Secretary of the Interior in the manner herein before provided. And in case said company shall desire to pay any portion of said bonds before the same shall become due and payable, it shall be permitted to do so, and shall be entitled on such payment to have lands selected and patented to it in like manner as on the payment of the bonds when due. And no patent shall issue to any assignee of said company for any of the lands purchased by it under the provisious hereof, ARTICLE II. The right of way is hereby granted to said company through the lands herein authorized to be sold, not exceeding one hundred feet in width, and the right to take from said land such timber, stone, water, and other material as may be necessary for the construction and operation of the road, and for the construction of its stations, culverts, and bridges: Provided, however, That no timber or stone shall be taken by the company or its agents from any of the lands not paid for, except on the payment of the fair value of such timber or stone, and under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe, for which amounts the company shall be entitled to credit on paying, as herein provided for the lands from which such timber and stone may have been taken. ARTICLE III. The proceeds of the sales of lands herein authorized to be sold shall be invested for the Osage nation in United States registered stocks, except as hereinafter provided, and the interest thereof shall be applied semi-annually under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, as follows: (The interest on $100,000 shall be paid in support of schools in said nation:) the interest on $300,000 shall be paid in cash for national purposes; $5,200 thereof shall be paid as compensation to the chiefs and councilors of the nation: $5,000 shall be expended for the encouragement of agriculture, to be paid pro rata to each hend of a family in proportion to the number of acres cultivated and improvements made thereon by individual members of the tribe, the object being to encourage real industry among them, and the remaining $4,800 shall be expended under the direction of the council and agent for the tribe in the payment of such other expenses as may be necessary for the benefit and support of their national government; and the interest on the balance shall be paid to the members of the nation per capita, or to the council for distribution in money, goods, provisions, and other articles of necessity as the council of the nation and the agent for the tribe may recommend under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ARTICLE IV. All persons being heads of families and citizens of the United States, or members of any tribe at peace with the United States, who have settled on the strip north of the present Osage reservation known as the trust lands," and are at the date of the signing hereof residing thereon as bona fide settlers, shail have the privilege at any time within one year from the date of the ratification of this treaty, of purchasing from the United States a quarter section. at $1 25 per acre, to be selected in one body according to legal divisions, and to include, as far as practicable, the improvements of each settler: Provided, however, That said quarter section shall not consist of, or be made up from, parts of different quarter sections. ARTICLE V. Nothing in this treaty shall be held to impair the rights of half-breed Osages, and of the heirs of Joseph Swiss, under the provisions of article fourteen of the treaty concluded September 29, 1865, and it is hereby declared that the following persons are the heirs, and the only heirs, according to the Osage customs and laws, of the said Joseph Swiss, namely: Phebe Beyette. Julia Ravellette, Julia Ann Delorien, and Jacob Swiss; and it is hereby provided that the improvements of said half-breeds now on the lands herein stipulated to be sold, shall be appraised by the commissioners appointed to appraise these lands, and the value thereof shall be paid to the owners of said improvements by the parties purchasing them, within six months after the ratification of this treaty. They shall have an equal right, in proportion to their number, with the full-blood Indians in all the benefits to be derived from this and all former treaties with the Osage Indians, and shall select from their number one of their people who shall represent them in the councils of the nation, upon an equal footing with the other members of said council. ARTICLE VI. As a compensation to the Osages for the stock and farming utensils which the United States agreed to furnish them by the second article of the treaty of January 11, 1839, and which were only in part furnished, the United States agrees to pay the said nation $20,000; and as compensation for the saw and grist mill which the United States agreed by said treaty to maintain for them for fifteen years, and which were only maintained five years, the United States agrees to pay said nation $10,000, which sums shall be expended under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the following manner: $12,000 in erecting agency buildings, a warehouse, and blacksmiths' dwellings, and a blacksmith shop, and the remaining $18,000 in the erection of a school-house and church and the purchase of a saw and grist mill, which will is to be managed and controlled by the society in charge of the Catholic mission, for the benefit of said Indians. ARTICLE VII. The reservation herein authorized to be sold shall be surveyed as other public lands are surveyed, The Osage Indians, being sensible of the great benefits they have received from the Catholic mission, and being desirous to have said mission go with them to their new homes, it is hereby stipulated that two sections of land, to be selected by the said society at or near the agency, shall be granted in fee-simple to John Shoenmaker in trust for the use and benefit of the society sustaining said mission, and it shall have the free use of such timber and firewood as may be necessary for the use of said inission and school on condition that said society shall establish and maintain a mission and school for the education and civilization of the Osages. But if the said society shall fail to avail itself of the provisions of this treaty within twelve months after the removal of said Indians to their new home it shall forfeit all the rights, privileges, and immunities herein conferred upon it, including said lands, in which contingency these same rights, privileges, and benefits so forfeited shall inure to any other Curistian society willing to assume the duties and responsibilities, and comply with the conditions herein enjoined on suid mission: Provided, however, That in the event no Christian society should avail themselves of the benefits herein proyided within two years from the removal of said Indians to their new homes, then all funds herein set apart for said school and missionary purposes shall be applied, under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to such purposes as in his judgment will best promote the moral, intellectual, and industrial interests of the Osage nation: Provided, That the annual expenditure for school purposes may be increased at the discretion of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to an amount not to exceed $5,000, as in his judgment the educational necessities of the Osages may require, to be deducted from the annuities. ARTICLE X. The Great and Little Osage nation of Indians being anxious to relieve themselves from the burden of their present liabilities, and it being essential to their best interests that they should be allowed to commence their new mode of life free from the embarrassment of debt, it is hereby stipulated and agreed that all just and valid debts which may be due and unpaid at the date of the signing of this treaty, either to waites or Indians, by said Osages, shall be liquidated and paid out of the funds arising from the sale of the lands herein stipulated to be sold, so far as the same shall be found just and valid on an examination thereof, to be made by the agent of the tribe and the superintendent of Indian affairs for the central superintendency, whose duty it shall be to examine all claims presented to them within one year from the promulgation of