SALE OF TIMBER ON ALLOTTED INDIAN LANDS.

FEBRUARY 2, 1909.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

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

REPORT.

[To accompany S. 4548.]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4548) to provide for the sale of timber on allotted Indian lands, and for other purposes, having had the same under consideration, recommend that the same do pass.

It seems that there is no general law under which timber on allotted Indian lands can be sold. The result is that a great deal of timber is wasted which otherwise could be made to produce a good return to the Indians under proper regulations. This bill simply applies to allotted lands and such sales to be made with the consent of the Secretary and under such regulations as he may prescribe. Where the Indian holds his allotment with restrictions on alienation he can no more sell the timber than he can the land because the timber is a part thereof.

Following is the report on this bill by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and shows that this legislation has the hearty approval of the Secretary of the Interior:

[Senate Report No. 175. Sixtieth Congress, first session.]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 4548) to provide for the sale of timber on allotted and unallotted Indian land, and for other purposes, having had the same under consideration, begs leave to report the same favorably and recommends that the same do pass with the following amendment: On page 2 strike out lines 3 to 7, inclusive.

The necessities for the proposed legislation are set forth in the accompanying communication of the Secretary of the Interior, which is here with submitted and made a part of this report.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, December 9, 1907.

SIR. I have the honor to submit for the consideration of Congress a draft of bill to authorize the sale of timber on allotted or unallotted lands within Indian reservations, and for other purposes.

There is no general law under which authority for the sale of timber on Indian lands, whether allotted or unallotted, can be granted except the act of February 16, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 673), under which the President may authorize the sale of dead timber, standing or fallen, on Indian reservations or allotments. The provision in the act of April 21, 1904 (33 Stat. L., 189), empowers the Secretary of the Interior to authorize the sale of timber on allotments within the State of Minnesota, and the President has authority under the treaty of September 30, 1854 (10 Stat. L., 1109), to permit Indians who were parties to the treaty to cut timber from their allotments. It is considered by this department that there should be a general law applicable to all Indian reservations and allotments, and I have the honor to recommend that the draft of bill herewith receive the favorable consideration of Congress.

Very respectfully,

JAMES RUDOLPH GARFIELD,

The PRESIDent of the SENATE.

O

Secretary.

PROTECTION OF SURFACE RIGHTS OF ENTRYMEN.

FEBRUARY 2, 1909.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. MONDELL, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 24834.]

The Committee on the Public Lands having had under consideration the bill (H. R. 24834) to protect the rights of surface entrymen, report the same back with the recommendation that all after the enacting clause be stricken out and the following substituted:

SECTION 1. That any person who has in good faith heretofore located, selected, or entered under the nonmineral-land laws of the United States any lands which subsequently are classified, claimed, or reported as being valuable for coal, may, if he shall so elect, and upon making satisfactory proof of compliance with the laws under which such lands are claimed, receive a patent therefor, which shall contain a reservation to the United States of all coal in said lands, and the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same. The coal deposits in such lands shall be subject to disposal by the United States in accordance with the provisions of the coal-land laws in force at the time of such disposal, but no person shall enter upon said lands to prospect for or mine and remove coal therefrom without previous consent of the owner under such patent, except upon such conditions as to security for and payment of all damages to such owner caused thereby as may be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction: Provided, That the owner under such patent shall have the right to mine coal for us on the land for domestic purposes prior to the disposal by the United States of the coal deposit: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be held to affect or abridge the right of any locator, selector, or entryman to a hearing for the purpose of determining the character of the land located, selected, or entered by him, and to a patent without reservation if the land shall be determined not to be chiefly valuable for coal, or to abridge or deny the right of any entryman who has earned a title to the land covered by his entry to a patent without reservation.

As thus amended your committee recommend the bill do pass. Amend the title so as to read, "A bill to protect the surface rights of entrymen."

The necessity for this legislation arises from the fact that it is often difficult for an entryman, settler, or locator under the nonmineral laws to determine at the time of his location or entry as to the coal or noncoal character of the lands he locates, because the occurence of thin strata of coal or of considerable bodies of low grade lignites on land

does not necessarily take it out of the class of lands that can be located and acquired for agricultural purposes or under the nonmineral land laws, and further because coal may occur in quantities at a considerable depth beneath the surface of the land without there being anything on the surface or in the locality to indicate the presence of such a deposit.

Therefore, nonmineral entrymen have in many cases, in perfect good faith, gone on lands which contain thin veins of coal, or coal of low grade and not of merchantable quality, or which was, unknown to him, underlaid at some depth by considerable coal veins, and in many cases lands of this character have been patented under the agricultural

land laws.

In various parts of the West, particularly in western North Dakota and eastern Montana, and to a lesser extent in South Dakota and elsewhere, there are very large areas of very low grade lignites. These, particularly in certain portions of the areas, are of but very little value, except for fuel for domestic purposes on or in the immediate vicinity of the lands, and for years these lands have been homesteaded and patented without a thought on the part of any one that they contained valuable coal. Some portions of these fields, however, contain coal that is of somewhat better quality, and in several western States, notably Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana, are coal areas where the coal is of a better quality, but where the surface indications do not point to coal deposits of value and nonmineral entrymen have in many cases in good faith made locations.

In July, 1906, and later, very large areas of land were withdrawn from entry on the theory that they contained coal or that they were within known coal areas. Later these orders of withdrawal were modified so that such of the lands as were in fact noncoal lands might be entered, and in 1907 the Geological Survey began an investigation of the coal areas in various western States for the purpose of determining the character and extent of the deposits, and of classifying the coal lands for the purpose of fixing a schedule of prices for the same. About the same time the General Land Office adopted the policy of placing under suspension all nonmineral final certificates which had been issued on lands within areas believed to contain coal, and has declined to issue patents on the same pending the ascertainment whether such lands were known to contain coal prior to the issuance of final certificate. Two thousand seven hundred seventy-one such tracts entered under the homestead and desert land laws are now held in suspension. Since the coal land withdrawals no final certificates in the regular form have been issued on final proof on homestead and desert entries within areas embraced in coal withdrawals or reported as coal lands, a special form of receipt for the money paid being the only evidence of title given to the entryman.

A search of the public land records indicates that 11,688 original homestead and desert entries are of record within known or reported coal areas, or areas which have been withdrawn as coal land. Since the investigation and classification of coal lands began and up to January 9, 1909, the special agents of the General Land Office had made investigation and submitted report on 3,240 entries and selections of all kinds reported as coal lands, and they have reported 943 of these as coal lands, and 2,297 as having no coal or as not having coal of a quality or value sufficient to prevent entry under the nonmineral land laws.