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Show INTEBIOR DEPARTMENT RASCALITY. The New Vork .Sim has been exposing ex-posing some of the frauds of tbo Interior In-terior Department, under Secretory eln no's management. Among these one of the most extensive lias been in the sale of Indian timber lands. The latest revelations in this line conio; from the St. l'aul J)if ),.!!,, of December 5th, that paper publishing a copy of a contract between be-tween the Indian agent of the Lac Court d'Oreilles reservation, in Wisconsin, Wis-consin, and a bank cashier of Jvm Claire, in the same Suae. By this con trad $"o,Lk0 was to be paid in live yearly installments for the privilege privil-ege of cutting "all merchantable timber" lor ten years within three miles of all navigable streams on the reservation. This reservation consists con-sists of '.I2,in acres. The timber thereon is estimated at I'OO.OXI.OGX feet, and, like all Northern Wisconsin limber, is of the finest kind of pine. Before closing the contract, Clark, the agent, was informed that if he would go to Chicago and see John Delano, son of Secretary Delano, he would be satisfied that the contract was "all right;" in other words, that the Interior Depertment was interested inter-ested in the ' speculation," and therefore no trouble need be apprehended appre-hended with government. This contract was mode in October of 1S7-, during the heat of the Presidential campaign, cam-paign, and, as a farther reason for satisfying Clark, he was given to understand un-derstand that an early closing of the agreement would secure $lO,OtKi for the tirant campaign fund. The ls-f ls-f Hitch is not informed as to whether Clark saw "John," or whether the $10,000 was added to the general corruption mud; but at all events a satisfactory conclusion was speedily arrived at. The contract was signed Oct. 10, and oh the 18th it was approved ap-proved by Acting Indian Commissioner Commis-sioner CI um and Secretary Delano. In about a month thereafter soveral parties, learning of the 6ale, wrote to the department that it was a swindle. Delano wrote that no aucli contract had been made, and soon after vrotc again that a stay of proceedings liad been ordered. . This, after the papers hail passed tlirough the department, had been signed by the secretary, ami duly approved, was sublimely frigid, to say the least. Other applicants for the timber appeared upon the scene at this stage of the proceedings, and otlcred to pay a dollar a 1,000 feet for it or $1.30,000 more than the a creed pric. A pretty little row appearing imminent, liust, the bunker, bunk-er, and "John," the son, made a supplementary sup-plementary contract on the 0th of February, 157:!, agreeing to pay $7o,-000, $7o,-000, also in yearly in stall m cuts, the time being extended to twenty years. This contract was approved by llev. E. P. Smith, Indian Commissioner April 10th, lS7o. Thus was consummated consum-mated a most infamous robbery. The entire property belouged either to the ; Indians or to Government. . If, as 1 some men can be found to cdaim, ( Uie ' Indians have no rights that white men j are bound to respect, then these tint ' bered lands belonged to the United j States, and 200,000,0 V foot of the choicest pine timber the country contains con-tains has been stolen by and with the connivance of its public son ants; the paltrv sum of A12T oni-i-:- tor property worth at least half a million mil-lion to-day, and rapidly increasing in value from the fact that the enormous annual consumption of lumber bids fair to strip the thnber lands of the United Slates long before the expiration expira-tion of the twenty years The transaction is on a par with the Indian swindles at tho Missouri river agencies, where receipts for large quantities of annuity supplies arc given giv-en while but a small fporlion of the goods arc unloaded from the steamers; with, the Indian census frauds, already reported from four or five Territories and evidently perpetrated al', over the Indian country; with the rascality rascal-ity reported by delegate Maginis of i of Montana, and cited by us a few J days ago; and, to como nearer home, with the wholesale ! stealing 1 in Utah of coal lands which, from l their very location, arc necessarily , among the most valuable west of the Missouri river. And ail these hugcsche:neooi'plu n- dcr arc earned on within the limits f a single department de-partment of, government! 'Litis department asks seven ' million dollars for the next fiscal voir. Let Congress, now that it has s'.i.lilenly awakened to the' necessity for retrenchment re-trenchment and economy, make an investigation into the aH'.iirjof the Interior department and e uupc! the cancelling ufuld uiit.juitouo-conU'rtets, and a& far as possible the Teuinding of all funds already stolen.1' By this means it may expect to accomplish au immense result in the way of political economy. Such leaks as these re ferred to a re d rai n t ng th q life from the land in thousand-: of ever-llowing streams, and the eloquent elo-quent gentlemen at Wahinton -who close their eyes thereto and devote their energies to solving the "Mormon "Mor-mon Problem" .ire, U put it in 'Jj mildCit possible form, fhtrfi-r;- -;yt,f- |