this treaty and to take in writing the evidence in favor of and against said claims, and after having made such examination, they shall submit said claims to the national council of the Osage nation for their approval or rejection, and report their proceedings thereon, with the evidence and decision of the council, and their opinions in each individual case, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Scetetary of the Interior, shall be final: Provided, That the amount so allowed and paid shall not exceed $40,000: And provided further, That if the amount of just claims shall exceed the sum of $40,000, the said amount of $40,000 shall be divided pro rata among the different claimants whose claims shall have been established and allowed. ARTICLE XI. The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians in the future shall make his home at the agency buildings; that he shall reside among them and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint, by and against the Indians, as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property, he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his finding, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on all the parties to this treaty. ARTICLE XII. If any individual belonging to said tribe of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract when so selected, certified, and recorded in the land book, as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common; but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it and of his family so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it. Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like man ner select, and cause to be certified to him or her for purposes of cultivation a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same, as above directed. For each tract of land so selected a certificate containing a description thereof, and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate indorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it by the agent after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office subject to inspeetion, which said book shall be known as the "Osage Land Book." The President may at any time order a survey of the reservation, and when so surveyed Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of said settters in their improvements, and may fix the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property, and on all subjects connected with the government of the Indians on said reservation and the internal police thereof, as may be thought proper. ARTICLE XIII. It is hereby agreed that the first article of the treaty made at Conville trading post, Osage nation, in the State of Kansas, on the 29th day of September, A. D. 1865, by and between the United States and the Osage tribe of Indians, shall be, and hereby is, so amended as to strike out in the second line of the fourth page. (printed copy.) after the word "Interior," the words "on the most advantageous terms;" and in the third and fourth lines, after the word "laws," strike out the words "no preemption claim;" so as to make the clause, of which the words stricken out are members, read as follows; "Said lands shail be surveyed and sold under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior for cash, as public lands are surveyed and sold under existing laws, but no homestead settlement shall be recognized." It is also agreed to add after the last word in the amended clause, namely," recognized:"Provided, That nothing in this amendment shall be so construed as to diminish in any way the funds derivable to the Indians under said treaty, or construed so as to interfere with vested rights under said treaty. ARTICLE XIV. The United States hereby agrees to sell to the Great and Little Osages tribe of Indians, for their future home, at a price not to exceed twenty-five cents per acre, the following-described district of country, namely: commencing at a point where the ninety-sixth meridian west from Greenwich crosses the south line of the State of Kansas; thence south on aid meridian to the north line of the Creek country; thence west, on said north line, to a point where said line crosses the Arkansas river; thence up said Arkansas river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point where the south line of the State of Kansas crosses said Arkansas river; thence east on said State line to the place of beginning. It is hereby agreed that the United States shall, at its own expense, cause the boundary lines of said country to be surveyed and marked by permanent and conspicuous monuments. Said survey to be made under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. And it is hereby stipulated and agreed that when the United States has secured a title to the above described lands, the Osages shall be required to move and reside thereon; but nothing in this treaty shall be so construed as to compel the said Indians to remove from their present reservation until the Government has secured said title, and notice thereof given by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the agent of said Indians. ARTICLE XV. The Osage tribe of Indians hereby assent to any alterations or amendments which the Senate of the United States may make to this treaty: Provided, That such alterations or amendments do not affect the rights and interests of said Osage Indians, as defined and secured in this and former treaties. ARTICLE XVI. The Osages acknowledge their dependence on the Government of the United States, and invoke its protection and care. They desire peace, and promise to abstain from war, and commit no depredations on either whites or Indians; and they further agree to use their best efforts to suppress the introduction and use of ardent spirits in their country. ARTICLE XVII. The United States hereby agree to pay to the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians a just and fair compensation for stock stolen from them by whites since the ratification of the treaty of September 2 1865, and it is made the duty of the agent for the said tribe to investigats all claims of this character and report the same with the proofs in each case to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs within three months from the ratification of this treaty. ARTICLE XVIII. It is hereby agreed that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall make an examination of the accounts of the Osage tribe of Indians, and if he finds that the sum of $3,000 due Clairmont, a chief of said tribe, under the ninth article of the treaty of 1839. has never been paid to said chief, he shall cause the said sum to be paid to the said Clairmont for the sole use and benefit of the band of which he is chief. In testimony whereof the undersigned, the said Nathaniel G. Taylor, Thomas Murphy, George C. Snow, and Albert G. Boone, commissioners as aforesaid, on behalf of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of the Great and Little Osage tribe of Indians, have hereunto set their hands his X mark. his X mark. his mark. Clar-mont, (chief of Carmont band,) his X mark. No-pa-wala, (first chief Little Osages,) his mark. Strike Axe, (second chief Little Osages,) his mark. Tallers, (second chief Clannor's band,) his mark. Wah-ho-pa-wah-no-sha. his X mark. Wa-sho-pi-wat-tanka, (fourth chief Little Osages,) his X mark. Wa-ti-sanka, (fourth chief Little Osages,) his X mark. Thes-a-watanga, (third chief To-nansha-bees.) his X mark. mark. Wy-o-ha-ke, (third chief Little Osages,) his Tall Chief, (fourth chief Big Hill's,) his Mo-en-e-she, mark. his mark. Ho-wa-sa-pa, (Big Chief's band.) his X mark. Wa-ta-an-ka, (principal councilor of Big Chief's band.) Ne-ka-ka-honey, (principal councilor of Black Dog's band,) Black Bird, (Joe's band.) Non-se-an-ka, (Black Dog's band) Camer,) Was-come-ma-neh, (Clarmont brave,) Wa-sha-she-wat-ian-ker, brave.) (Clarmont Mo-sha-o-ker-shan, (Big Hill brave,) Che-wa-te, (Little Osages.) Hard Chief, (Little Osages.) Wa-ho-pa-inka, (Little Osages,) Matthew, (Little Osages.) Wa-ka-le-sha, (Little Osages,) Shinka-wa-ti, (Little Osages,) Wa-sho-she, (Little Osages,) Pa-ne-no-pa-sha, (Little Osages,) Che-to-pah, (principal councilor Little Osages.) Hard Rope, (White Hair's principal councilor.) his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his