William Howard Taft

“ We do not think that our decisions leave any doubt, not only that it is within the power, but that it is the duty, of the Congress, where it finds conditions which warrant it, so to do. We have had frequent occasion to point out the duty of the United States to protect its wards, the Indians, and the consequent broad extent of its power over them and their affairs. ”

“ It was held that that act empowered the Secretary to determine the heirs of an Indian to whom a homestead trust patent had been issued under the act of 1884, when the Indian dies before the expiration of the trust, notwithstanding that the act provides only 'that when any Indian to whom an allotment of land has been made, or may hereafter be made, dies before the expiration of the trust period,' the Secretary may determine his heirs. ”

“ The first question certified to us by the Circuit Court of Appeals is whether, after an Indian had acquired a trust patent under the provisions of this statute, power remained in the Congress to extend, or to provide that the Executive, in his discretion, might extend, before its expiration and before there had come to be issued to the Indian a patent in fee, the period of the trust with its resulting restrictions on alienation. ”