[I. COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.]

Sec. 462. [Commissioner of Indian Affairs.] There shall be in the Department of the Interior a Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall be entitled to a salary of three thousand dollars a year. [R. S.]

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Assistant Com

[Assistant Commissioner.] Indian Office: * missioner, who shall also perform the duties of chief clerk, three thousand dollars; * -*- [32 Stat. L. 158.]

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This is from the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Appropriation Act of April 28, 1902, ch. 594. Like provision for the office of Assistant Commissioner was first made in the Appropriation Act for 1886, and has been annually enacted ever since. See 24 Stat. L. 200, 623; 25 Stat. L. 286, 735; 26 Stat. L. 258, 938; 27 Stat. L. 213, 704; 28 Stat. L. 194, 795; 29 Stat. L. 168, 568; 30 Stat. L. 305, 306, 878; 31 Stat. L. 122, 158.

Sec. 463. [Duties of Commissioner.] The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and agreeably to such regulations as the President may prescribe, have the management of all Indian affairs, and of all matters arising out of Indian relations. [R. S.]

Act of July 9, 1832, ch. 174, 4 Stat. L. 564; Act of July 27, 1868, ch. 259, 15 Stat. L. 228. Action of the President. The action of the commissioner of Indian affairs must be presumed to be the action of the President. Belt r. U. S., (1879) 15 Ct. Cl. 92.

Power of secretary of interior. It seems that the secretary of the interior has power, under this section, to supervise and control the management of the bureau of Indian affairs. Knight v. U. S. Land Assoc., (1891) 142 U. S. 182.

Signature to order. An order directing advertisements for proposals for supplies may be said to come from the secretary of the interior, as the head of the department, when signed by the commissioner of Indian affairs alone. U. S. v. Odeneal, (1882) 10 Fed. Rep.

616.

Establishing court of Indian offenses. Under the general power conferred by R. S. secs. 463, 465, and the treaty of 1855, whereby the Umatilla Indians. engaged to submit to rules prescribed by the United States for

their government, the President is authorized to establish an Indian court and police force for such tribe and define and prescribe the punishment for Indian offenses. Such power may be exercised through the secretary of the interior, by virtue of R. S. sec. 441, title INTERIOR DEPARTMENT in this work, which provides that such secretary is charged with the supervision of the public business relating to the Indians. U. S. v. Clapox, (1888) 35 Fed. Rep. 577.

Act of July 9, 1832. Under the Act of 1832, above cited, the commissioner was under the direction of the secretary of war. Regulations made by the President were made through the war department, and a rule of the secretary of war was presumed to have received the assent of the President and to be his regulation. (1848) 5 Op. Atty.-Gen. 36.

Act of July 27, 1868.-The Act of 1868, above cited, transferred the care of the Indians from the treasury department to that of the interior. U. S. v. Boyd, (1895) 68 Fed. Rep. 577.

[By a Senate resolution which passed the Senate May 20, 1902, Congressional Record, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session, p. 5065, it was "Resolved, That the Committee on Indian Affairs is hereby authorized to have prepared for the use of the Senate a compilation of all treaties, laws, and executive orders now in force relating to Indian affairs." A compilation thus authorized, to Dec. 1, 1902, was made, and constitutes, in two volumes, Senate document No. 452, for the Fifty-seventh Congress, first session.

By the Act of June 20, 1874, ch. 333, sec. 10, 18 Stat. L. 113, R. S. (second edition), appendix, p. 1089, it was provided, "That the Secretary of State shall cause all the copies of the Revision of Indian treaties made by Thomas J. Durant, now printed to be bound, and the same shall be deposited with the Secretary of the Interior, for the use of the Departments and officers of the Government."]

3 F. S. A.-22

337

Volume III,

An act to legalize the deed and other records of the Office of Indian Affairs, and to provide and authorize the use of a seal by said office.

[Act of July 26, 1892, ch. 256, 27 Stat. L. 272.]

SEC. 1. [Indian Office, recording of deeds, etc., legalized.] That the recording of all deeds and papers heretofore made and done in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs be, and is hereby, confirmed, approved, and legalized; and said record heretofore made shall be deemed, taken, and held to be good and valid and shall have all the force and effect and be entitled to the same credit as if it had been made in pursuance of and in conformity to law. But shall have no effect whatever upon the validity or invalidity of the deed or paper so recorded, and shall be no evidence of constructive notice to any persons not actually knowing the contents. [27 Stat. L. 272.]

