Page images
PDF
EPUB

An Act To provide for the use of timber and stone for domestic and industrial purposes in the Indian Territory.

[Act of June 6, 1900, ch. 802, 31 Stat. L. 660.]

[ocr errors]

[Timber and stone rules for procurement-destruction of transportation of penalty.] That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for the procurement of timber and stone for such domestic and industrial purposes, including the construction, maintenance, and repair of railroads and other highways, to be used only in the Indian Territory, as in his judgment he shall deem necessary and proper, from lands belonging to either of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians, and to fix the full value thereof to be paid therefor, and collect the same for the benefit of said tribes; and every person who unlawfully cuts, or aids, or is employed in unlawfully cutting, or wantonly destroys, or procures to be wantonly destroyed, any timber standing upon the land of either of said tribes, or sells or transports any of such timber or stone outside of the Indian Territory, contrary to the regulations prescribed by the Secretary, shall pay a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not more than twelve months, or both, in the discretion of the court trying the same. [31 Stat. L. 660.]

An Act To put in force in the Indian Territory certain provisions of the laws of Arkansas relating to corporations, and to make said provisions applicable to said Territory.

[Act of Feb. 18, 1901, ch. 379, 31 Stat. L. 794.]

[SEC. 1.] [Indian Territory-laws of Arkansas relating to corporations made applicable.] That section five hundred and four and the succeeding sections down to and including section five hundred and nine, section nine hundred and sixty, and the succeeding sections down to and including section one thousand and thirty-five, of the laws of Arkansas, as published in eighteen hundred and eighty-four in the volume known as Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas be, and the same are hereby, extended over and put in force in the Indian Territory, so far as they may be applicable and not in conflict with any law of Congress applicable to said Territory heretofore passed. [31 Stat. L. 794.]

This section is constitutional. Sections 504-509 of Mansfield's Digest authorize the county courts of the state of Arkansas to grant certain turnpike and toll-bridge privileges, where the court finds that the public convenience demands it, and to fix the rates which may be charged by the grantee, but make no provision for compensation to the owner of the fee. The fact that in this statute Congress has failed to provide for com

pensation to the owners of the fee does not affect its validity, as the title the tribes have to lands, under treaties and patents, is a base or qualified fee, with the ultimate title in the United States, and the right of Congress to enact legislation affecting the provisions of treaties or agreements as it may deem wise and proper is not limited. Dukes . McKenna, (Indian Ter. 1902) 69 S. W. Rep. 832.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

SEC. 2. [Substitution of terms-fees of clerk of court - incorporation of electric railroads, etc.] That wherever in said sections the word " county occurs there shall be substituted therefor the words "judicial district," and where the words "county court" occur the words "United States courts shall be substituted therefor; wherever the words "State State of Arkansas" occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "Indian Territory; " wherever the words "secretary of state' secretary of state" occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "clerk of the United States court of appeals for the Indian Territory," and said clerk shell be entitled to the same fees and compensation for his services rendered under this Act that the secretary of state in

[ocr errors]

Arkansas is entitled to receive for like services, and shall retain the same as compensation for his services under this Act; wherever the words "clerk of the county occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "clerk of the judicial district," and said clerk shall be entitled to the same fees and compensation for his services rendered under this Act that county clerks are entitled to receive for like services, and shall retain the same as compensation for his services under this Act; wherever the words "general assembly" occur there shall be substituted therefor the words "Congress of the United States; and where the words "vest in the State occur in section one thousand and thirtyfive there shall be substituted therefor the words "vest in the United States Provided, That companies may be incorporated under the provisions of this Act to construct, own, and operate electric railroads, telephone and telegraph lines in the Indian Territory. [31 Stat. L. 794.]

[ocr errors]

