hostilities between the
United States and the Indian tribe.

In making this discrimination the act of 1891 follows the general
principle which has been asserted in all general legislation which has
ever been enacted for the payment of claims for property destroyed by
Indians. The first act which promised such indemnity, that of May 19,
1796, contained the same restriction, and it was reported in every
subsequent general act of Congress dealing with the subject. This
policy, which has been clearly manifested from the beginning, is in
accord with the recognized principle that the nation is not liable for
damage to the private property of its citizens caused by the act of the
public enemy. This statute has been thoroughly considered by the Court
of Claims and by the Supreme Court and its interpretation fixed, and it
has been declared to be in accord not only with the policy of Congress
as expressed through the legislation of the century, but with the
general principles of international law.

I am informed that the records of the Court of Claims show that the
claims of four of the five beneficiaries named in the present bill
have been presented to that court under the general law and decided
adversely, the court having held that a state of war existed between
the United States and the Sioux Indians in the year 1862 when the
claims arose. The remaining claim, which originated under the same
circumstances and at the same time, would, of course, be subject to
the same defense if presented.

The bill provides that these claims shall be sent back to the Court of
Claims for trial according to the principles and rules which governed
the commission appointed under the act of February 16, 1863. That act,
which was a special act relating to losses occurring during the
hostilities of the previous year, did not, of course, impose the
requirement of amity, the claims allowed by the commission being paid
out of the funds belonging to the hostile Indians sequestered by the
statute. The effect of this bill, if it became a law, would be to
provide for the payment out of the Treasury of the United States of
these claims which were not presented for payment out of the Indian
funds and which have been rejected by the courts under the general law.
There are many hundreds of cases, aggregating a large amount claimed,
which have been filed in the Court of Claims, but which are excluded
from its jurisdiction for the same reason which necessitat