Page 736

736      REPORTS'OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 
approved March 3, 1905 (Public-No. 212), contained the following 
provision: 
It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to investigate or cause
to 
be investigated any lease of allotted land in the Indian Territory which
he has 
reason to believe has been obtained by fraud or in Violation of the terms
of the 
existing agreement with any of the Five Civilized Tribes, and he shall in
any 
such case, where in his opinion evidence warrants it, refer the matter to
the 
Attorney-General for suit in the proper United States court to cancel the
same; 
and in all cases where it may appear to the court that any leases so obtained
by 
fraud or in violation of such agreement judgment shall be rendered canceling
the same upon such terms and conditions as equity may prescribe, and it shall
be allowable in cases where all parties in interest consent thereto to modify
any 
lease and to continue the same as modified: Provided, No lease made by an
ad- 
ministrator, executor, guardian, or curator which has been investigated by
and 
has received the approval of the United States court having jurisdiction
over 
the proceedings shall be subject to suit or proceeding by the Secretary of
the 
Interior or Attorney-General: Provided further, No leases made by any admin-
istrator, executor, guardian, or curator shall be valid or enforcible without
the 
approval of the court having jurisdiction of the proceeding. 
As to the matter of procedure under these provisions, the Depart- 
ment has directed that where complaint is made that a lease has been 
obtained by fraud or in violation of law the matter shall be investi- 
gated and reported to the proper court for appropriate action looking 
to the cancellation of the lease if the facts warrant it. 
No suits have as yet been brought under this provision of law, but 
a number of complaints have been made to the United States Indian 
agent and the necessary investigations are being made. It is believed 
i action is taken in a few cases it will have a beneficial effect. 
TIMBER AND STONE. 
Adult citizens of the Five Civilized Tribes are authorized, by the act 
of Congress approved January 21, 1903 (32 Stat. L., 774), to dispose 
of their timber without restriction after the issuance of certificate of
allotment. Regulations were promulgated by the Department gov- 
erning the procurement of timber and stone, under the provisions of 
said act, from unallotted lands. Inasmuch as contracts entered into 
for the procurement of timber or stone would only apply to lands so 
long as they remained unallotted and as the allotments in the different 
nations were nearing completion and in case of any such contracts 
being made the probabilities were that the land in a short time would 
be filed on, persons desiring to procure timber and stone preferred to 
make arrangements with individual Indians who were authorized to 
sell rather than enter into contract with the officials of the Depart- 
ment to procure the same from unallotted lands. Only one stone 
contract has been made during the fiscal year. This contract was 
entered into with the Kansas and Arkansas Valley Railway Company 
to procure not to exceed 500,000 cubic yards of gravel from the bars 
and bed of the Arkansas River near Webber Falls, in the Cherokee 
Nation, and was approved by the Department October 18, 1904. No 
timber contracts were made during the year. 
While adult Indian citizens after they receive certificate of allot- 
ment can dispose of their timber without restrictions, the Department 
has taken steps to protect the timber of minors, and a representative 
of this office has been stationed in the pine-timber district of the Choc-
taw Ngation to investigate the matter of timber cutting and to see that