SEC. 3. [Foreign corporations powers.] That foreign incorporations may be authorized to do business in the Indian Territory, under such limitations and restrictions as may be prescribed by law; and as to contracts made and business done in the Indian Territory, they shall be subject to the same regulations, limitations, and liabilities, and shall exercise no other or greater powers, privileges, or franchises than may be exercised by like corporations organized under the provisions of sections one and two of this Act. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 4. [Agent to be designated - contents of certificate to be filed.] That before any foreign corporation shall begin to carry on business in the Indian Territory it shall, by its certificate, under the hand of the president and seal of such company, filed in the office of the clerk of the United States court of appeals for the Indian Territory, designate an agent, who shall reside where the United States court of appeals for the Indian Territory is held, upon whom service of summons and other process may be made. Such certificate shall also state the principal place of business of such corporation in the Indian Territory. Service upon such agent shall be sufficient to give jurisdiction over such corporation to any of the United States courts for the Indian Territory. If any such agent shall be removed, resign, die, or remove from the Indian Territory, or otherwise become incapable of acting as such agent, it shall be the duty of such corporation to appoint immediately another agent in his place, as herein before provided. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 5. [Contracts void for failure to comply with requirements.] That if any foreign corporation shall fail to comply with the provisions of the foregoing sections, all its contracts with citizens and residents of the Indian Territory shall be void as to the corporation, and no United States court in the Indian Territory shall enforce the same in favor of the corporation. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 6. [Limit of time to designate agents, etc.] That corporations doing business in the Indian Territory at the time of the passage of this Act are given ninety days in which to comply with section four in order to avoid the penalty of section five. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 7. [Fees.] That the clerk of the United States court of appeals for the Indian Territory shall charge and receive for services imposed upon him by the provisions of this Act the same fees allowed officers of the State of Arkansas for like services under the laws of that State. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 8. [Bank or trust companies may transact business, etc. - legal interest.] That any bank or trust company now or hereafter organized under the laws

of Arkansas or any other State may transact such business in the Indian Territory as is authorized by its charter, and that is not inconsistent with the laws in force in the Indian Territory, and may loan money and contract for the payment of the same at a rate of interest not to exceed the sum of eight per centum per annum, and a like rate for a period less than a year: Provided, That the lawful interest in said Territory shall be six per centum when no rate of interest is agreed upon, but in no case shall the interest exceed eight per centum per annum. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

SEC. 9. [U. S. courts to have jurisdiction over corporations.] That the United States courts in the Indian Territory shall have and exercise, in reference to all corporations created under this Act, the same powers and jurisdiction as may be exercised in the State of Arkansas by the courts of that State over corporations created therein under the provisions of any law in force in that State relating to corporations. [31 Stat. L. 795.]

[Commission to Five Civilized Tribes statement of expenditures.] For salaries of four commissioners, appointed under Acts of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and March second, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, twenty thousand dollars: Provided, That the number of said. commissioners is hereby fixed at four. * * and said commissioners shall at once make an itemized statement to the Secretary of the Interior of all their expenditures up to January first, nineteen hundred and one, and annually thereafter: [31 Stat. L. 1073.]

* *

[Appointment of town-site commissioner.] Provided, That hereafter the Secretary of the Interior may, whenever the chief executive of the Choctaw or Chickasaw Nation fails or refuses to appoint a town-site commissioner for any town, or to fill any vacancy caused by the neglect or refusal of the town-site commissioner appointed by the chief executive of the Choctaw or Chickasaw Nation to qualify or act, in his discretion, appoint a commissioner to fill the vacancy thus created. [31 Stat. L. 1075.]

*

[Rolls of Commission to Five Civilized Tribes.] * The rolls made by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be final, and the persons whose names are found thereon shall alone constitute the several tribes which they represent; and the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to fix a time by agreement with said tribes or either of them for closing said rolls, but upon failure or refusal of said tribes or any of them to agree thereto, then the Secretary of the Interior shall fix a time for closing said rolls, after which no name shall be added thereto. [31 Stat. L. 1077.]

[Acts of Creeks or Cherokees to be approved by the President, etc.] That no act, ordinance, or resolution of the Creek or Cherokee tribes, except resolutions for adjournment, shall be of any validity until approved by the President of the United States. When such acts, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the council of either of said tribes shall be approved by the principal chief thereof, then it shall be the duty of the national secretary of said tribe to forward them to the President of the United States, duly certified and sealed, who shall, within thirty days after their reception, approve or disapprove the same. Said acts, ordinances, or resolutions, when so approved, shall be published in at least two newspapers having a bona fide circulation in the tribe to be affected thereby, and

when disapproved shall be returned to the tribe enacting the same. [31 Stat. L. 1077.]

* * *

These paragraphs are from section 1 of the Indian Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901,

ch. 832.

