on the evening of March 4, 1919, the charge of attempting in various ways to set at naught the legal authority and work of the Council of Annette Islands' Reserve among the people of Metlakahtla, Alaska, since the prumulgation of the present rules and regulations by the Secretary of the Interior, has been preferred against you by a vote of 7 to 0. This matter will be taken up at the next special meeting, due notice of which will be given you, of the Council of Annette Islands' Reserve when it is convened again at Metlakahtla, Alaska, sometime within the next 30 days. You will, therefore, prepare your defense and show why there is no violation on your part of your own declaration (art 6, sec. 2), as a member of Annette Islands' Reserve, and also why there is no ground of appeal on the part of the council to the Secretary of the Interior leading to your expulsion as a member of the said Annette Islands' Reserve. Very respectfully yours, EDWARD MARSDEN, Secretary. These are but a few instances disclosed by the records of the atrocious story of the obstruction and denial of the religious and civil rights of the Metlakahtlans, in shocking violation of all American traditions, and in the face of the constitutional declaration that there shall be "no law respecting an establishment of religions, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech * * * or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.-Constitution of the United States. SECTION 47. CONFISCATION OF FISHERIES FOR BENEFIT OF OUTSIDE COMMERCIAL INTERESTS SECTION 47 A. AN OUTLINE OF THE CASE Brief statement of the facts. Propositions of law involved. Distinction between illegal leases of cannery and of fisheries BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE FACTS The act of March 3, 1891, gives to the Metlakahtlans, exclusively, the right to take fish from the waters of Annette Islands Reserve (Alaska Pacific Fisheries v. United States, 248 U. S. 78). The seizure of Father Duncan's industrial buildings and plants by the Bureau of Education, without any process or warrant of law whatever, was followed by the unlawful confiscation by the Department of the Interior of the fisheries set apart by law for the exclusive use of the Metlakahtlans. After taking possession of the fisheries, the Secretary of the Interior illegally leased Father Duncan's water-power pipe line and his cannery, and the fisheries of Annette Islands Reserve, to outside commercial interests, who have been given a monopoly to operate them for their own profit by the Secretary of the Interior or his agents. By a series of illegal leases and agreements, renewed from time to time, and covering a period of more than 16 years, successive Secretaries of the Interior and their subordinates have deprived the Metlakahtlans of their fishing rights and given them to the Annette Island Packing Co., an outside fishing and canning corporation, owned and controlled by white men, who are forbidden by law to take fish from these protected waters. By divers acts the parties to these so-called leases and agreements, their servants and agents, and persons acting in privity with them, perfected and executed plans to violate the laws of the United States in the particulars hereinafter mentioned, whereby large profits have been made and taken by the Annette Island Packing Co. The instruments of writing which evidence these illegal leases and agreements contain provisions whereby the parties thereto, in effect, agreed to violate the laws of the United States in the particulars mentioned. PROPOSITIONS OF LAW INVOLVED These so-called leases of the fisheries of Annette Islands Reserve granted by the Secretary of the Interior to the Annette Island Packing Co. are inequitable, illegal, and void because 1. They violate section 15 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1101), which grants to the Metlakahtlans exclusively the right to take fish from the waters of Annette Islands Reserve. 2. They violate the rules and regulations for Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior on January 28, 1915, as amended on February 11, 1915, limiting to natives, or associations of natives, the right of permit to operate fish traps in the waters of Annette Islands Reserve. 3. They violate the proclamation by the President of the United States of April 28, 1916 (39 U. S. Stat. L. 1777), setting apart Annette Islands Fishery Reserve for the Metlakahtlans exclusively, and warning all unauthorized persons not to fish in or use any of the waters therein described. 4. They violate an ordinance of the Council of Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, effective February 28, 1916, defining a special prohibited area against all fish traps, both white and native. 5. They violate ordinances passed by the Council of Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, on February 16, 1916, and November 29, 1922, which ordinances (if they had been within the powers of the council to pass) did not attempt or pretend to lease fish-trap rights or fishing privileges but related to the cannery only. 6. They violate the provisions of the general fisheries acts of June 14 and June 26, 1906, and amendatory statutes, giving to the Secretary of Commerce supreme authority in respect to all matters affecting the fishing operations in the waters of Alaska. 7. They violate the general conspiracy statute, section 37 of the Criminal Code of the United States (U. S. C., title 18, sec. 88), these so-called leases being the unlawful fruits of a conspiracy to defraud the United States by administering the act of March 3, 1891, contrary to the true intent and policy of Congress. 