Amendment No. 7: The House bill provided that a national of the United States should lose his nationality by entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign state unless expressly authorized by the laws of the United States. The Senate amendment provided that he should lose his United States nationality in such a case only if he has or acquires the nationality of the foreign state. The House recedes.

Amendment No. 8: This amendment provides that, in addition to the other reasons specified in the bill, a national of the United States shall lose his nationality by committing any act of treason against, or attempting by force to overthrow or bearing arms against the United States, provided he is convicted thereof by a court martial or by a court of competent jurisdiction. The House recedes.

Amendment No. 9: This is a change in cross references made necessary by amendment No. 8. The House recedes.

Amendment No. 10: The House bill provided that a person who has become a national by naturalization and who would otherwise lose his nationality by residing in a foreign state for a period of years shall not lose his nationality if he resides abroad to represent an American commercial or financial organization. The Senate amendment added "business organization." The House recedes.

Amendment No. 11: This amendment makes clarifying changes in the provision of the House bill which provides that the wife, husband, or child of an American citizen, who is residing abroad for the purpose of being with such American citizen, shall not lose his citizenship in those cases where the American citizen spouse or parent may reside abroad without losing his nationality. The House recedes. JOHN LESINSKI, CHARLES KRAMER, EDWARD H. REES, JAMES E. VAN ZANDT,

Managers on the part of the House.

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3d Session

CHEROKEE INDIAN FUNDS

ད

No. 3020

OCTOBER 4, 1940.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SCHAFER of Wisconsin, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 3133]

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 3133) for the relief of the Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. Inasmuch as there appears to be no question that this sum of $2,185.72 was paid out of the 5 percent interest-bearing principal of this trust. fund and not out of interest already accrued and credited, there is no doubt but that the amount should be considered, and in fact is a remaining part of the interest-bearing principal. This view was expressed at the hearing on the bill at which representatives of the Interior Department, legislative counsel, and others were present and took part. The Cherokees themselves have formally endorsed the bill and have requested its enactment. This proposed legislation was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on September 13, 1940, and passed by the Senate on September 30, 1940. The following is taken from Senate Report No. 2124, Seventy-sixth Congress, third session:

It appears that the sum of money ($2,185.72) referred to is a part of the Cherokee Nation's school fund, an interest-bearing fund of 5 percent per annum; that it was on August 14, 1919, through error covered into the Treasury of the United States as a miscellaneous receipt item, instead of being placed to the credit of the Cherokee fund, which at that time amounted to the sum of $26,174.97, principal sum and $8,467.68 accrued interest. Since that date all of the said fund has been disposed of, except the said sum of $2,185.72, which sum appears to have been lost sight of because of the erroneous entry made on August 14, 1919.

A copy of the report of the Secretary of the Interior dated March 2, 1940; a communication from the Comptroller General, dated May 17, 1940, a copy of a letter dated September 3, 1940, addressed to Ralph Hoyt Case, signed by W. S. Benjamin, for and on behalf of the Acting Comptroller General; a letter dated July 6, 1940, addressed to Frank J. Boudinot, attorney for the Cherokee Nation

and signed by E. J. Armstrong, for the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and a copy of a resolution adopted on August 19, 1940, by the advisory committee of the Cherokee Nation are hereto attached and made a part of this report, as follows:

Hon. ELMER THOMAS,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, May 2, 1940.

Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,

United States Senate.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your request for a report on S. 3133 for the relief of the Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe.

I recommend that S. 3133 be not enacted. The bill would authorize an appropriation of the sum of $2,185.72 with interest at 5 percent from June 30, 1919, to the date of the appropriation to be credited to the "Cherokee school fund" and then to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the surviving attorneys employed by the Cherokee Nation pursuant to the Cherokee Jurisdictional Act of March 19, 1924 (43 Stat. 27), in partial reimbursement of expenses heretofore incurred by them in preparing and prosecuting the claims of the Nation against the United States.

The sum referred to in the bill represents that portion of the $27,000 appropriated by section 18 of the act of June 30, 1919 (41 Stat. 3, 21), which was to have been paid under that act to the Cherokee Nation as additional interest on item I of the judgment rendered by the Court of Claims on May 18, 1905, in the case of The Cherokee Nation v. The United States (40 C. Cls. 252) (see also The Cherokee Nation v. The United States (59 C. Cls. 862), Finding VIII, p. 875). The records show that the $2,185.72 was not paid to the Cherokee Nation but, as recited in the bill, was covered into the general fund of the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt by Miscellaneous Receipt Covering Warrant No. 122, dated August 14, 1919.

In the petition filed in the pending suit styled The Cherokee Nation v. The United States, Court of Claims Docket No. L-268, the Cherokee Nation alleges in effect that the $2,185.72 appropriated by the act of June 30, 1919, was not the correct amount of interest due on item I of the judgment of the Court of Claims; that an additional item of interest was due on the judgment on June 30, 1919, in the amount of $845.80, and that the total sum due the nation as interest on the item is $3,031.52.

