Memorandum for the Secretary of Canton Insane Asylum from the Office of Solicitor, August 21, 1933.
Dublin Core
Title
Memorandum for the Secretary of Canton Insane Asylum from the Office of Solicitor, August 21, 1933.
Subject
Letters (correspondence)
Memorandums
Memorandums
Description
Memo discusses the transfer of inmates from Canton Asylum to St. Elizabeths Hospital.
Creator
Office of Solicitor, Department of the Interior
Source
State Archives of the South Dakota State Historical Society
Publisher
Copy from The National Archives
Date
August 21, 1933
08-21-1933
08-21-1933
Contributor
United States Department of the Interior, Office the Solicitor
Rights
government records, public domain
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OFFICE THE SOLICITOR
WASHINGTON
August 21, 1933.
Memorandum for the Secretary:
The Commissioner of Indian Affaris desires to transfer the inmates of the Canton Insane Asylum of Canton, South Dakota, to St. Elizabeths Hospital in the District of Columbia. I have been asked to advise upon the legal phases of the transfer. There are two principal problems: (1) The power of the Secretary to transfer the inmates to the District, and (2) The authority of St. Elizabeths to receive them.
I.
The Canton Insane Asylum houses demented Indians under the jurisdiction of the Department and has at present approximately 0- inmates. An investigation has shown that, because of inadequate facilities and lack of trained personnel, these Indians have not been given the type of care which modern psychiatry makes possible. St. Elizabeths Hospital, on the other hand, is one of the best equipped and best manned of institutions for the insane. It has room for all of the present Canton patients and has agreed to accept them if they are transferred. The welfare of these Indians appears to demand that the transfer be accomplished if it is possible legally to do so.
The Office of Indian Affairs does not have at Washington the documents relating to the commitment of the Canton Indians. I am advised by the health officials of the Indian Office that Indians are sent to Canton in the following manner: The superintendent of a reservation, discovering that an Indian requires care in an institution for the insane, reports the case to the Indian Office. He is then advised to secure an adjudication of insanity and a commitment in the State courts, the purpose of this formality being to avoid any charge of deprivation of liberty without due process of law. When the State court has acted, the Indian is sent to the Canton Asylum.
I have been unable to discover the terms of the commitments. There is probably no uniformity among them, since commitments are made by the courts of a number of different States. It is probably that they simply commit the respective Indians to the custody of the Secretary, since, of course, it would be wholly beyond the power of a State to direct the Secretary as to the manner of caring for Indian wards. This problem will, however, be discussed more fully below.
II.
That the Federal Government, acting through the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, has exclusive jurisdiction over the Indian wards of the Government is a matter which has long been definitely settled by statute and decision. Section 2 of Title 25 of the United States Code grants to the Department plenary powers over Indian affairs in the following terms:
“The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and agreeably to such regulations as the President may prescribe, have the management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations.”
The virtually unrestricted scope of the Department’s jurisdiction has again and again been sustained by the courts. Thus, in the case of Rainbow v. Young (1906; C.C.A. 8th; 161 Fed. 835, 838) the court said:
“In our opinion the very general language of the statues makes it quite plain that the authority conferred upon the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was intended to be sufficiently comprehensive to enable him, agreeably to the laws of Congress and to the supervision of the President and the Secretary of the Interior, to manage all Indian affairs, and all matters arising out of Indian relations, with a just regard, not merely to the rights and welfare of the public, but also to the rights and welfare of the Indians, and to the duty of care and protection owing to them by reason of their state of dependency and tutelage.”
As in other matters where the Constitution confers jurisdiction upon the Federal Government, the Federal power over Indians can not be affected by any action of the States. This was decided in, among other cases, United States v. Kagama (1886; 118 U. S. 575), in which the court said: (at pages 383, 384)
“It seems to use that this is within the competency of Congress. These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities dependent on the United States. Dependent largely for their daily food. Dependent for their political rights. They owe no allegiance to the States, and receive from them no protection. Because of the local ill feeling, the people of the States where they are found are often their deadliest enemies. From their very weakness and helplessness, so largely due to the course of dealing of the Federal Government with them and the treaties in which it has been promised, there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power. This has always been recognized by the Executive and by Congress, and by this court, whenever the question has arisen.”
It is therefore clear that regardless of the terms of the commitments of the courts, the Federal authority to care for insane Indians remains unaffected, and the Secretary may exercise all the authority vested in him in disposing of these Indians as their best interests require.