X mark. his mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. mark. We-pi-she-way-lap,(Beaver's councilor,)his Ke-no-e-nen-ke, (second councilor to White Hair,) Wa-la-ho-na, (councilor White Hair's Ka-ke-k-wa-ti-anka, (little chief White Ta-pi-gua-la, (little chief White Hair's Yellow Horse, (Big Hill brave,) Go-she-seer. (brave Big Hill band,) Ka-tuin-mo-ne, (White Hair brave,) Ka-he-ga-sta-ka, (little chief Beaver's band,) Ve-ne-ka-ka, (little chief Beaver's Wolfe, (little chief Beaver's band,) his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his mark. his X mark. his mark, his mark. his mark. his X mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his X mark. his mark. bis X mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. his X mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his X mark. his X mark. his mark. his mark. his mark. Signed in our presence this 27th day of May, A. D. 1868. ALEXANDER R. BANKS, Special United States Indian Agent. GEORGE W. YATES. Captain Seventh United States Cavalry. J. S. KALLOCH. Reporter for Commission. The undersigned, interpreters of the said nation, do hereby certify that the foregoing treaty was read and interpreted by us to the above named chiefs and head men of the Osage nation, and that they declared themselves satisfied therewith, and signed the same in our presence. ALEXANDER BEYETT, United States Interpreter. LEWIS P. CHOUTEAU, Special Interpreter. AUGUSTUS CAPTAIRE, The question was upon adopting the resolu tions reported from the Committee on Indian Affairs. Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most remarkable transactions that has ever occurred in the whole history of this Government, one which, in my judgment, demands the earnest, serious consideration of this House. It is neither more nor less than the transfer of eight million acres of land, which properly belong to the public domain of the United States, which belong to the landless millions in all parts of the country, into the hands of a railroad corporation, to be subjected to their supreme and unlimited control. It will be my purpose, in the brief time I shall occupy the attention of the House, to state, as well as I may, the main facts connected with this proposed speculation. This most remarkable treaty now before the Senate, and being pressed upon their attention by the most remarkable and unjustifiable means, was made and framed in all its details and in all its essential features between the high contracting parties here in the city of Washington long before it was transmitted by the commission appointed by the President to the Indian country; it was so framed several months before it was sent to the Indian country by the commission appointed by the President; in fact, it was not made by the commission at all, but by the parties in interest, who design to absorb eight million acres of land which properly belong to the public domain of the United States. This great body of land is located on the southern line of the State of Kansas, running two hundred and fifty miles from east to west, and fifty miles from north to south, immediately on the northern borders of the Indian territory. Sir, it is not extravagant to say, looking to the development of Kansas and Missouri in view of the valuable franchises conferred upon the various roads there by the Government, that this body of land, the best land within the area of the whole country, is worth at least at this very moment $12,000,000; $1 50 per acre. And yet it is proposed by this treaty to transfer this immense tract of land, comprising one sixth of the State of Kansas, into the hands of one man, Mr. William Sturges, of Chicago, who is in fact the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Railroad Company. I will say in reference to this corporation that it is a public enterprise in which the people of that whole sec tion of country from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico are immensely and deeply interested. It is one in which the people of Kansas are anxious to aid in a proper and reasonable way. It is one which I, as a member of this House and as a citizen, should feel bound to aid by any proper means in my power. Sir, as I have said before, this proposition is a remarkable one; it is an unjustifiable one; it is one wrong in principle, and one accomplished, I believe, by improper means. I have said at a moderate estimate this great body of fertile lands is worth at least $12,000,000. In addition to this, up to this time this raitroad company has received from the State of Kansas one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of land through the action of the Legislature of that State-worth at least three dollars an acre amounting to $375,000. It has also received from the Government five hundred thousand acres of land along the line of the road-land worth at least $750,000. It has also received from the county of Douglas $400,000 in bonds, and from other counties $500,000 in bonds; making in the aggregate $14,025,000 as the amount of franchises conferred upon this road if this treaty pending in the Senate shall receive the sanction of that body. Now, sir, all this railroad proposes to do is to build one hundred and fifty miles of road at the rate of twenty miles per year, which, at a liberal estimate, can be constructed for $25,000 a mile, making $3,750,000; leaving an absolute profit to the company of $10,275,000. Now, sir, there are many questions affecting the public prosperity, the rights of individuals, and the interests of the State I have the honor to represent upon this floor, and also affecting the interests of the whole country, which demand an investigation in connection with this most remarkable treaty. Sir, the people of Kansas are anxious to have an outlet upon the Gulf of Mexico. In this anxiety I fully share. But, sir, notwithstanding that, I have abundant evidence in extracts from newspapers and letters that they earnestly protest against this treaty in its present obnoxious form. My constituents demand protection from all systems of land monopoly. They protest against injustice in all its forms. They ask, if this land is to be used for the benefit of railroads, that provision be made to open it to immediate settlement at a stated price per acre, and that the profits accruing be used to construct at least eight hundred miles of different railroads, instead of one hundred and fifty miles, as provided in this treaty. They are willing to encourage the Galveston road to an extent necessary to secure its speedy construction. But they are not willing the whole substance of the State should be absorbed and the rights of the masses infringed by exorbitant and unreasonable demands. I send to the Clerk's desk, and ask to have read, the following article from the Lawrence' Tribune, one of the leading journals in my State. The Clerk read as follows: "We are not very familiar with the new treaty, except that we learn that eight million acres of the best lands in Kansas have been contracted by the high contracting parties for twenty cents per acre, on the condition that the Galveston Railroad Company shall construct only twenty miles of railroad per year. This is unreasonable and unjust, not particularly to the Indians, for we do not go mueli on Mr. Lo,' but to the hard-working, honest settlers of Kansas. It is right to encourage railroads and railroad men, but the settlers and all the people of Kansas have rights which white men are bound to respect.' "It is unjust, because Mr. Sturges and his friends agreed to build this road to the south line of the State, without any Indian donation, within two years from the time the franchise was donated to thein, and he and his friends have no right to require seven years for what they agreed to accomplish. "It is unjust to the people, because no limit is made to the price which the railroad company may ask for these lands. "It is unjust to the tax-payers of Kansas, becauso it places it in the power of one man to prevent the settlement of at least one tenth of the State, except upon his own terms. "It is unjust to the State, because these lands are sufficient to secure the building of the whole line of the road to Galveston, by a larger donation to them than is given even to the Union