306 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



by treaty or agreement from the various Indian tribes, or 

 upon military reservations which have been opened to 

 settlement, who have or who shall hereafter reside upon the 

 tract, entered in good faith, for the period required by exist- 

 ing law, shall be entitled to a patent for the land so entered 

 upon the payment to the local land officers of the usual and 

 customary fees, and no other or further charge of any kind 

 shall be required from such settler to entitle him to a patent 

 for the land covered by his entry." 



The act passed the Senate and was in the hands of the 

 House Committee on Indian Affairs, by whom it was fa- 

 vored, before it was discovered, or its mischievous effects 

 upon the college revenues realized. Your committee, as- 

 sisted by others, was promptly on the ground, not once, but 

 five or six times, and every effort was made to warn the 

 colleges of the peril. But for the energetic action of their 

 officers during the two days of debate upon the bill it must 

 certainly have passed. It was finally rejected, but, the 

 Senate refusing to recede, the following compromise was 

 agreed upon: "That the settlers who purchased with the 

 condition annexed of actual settlement on all ceded Indian 

 reservations be, and they are hereby, granted an exten- 

 sion to July 1, 1900, in which to make payments as now 

 provided by law." That is, instead of making the settlers 

 a free gift of the land, the government has extended the 

 time for payment. It is like the case of the creditor who 

 refuses to cancel his debtor's note, but gives him easier 

 terms as to installments. There is, however, this difference, 

 that the government does not call for any installment. Do 

 not deceive yourselves, gentlemen of the Association : sooner 

 or later this question will again confront you, and it is the 



