Wind River Reservation from joint funds to the credit of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation or from future accruals to said joint fund, as and when said funds accrue. Title to all land purchases made hereunder shall be taken in the name of the United States in trust for the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of Indians of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. All purchases of lands or interests therein made pursuant to this section shall receive the approval of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribal Councils or of the business committees thereof.

SEC. 7. That in no event shall any portion of the Shoshone judgment fund become liable, payable, or subject to any debt or debts contracted prior to the passage of this Act by any Indian of the Shoshone Tribe except debts to the United States or to the tribe, and in no event shall any portion of the Shoshone judgment fund be expended to defray the cost of Federal administration over the Shoshone Tribe, except as herein authorized.

The object and purpose of the bill are fully stated in the report submitted by the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate on an identical bill, S. 1878. This report contains the recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. All amendments proposed by the Department have been incorporated in the bill.

Your committee attach hereto and make it a part of this report, which is as follows:

[8. Rept. No. 746, 76th Cong., 1st sess.]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1878) to provide for the distribution of the judgment fund of the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The recommended amendments are as follows:

Page 2, line 2, strike out "$2,350" and insert "$2,450."

Page 2, line 6, after the word "the" strike out the word "tribe," and insert in lieu thereof "tribe the sum of $100; and,".

Page 3, strike out lines 10 to 25 and on page 4 strike out lines 1 to 5 and the word "fund" in line 6 and insert in lieu thereof the following:

"SEC. 3. (a) Not to exceed $1,000,000 of said judgment fund, or interest thereon, shall be available for expenditure upon the request of the tribe and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for the purchase of lands in the manner prescribed in section 6 of this Act.

"(b) The sum of $125,000 of said judgment fund, or interest thereon, shall, at the request of the tribe and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, be set aside as a loan fund for making loans to individual members, or groups of members, of said tribe under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

"(c) The remainder of said judgment fund, including interest thereon, after making the segregation provided for in section 2, and after setting aside the respective amounts authorized by this section, shall be available for appropriation, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, and with the consent of the tribe, for purposes of benefit to the tribe, including the establishment and administration of productive enterprises for the benefit of tribe, and any said income derived from such enterprises shall be credited to the Shoshone tribal judgment fund."

Page 4, line 12, after the word "authorized" insert the words "and directed". Page 5, line 24, strike out word "is" and insert in lieu thereof the word "are". Page 6, line 6, strike out "$500,000" and insert in lieu thereof "$1,000,000". Page 6, line 14, strike out the proviso beginning with line 14 and ending with the word "provided" in line 22.

Page 6, line 24, strike out word "tribe" and insert in lieu thereof the word "tribes."

Page 7, line 11, strike out all after the word "authorized".

The purpose of this legislation is to provide for the distribution and use of the net balance of the judgment awarded to the Shoshone Tribe of Indians of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming by the Court of Claims, an award which was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, in settlement of the claim of the Shoshone Indians for treaty lands and the use thereof taken by the

United States. The award was made on April 25, 1938, and the sum amounting to $4,191,132.83 now stands to the credit of the Shoshone Indians in the United States Treasury.

The bill was drafted after lengthy conferences by a delegation of the Shoshone Indians, formally selected by the tribe for the purpose, by their retained attorneys, by representatives of the Office of Indian Affairs, and by the Wyoming congressional delegation. Patent in fee Indians, who are on the roll of the tribe, were also represented while the program was under consideration and although they felt that their status entitled them to a complete per capita distribution of the fund, rather than jeopardize early passage of a distribution bill they did not insist upon their point of view. The measure as now reported to the Senate with the proposed amendments has the approval of the Department of the Interior and of the Shoshone Tribe. All of the amendments proposed were given consideration by the tribal council.

Section 1 of the bill authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the advice and consent of the tribal council, to prepare a correct roll of the tribal membership and provides that this roll shall form the basis for the distribution of the judgment fund which was set up by the act of June 25, 1938, and which includes accrued interest.

Section 2 makes an immediate per capita distribution of $100 to all members of the tribe. In addition to this cash distribution, there is to be credited on the books of the Office of Indian Affairs the sum of $2,350 of which there is made immediately available, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, the sum of $1,350 for each adult Indian and the sum of $500 for each minor. These sums are to be used for the purchase of lands the improvement of lands, for the erection and improvement of homes, the purchase of building materials, farming equipment, and other agricultural equipment. The balance of the per capita fund is to be made available, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary.

Section 3 provides that after the segregation prescribed in section 1 has been made, not to exceed $1,000,000 of the balance of the fund shall be available, with the consent of the tribe, for land purchased for the benefit of the Indians, $125,000 for loans to individual members or groups and that the amount of the fund in excess of $625,000 may, with the consent of the tribe, be expended for supervising such enterprises as may be set up through the fund, or for administration. Income resulting from any business enterprises is to be repaid into the judgment fund. Whatever benefit may accrue from such enterprises to the Arapahoe Tribe shall be the basis of proportionate repayment to the judgment fund out of the Arapahoe tribal income.