In a letter dated January 10, 1940 (a copy of which has been furnished us by the attorney), the Acting Comptroller General of the United States advised one of the attorneys for the Cherokee Nation, in effect, that while the record indicates that the $2,185.72 should have been credited to "Interest on Cherokee school fund," his office may not now direct such action to be taken, since the item is included in the amounts sought to be recovered in petition No. L-268.

Were it not for the fact that the amount of the fund due the Cherokee Nation as additional interest on item I of the judgment of the Court of Claims is disputed by the Cherokee Nation, it would appear to be proper both legally and administratively to correct the apparent error made in 1919 by now placing the $2,185.72 to the credit of the nation. Additional legislation would not be necessary to accomplish this purpose. Since the amount due the Cherokee Nation as interest on item I of the judgment is in dispute, it is deemed advisable to withhold payment of any portion of the sum claimed until the Court of Claims shall have ascertained the correct amount due on this account. Should the Cherokee Nation, through its attorneys, agree to accept the sum of $2,185.72 in full satisfaction of the claims for additional interest on the item of the judgment referred to and were the attorneys to take such steps as might be necessary to exclude the claim from those asserted in case No. L-268, there would be no objection, so far as this Department is now advised, to placing the fund to the credit of the Cherokee Nation to be available for expenditure for such purposes as might thereafter be authorized by Congress.

It is not believed that the fund should be made available to reimburse the attorneys for the nation for expenses incurred by them in prosecuting suits in behalf of the nation. The contract under which the attorneys were employed provides that they shall advance all necessary expenses in the preparation and prosecution of any suit instituted under the act of March 19, 1924, and that reimbursement shall be made to the attorneys "only out of the amount of the recovery against the United States, and not to be paid otherwise." In the circumstances, it is submitted that the attorneys should look to a recovery against the United States on the claims of the Cherokee Nation for reimbursement of their expenses rather than seek reimbursement from the fund involved herein.

Since any settlement which ultimately might be made on this claim would be effected through the Comptroller General of the United States, it is suggested that his views on S. 3133 be obtained.

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

Sincerely yours,

Hon. ELMER THOMAS,

E. K. BURLEW, Acting Secretary of the Interior.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE,
Washington, May 17, 1940.

Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs,

United States Senate.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your letter of May 7, 1940, acknowledged May 10, requesting a report on the bill S. 3133, Seventy-sixth Congress, entitled, "A bill for the relief of the Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe, and for other purposes," which bill provides as follows:

"That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $2,185.72 with interest at 5 per centum from June 30, 1919, to the date of the appropriation of the said sum herein authorized, which sum was appropriated by the Act of June 30, 1919 (41 Stat. pp. 21, 22), and by the terms of said Act was required to be 'credited to the principal of the Cherokee school fund,' a trust fund bearing interest at 5 per centum, but which said sum was erroneously deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipt, by miscellaneous receipt covering warrant Numbered 122, as of August 14, 1919.

"When appropriated said money shall be credited to the Cherokee school fund and the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay the said money to the surviving attorneys of the Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe selected by them in pursuance to the Act of March 19, 1924 (43 Stat., p. 27), to reimburse in part said attorneys for expenses heretofore incurred in the preparation and prosecution of the claims of the said Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe, brought under said Act of March 19, 1924, in the name of "The Cherokee Nation against the United States.'"

A bill, H. R. 8549, practically identical with the above, was introduced in the House of Representatives February 19, 1940.

Under date of May 18, 1905, pursuant to its decision of March 20, 1905, in the case of The Cherokee Nation v. The United States (40 Ct. Cls. 252), the Court of Claims decreed that the defendant recover from the United States, among other amounts, the sum of $2,125 "with interest thereon at the rate of 5 percent from February 27, 1819, to date of payment" (item 1 of judgment, 40 Ct. Cls. 252, 364), and further that the said amount, with interest, "less 5 percent thereof contracted by the Cherokee Nation to be paid as counsel fees, shall be paid to the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the Cherokee Nation and shall be credited on the proper books of account to the principal of the 'Cherokee school fund' now in the possession of the United States and held by them as trustees" (40 Ct. Cls. 364). By act of June 30, 1906 (34 Stat. 634, 664), the Congress appropriated an amount sufficient to pay the said judgment, with interest at 5 percent. By appropriation warrant No. 11, dated July 2, 1906, the total amount so appropriated was set up on the books of the Treasury in a non-interest-bearing fund entitled "Judgment, Court of Claims, Cherokee Nation." By settlement No. 17264, dated May 26, 1910, the sum of $11,174.53 (which was the said judgment item of $2,125 plus interest from February 27, 1819, to May 14, 1906, date of final disposition of the said suit by Supreme Court mandate, less attorneys' fees) was transferred from the said non-interest-bearing fund to an interest-bearing fund entitled "Cherokee School Fund." By section 18 of the act of June 30, 1919, 41 Stat. 21, the Congress appropriated an amount sufficient for payment of interest on the involved amounts for the period during which they had been in a non-interest-bearing fund, as above set out, which amount was calculated to be $2,185.72, being interest at the rate of 5 percent per annum on $11,520.46 (which was the above amount of $11,174.53 plus attorneys' fees) from July 2, 1906, to November 3, 1906, and on the said sum of $11,174.53 from November 4, 1906, to May 26, 1910. (See 59 Ct. Cls. 874-875.)

