A
continuation of the wrongful exclusion of these Indians from their lands
should not inure to the benefit of the wrongdoers. The opportunities
afforded by the law of 1873 were neglected, perhaps, in the hope and
belief that death would remove the Indians who by their appeals for
justice annoyed those who had driven them from their homes, and perhaps
in the expectation that the heedlessness of the Government concerning
its obligations to the Indians would supply easier terms. The idea is
too prevalent that, as against those who by emigration and settlement
upon our frontier extend our civilization and prosperity, the rights of
the Indians are of but little consequence. But it must be absolutely
true that no development is genuine or valuable based upon the violence
and cruelty of individuals or the faithlessness of a government.
While it might not result in exact justice or precisely rectify the
wrong committed, it may well be that in existing circumstances the
interests of the allottees or their heirs demand an adjustment of the
kind now proposed. But their lands certainly are worth much more than
they were in 1873, and the settlers, if they are not subjected to a
reappraisement, should at least pay the price at which the lands were
appraised in that year.
If the holders of the interests of the allottees have such a title as
will give them a standing in the courts of Kansas, I do not think they
need fear defeat by being charged with improvements under the occupying
claimants' act, for it has been decided in a case to be found in the
twentieth volume of Kansas Reports, at page 374, that--
Neither the title nor possession of the Indian owner, secured by
treaty with the United States Government, can be disturbed by State
legislation; and the occupying claimants' act has no application in
this case.
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