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of these classes, which under that act was taken in the year 1923, the Secretary authorized the Director of the Census to collect annually statistics concerning inmates of penal institutions and of institutions for the care of the mentally diseased and of feeble-minded and epileptics. Under this authorization, statistics have been collected for 1926, 1927, and 1928.

This bill (S. 1812) is intended to place this work on a permanent basis. Such legislation is deemed necessary because the authorization granted by the Secretary was more or less provisional and limited in scope. The bill, it is believed, should be broad enough to cover the annual collection of the statistics which, under the act of 1902, were to be collected only once in 10 years. It is therefore recommended that it be changed as follows: Omit the words "inmates of institutions for" on line 5 and insert in place thereof the words "crime and the" and that the title of the bill be changed by striking out the words "certain public institutions" and inserting in place thereof the words to "crime and to the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes," so that the bill will read as follows:

"A BILL To authorize the collection of annual statistics relating to crime and to the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Director of the Census be, and hereby is, authorized to compile and publish annually statistics relating to crime and to the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes."

W. M. STEUART, Director. BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, December 6, 1929.

MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I have the department's letter of the 29th ultimo concerning S. 1812, a bill to authorize the collection of annual statistics relating to certain institutions.

You are advised that the expenditure contemplated by this proposed legislation would not be in conflict with the financial program of the President.

The inclosures accompanying your letter of the 29th ultimo are returned herewith.

Sincerely yours,

The SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.

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71ST CONGRESS) 3d Session

COURT OF CLAIMS TO ADJUDICATE CLAIMS OF CERTAIN BANDS OF INDIANS IN OREGON

FEBRUARY 19, 1931.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. WILLIAMSON, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 3335]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3335) conferring jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine claims of certain bands of Indians residing in the State of Oregon, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

That jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the Court of Claims, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, by either party, as in other cases, to hear, examine, adjudicate, and render final judgment in any and all legal and equitable claims arising under or growing out of any treaty, agreement, act of Congress, Executive order, or otherwise, which certain Indian tribes or bands, or portions thereof, and their descendants may have against the United States, namely, the Indian described in the ratified treaties of September 10, 1853 (10 Stat. 1018), September 19, 1853 (10 Stat. 1027), November 18, 1854 (10 Stat. 1122), November 25, 1854 (10 Stat. 1125), January 22, 1855 (10 Stat. 1143), and December 21, 1855 (12 Stat. 981); together with those described in the unratified treaties published in Senate Executive Document No. 25, Fifty-third Congress, first session (pages 8 to 15), except the Coos Bay, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Tribes, it being the intention of this act to include all the Indian tribes, or bands, residing in the State of Oregon, west of the Cascade Range at the dates of the said treaties, respectively, and their descendants, some of whom, in 1855 or later, were removed by the military authorities of the United States to the Siletz on the Grande Ronde Reservation, in the said States, except the three tribes last named.

SEC. 2. That if any claim or claims be submitted to said courts hereunder they shall settle the rights therein, both legal and equitable, of each and all the parties thereto, notwithstanding the lapse of time or the statutes of limitation; and any payment which may have been made upon any such claim shall not operate as an estoppel but may be pleaded as a set-off, and the United States shall be allowed to plead and shall receive credit for all sums, including gratuities if properly chargeable, paid to or expended for the benefit of any of said nations, tribes, or bands of Indians. The claim or claims of each nation, tribe, or band may be

presented separately or jointly by petition, subject, however, to amendment and consolidation in proper cases. Such action shall make the petitioner or petitioners party plaintiff or plaintiffs and the United States party defendant; and any nation, tribe, or band the court may deem necessary to a final determination of such suit or suits may be joined therein by order of the court.

The petition shall set forth all the facts upon which the claims are based and the laws, treaties, agreements, Executive orders, or wrongful actions of the Government under and upon which recovery is sought, and shall be signed and verified by the attorney or attorneys employed to prosecute such claim or claims and who are under contract with said Indians approved in accordance with existing law. A copy of the petition in such suit shall be served upon the Attorney General of the United States, and he, or some attorney from the Department of Justice designated by him, shall appear and defend the interests of the United States: Provided, That any and all claims against the United States within the purview of this act shall be forever barred unless suit be instituted or petition filed as herein provided in the Court of Claims within ten years from the date of the approval of this act.

Official letters, papers, documents, and public records, or certified copies thereof, may be used in evidence, and the departments of the Government shall allow the attorney or attorneys access to such treaties, papers, correspondence, or records as may be proper.

SEC. 3. Upon final determination of such suit or suits the Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to fix and determine a reasonable fee, not to exceed 10 per centum of the recovery, based upon actual services rendered, together with all necessary and proper expenses incurred in the preparation and prosecution of the suit or suits, to be paid to the attorney or attorneys employed by said nations, tribes, or bands of Indians; and if not otherwise paid, the same shall be included in the decree and shall be paid out of any sum or sums found to be due said Indians.

SEC. 4. The proceeds of all amounts, if any, recovered for said Indians, less attorneys' fees and expenses, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Indians decreed by said court to be entitled thereto, and shall draw interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum from the date of the original judgment or decree and thereafter shall be subject to appropriation by Congress for educational, health, industrial, and other purposes for the benefit of said Indians, including the purchase of lands and building of homes.

The above amendment to the bill makes no fundamental change in its provisions, but merely alters its form to conform with the language of jurisdictional bills, which has proved to be desirable and generally acceptable to the Congress.

Your committee feels that the Indian tribes affected by this measure are entitled to have their cases adjudicated in the Court of Claims, and therefore submits the above report in the hope that favorable action may be taken upon the bill. Following is the report of the Secretary of the Interior:

Hon. LYNN J. FRAZIER,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, February 28, 1930.

Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs,

United States Senate.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: With further reference to your request of January 29 for a report on S. 3335, I transmit herewith a memorandum from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. After a review of the proposed measure, I agree with Commissioner Rhoads.

Very truly yours,

RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Washington, February 24, 1930.

The accompanying letter from Hon. Lynn J. Frazier, chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, transmits for report a copy of S. 3335, to confer jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine claims of certain bands or tribes of Indians residing in the State of Oregon.

The bill includes the Coos Bay, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Tribes of Indians of the State of Oregon and other Indians living in the same vicinity. The three tribes mentioned were authorized by the act of February 23, 1929 (45 Stat. L. 1256), to present their claims to the Court of Claims, and a petition has already been filed in the court.

The other Indians embraced in the bill are mostly attached to the Siletz and Grande Ronde Reservations in Oregon. The records show that they have alleged eight separate and distinct claims against the United States, some of which arise under an unratified treaty negotiated August 11, 1855, while others originate under ratified treaties 1853, 1854, and 1855.

One of the claims specifically alleged by these Indians is for loss of property occasioned by the removal of the tribes from the lands over which they roamed to the reservations established for them in accordance with the provisions of the ratified treaties, above mentioned, the same provision occurring in the unratified treaty of 1855. There may have been some unavoidable destruction of property for which the Indians were not responsible, but no account of the amount or value of such property could be found in the records of this department.

The records show that all funds promised to the Indians under the ratified treaties have been appropriated by Congress and paid to them. While it appears that no appropriation has been made under the unratified treaties, yet lands were set aside for the Indians who were parties thereto and the Indians removed to the lands in accordance with the agreement.

Inasmuch as these Indians have authority to have their claims adjudicated at least in part and a suit has already been filed, it is suggested that no further attempts at legislation be made pending the outcome of the suit now in the court. In view of the above it is recommended that S. 3335 be not enacted.

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