Pacific railroad. "Either the company should be compelled to build the road through to Galveston, or to construct one hundred and fifty miles of the branch by way of Emporia. ilon. William Spriggs, who is well acquainted with those lands, told us that they were unexcelled by any lands on which he had ever set his eyes. It is a low estimate to call them worth $8,000,000 more than the company pay for them, and it is not extravagant to say that the company will realize $25,000,000 for them. "By no means would we say anything to defeat the road; but we would plead for its speedy construction. Let the treaty be so amended as to require a sufficient amount of road to be constructed, first upon the main line, then on the branch toward Emporia. The Neosho valley, that enterprising and prosperous portion of Kansas, on and near which these lands lie, have rights in the public domain. The good sense of the managers of this enterprise ought to teach them that the enormity of this grant requires them at once to suggest such amendments. Never was such an opportunity presented for the development of a country as is now offered to southern Kansas in this treaty, and our Senators and Congressman will have a heavy responsibility resting upon them if this $25,000,000 worth of land is not made to construct at least six hundred miles of Kansas railroads." Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. I also call attention to the following article from the Lawrence Republican: "The principle on which this treaty is founded, as we understand it, is the purchase of eight million acres of very choice lands from the Osage Indians by the Government at twenty cents per acre, and a donation of all the net profits arising from the sale of the same to the endowment of railroads in Kansas. The net proceeds from these lands have been variously estimated at from eight to twenty-five million dollars; and we think we are safe in saying that $16,000,000 can be realized from that source without seriously retarding the settlement of the country. This settled, the next question arising is, how shall this sum be appropriated? The treaty, in its present shape, appropriates the whole sum to the construction of one hundred and fifty miles of the Galveston railroad, amounting to more than $100,000 per mile, which no one can fail to recognize as a reckless waste of resources, and one which, if submitted to, will convict our Senators in Congress of the grossest neglect of the best interests of the State they represent. We look upon the Galveston railroad as an enterprise in a national point of view, second only to the Union Pacific; and in the first place this treaty should be so amended by the Senate as to secure the construction of that road beyond contingency. This most desirable object can be effected by the appropriation of one half of the sum above named, which would be equal to a donation of $16.000 per mile for a distance of five hundred miles. At that distance from the present terminus of the road, the road now being constructed from Galveston northward would be met. No one can doubt, for a moment, that a donation of this magnitude, and the liberal land grants already made to this road, together with what the Cherokees and the State of Texas propose to give, will make it the most richly endowed road on the continent, and secure its speedy construction beyond a doubt. What shall we do with the remaining eight millions, equal to an endowment of $16,000 per mile for five hundred additional miles of railroad in Kansas? We could use one fourth of that sum in the construction of the Emporia and Olathe railroads, of the first importance, and enterprises worthy of the first consideration. This still leaves us six millions for other roads that are alike needy and equally important. It is in the power of the Senate so to amend this treaty as to secure the construction of at least one thousand miles of railroad in the place of the one hundred and fifty, as provided for in the treaty, and our Senators thus have an opportunity of conferring benefits on all parts of the State that they represent of the first magnitude. We trust they will not let the opportunity pass without improvement." The Junction City Union, an influential journal, published in the interior of Kansas, speaks as follows: 'Much indignation has been created throughout the State by the unfairness of and manifest swindle existing in the terms of the treaty made with the Osages. It was made entirely in the interest of the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Company, whose road does not touch the lands. The tract treated for consists of eight million acres on the south border of Kansas, and is fifty miles north and south by two hundred and fifty cast and west. It comprises nearly one fifth the State, and is fertile and productive in the extreme. This land all goes to a railroad company for $1,600,000, or twenty cents per acre, no endowment for State schools, and no provisions made for the half-breeds. Other companies desired to purchase the lands, but the commissioners refused their propositions, claiming they were only authorized to treat in behalf of the Lawrence and Galveston Company. There is no security to the Indians for the payment of their money, only $100,000 being paid in money within three months from the ratification of the treaty, and the residue in the bonds of the company, running through a period of fifteen years. It is claimed that the land is sufficient to build three or four railroads. While it is manifestly unjust to Government and dishonest to grant such extravagantly liberal donations, the State of Kansas has a far greater interest in the manner of the disposition of the land. The policy of making land grants to railroad companies has become oppressive by the high rates fixed upon the land, whereas if the terms of treaty established that the proceeds of the land should go to railroad companies, the settlement of the country is rapidly promoted instead of retarded. We understand that Congressman CLARKE months ago announced that he would fight the ratification of any treaty which stipulated that the land, instead of the proceeds, should go to a railroad company. Some very bitter opposition has sprung up to this treaty, and we hope for the good of the State it may fail to be ratified." I might quote from many other journals of my State extracts of the same importance, but this is unnecessary. But not only the press, but the people appeal to us for relief from this threatened injustice. I ask to have read the following letter from a well-known citizen of Kansas. The Clerk read as follows: VERDI, KANSAS, June 7, 1865. DEAR SIR: I wish to say that the treaty recently made with the Great and Little Osage Indians, including the trust lands, we regard as wrong in principle. The public domain, as fast as the title of the Indian is extinguished, should be held sacred to the use of the settler who by his labor improves and cultivates, and by so doing develops the country. The purchase of millions of acres to be owned by one individual or company is dangerous. Place one fifth of this State in the control of one company and you build up monopolies that we cannot but regard as very dangerous. I am living on the trust lands here. We supposed the land being treated for we had a right to settle, and by proclamation of sale had a right to think that ere this we would be in possession of a certificate of purchase from the Government. But, instead, there seems to have been a studied effort to drop us in the dark, and now there are various rumors: first, that there is no provision for the settler; second, that there is some kind of partial provision by which some of us must lose largely of our improvement. We learn, also, there is no provision at all for those that were settled on the Osage diminished reserve. This would ruin many families who have expended all their means on the land. What I want is for you to exercise your influence in behalf of the settler, and save our young State, of which we are justly proud, from the clutches of such soulless corporations. Ever yours. Ilon. SIDNEY CLARKE, M. C. J. A. BEANE. Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. The following letter is but one of many of the same character: VERDI, WILSON COUNTY, KANSAS, June 7, 1868. SIR: Permit me to call your attention to the treaty made with the Osage Indians in favor of Sturges & Co., May 27th last. Every settler here feels that the treaty is a great swindle. The settlers living on the Indian land are not respected in the treaty, and the settlers on the trust land are not given the privileges that are usually given by the Government in selecting their claims, and, what is still more important, have to settle with a company instead of the Government, and take a bond for a deed and wait fifteen years for a good title. No one here wants to trust a company in this way. I will not attempt to give any further particulars, but earnestly ask you to look into the matter and stand between the settlers and this great wrong, which I trust you will do. Respectfully, your obedient servant, E. II. PARRIS. Hon. SIDNEY CLARKE. The following sets forth the facts in reference to the settlers on the trust lands: HUMBOLDT, KANSAS, June 3, 1868. DEAR SIR: Knowing you to be the friend of the settler, I would call your attention to a matter of the most vital interest to a large portion of your constituency-the settlers on the Osage trust lands. The treaty just made with the Osages, and soon to be referred to the Senate for ratification, provides that the settler shall purchase one hundred and sixty acres at $1 25, but it restricts the settler to the limits of the same quarter section, which, if ratified in its present form, will be most ruinous to the settler. There are three facts that must be taken into consideration in determining the rights of the settler. 1. A large proportion of the settlements were made prior to the Government survey, and they could not locate their claims in reference to quarter section lines. 2. The entries under the fourth article were irregular in shape, leaving the adjoining claims also in an irregular shape-so the settler cannot enter one hundred and sixty acres in the same quarter scetion, 3. Also, the settler made his improvements with the view of purchasing his lands at public sale, and of course could have purchased in any shape. In perhaps the majority of instances two or three settlers live on the same quarter section, with their improvements around, so under this provision all but one will be defeated in his entry, and he can enter all the improvements that happen to be on his quarter section without any reference to the owners thereof. From what I know personally and have heard from all sections of the trust lands as to the location of the settlers' improvements, I know they are in no instances located in reference to section line. Under such an unjust provision three fourths of the settlers would suffer more or less, while many it would break up entirely, for they have spent their all in their improvements, all for what? Just to give the railroad a few more acres of land at sixteen cents per acre, to the ruin of the settler. I was present at the council and called the attention of the commissioners to these facts, and they assured me that they would so change that article as to give the settler his improvements, which I supposed was done till I saw a statement of it this morning in the Lawrence Journal. Nothing could be done then without consulting Mr. Sturges, and of course he would oppose it and the three commissioners must yield. Such a gross outrage must be checked, and the settlers are all looking to you as their Representative and friend to guard their interests. I know I express the wishes of thousands of settlers, and I most earnestly hope you will give your especial attention to this matter. J. B. F. CATES. Very respectfully, Hon. SIDNEY CLARKE, Washington, D. C. At this moment the following letter has been referred to me by the honorable gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. WASHBURNE:] LAWRENCE, KANSAS, June 2, 1868. SIR: A treaty has just been forced from the Osage Indians, whereby they sell all their diminished reserve and trust lands, embracing eight million acres, to the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Railroad Company for $1,600,000, payable in sixteen semiannual installments. Three eighths of said land are the finest in Kansas for farming, while the remainder is inexhaustibly rich in mineral wealth. The intention now is to rush this treaty hastily through the Senate upon the false assumption that unless the Osages are at once removed bloody collisions with the whites will ensue, The treaty was drafted some time since at Washington. The settlers and those who shall desire cheap homes for many years to come can rely only on you and such of your associates as are opposed to the usurpations of monopolies for relief. Appreciating your previous efforts in this direction, I now write you in behalf of all poor men who may in the next ten years desire to emigrate West, and request that you will institute an inquiry as to the means whereby so iniquitous a treaty was obtained, and why actual settlers are not allowed to obtain, by the terms thereof, their homes at $1 25 per acre, instead of selling to a monopoly at fourteen cents per acre on sixteen years time. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, HENRY C. WHITNEY. Hon. E. B. WASHBURNE, Washington, D. C. But I must not detain the House with these appeals for justice. I will conclude this testimony with the following: OSAGE TRUST LANDS, WILSON COUNTY, KANSAS. DEAR SIR: By request of many citizens of Kansas living upon the public domain, I send you this note, asking your influence in behalf of settlers so located. Many settlers came on these lands treated for by Mr. Sturges this season, and located themselves as permanent settlers of this State. A great number are now raising the necessaries of life upon the farins of older settlers, and cannot work their own "claims" until crops are made. Towns have been surveyed and improved. Cannot such settlers and companies rely upon your protection in Congress? Yours, &c., JAMES J. BARRETT, M. D. Hon. SIDNEY CLARKE, Mr. Speaker, aside from all this, aside from the great injustice the treaty perpetrates upon the people of my State, it is wrong in princi ple, wrong in fact, and ought to be earnestly and sternly resisted by the Congress of the United States. I pass, then, to the considera. tion of the power of this House over this ques tion. Perhaps if we act in accordance with the past policy of the Government in reference to the transfer of these Indian reservations to individuals and private corporations we have little power in connection with this question; but, sir, representing the people of the United States, representing the interests of the whole country, it appears to me it is within the prov ince, and within the just prerogatives and powers, of this House to enter its protest, having the facts before it, on an examination into the case by one of the legally constituted committees of the House. It is clearly within our power to enter a protest against the ratification of this treaty on behalf of the United States; and to say to the Senate that if that remarkable treaty is ratified by that body we will not make the appropriation to carry it out, and will not recognize its validity. Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin. I wish to inquire of the gentleman what provision of the treaty there is that requires legislation to carry it out. Is there any appropriation required by the terms of the treaty? Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. I am not able to answer the gentleman only in a general way-that there are some appropriations neces sary to be made by Congress to carry out the provisions of some treaty; not the one to which I am now alluding-in regard to the disposition of the land. Mr. WASHBURN, of Indiana. I desire to ask the gentleman from Kansas if the title to the land is not now in the Indians, and whether it is to-day a part of the public domain. Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin. The Indians have a mere possessory right there after all. Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. That question has been up before this House heretofore, and I believe this body has repeatedly expressed its opinion that the Indians have only a possessory right so far as this reservation is concerned, and that it is not in the power of the Senate but of Congress to dispose of the land, which, as I said before, properly belongs to the public domain of the United States whenever it shall be transferred from the possessory right of the Indians. Mr. SCOFIELD. Will the gentleman allow me one moment upon that very question? Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. Yes, sir. derstand, do not undertake to tecide the question whether the Indians have a possessory right to the land or a right in fee-simple. But it is conceded on all hands that they cannot alienate the land, whatever title they may have to it, except to the United States. That is the stipulation. The question now is whether a few worthless Indians may be brought to Washington or some men not much more deserving sent out there to treat with them, and a treaty may be made with them in this way, by which the United States are made to consent to the alienation of this land to a body of speculators that may happen to fall in with the Indians and get control of their agent. The committee were of opinion, I believe all who were present-at all events I was of that opinion--that the consent to be given by the United States was not within the treaty-making power; that the President and the Senate could not give that consent to the alienation of this large body of land belonging to the public; that we could not carve out a tract of eight million acres of land, as large as the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island all together, and put it under the control of a few speculators. They may be very good men, and we have no objection to their making a fortune legitimately, but we do object to putting this land beyond the control of the United State and closing it to the right of settlement. The question now is, will the House consent that the control over this vast domain shall, under a wrong interpretation of the treaty-making power, be confined to the hands of a few men, who have in the first place got the consent of the Indian department and of the President, then the consent of a committee of the Senate, and lastly, the consent of the Senate itself. Shall this land belong to the nation or to these men? Sir, for myself I intend never to give my consent to allowing the treaty-making power to add to or diminish the domain of this country. It has no power either to cede away the State of Maine to Great Britain or to acquire new territory on the Northwest, or to exercise exclusive control of the House of Representatives over the limits of this country either to contract or enlarge them. Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. Now, Mr. Speaker, I desire to say a few words in reference to the settlement of these lands, after which I will yield the floor to others who desire to be heard. When it came to my knowledge that an attempt was made to make a treaty with the Great and Little Osage Indians, I presented to the chairman of the commission the views which I entertained as a Representative from the State of Kansas in reference to the provisions which should be incorporated into the proposed treaty. And I will say here that these Indian reservations, by the permission of the Interior Department and of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, are occupied at this moment by thousands of settlers who have gone there in good faith and established their homes, built school-houses and churches, and introduced all the elements of civilization. Now, sir, the Secretary of the Interior ought to have known, if he did not know months ago, these facts. Under this state of facts, when it came to my knowledge that a proposition was to be made to treat with these Indians for this land I presented to the chairman of the commission the views which I entertained upon the subject in the interest of the people of my State, a copy of which I hold in my hand. sume that the purchase can be made from the Indians at a price not exceeding $1,500,000, and certainly not exceeding $2,000,000. The profits derived from the sale of the land to actual settlers during the next five years would yield enough money to build the Galveston road to the Arkansas river, at Fort Gibson, or run a road west or southwest an equal distance. Thus the interests of railroads and of the State and of actual settlers would be all subserved, and a land policy established which would add greatly to the growth and wealth of the State I represent. I do not indicate the details of this policy, but if railroad companies desire to purchase, the principles I have indicated can be easily incorporated in the detailed provisions of the proposed treaty. There is another important question to which I earnestly call your attention, The settlers on the land ceded and sold by the treaty proclaimed January 21, 1867, are yet without titles to their homes. A joint resolution has been passed by the House of Representatives for the relief of these settlers and is now pending in the Senate. I appeal to your commission to meet the settlers referred to in full and free conference, and in the treaty you are about to make, provide for the full recognition of their rights, as you have abundant power to do, and thus settle the question, already too long at issue, in the interests of justice. I also recommend that you insert a clause in the new treaty recognizing the full power of Congress to legislate hereafter. The importance of the questions to which I have referred to the interests of a large portion of my constituents, and the pressing necessities of immediate solution makes no apology on my part necessary in thus earnestly addressing you, and through you the gentlemen of the commission. In this paper I insisted that right and justice demanded that this great body of land should be opened up to the operation of the preemption and homestead laws of the United States. But I said that if that could not be done, that if this land was to be transferred to a railroad corporation, then I insisted, in the interest of the people I represent, that this land should be opened to settlers at $1 25 an acre, the railroad company taking the profit between nineteen cents an acre and $1 25 an acre, which would yield to the company several million gostars in the course of the next four or five se years. At same time I urged upon the commission the propriety of protecting the settlers upon another portion of this Osage reservation included within the provisions of a bill which has already passed this House, and is awaiting the action of the Senate. I expressed the opinion that unless these essential provisions were incorporated in this treaty in the interest not only of the people of my State but of the people of the whole country who pay the taxes and have an interest in the pub lic domain of the United States, the treaty could not and ought not to receive the sanction of the Senate of the United States: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. WASHINGTON, D. C., April 13, 1868. SIR: In a conversation on Friday last you informed me of the appointment of yourself and other gentlemen as a commission to make a new treaty with the Great and Little Osage Indians, with the view of extinguishing the title to their lands in the State of Kansas, and removal to a new reservation in the Indian territory. This result is most ardently desired by the people of my State, is in accordance with the will of Congress expressed several years since, and is in harmony with the interests of the Indians and of the Government. But there is another question in which Kansas, and the whole country, has a deep interest, and to which I desire to call your attention and the attention of your associates on the commission, before you enter upon the duties assigned you. I refer to the manner of extinguishing the Indian title to the diminished reservation, and the opening of the same to the vast flow of emigration now seeking new homes in southern and southwestern Kansas. The land for which you are to treat comprises about eight million acres. It is fertile in its soil, situated in a mild climate, is well watered and wooded, and must be in every way vastly attractive to the multitude of people now seeking homes on the new lands of the continent. Sound public policy, as well as the interests of the Indians themselves, demands that this great body of land should be opened up for settlement at once. and placed in a position where the settlers can obtain perfect titles, and at a price not exceeding $1 25 per acre. It The title to the land of a country is the first question to be considered in any point of view. Especially is this true in a State like Kansas, where the people are devoted to agricultural and pastoral pursuits. It is for such a people I have the honor to seek for justice at your hands, as well as for the landless millions of the country now seeking for new homes where they can add so materially to the wealth and power of the nation. It is but proper to add that in my opinion no treaty that does not open the lands to immediate settlement, essentially in accordance with the views I have suggested, can or ought to receive the approval of the Senate. I ask you to make my views known to your commission and to the Secretary of the Interior. