PROVIDING FOR MANNER OF PAYMENT OF TAXES ON GROSS-PRODUCTION TAXES ON MINERALS, OKLAHOMA JULY 23, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. ROGERS of Oklahoma, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2249] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2249) providing for the manner of payment of taxes on gross production of minerals, including gas and oil, in Oklahoma, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment. This proposed legislation received the unanimous vote of your committee. The following is taken from the Senate report (Rept. No. 549) on S. 2249. Legislation was recently enacted (S. 1901, Pub. Law No. 39, 75th Cong.), providing for the payment and collection of gross production taxes on lead and zinc produced on Quapaw Indian lands, Oklahoma, but failed to provide for the collection of such taxes in the manner provided for by the statutes of Oklahoma. This proposed legislation is intended to make the manner of collection of such gross production taxes on all minerals produced in Oklahoma uniform. Under the act of March 12, 1936 (49 Stat. L. 1160), providing for gross production taxes on minerals produced on lands of the Five Civilized Tribes, Oklahoma, embodied a provision identical with the legislation as proposed in his bill. The Department recommends that this proposed legislation be enacted as can be seen by the following letter addressed to the chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This refers to your letter of April 23 enclosing for a report thereon a copy of S. 2249, a bill providing for the manner of payment of taxes on gross production of minerals, including gas and oil, in Oklahoma. The production of lead and zinc from restricted Quapaw Indian lands in Oklahoma is subject to production tax under the laws of the State pursuant to provisions contained in section 28 of the act of March 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1225-1248). Under section 3 of the act of March 3, 1921 (41 Stat. 1249) the State is authorized to tax the production of oil and gas on the Osage Reservation; and a similar tax is assessable under State law on the production of minerals from allotted lands of the Five Civilized Tribes Indians under section 3 of the act of May 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 495), as amended by the act of March 12, 1936 (49 Stat. 1160). The above-mentioned acts of Congress provide that the tax to the State shall be paid by this department, except in the case of the Five Civilized Tribes Indians wherein the law was amended March 12, 1936, to permit the payment to be made, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, in the manner provided by State law. Experience has shown that frequently there is considerable delay between the date the taxes are due and the date the same are received by the State officials from the officials of this department in charge of receipting and accounting for production of minerals on restricted Indian lands, and that a different procedure from that provided by the State tax officials under State law is necessary to be followed under existing law. Under the provisions of S. 2249 no additional taxes are authorized, but the enactment of the bill will permit the provisions of State law as to procedure and remittance to be followed as in the case of the payment of similar taxes from lands of white citizens of the State of Oklahoma. I recommend that the bill be enacted. The Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the Congress. Sincerely yours, DIVIDE FUNDS OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS OF MINNESOTA JULY 23, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. GEHRMANN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4544] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4544) to divide the funds of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota between the Red Lake Band and the remainder of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, organized as the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments: On page 1, line 4, before the word "date" insert the following words: "close of the fiscal year next succeeding the". On page 1, line 10, strike the period after the close of the parenthesis and insert in lieu thereof a comma and the following: "or from any other source." On page 2, line 6, after the word "annuity" insert the following words: "or per-capita payment". On page 2, line 8, after the word "annuity" insert the following words: "or per-capita payment". On page 2, line 9, after the word "rolls" insert the following: "or the latest per-capita payment rolls, whichever are the later,". On page 2, line 19, following the comma after the date "1889", insert the following words: "or other applicable Act”. On page 3, line 1, following the comma after the date "1889", insert the following words: "or other applicable Act". On page 3, line 4, after the word "from", strike out the following words: "any source what-" and on line 5 strike out the words "soever under". On page 3, line 7, after the comma following the word "Congress", insert the following words: "or from any other source,". The amendments suggested were authorized by the committee and agreed to by the parties interested. The purpose of the bill is to divide the sum of money now in the Treasury of the United States H. Repts., 75-1, vol. 3-16 and further funds which may be obtained and belonging to all the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota. On January 14, 1889, an act was passed ceding certain lands on several reservations in Minnesota which lands the Government disposed of for the benefit of the Indians and placed the proceeds in a common fund for the benefit of all the Chippewa Indians in said State. That fund has been used for the intended purposes during the time since it was accumulated. At the present time there is left in the fund $480,000. There are 12 separate and distinct bands of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota; one of them is the Red Lake Band. There are approximately 15,000 Chippewa Indians belonging to the bands. There are approximately 2,000 Indians belonging to the Red Lake Band. Differences have arisen in the past years between the Red Lake Band and other bands of the Chippewa Tribe. The Red Lake Band desire by the legislation to have a division made according to the population of all the Indians in Minnesota, giving to them their proportion of the present fund according to population and in the event that further moneys are obtained under the said act of January 14, 1889, or from any other source, that some division of the newly acquired funds will be made and that their proportion be placed in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of said Red Lake Indians, instead of the general fund to the credit of all the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota. This bill does not permit any Indians or bands of Indians in Minnesota to obtain any of the money different from that which could have been obtained under the original act. It simply separates the present and further funds into two parts; one part in a fund to the credit of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians; and one part to the credit of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, in proportion to the population of the members of the Red Lake Band and the members of all of the other bands combined, which is about 2,000 to 15,000 or one-seventh to six-sevenths. This legislation is agreeable to all of the different bands of Indians in Minnesota and has the approval of the Department of the Interior according to the written report. It is desired that it be passed so that the Red Lake Indians may have their proportion of the money and so that the feeling existing that certain bands are using more of their proportion of the funds than they would have any right to use for purposes that do not benefit the Red Lake Indians in an equal amount from others, may be stopped. The following is a letter from the Acting Secretary of the Interior relative to this legislation: Hon. WILL ROGERS, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your request for a report on H. R. 4544, a bill to divide the funds of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota between the Red Lake Band and the remainder of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, organized as the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. There are approximately 15,000 members of the Chippewa Tribe in Minnesota. Of this number about 2,000 are members of the Red Lake Band. The other 13,000 are members of seven or more bands with populations ranging from 390 to 8,200. The White Earth Band has the largest membership. Prior to 1889 numerous treaties had been negotiated with the various Chippewa Bands, or with the tribe as a whole, and there were various enactments by Congress relating to the affairs of these Indians. Conditions became so complex that efforts were made to pass legislation permanently disposing of the problem. |