CONGRESS DAM ACROSS ROCK RIVER, ILL. MARCH 25, 1912.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. SABATH, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 20190.] The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 20190) to extend the time for the construction of a dam across Rock River, Ill., having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it pass. The bill has the approval of the War Department, as will appear by the letter attached and which is made a part of this report. [Second indorsement.] WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War. The object of the accompanying bill (H. R. 20190, 62d Cong., 2d sess.) is to extend the time for commencing and completing the construction of a dam across Rock River, near Byron, Ill., originally authorized by an act of Congress approved February 18, 1911. The original act amply provides for the protection of navigation interests, and I know of no objection to its life being extended as proposed by the bill so far as those interests are concerned. W. H. BIXBY, Respectfully returned to the chairman Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, inviting attention to the foregoing report of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army. ROBERT SHAW OLIVER, 62D CONGRESS, 2d Session. } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. { REPORT LOAN OF CERTAIN FIELDPIECES TO STATE OF MARCH 25, 1912.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Mr. EVANS, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 21218.] The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 21218) to loan to the State of New York the brass fieldpieces and one brass howitzer captured by Gen. Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass, with an amendment, as follows: Strike out the word "by" in the fifth line and insert in lieu thereof the word "from." It appears from the evidence produced that the guns in question were captured at the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne after the Battle of Saratoga and that therefore the battlefield of Saratoga is the most suitable place for them. The bill has been referred to the War Department, which has reported to the committee that said guns are on hand at the Watervliet Arsenal at Watervliet, in New York State, together with recommendations which have been incorporated in the present bill, which replaces a former bill, No. 9333. O MEDAWAKANTON AND WAHPAKOOTA (SIOUX) INDIANS. MARCH 26, 1912.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. STEPHENS of Nebraska, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 21887.] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 21887) conferring jurisdiction on the Court of Claims to determine the amount of unpaid annuities that would be due the Medawakanton and Wahpakoota Bands of Sioux Indians as if the act of forfeiture of 1863 had not been passed, after deducting therefrom all payments to said bands, or to any of the members thereof that are properly chargeable against their annuities, beg to report that after giving careful consideration of the whole matter they report back an amendment to strike out all after the enacting clause and substitute the following:. That jurisdiction be, and hereby is, conferred upon the Court of Claims to hear, determine, and render final judgment for any balance that may be found due the Medawakanton and Wahpakoota Bands of Sioux Indians, otherwise known as Santee Sioux Indians, with right of appeal as in other cases for any annuities that may be ascertained to be due to the said bands of Indians under and by virtue of the treaties between said bands and the United States, dated September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven (Seventh Statutes at Large, page five hundred and thirtyeight), and August fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-one (Tenth Statutes at Large, page nine hundred and fifty-four), as if the act of forfeiture of the annuities of said bands approved February sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, had not been passed: Provided, That the court in rendering judgment shall ascertain and include therein the amount of accrued annuities under the treaty of September twentyninth, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, up to the date of rendition of judgment, and shall determine and include the present value of the same, not including interest, and the capital sum of said annuity, which shall be in lieu of said perpetual annuity granted in said treaty; and to ascertain and set off against any amount found due under said treaties all moneys paid to said Indians or expended for their benefit by the Government of the United States since the treaties were abrogated by the act of eighteen hundred and sixty-three: Provided, That the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixtyeight shall not be a bar to recovery, but all equities and benefits received thereunder by the Santee Sioux Indians may, in the discretion of the court, be taken into consideration in the determination of the amount of recovery. Upon the rendition of such ujdgment and in conformity therewith the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to ascertain and determine which of said Indians now living took part in said outbreak, and to prepare a roll of the persons entitled to share in said judgment by placing thereon the names of all living members of said bands residing in the United States at the time of the passage of this act, excluding therefrom only the names of those found to have personally participated in the outbreak; and he is directed to distribute the proceeds of such judgment, except as hereinafter provided, per capita, to the persons borne on the said roll. Proceedings shall be commenced by petition verified by one of the attorneys who have been heretofore employed by said hands of Indians to prosecute their claims under this act under a contract which has been approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior as provided by law upon information and belief as to the existence of the facts stated in said petition, and no other verification shall be necessary. Upon final determination of the cause the Court of Claims shall decree such fees as the court shall find to be reasonal le upon a quantum