Joseph Rucker Lamar

Name: Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court
Author: Joseph Rucker Lamar

Summary

“Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Joseph Rucker Lamar. It explores elements such as the United States, patent and exemption.

Quotes from Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court (Joseph Rucker Lamar)

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ This is certainly a contract clothed in forms of unusual solemnity. The privilege, though for the benefit of the Indians, is annexed by the terms which create it, to the land itself, not to their persons.' And it was thereupon held that the right was not affected by the later statute repealing the exemption. The case here is much stronger. For the tax exemption, which adds value to the property, is not perpetual, but is attached to the land only so long as the Indian retains the title, and in no event to exceed twenty-one years. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ The case was carried to the supreme court of the state, which held that Oklahoma was not a party to any contract with the Indians; that the United States, by virtue of its governmental power over the Indians, could have substituted title in severalty for ownership in common without plaintiffs' consent, and that, for want of a consideration, the provision that the land should be nontaxable was not a contract, but a mere gratuity which could be withdrawn at will. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ The patent and the legislation of Congress must be construed together, and when so construed, they show that Congress, in consideration of the Indians' relinquishment of all claim to the common property, and for other satisfactory reasons, made a grant of land which should be nontaxable for a limited period. The patent issued in pursuance of those statutes gave the Indian as good a title to the exemption as it did to the land itself. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ The United States shall put each allottee in possession of his allotment. . . . That, as soon as practicable after the completion of said allotments [the chiefs of the two nations shall] . . . deliver to each of the said allottees patents conveying to him all the right, title, and interest of the Choctaws and Chickasaws in and to the land which shall have been allotted to him in conformity with the requirements of this agreement. . . . Said patent shall be framed in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ Such exemption was a mere bounty, valuable as long as the state chose to concede it, but as tax exemptions are strictly construed, it could be withdrawn at any time the state saw fit.
6. But in the government's dealings with the Indians the rule is exactly the contrary. The construction, instead of being strict, is liberal; doubtful expressions, instead of being resolved in favor of the United States, are to be resolved in favor of a weak and defenseless people, who are wards of the nation, and dependent wholly upon its protection and good faith. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ The question in this case, therefore, is not whether the plaintiffs were parties to the Atoka agreement, but whether they had not acquired rights under the Curtis act which are now protected by the Constitution of the United States.
2. The individual Indian had no title or enforceable right in the tribal property. But as one of those entitled to occupy the land, he did have an equitable interest, which Congress recognized, and which it desired to have satisfied and extinguished. The Curtis act was framed with a view of having every such claim satisfactorily settled. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ Each member of said tribes shall, at the time of the selection of his allotment, designate as a homestead out of said allotment land equal in value to 160 acres of the average allottable land of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, as near as may be, which shall be inalienable during the lifetime of the allottee, not exceeding twenty-one years from the date of certificate of
allotment, and separate certificate and patent shall issue for said homestead. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ As might have been anticipated, the commission found that many of the Indians were greatly opposed to any change. 'Some of them held passionately to their institutions from custom and patriotism, and others held with equal tenacity because of the advantages and privileges they enjoyed.' (20 H. R. Doc., 1903-04, p. 1.) ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Rucker Lamar, Choate v. Trapp — Opinion of the Court

“ On that subject, after calling attention to the fact that 'Tiger was still a ward of the Nation, so far as the alienation of these lands was concerned, and a member of the existing Creek Nation,' it was said that 'incompetent persons, though citizens, may not have the full right to control their property,' and that there was nothing in citizenship incompatible with guardianship, or with restricting sales by indians deemed by Congress incapable of managing their estates. ”

Joseph Rucker Lamar

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