The Committee on Indian Affairs reported legislation concerning:

1882 Bills for the payment of Indian depredation claims out of Indian funds

should go to the Committee on Indian Affairs and not to the Committee
on Claims.
Resolutions distributing the President's message used this language
relating to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Indian Affairs, giving
to that committee so much as relates to the care, education, and
management of the Indians." This language had been used for a long
time in these resolutions, and the committee has exercised a broad
jurisdiction as to the care of Indians on the reservations, and in Indian
Territory while that reserve existed as a separate territory, and also as
to the care and preservation of Indian lands and the allotment in

severalty. 1891 Miami Indian claims. 1903 Indian depredation claims. 1908 Providing regulations pertaining to homestead entries on Indian lands.

Authorizing the issuance of a patent in fee for certain Indian lands
situated in the State of Idaho was taken from the Committee on Public
Lands and given to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
To authorize the cutting, sale, and manufacture of lumber and the

preservation of forests on certain lands reserved for Indian reservations. 1910 Bills authorizing Indian tribes to submit to the Court of Claims, various

claims against the United States, were taken from the Committee on

Claims and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs. 1911 the bill (H. R. 20825) to amend an act providing for the adjudication of

claims arising out of Indian depredations, and the bill was referred to

the Committee on Indian Affairs, not the Committee on Claims. 1914 To provide water for the irrigable lands of the Yakima Indian

Reservation, and the same was referred to the Committee on Indian

Affairs. 1916 Providing for the taxation of lands of the Winnebago Indians and the

Omaha Indians in the State of Nebraska. 1919 To provide for the distribution of tribal funds of the Crow tribe, and for

other purposes. 1920 Authorizing the court of Claims to hear, determine, and render

judgment on the claims of certain Indian tribes and bands against the

United States. 1923 Authorizing Indian tribes and individual Indians to submit to the Court

of Claims certain claims growing out of treaties and otherwise.

To modify the Osage fund restrictions. 1925 To provide for expenditures of tribal funds of Indians for construction, repair, and rental of agency buildings and related purposes.

.

1926 Setting aside Rice Lake and contiguous lands in Minnesota for the

exclusive use and benefit of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota.
To authorize the leasing for mining purposes ofland reserved for Indian
agency and school purposes.
To provide for allotting in severalty agricultural lands within the
Tongue River or Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana.
Authorizing the court of Claims to hear, determine, and render
judgment on the claims of certain Indian tribes and bands against the
United States.
Authorize the leasing of unallotted irrigable land on Indian
reservations.
Completion of a road from Tucson to Ajo via Indian Oasis, and for the
construction of an irrigation dam on Walker River, Nevada.
Authorizing the use of the funds of any tribe of Indians for payments of
insurance premiums for protection of the property of the tribe against
fire, theft, tornado, and hail.
Authorizing the payment of tuition of Crow Indian children attending

Montana State public schools. 1929 Appropriating tribal funds of Indians residing on the Klamath

Reservation to pay expenses of the general council and business committee of the tribe was transferred from the Committee on Appropriations to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Committee on Territories

(1825 - 1946)
19th — 79nd Congresses

History and Jurisdiction

The Committee on Territories was established on December 13, 1825 to deal with issues relating to “Territorial legislation, the revision thereof, and affecting Territories to the admission of States”.?

As a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Committee on Territories as abolished and its jurisdiction was included into the Committee

? Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, 19th on Public Lands.

Issues Discussed by the Committee

The committee reported legislation concerning the structure, status, and power of the Territorial governments; statehood; powers of municipalities; boundary disputes; and on matters relating to public lands and homesteading, railroads, public works, public buildings, highways, taxation, bond issues, education, Indians, prohibition, and wildlife. The Committee also dealt with issues relating to the boundaries of Territories and States.

Various issues captured the nation's attention on issues within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Territories. People argued wether or not a Territory should become a State for one reason or another.

Prominent issues included: polygamy in Utah; Indian rights and homesteading with Oklahoma; woman's suffrage; prohibition in the Territories; conservation of wildlife, particularly in Alaska and Hawaii; and issues relating to the creation and establishment of roads, trails, and railroads, and the availability of public lands for homesteading.

In relation to the Indian Territory, the Committee maintained an active oversight over issues including settlement by non-Indians, the Dawes Commission, boundaries, and treaties.

