ADMINISTRATION ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS 843 



lands was held by the United States, burdened only by the right of 

 occupancy by the Indians; but subsequent legislation and executive and 

 judicial interpretation have recognized something more than a mere 

 right of occupancy and have considered tribal lands as Indian property 

 held in trust by the United States. I do not believe that we shall return 

 to the earlier viewpoint. 



If the latter view be the proper one, should not the Government de- 

 partment standing in closest relation to the Indian decide what lands 

 are needed by them and what lands may well be sold? If -large appro- 

 priations are to be made for a classification of Indian lands, should they 

 not be accredited to the Interior Department and the classification made 

 with due regard to the rec[uirements of the Indians for agricultural and 

 grazing lands and from the viewpoint of an owner of private property 

 who is contemplating the advisability of disposing of the part of the 

 property that he will not actually need for domiciliary or industrial 

 purposes? I feel that the Federal Government may very properly 

 insist that it should have the preference right to purchase any forest 

 lands that are to be sold by the Indians and that after Indian lands are 

 classified, the Forest Service should determine whether certain lands 

 that are not needed by the Indians should be acquired as National 

 Forests. Full information as to the basis of classification and the char- 

 acter of the land offered would then be available for the consideration 

 of the Forest Service. 



I am of the opinion that Indian lands bearing a heavy stand of mer- 

 chantable timber, even though they be non-agricultural in character, 

 should remain under the jurisdiction of the Indian Bureau until the 

 mature timber is marketed and that the transfer of the interest of the 

 Indians on the basis of an appraisal, as contemplated by the Snell Bill, 

 would almost certainly mean the receipt by the Indian owners of a 

 much smaller return than would be obtained through a continuation of 

 the present policy of selling the mature timber on scale. My views on 

 the whole question have changed little since 1912, except that longer 

 association with the Indian problem has convinced me that the com- 

 pletion of allotments to the Indians on a reservation often does not 

 satisfy the economic needs of the group as to land ownership. 



