To the Senate of the United States:
In response to the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, concerning the attitude of the Government of China with regard to an extension of the time for the registration of Chinese laborers in the United States under the act of May 5, 1892, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State on the subject.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, pursuant to section 10 of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1893, entitled "An act making appropriations for current and contingent expenses and fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes for fiscal year ending June 30, 1894," the Cherokee Nation of Indians, by a written agreement made on the 17th day of May, 1893, has ratified the agreement for the cession of certain lands hereinafter described, as amended by said act of March 3, 1893, and thereby ceded, conveyed, transferred, relinquished, and surrendered all its title, claim, and interest of every kind and character in and to that part of the Indian Territory bounded on the west by the one hundredth degree (100 degree) of west longitude, on the north by the State of Kansas, on the east by the ninety-sixth degree (96 degree) of west longitude, and on the south by the Creek Nation, the Territory of Oklahoma, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Reservation created or defined by Executive order dated August 10, 1869: Provided, That any citizen of the Cherokee Nation who prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, was a bona fide resident upon and, further, had, as a farmer and for farming purposes, made permanent and valuable improvements upon any part of the land so ceded, and who has not disposed of the same, but desires to occupy the particular lands so improved as a homestead and for farming purposes, shall have the right to select one-eighth of a section of land, to conform, however, to the United States surveys; such selection to embrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, such improvements; the wife and children of any such citizen shall have the same right of selection that is above given to the citizen, and they shall have the preference in making selections to take any lands improved by the husband and father that he can not take until all of his improved land shall be taken; and that any citizen of the Cherokee Nation not a resident within the land so ceded who prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, had for farming purposes made valuable and permanent improvements upon any of the land so ceded shall have the right to select one-eighth of a section of land, to conform to the United States surveys; such selection to embrace, as far as the above limitation will admit, such improvements; but the allotments so provided for shall not exceed seventy (70) in number and the land allotted shall not exceed five thousand and six hundred (5,600) acres; and such allotments shall be made and confirmed under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and when so made and confirmed shall be conveyed to the allottees respectively by the United States in fee simple; and from the price to be paid to the Cherokee Nation for the cession so made there shall be deducted the sum of one dollar and forty cents ($1.40) for each acre so taken in allotment: And provided, That D.W. Bushyhead having made permanent or valuable improvements prior to the 1st day of November, 1891, on the lands so ceded, he may select a quarter section of the lands ceded, whether reserved or otherwise, prior to the opening of said lands to public settlement, but he shall be required to pay for such selection at the same rate per acre as other settlers, into the Treasury of the United States, in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct; and
Whereas it is provided in section 10 of the aforesaid act of Congress approved March 3, 1893, that—
Said lands, except the portion to be allotted as provided in said agreement, shall, upon the payment of the sum of $295,736, herein appropriated, to be immediately paid, become and be taken to be and treated as a part of the public domain; but in any opening of the same to settlement sections 16 and 36 in each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, shall be, and are hereby, reserved for the use and benefit of the public schools to be established within the limits of such lands, under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted by Congress. * * *
Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and the east half of sections 17, 20, and 29, all in township No. 29 north of range No. 2 east of the Indian meridian, the same being lands reserved by Executive order dated July 12, 1884, for use of and in connection with the Chilocco Indian Industrial School, in the Indian Territory, shall not be subject to public settlement, but shall until the further action of Congress continue to be reserved for the purposes for which they were set apart in the said Executive order; and the President of the United States, in any order or proclamation which he shall make for the opening of the lands for settlement, may make such other reservations of lands for public purposes as he may deem wise and desirable.