While the broad general powers of the Secretary to care for the Indians would probably in themselves be sufficient to justify him in providing treatment for them as he might deem necessary, Congress has seen fit to make his powers over the health and welfare of the Indians explicit, and to provide specific appropriations to accomplish the purpose. Section 13 of Title 25, U. S. Code, grans to the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the supervision of the Secretary the power to “direct, supervise, and expend such moneys as Congress may from time to time appropriate, for the benefit, care, and assistance of the Indians throughout the United States for the following purposes; * * * For relief of distress and conservation of health.” Congress has appropriated large sums of money to enable the Secretary to care for the health and welfare of the Indians. In the latest appropriation act $2,995,200 was appropriated for the conservation of the health of Indians alone.
The only question under this head is whether Congress has made it obligatory upon the Secretary to care for deranged Indians at the Canton Insane Asylum. In my opinion no such restriction was placed upon the Secretary. The Canton Asylum was constructed under an act of 1899, 55th Congress, 3d Session, chapter 324 (30 Stat. 941), which simply appropriated $45,000 for the construction of an asylum for insane Indians near Canton, South Dakota. By act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat. 539), Congress directed that insane Indians in Indian Territory should be cared for at Canton. Other than by this provision, Congress has never attempted to direct the Secretary in the administration of his duties towards insane Indians. Since there is now no Indian Territory, the Secretary has the power to provide for the care of insane Indians either at Canton, in the District of Columbia, or at any other place where adequate treatment can be provided.
III.
An incidental appropriations problem would be raised by transferring the inmates of the Canton Asylum to the District of Columbia. The last appropriation for the conservation of the health of Indians was in the amount of $2,996,200, of which amount $2,251,610 was appropriated for designated hospitals and sanatoria, including $44,550 for the Canton Asylum. Of course, the question is whether the expense of transporting these Indians shall be defrayed from the approximately $750,000 in the appropriation not specifically disposed of, or whether it shall come from the Asylum’s appropriation. The latter course would be preferable in that, if not used for this purpose, a large part of the Asylum’s appropriation could not be used at all. One of the general purposes of the appropriation is the “transportation of patients and attendants to and from hospitals and sanatoria”. It has, however, been the practice for the Canton Asylum to pay the transportation expenses of inmates, and under the rule that the appropriation for a particular object confers authority to expand money for purposes incidental to the accomplishment of that object (7 C.G. 400 – 1927; 5 C.G. 399 – 1925; 6 Ops. Atty Gen. 589 – 1854), I see no reason why the Department can not continue to use the Asylum’s funds for the transportation of Indians both to and from the Asylum, including transportation from the Asylum to the District.
IV.
While the authority of the Secretary to transfer these Indians to the District of Columbia can not be seriously questioned, the authority of St. Elizabeths Hospital to receive them is not so clear.
Under Section 161 of Title 24, U. S. Code, St. Elizabeths Hospital is designated as a hospital for the insane of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the District of Columbia. Section 159 et seq., of this title specifies the classes of persons who may be admitted. These include insane members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, insane prisoners of war, insane patients of the Public Health Service, and a few other severely limited classes. Insane Indians can be admitted only under section 204, which reads as follows:
“Whenever there are vacancies, private patients from the District may be received at a rate of board to be determined by the visitors, to be in no case less than the actual cost of their support, and may remain until restored to reason.
The friends of the patient shall comply with the regulations of the hospital in respect to payment of board and in all other respects.”
It will be noted that this section applies ^ /only to “patients from the District”. It may be argued, on the one hand, that since the Secretary has the power to transfer the residence of these patients from South Dakota to the District, he may establish a residence for them here, and thus bring them within the terms of this section, and that if he may accomplish his object indirectly, he may also accomplish it by sending them directly to St. Elizabeths Hospital. It may be argued, on the other hand, that the statues can not be evaded by indirection.
In my opinion, in view of the present plight of these Indians, and of the strong humanitarian policy in providing adequate treatment for them, the statues should be liberally construed in order to enable the Secretary to accomplish so desirable an end, and I therefore recommend that the transfer be made if in your judgment this is desirable.
This conclusion is enforced by the construction of the past practices related to insane Indians. Before the establishment of the Canton Asylum, insane Indians were received without question at St. Elizabeths Hospital upon the simple commitment of the Secretary. Under the Secretary’s jurisdiction over St. Elizabeths the commitment also fixed the amount to be paid the hospital for its services. This administrative construction of the statute is entitled to great weight, and establishes a precedent which the Secretary may now securely follow.
V.
In order to pass definitely upon such legal problems as the commitment papers of the various State courts may raise, I should like to have these documents submitted to this office for examination as soon as may be convenient. It is not necessary that the transfer should await this examination.
