Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 32 Part 1.djvu/709

F IFTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 1362. 1902. 643 encumbered by any deed, debt, or obli tion of any character con- · tracted prior to the time at which said ldnd may be alienated under this Act, nor shall said lands be sold except as herein provided. 16. All lands allotted to the members of said tribes, except such ·'*“°¤°"l°l°¤‘1*- land as is set aside to each for a homestead as herein provided, shall be alienable after issuance of patent as follows: One—fourth in acreage in one year, one-fourth in acreage in three years, and the balance in five years; in each case from date of patent: Provided, That such land mm shall not be alienable b the allottee or his heirs at any time before pp ` the expiration of the Clloctaw and Chickasaw tribal governments for less than its appraised value. 17. If, for any reason, an allotment should not be selected or a m§;l$,ff°“ by C""' homestead designated by, or on behalf of, any member or freedman, it shall be the duty of said Commission to make said selection and X designation. 18. In the making of allotments and in the designation of home- D“"‘*°“°"“"d”· steads for members of said tribes, under the `[)l'0VlSl0¥lS of this agreement. said Commission shall not be required to divide lands into tracts of less than the smallest legal subdivision provided for in paragraph eleven hereof. ‘ _ _ 19. It shall be unlawful after ninety days after the date of the final l°“"“ ratification of this agreement for any member of the Choctaw or Chickasaw tribes to enclose or hold possession of in any manner, by himself or through another, directly or indirectly, more lands in value than that of three hundred and twenty acres of avera e allottable lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, as provided {by the terms of this agreement, either for himself or for his wife, or for each of his minor children if members of said tribes; and any member of said tribes found in such possession of lands, or having the same in any manner enclosed after the expiration of ninety days after the date of the final ratification of this agreement, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 20. It shall be unlawful after ninety days after the date of the final B"f"°dm°“‘ ratification of this agreement for any Choctaw or Chickasaw freedman to enclose or hold possession of in any manner, by himself or throu h another, directly or indirectly, more than so much land as shall he equal in value to forty acres of the average allottable lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes as provided by the terms of this agreement, either for himself or for his wife, or for each of his minor children, if they be Choctaw or Chickasaw freedmen; and any freedman found in such possession of lands, or having the same in any manner enclosed after the expiration of ninety days after the date of the final ratification of this agreement, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 21. Any rson convicted of violating any of the provisions of sec- ¤§f‘°"Y I"` "°l“‘ tions 19 ami)20 of this agreement shall be punished by a fine not less than one hundred dollars, and shall stand committed until such fine and costs are aid (such commitment not to exceed one day for every two dollars ofpsaid fine and costs) and shall forfeit possession of any property in question, and each day on which such offense is committed or continues to exist, shall be deemed a separate offense. And the United States district attorneys for the districts in which said nations are situated, are required to see that the provisions of said sections are strictly enforced, and they shall immediately after the expiration of ninety days after the date of the final ratification of this agreement proceed to dispossess all persons of such excessive holdings of lands, and to prosecute them for so unlawfully holding the same. And the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes shall have authority to make investi tion of all violations of sections 19 and 20 of this agreement, and mam report thereon to the United States district attorneys. 22. If any person whose name appears upon the rolls, prepared as Hm