What deeds legalized by above Act. - The deed records legalized by this Act begin in 1825. These deeds show the transfer of lands granted to individual Indians under the several treaties since 1817 whenever a restriction was made that the lands should not be sold without the consent of the President; also the transfer of those lands allotted to individual Indians, the patent for which contained a similar restrictive clause upon the sale of the land. The other records referred

to are of the current correspondence of the office, of treaties before ratification, of contracts made with special attorneys (R. S. secs. 2103-2106), and of similar papers. Some of these records run back to 1800 and a few even prior to that date, when the office was under the war department, but it was not until the year 1824 that a regular record of all the correspondence of the office was inaugurated and kept up. Compilers' note, 2 Supp. R. S. 51.

SEC. 2. [Records to be kept of all deeds by Indians requiring approval.] That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs is hereby empowered and directed to continue to make and keep a record of every deed executed by any Indian, his heirs, representatives, or assigns, which may require the approval of the President of the United States or of the Secretary of the Interior, whenever such approval shall have been given, and the deed so approved returned to said office. [27 Stat. L. 273.]

SEC. 3. [Seal for Indian Office — copies, how certified.] That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall cause a seal to be made and provided for the said office, with such device as the President of the United States shall approve, and copies of any public documents, records, books, maps, or papers belonging to or on the files of said office, authenticated by the seal and certified by the Commissioner thereof, or by such officer as may, for the time being, be acting as or for such Commissioner, shall be evidence equally with the originals thereof. [27 Stat. L. 273.]

Copies of department records are made legal evidence by R. S. sec. 882, given ante, p. 26, title EVIDENCE.

SEC. 4. [Certified copies of records to be furnished - fees.] That the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall have the custody of said seal, and shall furnish certified copies of any such records, books, maps, or papers belonging to or on the files of said office, to any person applying therefor who shall comply with the requirements of said office, upon the payment by such parties at the rate of ten cents per hundred words, and one dollar for copies of maps or plats, and the additional sum of twenty-five cents for the Commissioner's certificate of verification, with the seal of said office;

[Receiving clerk - bond, etc.] and one of the employés of said office shall be designated by the Commissioner as the receiving clerk, who shall give bond in the sum of one thousand dollars,

[Fees to be paid into Treasury -none for copies for official use, or for poor Indians, or for unverified copies.] and the amounts so received shall, under the direction of the Commissioner, be paid into the Treasury of the United States; but fees shall not be demanded for such authenticated copies as may be required by the officers of any branch of the Government or by any Indian who shall satisfy the Commissioner by satisfactory legal evidence that he or she is not able, by reason of poverty, to pay such fees, nor for such unverified copies as the Commissioner in his discretion may deem proper to furnish. [27 Stat. L. 273.]

Sec. 464. [Accounts for claims and disbursements.] All accounts and vouchers for claims and disbursements connected with Indian affairs shall be transmitted to the Commissioner for administrative examination, and by him passed to the proper accounting officer of the Department of the Treasury for settlement. [R. S.]

Act of July 9, 1832, ch. 174, 4 Stat. L. 564. The accounts of a special receiver and superintendent appointed to assist the special commissioner in disposing of lands ceded by the Indians to the United States in trust, to survey, manage, and sell the same, relate to and are connected with Indian affairs and must be transmitted to the commissioner of Indian affairs for examination. U. S. v. Brindle, (1884) 110 U. S. 688.

Claim for damages for breach of contract. - Under a similar provision in the Act of 1832, above cited, the attorney-general held that the commissioner had no jurisdiction of a claim for damages for breach of a contract with the government to emigrate Indians, occasioned by the interference of the officers of the government in such emigration. (1847) 4 Op. Atty.-Gen. 626.

SEC. 7. [Statutes, etc., to be furnished to agents, etc., by Commissioner.] That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to cause to be compiled and printed for the use of Indian Agents and inspectors the provisions of the statutes regulating the performance of their respective duties, and also to furnish said officers from time to time. information of new enactments upon the same subject. Stat. L. 88.]

