referees can not agree, then any two of them are authorized to make the award; either party being dissatisfied with the finding of the referees shall have the right within ninety days after making of the award, and notice of the same, to appeal by original petition to the courts of the Appeal. Indian Territory at Muscogee, or to the courts which have jurisdiction over the respective Indian reservations which courts shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the subject-matter of said petition according to the laws of the State of Kansas providing for determining the damage when property is taken for railroad purposes. If upon the hearing of said appeal the judgment of the court shall be for a larger sum than the award of the referees, the costs of said appeal shall be adjudged against the railway company. If the judgment of the peal. court shall be for the same sum or less than the award of the referees, then the cost shall be adjudged against the appellant unless the judg ment of the court shall be for the railroad company, in which case the cost shall be against the claimant; when proceedings have been commenced in court the railway company shall pay double the amount of ceed on deposit the award into court to abide the judgment thereof, and then have the of double award. right to enter upon the property sought to be condemned and proceed with the construction of the railroad. Witness' fees. Costs on ap Work may pro |