616 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In 1927, the Secretary of the Interior recorded (8, p. 12) a still 

 further back swing of the pendulum: 



* * * The act of February 26, 1927, which authorized the cancelation of 

 patents in fee issued without application for or consent of the patentee in cases 

 where the land has been neither encumbered nor sold. Pursuant to this legislation 

 and to decisions of the Federal court, a number of patents heretofore issued were 

 canceled. 



It is interesting to note that the acreage of Indian allotments fee- 

 patented in those years for which data are available varied from over 

 1,400,000 acres in 1920 to about 30,000 in 1931. 



Meriam and associates stated in 1928 (9, p. 40) that: 



All land which has been or will be allotted to individual Indians must become 

 inherited land in a relatively short space of time, and will pass from Indian 

 ownership, as millions of acres have already done. 



The problem of inherited land should be given thorough detailed study * * *. 

 It is doubtful if the serious nature of this problem was appreciated at the time 

 the allotment acts were passed. Because of this feature of the allotment system 

 the land of the Indians is rapidly passing into the hands of the whites, and a 

 generation of landless, almost penniless, unadjusted Indians is coming on. What 

 happens is this: The Indian to whom the land was allotted dies leaving several 

 heirs. Actual division of the land among them is impracticable. The estate is 

 either leased or sold to whites and the proceeds are divided among the heirs and 

 are used for living expenses. So long as one member of the family of heirs has 

 land the family is not landless or homeless, but as time goes on the last of the 

 original allottees will die and the public will have the landless, unadjusted Indians 

 on its hands. 



This condition is already well advanced in some instances, such as 

 the Chehalis, Nisqually, and Skokomish Indians of Washington. 

 Meriam and associates also state (9, p. 41) that: 



The policy of individual allotment has largely failed in the accomplishment of 

 what was expected of it. It has resulted in much loss of land and an enormous 

 increase in the details of administration without a compensating advance in the 

 economic ability of the Indian. 



As to what has happened to allotments which have been fee-pat- 

 ented, the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 

 the fiscal year 1921 (16, p. 25) contains this very interesting state- 

 ment: 



As is well known, the law provides for issuing to the Indian a trust patent upon 

 the land allotted to him, which exempts it from taxation and restricts him from 

 its sale or encumbrance until he is declared competent to manage his business 

 affairs, when he may, upon application, receive a patent in fee and be free to 

 handle or dispose of his land the same as any white citizen. 



It is doubtful if a satisfactory method has been found for determining the 

 competency upon which to base a termination of the trust title. Applications 

 for patents in fee have too often been adroitly supported by influences which 

 sought to hasten the taxable status of the property or to accomplish a purchase 

 at much less than its fair value, or from some other motive foreign to the Indian's 

 ability to protect his property rights. 



Notwithstanding the sincere efforts of officials and competency commissions 

 to reach a safe conclusion as to the ability of an Indian to manage prudently his 

 business and landed interests, experience shows that more than two thirds of the 

 Indians who have received patents in fee have been unable or unwilling to cope 

 with the business acumen coupled with the selfishness and greed of the more 

 competent whites, and in many instances have lost every acre they had. 



Thus the net result of continued allotting of land to individual 

 Indians will result in continued loss of land to the Indians with no 

 real compensating economic gain, and "the public will have the 

 landless unadjusted Indians on its hands." This applies particularly 

 to forest and range land. 