This memorandum does not apply to the Five Civilized Tribes or the Osages.
Acting Solicitor.
CF/HHR
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
OFFICE THE SOLICITOR
WASHINGTON
August 21, 1933.
Memorandum for the Secretary:
The Commissioner of Indian Affaris desires to transfer the inmates of the Canton Insane Asylum of Canton, South Dakota, to St. Elizabeths Hospital in the District of Columbia. I have been asked to advise upon the legal phases of the transfer. There are two principal problems: (1) The power of the Secretary to transfer the inmates to the District, and (2) The authority of St. Elizabeths to receive them.
I.
The Canton Insane Asylum houses demented Indians under the jurisdiction of the Department and has at present approximately 0- inmates. An investigation has shown that, because of inadequate facilities and lack of trained personnel, these Indians have not been given the type of care which modern psychiatry makes possible. St. Elizabeths Hospital, on the other hand, is one of the best equipped and best manned of institutions for the insane. It has room for all of the present Canton patients and has agreed to accept them if they are transferred. The welfare of these Indians appears to demand that the transfer be accomplished if it is possible legally to do so.
The Office of Indian Affairs does not have at Washington the documents relating to the commitment of the Canton Indians. I am advised by the health officials of the Indian Office that Indians are sent to Canton in the following manner: The superintendent of a reservation, discovering that an Indian requires care in an institution for the insane, reports the case to the Indian Office. He is then advised to secure an adjudication of insanity and a commitment in the State courts, the purpose of this formality being to avoid any charge of deprivation of liberty without due process of law. When the State court has acted, the Indian is sent to the Canton Asylum.
I have been unable to discover the terms of the commitments. There is probably no uniformity among them, since commitments are made by the courts of a number of different States. It is probably that they simply commit the respective Indians to the custody of the Secretary, since, of course, it would be wholly beyond the power of a State to direct the Secretary as to the manner of caring for Indian wards. This problem will, however, be discussed more fully below.
II.
That the Federal Government, acting through the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, has exclusive jurisdiction over the Indian wards of the Government is a matter which has long been definitely settled by statute and decision. Section 2 of Title 25 of the United States Code grants to the Department plenary powers over Indian affairs in the following terms:
“The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and agreeably to such regulations as the President may prescribe, have the management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations.”
The virtually unrestricted scope of the Department’s jurisdiction has again and again been sustained by the courts. Thus, in the case of Rainbow v. Young (1906; C.C.A. 8th; 161 Fed. 835, 838) the court said:
“In our opinion the very general language of the statues makes it quite plain that the authority conferred upon the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was intended to be sufficiently comprehensive to enable him, agreeably to the laws of Congress and to the supervision of the President and the Secretary of the Interior, to manage all Indian affairs, and all matters arising out of Indian relations, with a just regard, not merely to the rights and welfare of the public, but also to the rights and welfare of the Indians, and to the duty of care and protection owing to them by reason of their state of dependency and tutelage.”
As in other matters where the Constitution confers jurisdiction upon the Federal Government, the Federal power over Indians can not be affected by any action of the States. This was decided in, among other cases, United States v. Kagama (1886; 118 U. S. 575), in which the court said: (at pages 383, 384)
“It seems to use that this is within the competency of Congress. These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities dependent on the United States. Dependent largely for their daily food. Dependent for their political rights. They owe no allegiance to the States, and receive from them no protection. Because of the local ill feeling, the people of the States where they are found are often their deadliest enemies. From their very weakness and helplessness, so largely due to the course of dealing of the Federal Government with them and the treaties in which it has been promised, there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power. This has always been recognized by the Executive and by Congress, and by this court, whenever the question has arisen.”
It is therefore clear that regardless of the terms of the commitments of the courts, the Federal authority to care for insane Indians remains unaffected, and the Secretary may exercise all the authority vested in him in disposing of these Indians as their best interests require.
While the broad general powers of the Secretary to care for the Indians would probably in themselves be sufficient to justify him in providing treatment for them as he might deem necessary, Congress has seen fit to make his powers over the health and welfare of the Indians explicit, and to provide specific appropriations to accomplish the purpose. Section 13 of Title 25, U. S. Code, grans to the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the supervision of the Secretary the power to “direct, supervise, and expend such moneys as Congress may from time to time appropriate, for the benefit, care, and assistance of the Indians throughout the United States for the following purposes; * * * For relief of distress and conservation of health.” Congress has appropriated large sums of money to enable the Secretary to care for the health and welfare of the Indians. In the latest appropriation act $2,995,200 was appropriated for the conservation of the health of Indians alone.
