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Title: Amos T. Ackerman to Columbus Delano, 2 March 1871
Date: March 2, 1871
Whitman Archive ID: nar.02932
Source: National Archives and Records Administration. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
Contributors to digital file: Nima Najafi Kianfar, Courtney Rebecca Lawton, and Kenneth M. Price
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March 2, 1871.
Hon. Columbus Delano,
Secretary of the Interior,
Sir:
I have received your letter transmitting certain letters from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and from Major John N. Craig, late U.S. Agent for the Cherokee Indians, on the subject of employing counsel, at the cost of the Government, to defend Major Craig in a suit brought against him by John B. Wright in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
I respectfully request that I may be informed whether the Interior Department regards the acts for which Major Craig is sued, as done in the line of his official duty, as Agent for said Indians. If such be the judgment of the Department of the Interior, I shall direct the District Attorney for the District of Columbia to appear for the defense. But if Major Craig has been sued for acts not done in the line of his duty, I know no reason why the Government should provide counsel for him.
Very respectfully, &c.
A. T. Akerman,
Attorney General.
question of counsel for Major Craig, D.
C.