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, SIDNEY CLARKE. Hon. N. G. TAYLOR, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. Notwithstanding that I represent the State in which this large body of lands is situated, no attention has been paid to the views which I presented in the interest of the people of that State and of the whole country; but this treaty has been made in the interest of private parties and in the interest of a corporation. I have strenuously insisted that this land should be open to settlement by some process at $125 per acre, so that the people of my State and of all the States, whenever the treaty shall be concluded, shall have the privilege of entering on these lands at the Government price, yielding the homestead privilege, which, on reflection, I think I ought not to have yielded in reference to so large a body of lands and so favorably situated for immediate settlement. But desiring to encourage this great public enterprise, desiring to secure as speedily as possible this outlet to the Gulf of Mexico from the interior of the continent by the completion of this great public thoroughfare now in process of construction, I was willing that this railroad company should receive the profit between the purchase money, nineteen cents pion would be far preferable, and but justice to our per acre, and $1 25, which would yield thems homestead entry. But if this cannot be done, then the people of my State and the public interests generally unite in the demand that the new treaty shall provide for preemption rights at the usual price per acre. It is estimated that seventy-five thousand people are now on their way to, and are making arrangements to settle in the State of Kansas the present year. Indeed, it is not improbable that the increase of our population will be double that number. Most of these people are seeking for new and cheap lands. In behalf of these hardy pioneers, many of whom fought for the defense of the Government, whose protection they now ask from all systems of land monopoly, I earnestly appeal. As the only Representative of my State in the lower branch of Congress, I shall insist that all future treaties for the acquisition of Indian reserves in Kansas be based upon the principle I have indicated, namely, that the lands be opened up to actual settlers, free from all schemes of speculation and monopoly so disastrous to the prosperity of the new States. I am advised that propositions will be made by railroad corporations to secure these lands by absolute purchase. To this I have no objection, provided the company making the purchase build the road through the lands, and they are immediately opened to settlement at Government price. There is probably about two million acres east of the Arkansas river and six million acres west of said river.. I as sufficient money to make a continuous line of railroad from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Galveston bay, in the State of Texas. But not satisfied with that, not satisfied with this reasonable proposition, the gentleman interested, or rather the proprietor of this road-for one man has furnished all the money for the con. struction-has seen fit to bring before the Senate of the United States a treaty which strikes down in the most ingenious manner the rights of the State of Kansas as a whole, as well as the rights of the people of all the States, and urges the Senate to indorse such an unjust proposition. Now, sir, it seems to me that the action proposed by the Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom this subject has been referred, is just and proper. It seems to me that the House ought not to sit idly by and see eight million acres of the public domain of the United States transferred by treaty into the hands of a corporation or of one individual, this House, representing the people, exercising no control or supervision over the matter whatever. The time has come here and now for us to exercise the prerogatives which properly belong to us, to put a stop to this outrage, this wrong, which is being inflicted upon the people of this country by transactions of this character, which of late have been far too frequent. This treaty is not alone involved in a proper decision of this question. There are other treaties at this moment pending in the Senate proposing to transfer other Indian reservesin fact other Indian reserves have been transferred into the hands of railway companies and private parties to the detriment of the interests of the people. And if this House shall, by refusing to exercise its power, by refusing to express its opinion, sanction this course of proceeding, how long will it be before the whole public domain of the United States will be absorbed by these unjustifiable means, and it will be beyond our reach to arrest this great wrong. The Committee on Indian Affairs have thought proper to report these resolutions and to ask for them the favorable consideration of this House to assert the power which we properly possess in this matter, expressing our opinion as one of the coördinate branches of Congress, presuming that the Senate will respect that opinion, and hesitate before they give their sanction to this flagrant injustice. I now yield for ten minutes to the chairman of the Committee on the Public Lands, [Mr. JULIAN.] Mr. JULIAN. Mr. Speaker, the measure now before the House involves the disposition of a large portion of land in the State of Kansas, which ought to be dealt with as public land of the United States. I therefore desire to speak briefly upon the question before us. Some ten days ago I introduced a resolution in this House calling on the President to inform the House by what authority and for what reason the large tract of territory referred to was conveyed directly to a railroad corporation in the State of Kansas, and not to the United States, by which the disposition of it would have devolved upon Congress? The President replied, through Secretary Browning, that the treaty then pending had not been officially communicated by the commissioners, and he could not therefore give the desired information. The gentleman from Kansas [Mr. CLARKE] thereupon introduced another resolution calling on the President for the same and some additional information relative to this treaty. The President, in reply, informed the House that the treaty had been sent to the Senate, and being a secret document he could not tell us anything in relation to it. And thus the Representatives of the people are left without any definite, certainly without any official knowledge, respecting this singular transaction; this monstrous project, involving the disposition of so large a portion of the domain of Kansas. To obtain this knowledge and bring it before this House was the purpose of the committee whose report is now before us. Now, Mr. Speaker, the facts in this case are so very remarkable that I must beg the particular attention of the House to what I have to say. The land referred to consists of a body fifty miles wide and two hundred and fifty miles long, containing, consequently, twelve thousand five hundred square miles or eight million acres, which, divided by one hundred and sixty, will give an aggregate of fifty thousand homesteads of one hundred and sixty acres each; and allowing every head of a family to represent an average of five persons-which is the ordinary