8. They violate a written assurance made by the Secretary of the Interior in a letter to the Secretary of Commerce on April 8, 1916, that the leasing of cannery privileges on Annette Islands would "limit to Metlakahtla natives the rights to fish in the protected waters." 9. The Secretary of the Interior had no authority to lease the fisheries of Annette Islands Reserve. 10. They violate the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Alaska Pacific Fisheries v. United States (248 U. S. 78, 90), which sustained an injunction prohibiting fishing in the waters of Annette Islands Reserve by persons other than a beneficiary of the act of March 3, 1891, which created this reserve. DISTINCTION BETWEEN ILLEGAL LEASES OF CANNERY AND OF FISHERIES It is important in the study and analysis of these so-called contracts to note that the illegal leasing of the cannery and the illegal leasing of the fisheries are two entirely distinct subjects, to which different laws apply, and that the present section is devoted to a discussion of the unlawful confiscation and the illegal leasing of the fisheries. The illegal seizure and the leasing of Father Duncan's cannery, his water-power pipe line, and other industrial properties, constructed with his own funds and to the creation of which the Government never contributed a penny, were wanton invasions of his constitutional and property rights which are dealt with in other connections. SEO. 47 B. ILLEGAL LEASES MADE BY SECRETARY OF INTERIOR DEPRIVING METLAKAHTLANS OF THEIR FISHERY RIGHTS For purposes of reference, the leases of the cannery and fishing privileges of Annette Islands Reserve, illegally granted by the Secretary of the Interior to outside cannery and fishing interests, are designated by roman numerals and listed as follows: The first three of these leases provide that, at the expiration of the lease periods, the lessee shall have the preference in releasing the property, and under that arrangement the Annette Island Packing Co., the successor of P. E. Harris, was given a monopoly to operate the fisheries of Annette Islands Reserve for an aggregate period of more than 16 years and for 17 fishing seasons. It is important to note that the lease [I] to P. E. Harris included the cannery only, while the leases [II], [III], and [IV] to the Annette Island Packing Co. included the fisheries. These contracts and leases were made to circumvent the laws and defeat the policy of the United States, and they are so interwoven. that they constitute a single transaction. (Pan American Petroleum & Transport Co. et al. v. United States, 273 U. S. 456, 509.) EXCERPTS FROM LEASES Excerpts from these instruments of writing, necessary for this discussion, are as follows: (I) Lease of cannery to P. E. Harris May 4, 1916, for five fishing seasons. LEASE OF METLAKAHTLA CANNERY ON ANNETTE ISLANDS RESERVE, ALASKA (Father Duncan's privately owned cannery, appurtenant buildings and wharf, seized by the Bureau of Education on August 5, 1915, by order of the Secretary of the Interior.) This indenture of lease made and entered into the fourth day of May 1916 by and between the Secretary of the Interior, party of the first part, for and on behalf of the people of Annette Islands Reserve, Alaska, as per ordinance by the council of said Reserve at its meeting on February 16, 1916, said Reserve having been set apart by the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1101), for use and occupancy by the Metlakahtla Indians and such other persons as come within the purview of said act, and P. E. Harris of Seattle, Washington, party of the second part. * * * Witnesseth: That the said party of the first part does by these presents lease to the said party of the second part for the period of five (5) fishing seasons, this lease to run from the first day of April 1916 to December 1, 1920, the cannery on Annette Islands Reserve, said lease to extend the right to use the existing cannery and the appurtenant buildings and wharf at Met1akahtla and such uplands as may be found necessary as the site of new buildings, etc., in carrying on the work of the cannery. * * ** Article 3. The party of the second part further agrees to buy fish from individual inhabitants of Annette Islands Reserve, or association of such inhabitants to the extent of the capacity of the cannery; * it being understood and agreed that the fish supplied by native individuals or associations, or by the community, are to be sold either at the traps or at the cannery, to the party of the second part at such services and on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon in advance and approved by the Secretary of the Interior; * * ** * Article 5. It is further agreed that nothing herein shall be so construed as to prohibit individuals or associations of individuals, being inhabitants of Annette Islands Reserve, from establishing other canneries on said Islands, under the approval and direction of the Secretary of the Interior, or from catching fish for their own use or for sale at the "going" or prevailing prices in the open market in accordance with the laws of the United States and the general regulations of the Bureau of Fisheries. Article 8. It is further agreed that in the event of the formation of a company by the party of the second part to take an assignment of this lease, the same must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior; and also that on request |