William Howard Taft

“ The United States shall, without delay, render to the Cherokee Nation, through any agent appointed by authority of the national council, a complete account of moneys due the Cherokee Nation under any of the treaties ratified in the years 1817, 1819, 1825, 1828, 1833, 1835, 1836, 1846, 1866, and 1868, and any laws passed by Congress of the United States for the purpose of carrying said treaties, or any of them, into effect ”

“ In view of the care with which Congress and this court, in interpretation of the legislative will, have limited the collection of simple interest against the government, a fortiori must compound interest be denied to appellant, unless provision therefor is made in the contract of 1891, or in the statute of 1919 authorizing this suit, and it is to be found in neither. ”

“ On May 28, 1906, the Court of Claims entered a decree modifying its original decree to conform to the mandate of the Supreme Court. In attempted satisfaction of the judgment of the Court of Claims, an modified by the Supreme Court, and as directed by subsequent appropriation acts, there has been paid to the Cherokee Nation the sum of $5,158,005.54. ”

“ The Attorney General made his report December 2, 1895, which differed with the report of the Secretary of the Interior and the Slade and Bender report, holding that under the Treaty of 1846 and the settlement of 1852 by appropriation of Congress, the Cherokees were properly charged with the expense of removal and that the item 2 of $1,111,284.70 in the report was improperly charged to the United States. ”

“ The argument is that the consideration for the land to be conveyed under the agreement of 1891 was not only the $8,500,000 to be paid, but also the appropriation by Congress of money to pay the old accounts long due, and that the failure of Congress to make the appropriation at the time agreed required that interest thereafter should be awarded upon the lump sum of principal and interest as of that date, in full payment of the purchase money for the land. ”

“ It is complicated by the division between Cherokees into the Eastern Cherokees, who wished to become civilized and remain in the states east of the Mississippi, and those who preferred nomadic and hunting life in the West, and who first went to the Indian Territory and were called the Old Settlers. ”

“ The case having come to this court on appeal, the judgment was affirmed on April 30, 1906, with a modification, consisting of a direction that item 2, $1,111,284.70, with interest at 5 per cent. from June 12, 1838, to date of payment, should be distributed among 'the Eastern Cherokees as individuals, whether east or west of the Mississippi, parties to the treaties of 1835-36 and 1846, and exclusive of Old Settlers.' United States v. ”

“ Vineyard Haven Water Co., 79 N. E. 256 193 Mass. 196; Lewin v. Folsom, 50 N. E. 523, 171 Mass. 188, 192; Wallace v. Glaser 46 N. W. 227, 82 Mich. 190, 21 Am. St. Rep. 556; Blanchard v. Dominion National Bank, 108 S. E. 649, 130 Va. 633, 637, 27 A. L. R. 78; Finger v. ”