The Oklahoma Farmer and Laborer (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, March 24, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
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STATE WINNER IN *
BIG TAX CASES
Western Union Loses Suit in Fed.
eral Court at St.
Louis.
Third—A cash prize of $50.00.
Fourth—A cash prize $25.00.^
Rules and regulations governing the
contest will be sent out later. Other
prizes will be offered. Here is another
chance for the boys and girls of Okla-
homa to win cash and glory. Take it
up with the teachers, county superin-
tendents of schools, demonstration
agents, and your county institute of-
ficers, and get into the game.
Guthrie, Okla., March 23. —Attorney
General West was notified Saturday
that the United States circuit court of
appeals at St. Louis has affirmed the de-
cison of Judge Cotteral of the circuit
court in the cases of the Western Union
Telegraph company against M. E.
Trapp, state auditor.
Taxable property amounting to at
least $8,000,000 was said to have been
involved at the time of the decision of
Judge Cotteral at Guthrie, a year ago.
Company's Claims.
The Western Union and Pullman
cases were brought on the plea that the
assessments were out of proportion to
the property owned and operated by
the plaintiffs. They further attacked
the assessments on the grounds that
the constitution required the amount
to be done by the board of assessors,
while as a matter of fact it was done
by a board of equalization. Judge Cot-
teral held that the difference was not
material and the plaintiffs had ample
notice and opportunity for protests. He
also held that the state was within its
constitution in making the assessments.
Judge Cotteral held that the board
was not to be confined to assessments
of tangible assets but had the right to
go into franchise business and revenue.
The Western Union set up thst it
was assessed $1,044,000, which was $63,-
0J0 more than it actually owned and
operated in 1908, the year in which the
assessments in question were made.
The Pullman set up that it was assessed
$400,000 more than it was worth.
Bone of Contention.
The contention between the state and
the companies was that the state want-
ed to tax on working value and the com-
panies wanted to confine assessments
to actual outlay, regardless of practical
value.
The case was heard here in 1909, At-
torney General West appearing for the
state.
Attorney General West said Saturday
night that this decision, in his opinion,
will determine the seventy-five or more
railroad tax eases now pending in the
United States circuit court which have
been set for hearing at Okloahoma City
Monday, The pending cases cover tax
assessements of 1908, 1909 and 1910,
agaifist practically every railroad oper-
ating in Oklahoma and affecting almost
every county through which a railroad
runs.
CREEKS MAY SUE
THE GOVERNMENT
Decendents of Pleasant Porter Re-
sent Stcry of Having Negro
Blood
A storm of protest, much feeling and
legal complications are threatened as a
result of a recent government publica-
tion in which the late Chief Pleasant
Porter of the Creek Nation is described
as a man who had a "decided strain of
negro blood." The fact that the well
known Indian chieftain is survived by a
family and at one time was prominently
mentioned for the democratic senatorial
nomination has accentuated matters and
in the end may cause his family to take
steps either to force the government to
withdraw the obnoxious literature from
general circulation or involve the au-
thors in a large damage suit. The Port-
ers indignantly deny having negro
blood.
The government publication in ques
tion is Bulletion 30, hand book of Amer-
ican Indians. Refering to Chief Pleas-
ant Porter, it says:
"His lather was a white man. Pleas-
ant Porter inheriting his Indian blood
from his mother, who through her fath-
er, Tulope Tustunuggee of the Big
Spring tribe of Creeks, had a decided
strain of negro blood."
The story of his enlistment as a sol-
dier of the Confederacy and election to
the chieftaincy also is told.
In conclusion the article says: "Port-
er was ever true to his people and amid
the perplexing conditions attending the
surrender of their tribal government
and the assumption of that of the whites
he led them perhaps more successfully
than any other Creek leader could have
done."
Chief Porter died upon the eve of the
constitutional convention in Oklahoma
and was the most conspicuous of the
five Indian governors who accompanied
Candidate Haskell upon his tour through
Eastern Oklahoma. He also was lion-
ized at St. Louis during the World's
fair in 1904. His speech upon that, oc-
casion was the red man's message to
twentieth century civilization and ap-
peared in nearly every newspaper in the
country.
J . ' L
Cash Purchasers
Look with favor upon Business Men
who advertise in, and patronize
£T/?e Farmer
and Laborer
Nearly all the Union Men in Sa-
pulpa Read this Ilome Paper.
I
r£-Y-V~V^
v "Printers' InK," a Recognized
Authority on Advertising, says:
"A Labor Paper with a circulation
of One Thousand Is Equal to Any
Other Paper With Three Thous.
and Circulation."
BOYS' COTTON CONTEST
There is to be a boys' cotton growing
cpntest in Oklahoma. All members of
the boys' and girls' agricultural clubs
are eligible to compete. Any boy or
girl between the ages of nine and eigh-
teen vears may become a member, of
the boys' and girls' agricultural clubs
and compete for the prizes.
The Oklahoma Cotton Seed Cri'shert,'
a oociation offers four prizes as follows:
First-A free trip to Washington,
Second—A cash prize of $75.00.
Onions, lettice, radishes and spinach
may be sown as early as the soil can be
put into good tilth. It is of no advant-
age to sow seed of any kind when the
soil is too wet to work readily into a
good condition.
If secretaries will kindly mail the list
of newly, elected officers of their re-
spective unions the same will be pub-
lished and a directory brought up-to-
date in the Farmer & Laborer. Any
other information you desire to have
published will be done by calling at 103
Kinley Building or addressing the Fai tri-
er and Laboreh.
F armer
<$X Laborer
Has almost Three Times that many
readers, and they are Here Fifty-
Two Weeks in the Year. They are
the Best Paid people, and have the
Money to Spend. It pays to talk to
\y Cash Purchasers
*
Regularly through their own news-
paper, which they read and support,
because it stands b^ them.
Phone 185
Your
•
Advertisement
—I Kinley Bldg., 103 Main St.
|f
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Johannes, Fred C. The Oklahoma Farmer and Laborer (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, March 24, 1911, newspaper, March 24, 1911; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc101723/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.