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any enrolled members of the Chickasaw Nation of school age who may be educated at tribal expense. Therefore, by reason of these changed conditions the Chickasaw Nation, as such, has no further need for the dormitories and has requested that the Secretary of the Interior sell the same and place the proceeds to the credit of the Chickasaw Nation in the Treasury of the United States. The dormitories are now being used by the State of Oklahoma in connection with the operation of the Murray State School of Agriculture without compensation to the Chickasaw Nation. By letter dated March 22, 1937, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs called the subject to the attention of the Governor of Oklahoma, with the inquiry as to whether the State wished to acquire such dormitory properties, and if so, what price might be agreed upon. By letter of the same date, Douglas H. Johnston, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, was directed to contact the Governor of Oklahoma, the legislature, and other proper officials of the State, for the purpose of ascertaining what might be accomplished in the matter of the sale of the dormitory properties to the State.

Since then negotiations have been carried on by representatives of Governor Johnston and have resulted in the passage of a concurrent resolution by the Legislature of Oklahoma directing an investigation and report, by the board of regents of the Murray State School of Agriculture, to be followed by negotiations with the Secretary of the Interior as to price; and providing further that full report shall be filed with the Governor of the State not later than January 1, 1938, for the consideration and final action of the next session of the State legislature. A copy of the resolution referred to is hereto attached.

An examination of the last act of Congress providing for the sale and conveyance of the tribal school and other properties act of Apr. 28, 1908, 35 Stat. L. 71), shows that it authorized the sale and conveyance only of such properties as are "now or heretofore used for governmental school or other tribal purposes." The dormitory properties now under consideration do not come within the provisions of this act, since they were not "now or heretofore used" at the time of the passage of that act, but came into being in 1917 and 1918, some 10 years thereafter. Therefore, in order for the Secretary of the Interior to be able to convey title to these particular properties, in such a manner as to be acceptable to the purchaser, it will be necessary for the Congress to pass a special act for that purpose.

The Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the Congress.

In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that this proposed legislation be enacted.

Sincerely yours,

CHARLES WEST, Acting Secretary of the Interior.

[Senate Concurrer t Resolution No. 15, by Ray, Paul, Lowrence, Hill, Senate; and Gill, Leecraft, Welch Gibbons, House]

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE TWO CHICKASAW DORMITORIES, IN THE VICINITY OF THE MURRAY STATE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE AT TISHOMINGO, OKLA.

Whereas the Chickasaw Nation claims to be the owner of the two dormitories. together with the lands upon which they are located, in the vicinity of the Murray State School of Agriculture of Tishomingo, Okla., which were constructed by the Secretary of the Interior, out of moneys belonging to the Chickasaw Nation, under acts of Congress of March 2, 1917 (39 Stat. 969), and May 25, 1918 (40) Stat. 561), at a cost of $58,845.75; and

Whereas the Chickasaw Nation has called upon the Secretary of the Interior to sell such dormitories, under existing laws of the United States, and to place the proceeds thereof to the credit of said nation in the Treasury of the United States; and

Whereas by letter dated March 22, 1937, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs has called the subject to the attention of the Governor of Oklahoma, with the inquiry as to whether the State wishes to acquire the title to said dormitories and lands, and, if so, what price may be agreed upon therefor: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the Sixteenth Legislature of the State of Oklahoma, the House of Representatives concurring therein:

SECTION 1. That the board of regents of the Murray State School of Agriculture be authorized and directed to investigate the title and ownership of the

Chickasaw Nation in and to such dormitories and lands, and if the same are needed by the State for use in connection with said school; and if it be found that such properties are so owned, and that they are needed by the State for the purposes named, to negotiate with the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of determining at what price the full title to such dormitory properties may be purchased; and to report its findings, together with the result of its negotiations with the Secretary of the Interior, to the Governor of the State of Oklahoma, not later than January 1, 1938, who shall transmit the same to the next session of the le islature for its consideration and final action.