The only question under this head is whether Congress has made it obligatory upon the Secretary to care for deranged Indians at the Canton Insane Asylum. In my opinion no such restriction was placed upon the Secretary. The Canton Asylum was constructed under an act of 1899, 55th Congress, 3d Session, chapter 324 (30 Stat. 941), which simply appropriated $45,000 for the construction of an asylum for insane Indians near Canton, South Dakota. By act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat. 539), Congress directed that insane Indians in Indian Territory should be cared for at Canton. Other than by this provision, Congress has never attempted to direct the Secretary in the administration of his duties towards insane Indians. Since there is now no Indian Territory, the Secretary has the power to provide for the care of insane Indians either at Canton, in the District of Columbia, or at any other place where adequate treatment can be provided.
III.
An incidental appropriations problem would be raised by transferring the inmates of the Canton Asylum to the District of Columbia. The last appropriation for the conservation of the health of Indians was in the amount of $2,996,200, of which amount $2,251,610 was appropriated for designated hospitals and sanatoria, including $44,550 for the Canton Asylum. Of course, the question is whether the expense of transporting these Indians shall be defrayed from the approximately $750,000 in the appropriation not specifically disposed of, or whether it shall come from the Asylum’s appropriation. The latter course would be preferable in that, if not used for this purpose, a large part of the Asylum’s appropriation could not be used at all. One of the general purposes of the appropriation is the “transportation of patients and attendants to and from hospitals and sanatoria”. It has, however, been the practice for the Canton Asylum to pay the transportation expenses of inmates, and under the rule that the appropriation for a particular object confers authority to expand money for purposes incidental to the accomplishment of that object (7 C.G. 400 – 1927; 5 C.G. 399 – 1925; 6 Ops. Atty Gen. 589 – 1854), I see no reason why the Department can not continue to use the Asylum’s funds for the transportation of Indians both to and from the Asylum, including transportation from the Asylum to the District.
IV.
While the authority of the Secretary to transfer these Indians to the District of Columbia can not be seriously questioned, the authority of St. Elizabeths Hospital to receive them is not so clear.
Under Section 161 of Title 24, U. S. Code, St. Elizabeths Hospital is designated as a hospital for the insane of the Army and Navy of the United States and of the District of Columbia. Section 159 et seq., of this title specifies the classes of persons who may be admitted. These include insane members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, insane prisoners of war, insane patients of the Public Health Service, and a few other severely limited classes. Insane Indians can be admitted only under section 204, which reads as follows:
“Whenever there are vacancies, private patients from the District may be received at a rate of board to be determined by the visitors, to be in no case less than the actual cost of their support, and may remain until restored to reason.
The friends of the patient shall comply with the regulations of the hospital in respect to payment of board and in all other respects.”
It will be noted that this section applies ^ /only to “patients from the District”. It may be argued, on the one hand, that since the Secretary has the power to transfer the residence of these patients from South Dakota to the District, he may establish a residence for them here, and thus bring them within the terms of this section, and that if he may accomplish his object indirectly, he may also accomplish it by sending them directly to St. Elizabeths Hospital. It may be argued, on the other hand, that the statues can not be evaded by indirection.
In my opinion, in view of the present plight of these Indians, and of the strong humanitarian policy in providing adequate treatment for them, the statues should be liberally construed in order to enable the Secretary to accomplish so desirable an end, and I therefore recommend that the transfer be made if in your judgment this is desirable.
This conclusion is enforced by the construction of the past practices related to insane Indians. Before the establishment of the Canton Asylum, insane Indians were received without question at St. Elizabeths Hospital upon the simple commitment of the Secretary. Under the Secretary’s jurisdiction over St. Elizabeths the commitment also fixed the amount to be paid the hospital for its services. This administrative construction of the statute is entitled to great weight, and establishes a precedent which the Secretary may now securely follow.
V.
In order to pass definitely upon such legal problems as the commitment papers of the various State courts may raise, I should like to have these documents submitted to this office for examination as soon as may be convenient. It is not necessary that the transfer should await this examination.
This memorandum does not apply to the Five Civilized Tribes or the Osages.
Acting Solicitor.
CF/HHR
Citation
Office of Solicitor, Department of the Interior, “Memorandum for the Secretary of Canton Insane Asylum from the Office of Solicitor, August 21, 1933.,” Honoring the Dead: A Digital Archive of the Insane Indian Asylum, accessed May 6, 2024, https://honoringthedead.omeka.net/items/show/21.