Section 4 authorizes the Secretary to establish land-use districts within both the diminished and ceded portions of the Wind River Reservation. Exchanges of land may be made for the purpose of consolidating Indian and non-Indian land holdings. Lands which may be acquired are to be taken in the name of the United States, as trustee, for both the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes.

Section 5 directs the Secretary to restore to tribal ownership all of the surplus or ceded lands which have not been disposed of or which are not at present under lease or permit to non-Indians. The bill, therefore, has the effect of restoring to the reservation lands which were previously ceded by the tribe to the United States for settlement by non-Indians. This restoration, however, does not apply to any lands within a reclamation project heretofore authorized on any part of the reservation.

Section 6 provides the fund of $1,000,000 set up by section 3 for carrying out the land purchase and consolidation program shall remain available until expended and that any amount, which is expended shall be reimbursed to the Shoshone Tribe with interest at 4 percent from the joint funds of the two tribes. Section 7 provides that no portion of the judgment fund shall become liable for any debts contracted prior to the passage of the act by any Shoshone Indian except such debts as may be due to the United States or to the tribe.

It has been the special aim of both the Office of Indian Affairs and the Shoshone Tribe in drafting the bill to safeguard the Shoshone patrimony as represented by the judgment fund which, by the decision of the courts, has been substituted for more than 1,000,000 acres of land owned and occupied exclusively by the Shoshone Tribe as part of its reservation prior to 1879.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior follows:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, June 27, 1939.

Hon. ELMER THOMAS,

Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your request for a report on S. 1878, a bill to provide for the distribution of the judgment fund of the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and for other purposes.

The Shoshone Indians were awarded a judgment in the Court of Claims as a result of litigation, and the Congress, in the act of June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1156), appropriated the money to pay that judgment.

During February a delegation consisting of the six Shoshone members of the tribal council and two additional representatives were sent to Washington by the tribe to discuss plans for the use and distribution of this money. After many conferences with the delegates and their attorneys, an agreement was reached which has been approved by the Department and also has had the approval of the Shoshone Indians in a general council by a vote of 96 to 0. S. 1878 embodies the program and ideas of the Department and the Indians. It provides for a pro rata distribution on the books of the Indian Office at $2,350 to each enrolled Indian, reserving $1,850 for each minor until he reaches his majority, as defined in the bill. There is also authorized the use of $500,000 of the remainder of the tribal fund for a land-acquisition program, $125,000 for a revolving tribal loan fund for the benefit of the members of the Shoshone Tribe, and a capital reserve fund out of the balance to be used for additional tribal enterprises and activities. Attention is invited to the fact that all expenditures for tribal enterprises are to be made with the concurrence of both the tribe and the Secretary of the Interior. On the Wind River Reservation there are two tribes, namely, the Shoshones and the Arapahoes. The judgment was awarded to the Shoshone Indians for their exclusive use and benefit and it follows that the Arapahoes will not share in this fund. The bill provides, in connection with any tribal enterprises to be undertaken from the funds of the Shoshone Indians in which both tribes may benefit or profit, that the Shoshone Indians are to be reimbursed from the general tribal funds.

The future of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes is in the livestock industry. Range is, of course, essential. Now there are intermingled Indian and non-Indian land holdings on the reservation. The Indians desire to consolidate their holdings in the vicinity of the communities in which they live. The non-Indians wish to do likewise. The provisions of this bill will permit a readjustment of land holdings to this end. The bill authorizes the creation of land-use districts, and the progressive consolidation of Indian and white holdings by districts. One of the main reasons for the creation of such districts is to facilitate an orderly acquisition for the Indians of the white-owned lands within the reservation. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to restore to the Indians the ceded lands in any land-use district as soon as the white owners have been properly protected, as provided in section 5. Undisposed of ceded lands within land-use districts, if not under lease or permit to non-Indians, will be restored at once, but the ceded lands now used by permittees may be restored progressively only as non-Indianowned lands are acquired by the United States for the benefit and use of the Indians.

The completion of this program will require an expenditure, as nearly as can be estimated, of $1,000,000. The bill authorizes the expenditure of $500,000 from Shoshone tribal funds for the purchase of lands. The Arapaho Indians, who were located upon this reservation by the Government, have no tribal funds with which to match the funds of the Shoshone Indians. The purchased lands will be used for the benefit of both tribes. In view of the expressed willingness of the Shoshone Tribe to advance half of the needed sum, it appears fair for the Government to match this sum out of Treasury funds. The bill, therefore, authorizes an appropriation of $500,000 from Treasury funds for the purchase of lands, with the proviso that this sum or any portion of it made available is to be spent only when a like sum of Shoshone tribal money is used for the same purpose.