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The above section 7 is from the Indian Appropriation Act of May 17, 1882, ch. 163.

Sec. 465. [Regulations relating to Indian affairs. ] The President may prescribe such regulations as he may think fit for carrying into effect the various provisions of any act relating to Indian affairs, and for the settlement of the accounts of Indian affairs. [R. S.]

Act of June 30, 1834, ch. 162, 4 Stat. L. 738. Establishing court of Indian offenses. See note to R. S. sec. 463, supra.

Regulations are obligatory on all the departments. (1848) 5 Op. Atty. Gen. 36. See also article on STATUTES AND STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION, vol. 1, p. xi, cases cited in note 2.

Payment of treaty money to Indians. The payment of money due from the government to Indians, by force of treaty, falls within the reason and object of the power of regulation invested in the President. (1848) 5 Op. Atty. Gen. 36.

Establishing reservation.

"The very extensive powers given to the President by sections 462-465 in the management of Indian affairs might well be held to include the power to establish a reservation, if there were no other acts in relation to the matter." U.

S. v. Leathers, (1879) 6 Sawy. (U. S.) 17; (1882) 17 Op. Atty. -Gen. 260.

Regulations to be consistent with existing statutes." The authority of the President to make regulations is subject to the condition, necessarily implied, that they must be consistent with the statutes which have been enacted by Congress, and must be in execution of, and supplementary to, but not in conflict with, the statutes." Romero v. U. S., (1889) 24 Ct. Cl. 331, holding that regulations made by the President in regard to Indian agents cannot be construed to lengthen a term of office limited by the constitution nor to give to one whose commission has expired by such limitation the salary of an office declared by the statutes to be in abeyance, because of the expiration of the term of the incumbent thereof.

Sec. 466. [Presentation and payment of claims for Indian depredations. Superseded by Act of March 3, 1891, ch. 538, 26 Stat. L. 851. See CLAIMS, vol. 2, pp. 91-101.]

R. S. sec. 466, clearly superseded by the provisions of the Act above referred to, was as follows:

"SEC. 466. The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare and cause to be published such regulations as he may deem proper, prescribing the manner of presenting claims arising under laws or treaty stipulations, for compensation for depredations committed by the Indians, and the degree and character of the evidence necessary to support such claims; he shall carefully investigate all such claims as may be presented, subject to the regulations prepared by him; and no pay

ment on account of any such claims shall be made without a specific appropriation therefor by Congress." Act of May 29, 1872, ch. 233, 17 Stat. L. 190.

The following cases construed R. S. sec. 466, and similar prior statutes: Leighton v. U. S., (1896) 161 U. S. 291; Nesbitt v. U. S., (1902) 186 U. S. 153; Corralitos Co. v. U. S., (1900) 178 U. S. 280; Leighton v. U. S., (1894) 29 Ct. Cl. 288; Love v. U. S., (1894) 29 Ct. Cl. 332; Stone v. U. S., (1894) 29 Ct. Cl. 111; Hegwer v. U. S., (1895) 30 Ct. Cl. 405; Brown v. Ü. S., (1897) 32 Ct. Cl. 432; Ayres v. U. S., (1899) 35 Ct. Cl. 26.

Sec. 467. [Sale of arms, etc., to Indians prohibited. Given infra, p. 382.] Sec. 468. [Commissioner to report annually to Congress. See ESTIMATES, APPROPRIATIONS, AND REPORTS, vol. 2, p. 928.]

Sec. 469. [Reports of Indian supplies. See ESTIMATES, APPROPRIATIONS, AND REPORTS, Vol. 2, p. 928.]

[II. OFFICERS OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; THEIR DUTIES AND COMPENSATION.]

Sec. 2039. [Board of Indian commissioners.] There shall be a board of Indian commissioners, composed of not more than ten persons, appointed by the President solely, from men eminent for intelligence and philanthropy, and who shall serve without pecuniary compensation. [R. S.]

Act of April 10, 1869, ch. 16, 16 Stat. L. 40; Act of July 15, 1870, ch. 296, 16 Stat. L. 360. Sections 2039 to 2157 of the Revised Statutes constitute title XXVIII. 'Indians." Sections 2039 to 2078 of this title constitute ch. 1," Officers of Indian Affairs; their duties and compensation."