[Clerks of district courts in Indian Territory to account for fees — salary and expenses.] * -X- -X- That hereafter the clerks of the district courts in the Indian Territory shall account to the United States for all fees earned and collected by them in accordance with such rules and regulations as the AttorneyGeneral shall prescribe. They shall annually pay over to the Treasurer of the United States all such fees collected and earned by them in excess of the necessary expenses incurred and paid by them for attendance on court, record books, stationery, and clerk hire subsequent to May thirty-first, nineteen hundred, such expenses to be allowed and retained by said clerks on accounts approved by the judge of the court when accompanied by proper vouchers. And such clerks shall hereafter be paid the sum of one thousand dollars each per annum for all extra services in addition to their regular salary. [31 Stat. L. 1073.] Their status and designation were changed by Act of March 1, 1895, ch. 145, § 3. By Act of Nov. 3, 1898, ch. 16, the provisions of which were re-enacted by Act of March 1, 1895, ch. 145, § 3, they were allowed to retain certain fees for their own use. For construction of the various acts relating to fees of clerks of court in the Indian Territory, see 35 Ct. Cl. 595. Compilers' note, 2 Supp. R. S. 1536.

This is from section 1 of the Indian Appropriation Act of March 3, 1901, ch. 832, 31 Stat. L. 1058.

A similar but less comprehensive provision is made by the Appropriation Act of the preceding year, Act of May 31, 1900, ch. 598, 31 Stat. L. 229. The clerks of court mentioned in the text were first authorized by Act of May 2, 1890, ch. 182, §§ 30, 38 (ante, pp. 404, 414).

*

*

*

An Act To grant the right of way through the Oklahoma Territory and the Indian Territory to the Enid and Anadarko Railway Company, and for other purposes.

[Act of Feb. 28, 1902, ch. 134, 32 Stat. L. 43.]

[SEC. 1.] [Enid and Anadarko Railway Company - right of way through Oklahoma and Indian Territories.] That the Enid and Anadarko Railway Company, a corporation created under and by virtue of the laws of the Territory of Oklahoma, be, and the same is hereby, invested and empowered with the right of locating, constructing, owning, equipping, operating, using, and maintaining a railway and telegraph and telephone line through the Territory of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, beginning at a point on its railway between Anadarko and Watonga, in the Territory of Oklahoma, thence in an easterly direction by the most practicable route to a point on the eastern boundary of the Indian Territory near Fort Smith, in the State of Arkansas, together with such branch lines to be built from any point on the line above described to any other point in the Indian Territory as said railway company may at any time hereafter decide to construct, with the right to construct, use, and maintain such tracks, turnouts, sidings, and extensions as said company may deem it to its interest to construct along and upon the right of way and depot grounds hereby granted. [32 Stat. L. 43.]

SEC. 2. [Width -stations, etc.— reversion.] That said corporation is authorized to take and use for all purposes of a railway, and for no other purpose, a right of way one hundred feet in width through said Oklahoma Territory and said Indian Territory, and to take and use a strip of land two hundred feet in width, with a length of two thousand feet, in addition to right of way, for stations, for every eight miles of road, with the right to use such additional

ground where there are 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 land shall be taken for any one station: Provided further, That no part of the lands herein authorized to be taken shall be leased or sold by the company, and they shall not be used except in such manner and 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 so used such portion shall revert to the nation or tribe of Indians from which the same shall have been taken. [32 Stat. L. 43.]

SEC. 3. [Damages to individuals— appraisal referees, etc.] That before said railway shall be constructed through any lands held by individual occupants according to the laws, customs, and usages of any of the Indian nations or tribes through which it may be constructed, full compensation shall be made to such occupants for all property to be taken or damage done by reason of the construction of such railway. In case of failure 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 Secretary of the Interior, one by the chief of the nation to which said occupant belongs, and one by said railway company, who, before entering upon the duties of their appointment, shall take and subscribe, before a district judge, clerk of a district court, or United States commissioner, an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their appointment, which oath, 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 Secretary of the Interior, the vacancy shall be filled by a judge of the United States court for the Indian Territory 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 such occupant belongs. Each of said referees shall receive for his 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 nations. Costs, including compensation of the referees, shall be made a part of the award, and be paid by such 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 the making of the award and notice of the same, to appeal by original petition to the United States court for the Indian Territory, which court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the subject-matter of said petition, according to the laws of the Territory in which the same shall be heard provided 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 cost of said appeal shall be adjudged against the railway company. If the judgment of the court shall be for the same sum as the award of the referees, then the costs shall be adjudged against the appellant. If the judgment of the court shall be for a smaller sum than the award of the referees, then the costs shall be adjudged against the party claiming damages. When proceedings have been commenced in court, the railway company shall

« PreviousContinue »