Attention is invited to several corrections necessary in the bill. On page 4, line 3, correct the word "firse" to "first". On page 5, line 24, change "is" to "are"; on page 6, line 21, insert the word "Shoshone" before the word "Indians"; and in line 24, change "tribe" to "tribes". Since it was the evident intent of both the Indians and this Department to adopt the land-use district procedure, I suggest that in section 4, line 12, following the word "authorized" there be added the words "and directed". This will make this provision more effective.

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget advises me that the legislation in its present form would not be in accord with the program of the President, but it

would not be in conflict therewith if amended to conform to the suggestions contained in the letter of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, a copy of which is enclosed.

Sincerely yours,

HAROLD L. ICKES, Secretary of the Interior.

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D. C., June 15, 1939.

The honorable the SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: I have received First Assistant Secretary Burlew's letter of June 5, transmitting the original and two copies of a proposed favorable report on S. 1878, a bill to provide for the distribution of the judgment fund of the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, and for other purposes.

It is noted that the bill makes specific disposition of approximately $3,341,600 of the net judgment of $4,444,906.41 and accrued interest since the date of judgment. Approximately $883,000 of the principal and interest is authorized by section 3 of the bill to be expended without further budgetary or congressional review. It is also noted that by section 6 the Shoshone Tribe will advance $500,000 for land acquisition, which amount is to be recouped with interest at 4 percent by payments from funds accruing to the joint credit of the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes and that $500,000 is to be appropriated from the Federal Treasury to match dollar for dollar the amount advanced by the Shoshone Tribe from the judgment money.

There are several objectionable features contained in the text of the bill. These may be overcome by the following amendments:

In lieu of the text contained in section 3 down to and including the first word in line 6, page 4, there be inserted text substantially in agreement with the attached substitute draft;

Strike out the proviso beginning in line 14 and ending in line 22 on page 6, which proviso authorizes an appropriation of $500,000 from the Federal Treasury for land acquisition; and

Strike out the words "to defray the cost of Federal administration over the Shoshone Tribe, except as herein authorized, or" appearing in lines 9, 10, and 11, page 7.

The original and one copy of your proposed favorable report are returned herewith, and you are advised that the legislation, in its present form, would not be in accord with the program of the President. It would not be in conflict therewith, however, if amended to conform to the foregoing suggestions.

You are further advised that if the Shoshone Tribe desires to advance $1,000,000 of the judgment fund to purchase land, the tribe to recoup such advance with interest at 4 percent from the joint tribal funds of the Shoshone and Arapaho Indians, there would be no objection on the part of this Office to increasing the authorization contained in the bill for this purpose to $1,000,000.

Very truly yours,

HAROLD D. SMITH, Director.

PROPOSED PARTIAL SUBSTITUTE DRAFT FOR SECTION 3 OF S. 1878

SEC. 3. (a) Not to exceed $500,000 of said judgment fund, or interest thereon, shall be available for expenditure upon the request of the tribe and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for the purchase of lands in the manner prescribed in section 6 of this Act.

(b) The sum of $125,000 of said judgment fund, or interest thereon, shall, at the request of the tribe and with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, be set aside as a loan fund for making loans to individual members, or groups of members, of said tribe under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

(c) The remainder of said judgment fund, including interest thereon, after making the segregation provided for in section 2, and after setting aside the respective amounts authorized by this section, shall be available for appropriation, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, and with the consent of the tribe, for purposes of benefit to the tribe, including the establishment and administration of productive enterprises for the benefit of said tribe, and any income derived from such enterprises shall be credited to the Shoshone tribal judgment fund.

O

REPEALING PROHIBITION AGAINST FILLING VACANCY IN OFFICE OF DISTRICT JUDGE FOR SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

JULY 12, 1939.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. CELLER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 5906]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5906) to repeal the prohibition against the filling of a vacancy in the office of district judge for the southern district of New York, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The act of May 31, 1938, which created a number of additional judgeships, contained a provision the intent of which was temporarily to increase by one the number of district judges in the southern district of New York. This was done by authorizing the appointment of an additional district judge with the proviso that the first vacancy occurring in the office of district judge for that district should not be filled. However, soon after the enactment of this act, one of the district judges of this district, Judge Patterson, was promoted to the office of circuit judge for the second circuit to take the place of Circuit Judge Manton. Judge Patterson could not accept the position of circuit judge unless he resigned the position of district judge. This brought the limiting proviso into operation.

The proviso was never intended to apply in the case of an enforced resignation due to enable a judge to be elevated to a circuit bench. The anomalous situation now has arisen that due to this elevation of Judge Patterson, his successor cannot be appointed by reason of the prohibition aforesaid. The number of judges in the southern district of New York remains the same as it was prior to the enactment of the act of May 31, 1938.

The need for this additional judge is as great now as it was last year. The judicial conference at its last session recommended not one but