computation-it would sustain a population of two hundred and fifty thousand. The territory is larger than either of the States of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire, or Maryland. It lacks but little of being large enough to enable you to carve out of it three such States as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware. Yet, it is proposed to transfer the whole of this domain, by a pretended Indian treaty, to a single railroad corporation in the State of Kansas, in utter disregard of the rights of the great body of the bona fide settlers on the land, in defiance of the authority of Congress over our Indian reservations, the moment the right of occupancy by the Indians is relinquished, and in shameless disregard of the equal rights of other railroad corporations to the aid of the Government. Such a transaction needs no other exposure than its bare statement to secure for it the condemnation of all honest men. All this land is to be sold to this railroad corporation at nineteen cents per acre, on a credit of fifteen years, payable in equal annual installments, and in the stock of the railroad company. And although a proposition was made by another railroad corporation to pay $2,000,000, instead of $1,600,000, and to reserve the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections for school purposes in the interest of Kansas, and to protect the rights of settlers on this land, including the Indian half-breeds on it, yet that proposition was contemptuously spurned by the railroad company and the Indian commission having the matter in charge. Mr. Speaker, this Indian commission was appointed by one Andrew Johnson some time ago, composed of men who seem to have been admirably fitted for the work they have done. Instead of being an Indian commission it has proved itself to be a thieving commission, whether its action is considered in relation to the Indians or to the settlers on the land or to the Government itself. I mean exactly what I say. I find certain expressive words scattered here and there through the dictionary, and when I meet with a case like this I feel justified in giving them fit employment. It was a thieving commission, organized to cheat the Indians, and aid and abet the coldblooded rapacity of railroad monopolists. A VOICE. Who are these commissioners? Mr. JULIAN. The names of the commissioners are N. G. Taylor, Hon. Thomas Murphy, superintendent of the central superintendency; Colonel A. G. Boone; and Major Snow, agent of the Osage Indians. Sir, I repeat it, this was a commission for swindling, spoliation, and plunder, and every act of this transaction brands it as I have branded it. In the name of honest people everywhere, I denounce it as the foul job of men who must have been chosen to perform it, and who have done their work with a perfection of skill and workmanship that surpasses anything I have heard of in the way of public plunder. Mr. BURLEIGH. I ask the gentleman whether he refers to the peace commission? Mr. JULIAN. I am glad the gentleman lias asked that question, for I understand these men are not the peace commission which has gone out on a noble errand, but special com. missioners appointed by the President of the United States to negotiate this swindle, a swindle, as I am reliably informed, that was concocted and worked up in the city of Washington a year ago between Mr. Sturges and the men who have acted as his tools under the name of Indian commissioners. Mr. Speaker, these Great and Little Osage Indians had no power to cede these lands to a railroad corporation. They had, as the gentleman on my right has said, the right of occupancy upon these lands under previous treaties with the Government. The title was in the United States, and their power over the lands was simply the power of cession to the United States, and was exhausted the moment they exercised that power. Why, sir, has it come to this that we are to sit here and recognize the right of the President and Senate to build railroads and make land grants in contravention of the powers of Congress? If we want to build the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston railroad, and endow that company with land grants for the purpose, it is for the Congress of the United States to do it, and not the Osage Indians or the treaty-making power. The Osage Indians, as this House has repeatedly decided, had no power to transfer these lands to any railroad And the Senate has no power to company. grant away the public domain, certainly not by treating with Indians, who are the mere wards of the United States, and have no title to the land. Conceding the power referred to by the gen tleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. SCOFIELD.] the power of the President and Senate to cede away a portion of the State of Maine, it is wholly inapplicable to the treaty with these minor children of the nation who have no title to their lands and no power by treaty, except to cede their right of occupancy to the United States. Mr. Speaker, since the year 1861 we have had a new Indian policy. As I stated here on another occasion, prior to 1860 all our treaties with the Indian tribes went upon the principle of directly granting to the United States the lands upon which the Indians resided, and of thus giving to Congress, at once, their management. In 1861 we began this policy of special treaty stipulations by which the jurisdiction of Congress over the public domain has been to a very great extent overthrown in the interest of monopolists and thieves; and, sir, this Osage Indian treaty is the crowning flower and fruit, the rich culmination of the system. It has grown worse and worse, and more and more defiant, because it has been unchecked in its course; and this last ripe product of its infernal achievements goes very far to make respectable the ordinary thieves and pickpockets who have found their way into the jails and penitentiaries of our country. Mr. Speaker, I invoke the interposition of this House, in the name of decency and of common justice, in checking these flagrant outrages, and calling upon the Senate to repudiate them. Let us say to our Senators that we will not recognize the validity of this treaty by paying any of the expenses occasioned by it; that we deny the right of the President to execute titles under it, and that to our utmost we condemn and protest against it. Mr. CLARKE, of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, when I was upon the floor I ought to have stated that under this treaty it is within the power of this company to break this contract at any time. It may go on until it selects the best lands and then terminate the contract, leaving the poor lands to fall to the Government. It may terminate the treaty at any time without any penalty whatever. I yield now five minutes to the gentleman from Indiana. Mr. SHANKS. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs of this House, I am not willing to let this matter pass without at least putting upon record, in addi tion to the committee's report, my denuncia tion of the origin, practice, and purpose of this movement. I desire to call the attention of the House to the fact that if this transaction is permitted to be consummated by the consent of this House another consequence may result. The Cherokee nation, which is organ. ized within the limits of this Government, can as well sell out their whole domain to a set of speculators, either for railroad or other pur poses, who may organize within this Government a State in the hands of a few men who would have absolute control of its lands, and of course of its destiny, against the best interests of the country and people. If we permit this to be done in one portion of the territory of the United States now, and we consent to the establishment of the precedent, and allow other parties to do the same thing, the result will be that all the vast region now controlled or occupied by the Indians will become the property of individuals, contrary to the settled policy of this Government, which has been to open all its domain to settlement and improvement. In addition to that it will necessarily require appropriations of money out of the public Treasury to carry out these treaty stipula tions. It should be the purpose of this Government |