The bill is in the nature of a general right of way for railroads
through this Indian reservation. The Indian occupants have not given
their consent to it, neither have they been consulted regarding it, nor
is there any provision in it for securing their consent or agreement to
the location or construction of railroads upon their lands. No routes
are described, and no general directions on which the line of any
railroad will be constructed are given.
No particular organized railway company engaged in constructing a
railroad toward the reservation and ready or desirous to build its road
through the Indian lands to meet the needs and requirements of trade
and commerce is named. The bill gives the right to any railroad in the
country, duly organized under the laws of any Territory, of any State,
or of the United States, except those of the District of Columbia, to
enter this Indian country, prospect for routes of travel, survey them,
and construct routes of travel wherever it may please, with no check
save possible disapproval by the Secretary of the Interior of its maps
of location, and no limitation upon its acts except such rules and
regulations as he may prescribe.
This power vested in the Secretary of the Interior might itself be
improvidently exercised and subject to abuse.
No limit of time is fixed within which the construction of railroads
should begin or be completed.
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