meruit for services performed or to be performed, to be paid to the attorney or attorneys so employed by the said band of Indians and their associates, and the same shall be paid out of the I alance found to be due said bands of Indians when an appropriation therefor shall have been made by Congress: Provided, That in no case shall the fees decreed by the court amount in the aggregate to more than five per centum of the amount of the judgment recovered, and in no event shall the aggregate amount exceed twentyfive thousand dollars: Provided further, That the court shall by its decree distribute such fees equitably between the attorneys who have been employed by said bands of Indians in said cause. The situation as to the claim of these Indians is briefly as follows: Prior to 1863 the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, known as the Upper Sioux, and the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Bands, known as the Lower Sioux, lived on adjoining reservations in the State of Minnesota. Formerly the Upper Sioux and the Lower Sioux, in similar but separate treaties, had ceded all of their lands to the United States, save the small reservations on which they were then living, and in consideration for the cession the Government agreed to pay them certain annuities. By act of Congress approved February 16, 1863, the annuities of both the Upper and Lower Bands were forfeited in consequence of the Sioux outbreak of 1862. By act of Congress approved June 21, 1906, Congress restored the forfeited annuities of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands (Upper Sioux) and conferred jurisdiction upon the Court of Claims to hear and determine the amount of unpaid annuities that would be due them as if the act of forfeiture had not been passed, and also to ascertain and set off against said amount all sums which had been paid to or for said bands, or to or for any members thereof, since said act of forfeiture was passed, which the court should find were properly chargeable against said annuities, and to render judgment for the balance, if any. The reports of the committees of Congress in support of the legislation for the relief of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands will be found in Senate Report No. 2561, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session, page 80, and House Report No. 2751, Fifty-ninth Congress, first session. The substitute bill now reported and recommended (H. R. 21887) follows the legislation for the relief of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands and should be passed for the same reasons. The annuities of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Bands (Lower Sioux) arose as follows: By the first article of a treaty dated September 29, 1837 (Stat. L., 538), the Mdewakantons ceded to the United States all of their lands east of the Mississippi River and all of their islands in said river, the consideration for said cession being $15,000 per annum "forever." Of this annuity, 27 installments had been paid at the time of the outbreak. It is the policy of the Government to discontinue perpetual annuities by capitalizing the same at their present value, which is provided for in this bill. By the second article of a treaty made at Mendota in the then Territory of Minnesota, on the 5th day of August, 1851 (10 Stat. L., Treaties, p. 56), the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Bands of Sioux Indians ceded to the United States "all their lands and all their right, title, and claim to any lands whatever in the Territory of Minnesota or in the State of Iowa." The consideration for the land ceded by this treaty, adjusted according to terms of the treaty and amendments thereto, was, in annuities, $61,450 for a period of 50 years. Of these annuities, 12 installments had been paid at the time of the outbreak, leaving 38 unpaid. The devastation of property and the loss of life resulting from this outbreak is familiar history; but the evidence shows that nearly every guilty Indian is dead. It is established that many individual Indians of these two bands. bore arms to suppress the outbreak, while others gave aid and comfort to settlers and prisoners, saving captive women and children, thus incurring the risk incident to arraying themselves against the hostile Indians. The question arises: Were these Indians who participated in the outbreak guilty of treason or an act of disloyalty to the United States Government, or were they guilty of committing a crime against society as individuals? If they are to be considered as committing an act of treason or disloyalty, then it would seem the Government should deal with them as it dealt with the disloyal members of the Five Civilized Tribes. Congress, by act approved July 5, 1862, provided for forfeiting the annuities of any Indians, including the Cherokees and other Indians composing the Five Civilized Tribes, who joined the southern confederacy and took up arms against the Union. After the war the Government made new treaties with all the Indians of the Five Civilized Tribes, restoring every dollar of the annuities to loyal and disloyal alike; and later Congress, in one or more cases, went even further and paid to these Indians an additional consideration for their lands ceded, being the difference between 31 cents an acre, the amount provided to be paid them by the treaty, and $1.25 an acre, the statutory price. So if these Indians who participated in the outbreak were guilty of an act of disloyalty, then why should not their annuities be restored, as in the case of the Five Civilized Tribes? Besides, these Indians are to-day citizens, so it would seem that the spirit of the Constitution, if not the letter thereof (Art. III, sec. 2), should protect them against the act of forfeiture beyond the lives of persons" attainted." That forfeitures are not favored is fundamental. This Government was carrying out this basic governmental policy when it paid the heirs of Gen. Robert E. Lee for the Arlington estate. If these Indians who participated in the outbreak were not guilty of disloyalty or treason, then they were guilty as individuals of murder. For this crime the guilty individuals who were not killed by Gen. Sibley's troops in quelling the outbreak were arrested and |