Issues with in the jurisdiction of the Committee on Territories include:

the general affairs of the Territories.
the Territory of Alaska.
Alaska both before and since the creation of the Territorial
government for that region.
the Territory of Hawaii.
the disposition of Government-owned land in Alaska.
medical treatment of persons in the Territory of Hawaii
the general affairs of the Territories, and has even reported bills
relating to the courts.
the district of Alaska.
game and fish in Alaska.
Laws relating to election of Delegate.
Fuel and gas supply in Honolulu.
Fund for public works in Hawaii.
Quarantine station at Honolulu.

U.S. Congress, Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of

The Committee on Territories reported legislation concerning:

1884

1886 1887

1887 1900 1900

1901 1902

1904 1906

Jurisdiction of the Territorial courts.
Relating to jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and also as to courts and
judicial proceedings.
Relating to the sale of intoxicating liquors within the territories.
Fees of marshals and attorneys, and even as to the creation of an additional
justice for a Territorial supreme court, although in general this jurisdiction
belongs to the Judiciary Committee.
Representation in Congress by a Delegate.
Laws of the Territory.
Construction and maintenance of roads within a Territory.
Municipal corporations.
Sale of intoxicating liquors in a Territory.
Care of the insane within the Territories.
Relating to the power of Territorial legislatures to create corporations.
Hawaiian coinage.
Reserving public lands in Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, which were a part of the
public domain.
Subports of entry and delivery in Hawaii.
Salmon fisheries in Alaska.
Amend the organic act of the Territory of Hawaii and confirming acts of the
Hawaiian legislature.
A bill relating to the Arizona Asylum for the Insane.
Establishing a legislative assembly in the Territory of Oklahoma.
To ratify and confirm the act of the legislative assembly of the Territory of
Oklahoma, passed in the year 1901, authorizing the board of county
commissioners of Kay County, OK, to change the course of Spring Creek; and
similar bills.
Fisheries in Alaska.
Prohibiting aliens from taking fish in the waters of Alaska.
Relating to the location, construction, operation, and reliefof Alaskan railways.
Authorizing the issuance of bonds by municipalities and road districts for the
construction of roads, and the installation of water and sewer systems in the
Territory of Arizona.
For the protection of game in Alaska.
Amend the organic act of the Territory of Hawaii and confirming acts of the
Hawaiian legislature.
To modify and amend the mining laws in relation to the Territory of Alaska.
Relating to the location, construction, operation, and reliefof Alaskan railways.
Relating to the creation, establishment, and enforcement of a miner's lien in the
Territory of Alaska.
Ratifying an act of the Legislature of Hawaii.
To open lands in Hawaii to homestead entry, was changed from the Committee
on Insular Affairs to the Committee on the Territories.
Exchange of Government-owned lands for privately owned lands in the
Territory of Hawaii.

1908

1910

1913 1917

1919

1920

1921

1922 1924

1926

Exchange of Government lands for privately owned lands in the Territory of
Hawaii, and the bill was referred to the Committee on the Territories.
Authorizing an incorporated town in Alaska to issue bonds for the construction
of a municipal light and power plant and the erection of a public school
building.
Granting a franchise for the purpose of manufacturing and supplying gas and
electric current in certain districts in the Territory of Hawaii.
Authorizing the construction of roads, bridges, and trails in Alaska.
Authorizing the issuance of patents to persons purchasing Government lots in
the district of Waiakea, Island of Hawaii.
The establishment of industrial schools for Alaskan native children.
Exchange of Government-owned lands for privately owned lands in the
Territory of Hawaii.
Relating to the location, construction, operation, and relief of Alaskan railways.
Prescribing qualification of voters in the Territory, authorizing the designation
of an ex officio commissioner for Alaska for each of the executive departments
of the United States, and relating to the election of a Delegate to the House of
Representatives from the Territory of Alaska.
Authorizing the construction of government docks, and wharves at Alaskan
ports.
To authorize the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service
to make a survey as to the existing facilities for the protection of the public
health in the care and treatment of leperous persons in the Territory of Hawaii,
from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce to the Committee on
Territories.

1932

Committee on Pacific Railroads

(1865 - 1911)
37th — 61nd Congresses

History and Jurisdiction

The Committee on Pacific Railroads was created as a permanent Committee on March 2, 1865, although it was a Select Committee prior to 1865. The jurisdiction of the Committee was not focused solely on railroads, rather the jurisdiction was listed as relating "to the railroads and telegraph lines between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast."

4

Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, 38th