о

1st Session

No. 1008

TERRITORIAL PAPERS OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 10, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. LAMBETH, from the Committee on Printing, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2242]

The Committee on Printing, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2242) to further amend an act entitled "An act to authorize the collection and editing of official papers of the Territories of the United States now in the national archives", approved March 3, 1925, as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The bill authorizes an additional appropriation of $125,000 to continue the publication of the official papers of the Territories of the United States, and provides that of the total sum authorized not more than $25,000 shall be appropriated for such purpose in any 1 year. The act of March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1104), directed the Department of State to collect and copy the official papers of the Territories. The act further authorized the appropriation of $60,000, but only $40,COO of this amount was appropriated by Congress for the fiscal years 1927 and 1928. The sum of $40,000 thus appropriated was used by the Department for the purpose of paying the cost of collecting, copying, and compiling of some 13,000 Territorial papers. These papers were not published as the act did not provide for their publication.

Publication of the documents was provided for in the Territorial Papers Act of February 28, 1929 (45 Stat. 1412), directing the Secretary of State to continue the work of collecting, copying, and compiling the papers and to "have them issued as a Government publication." The act authorized an appropriation of $125,000 for defraying the expenses to be incurred in preparing and issuing the publication and provided for an edition of 1,950 copies of the volumes. The edition number was later reduced to 1,227 copies by State Department appropriation acts and the Territorial Papers Act of February 14, 1936 (49 Stat. 1139).

The sum of $125,000 authorized to be appropriated by the act of February 28, 1929, will have been entirely appropriated and expended by the end of the fiscal year 1938. The money will have been used to pay for the preparation and publication of the first 9 volumes of the Territorial Papers series-a series which it is estimated will consist of 32 volumes in all covering the 29 Territories. Approximately one-third of the work will have been completed, therefore, under the 1929 authorization. A further authorization of funds to be appropriated is accordingly necessary if the work in question is to continue.

The President recommended that this important work be continued in his message to Congress of January 11, 1937. The message which transmitted a comprehensive report signed by Acting Secretary of State R. Walton Moore is printed with the report in question in Senate Document No. 9, Seventy-fifth Congress, first session. Reference is made in the report to the very favorable reception accorded the four volumes which have been issued and quotations are given of typical reviews of these volumes which appeared in outstanding historical publications. Communications and resolutions from the leading historical associations and commissions strongly urging that the project be continued are also quoted. The report contains a table showing the appropriations and expenditures for collecting, editing, and printing the Papers during the period 1931-38. It will be noted from this table that during the last 3 fiscal years the average annual appropriation has been approximately $25,000.

It is estimated that if S. 2242 becomes law and if Congress regularly appropriates the sum of $25,000 each year, the Territorial Papers work can be carried on by the small but highly trained staff of four persons until 1943, during which period (1938-43) the Department will have published the next 12 volumes of the publication. Another and additional authorization of $125,000 will be necessary to pay for the preparation and publication of the remaining 11 volumes in the series. It is estimated that this work can be completed, assuming the experienced staff is retained, by 1948.

It will be seen from the above that the total estimated cost of preparing and issuing the publication during the years 1925 to 1949, a period of 24 years, is $415,000. In view of the widespread interest in the Territorial Papers and the approval with which the volumes already issued have been received and the efficient and economical manner in which the work is being carried on, the committee is unanimous in the belief that it would be a mistake to suspend the work, as will be necessary if this legislation fails of passage.

This aspect of the question was brought out in a clear and convincing manner by Secretary of State Hull in his letter of May 13, 1937, to the chairman wherein after stating that he "heartily endorsed" the recommendation of Acting Secretary of State Moore that legislation be passed authorizing an additional appropriation of $125,000, Hull went on to say:

Mr

It would be unfortunate if a work of such authority and standing, which has now reached the stage where it can be rapidly carried forward by a trained staff, should be interrupted. In this regard your attention is invited to the statement in Judge Moore's report (p. 8, Senate Doc. 9) that it is "estimated that an authorization of an additional $125,000 would pay for the cost of collecting, editing, and publishing the papers dealing with the Territories of Michigan (vol. 2), LouisianaMissouri, Illinois, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Utah." If the preparation and publication of the

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