The said sum of $2,185.72, which appears to be the sum referred to in the bill S. 3133, was, by appropriation warrant No. 1, dated July 1, 1919, set up on the books of the Treasury in a fund entitled, "Interest on Cherokee trust funds, Oklahoma," By settlement No. 61434, dated August 7, 1919, the Acting Audi

tor for the Interior Department directed payment of the said sum to the Treasurer of the United States for deposit in a fund entitled, "Interest on Cherokee school fund," a non-interest-bearing fund; but it appears that, through error, the sum was covered into the general fund of the Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt by "Miscellaneous Receipt Covering Warrant No. 122," as of August 14, 1919. The purpose of the bill S. 3133 is to authorize an appropriation of the said amount of $2,185.72, with interest at the rate of 5 percent per annum from June 30, 1919, to date of appropriation, to be credited to the principal of the Cherokee school fund and then to be paid to the surviving attorneys of the Cherokee Indian Nation or Tribe as in partial reimbursement for expenses of litigation brought by them under the act of March 19, 1924 (43 Stat. 27).

With respect to the proposed payment of the said sum of $2,185.72 into the Cherokee school fund by legislative enactment, it may be said that on June 28, 1930, pursuant to the said jurisdictional act of March 19, 1924 (43 Stat. 27), as amended, the Cherokee Nation of Indians filed in the Court of Claims their petition No. L-268, in which they allege, in part, as follows:

"That an act of Congress dated June 30, 1919 (41 Stat. 21), appropriated the sum of $2,185.72, to pay interest on an item included in the judgment of the Court of Claims in Cherokee Nation v. The United States (Ct. Cls. 40, 252), which item was for the sale of school lands in Tennessee. (See Cherokee Nation v. United States, L-46, pp. 78-90, inclusive.)

"The records of the Government show that the item of interest so appropriated was credited to the school fund of the Cherokee Nation under date of June 30, 1919, but that no such payment was made, and the said sum is due and owing. That the interest appropriated June 30, 1919 (supra), was not the correct amount of interest due on the said judgment of the Court of Claims (supra), and that an additional item of interest was due on said judgment on June 30, 1919, in the amount of $845.80, and that the total due under this item is $3,031.52, for which plaintiff claims judgment."

Inasmuch as the correctness of the said amount of $2,185.72 as additional interest appropriated by the act of June 30, 1919, is thus in litigation, it is believed the matter should be left for determination by the court.

As to the proposal in the bill S. 3133 to pay interest on the said sum of $2,185.72 from June 30, 1919, the bill appears to reflect an erroneous interpretation of the second paragraph of section 18 of the said act of June 30, 1919 (41 Stat. 21), which provides, in part, as follows:

"For payment of interest upon certain interest-bearing trust funds belonging to the Cherokee Nation, which funds arose from the judgment of the Court of Claims of May 18, 1905, in favor of said nation, and were paid into and retained in the Treasury of the United States, as follows, to wit: On the amount of the fund which arose from item 1 of said judgment as such amount was determined and paid to the Secretary of the Interior on July 2, 1906, to be by him credited to the principal of the Cherokee school fund, interest at 5 per centum per annum from July 2, 1906, to and including May 26, 1910; * * *""

It seems clear that the words "to be by him credited to the principal of the Cherokee school fund" do not refer to the interest for payment of which the said statute made an appropriation, but rather refer solely to the amount paid to the Secretary of the Interior on July 2, 1906. That such is the correct interpretation is supported by the fact that while the succeeding item in the said second paragraph of section 18 is expressed in similar language (to wit, "* * ** on the amount of the fund which arose from item 4 of said judgment, as such amount was determined and paid to the Secretary of the Interior on July 2, 1906, to be by him credited to the principal of the Cherokee national fund, interest at 5 per centum per annum *)" the proviso at the end of the said paragraph directs a disposition of the said succeeding item wholly unconnected with the said Cherokee national fund referred to therein. ("Provided, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pay the amount arising from item 4 of said judgment, with interest thereon as hereinabove provided for, to the agent appointed by the Cherokee Nation acting through its principal chief to receive the * * *.")

same,

*

Accordingly, there appears no proper basis for the language of bill S. 3133 to the effect that the said sum of $2,185.72 was required by the said act of June 30, 1919, to be "credited to the principal of the Cherokee school fund"; and there appears no valid reason for authorizing an appropriation of interest on the said amount of $2,185.72 from June 30, 1919, to date of appropriation, as proposed in the bill. As above indicated, if the said amount had been deposited as directed by the Acting Auditor for the Interior Department in 1919, which direction appears to have been correct, it would have been deposited in a non-interest-bearing fund.