Act of April 10, 1869. The Act of 1869, above cited, appropriated two million dollars to enable the President to maintain peace

among the Indian tribes, to promote their civilization, to relieve their necessities, and to bring them upon reservations. In order to enable the President to execute the powers thus conferred, he was authorized to appoint a board of commissioners, who might, under his direction, exercise joint control with the secretary of the interior over the disbursement of such appropriation. Ryan v. U. S., (1872) 8 Ct. Cl. 265.

Sec. 2040. [Secretary to the commissioners.] The board of commissioners mentioned in the preceding section shall have power to appoint one of their own number as secretary, who shall be entitled to such reasonable compensation as the board may designate, payable from any moneys appropriated for the expenses of the board. [R. S.]

Act of July 15, 1870, ch. 296, 16 Stat. L. 360.

Secs. 2041, 2042. [Superseded by Act of May 17, 1882, ch. 163, given below.]

For the provisions of R. S. secs. 2041, 2042, see the note to the next paragraph of the text.

[Powers and duties of Indian commission.] For the expenses of the commission of citizens, serving without compensation, appointed by the President under the provision of the fourth section of the act of April tenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, * * * And hereafter the commission shall only

have power to visit and inspect agencies and other branches of the Indian service, and to inspect goods purchased for said service, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall consult with the commission in the purchase of supplies. The commission shall report their doings to the Secretary of the Interior. * * [22 Stat. L. 70.]

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This is from the Act of May 17, 1882, ch. 163, making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department for the next fiscal year. Section 4 of the Act of April 10, 1869, mentioned therein, is incorporated in R. S. sec. 2039, supra, p. 340.

The above provision evidently supersedes R. S. secs. 2041, 2042. R. S. sec. 2041 is as follows: "The board of commissioners mentioned in section two thousand and thirtynine shall supervise all expenditures of money appropriated for the benefit of Indians within the limits of the United States; and shall inspect all goods purchased for Indians, in connection with the Commissioner of Indian

Sec. 2043. [Appointment of Indian inspectors; term of office.] There shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a sufficient number of Indian inspectors, not exceeding five in number, to perform the duties required of such inspectors by the provisions of this Title. Each inspector shall hold his office for four years, unless sooner removed by the President. [R. S.]

Act of Feb. 14, 1873, ch. 138, 17 Stat. L. 463.

The number of inspectors is reduced to three. See the next paragraph of the text.

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An inspector in Indian Territory is provided for in the Act of June 28, 1898, ch. 517, sec. 27, set forth below.

[Number of inspectors.] That after the commencement of the next fiscal year there shall be but three inspectors; * * * [18 Stat. L. 422.]

This is from the Act of March 3, 1875, ch. 132, making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian department for the year ending June 30, 1876.

Notwithstanding this provision appropriations have been annually made from 1880 to 1891 "for pay of fire Indian inspectors, at $3,000 per annum," and for their traveling expenses. 21 Stat. L. 116, 487; 22 Stat. L. 70, 434; 23 Stat. L. 77, 364; 24 Stat. L. 30, 450; 25 Stat. L. 219, 982; 26 Stat. L. 338, 991. Compilers' note, 1 Supp. R. S. 79.

In the Act of May 27, 1902, ch. 888, 32 Stat. L. 247, making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department for the next fiscal year, an appropriation is made "for pay of eight inspectors at two thousand five hundred dollars per annum each."

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The three inspectors who were appointed under the paragraph in the text and their successors are entitled to the salary of $3,000 given by R. S. sec. 2044, while others appointed under later appropriation acts are entitled only to the salary named in those acts. Smith v. U. S., (1902) 37 Ct. Cl. 119.

Sec. 2044. [Salary and expenses.] Each inspector shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars and his necessary traveling expenses, not exceeding ten cents a mile for actual travel while in the discharge of his duty, a statement of which expenses as to each inspector shall accompany the annual report of the Secretary of the Interior. [R. S.]

Act of Feb. 14, 1873, ch. 138, 17 Stat. L. 463.

See the appropriation in the Act last cited in the note to the preceding paragraph of the text,

Compensation of inspector in Indian Territory. See the next paragraph but one of

the text.

See note to the preceding paragraph of the

text.