George Sutherland

“ It is not an unreasonable view of the requirement that an allotment shall not 'exceed eighty acres of agricultural or one hundred and sixty acres of grazing land' to say that it was meant, not to preclude an allotment of timbered lands, capable of being cleared and cultivated, but simply to differentiate, in the matter of area, between lands which may be adapted to agricultural uses and lands valuable only for grazing purposes. ”

“ It follows that, if the Allotment Act is now construed to exclude such lands from allotment, a materially restrictive change will have been wrought in the terms of the treaty. Such a construction is to be avoided, if possible. Chew Heong v. United States, 112 U.S. 536, 541, 5 Sup. Ct. 255, 28 L. Ed. 770.
It is common knowledge that vast bodies of land, originally covered with timber, in some of the public land states, including eastern Washington, have been acquired by private entry, cleared and brought under cultivation. ”

“ They are an unlettered people, unskilled in the use of language (Jones v. Meehan, 175 U.S. 1, 10, 11, 20 Sup. Ct. 1, 44 L. ed. 49) , with regard to whom the United States occupies the position and assumes the responsibilities of virtual guardianship, bound by every moral and equitable consideration to discharge its trust with good faith and fairness (Choctaw Nation v. United States, 119 U.S. 1, 28, 7 Sup. Ct. 75, 30 L. Ed. 306) . ”