Harlow's Weekly (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 22, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 20, 1915 Page: 7 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 10 x 7 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
383
Colonel John Sheplcr, of the Lawton Constitution, sees
an added reason from the ones mentioned by the governor
why a special session is important and in all probability es-
sential. ^He says:
The republican press is clamoring against the possibi ities
of a special session of the legislature appropriating sufficient
funds to complete the trial of the two cent fare case, but t
people of the state would hardly excuse the law'™aking tody
if it failed to furnish the sinews of war to complete the splen
did defense which has been made for the two-cent fare1 by
the corporation commission and the attorney general, ine
state may lose the case in the end by virtue of the showing
which the railroad companies have made or will be able to
make, but certainly the state ought not to he down supinely
in the midst of the trial when already it has spent one hun-
dred thousand dollars in the effort to protect the people s in-
tCreThe Pawhuska Capital interprets the governor’s request
to the legislators for expressions on a special session as cer-
tain evidence that he will call a special session and brushes
aside the other six propositions a ephemeral, and says:
The primary object will be to attempt to pass some law'
that will prevent “negro domination’’ in a state now 92 per
cent white,—but this effort will be disguised by twine plant
bills, state coal mines, and additional clap-trap measure ,
not forgetting an additional appropriation of a hundred or
two thousand dollars to aid in prosecuting the railroad rate
“SeAn extra session of the Legislature will saddle hun<1r«^
of thousands additional taxes on the people of the state, bucti
is Democratic rule. Are you for it?
The Watonga Republican, edited by former Governor
Tom Ferguson, comments on the proposed special session
and drops a federal court threat as follows:
After all of the skirmishing for a cause for calling the
legislature together, they might just as well be plain and I st t
the facts. They want to pass an election law, or rather to.pre
Dare to amend the constitution so as to, if possible, sa\e . e
Democrat party in Oklahoma. Now don’t “whip the devd
around the stump.” Do not come out with any more! stuff
about “needed legislation. Let us have it straigh out in
black and white that you are preparing to pass a law to try t
keep the negroes from voting. The people know that y
mean it that way and why not say it in plain w°rdsj .
Haskell was afraid that his administration had lost Okla-
homa to the Democrats. He called a special session of the
legislature, at a cost of about one and one-half million'
lars, to prepare for the grandfather clause, wh,c^f^the
wards declared unconstitutional by the supreme courtof t
United States. But the grandfather clause perpetuated ma-
chine Democracy fo rthe time being in Oklahoma. It g«
them a “breathing spell.” . The legislature which wi 11 bei calle^
in special session this winter will pass a law whic
unconstitutional, but they hope to perpetuate their hold on
the offices a few years longer. They hope to pass abog u
law and act under it until the courts reverse it, and then they
will have time to think out some other dodge. But they' may
“slip up on it” this time. Their purposed law may not go
into* effect. The higher courts may act in time to prevent.
The Frederick Leader, usually regularly democratic, offers
a surprise in the following comment:
The state is threatened with an extra session of the legis-
Hture Governor Williams is fairly ‘rearing for it. if one
may judge from the tone of the letters he has written to mem-
bers of the legislature, asking them opinion on the matt
The letters are a gauzy invitation to de „
answer is as plain y apparent as it was on the occasion w nen
a politician led a crowd of thirsty voters to the bar
and said "Give us all beers. What’ll you have boys?
The governor, it seems, has a few more ideas he wan s
' worked up into laws, regardless of the fact that Oklahoma is
burdened ^with a mass of undigested laws right now. He
wants an election law which will keep the negroes from yot-
inz at sUte elections. The Leader believes it was a mistake
toghave ever given the negro the franchise, because of his
native inability to use it properly, and because it makes him
a prey to vicious politicians, but it believes another s«*8io
of the legislature would be a calamity to the par y
might well be as hard to overcome at the next election as
the negro vote. There are plenty of Democrats in the state
to give the Republicans “spades” in the shape of the negro |
vote and then elect a state ticket, if the Williams administra-
tion would cut out a lot of the campaign thunder it is con- |
stantly manufacturing for the enemy. .
There is no warrant in the present situation calling tor
an extra session of the legislature. It would be a lot of ex-
pense to the state which would be worse than useless and
wholly out of conformity with Governor Williams cruel
economy” slogan. But it probably will be done.
The Seminole County Capital (Rep.) opposes a special
session, and expresses its view as follows:
Judging from the expressed feeling of the Oklahoma
Press we are led to believe after carefully recording same,
that either a major part of the papers do not want a special
session of the state legislature this winter or they are afraid
to say so in so many words. In fact, it is about time that
public sentiment as to the amount of taxes to be paid out in
this state for “more laws” was given some consideration.
The people are against such a session but the politicians are
always for it; to them it means $6 per diem plus.
The Chandler News-Publicist (Rep) is another to enter
a vigorous protest in the following:
The apparent attempt of Governor Williams to trap re-
publican members of the legislature into supporting his call
for an extra session, appears to have failed completely. 1 ne
republican state committee at the meeting held on October
ist declared against a special session on the grounds that no.
“extraordinary occasion” as contemplated by the constitution
exists. This 'is thought to reflect the attitude of practically
all republicans as well as of many democrats and socialists.
However, the governor bethought himself of the tact
that the republicans during the last regular session made a
vigorous fight for the twine plant bill introduced by lorn
Testerman of Noble county. They succeeded in having this
bill attached as a rider to one of the appropriation bills which
passed the house but the senate killed it. The governor was
said to be against the measure at the time. By coming out
now in favor of a twine factory and a cotton oil mill and a
coal mine to be operated at the state prison, the governor
thought that republican members of the legislature would
unanimously join in the call for a special session.
Although the governor may have overlooked it, the re-
publican members have not forgotten that they finally suc-
ceeded in having attached to the appropriation for the state
penitentiary, a provision authorizing the state board of affairs
to install and equip “any business enterprise, factory or shop
they might deem necessary.” Republicans feel that if the
administration desires it, a twine factory as well as a cotton
oil mill and a coal mine can be started under this provision and
• that, therefore, at least three of the governors six alleged
reasons for wanting to call a special session are pretenses..
The Mangum Star speaks much truth conservatively tn
the following:
The democrats of Oklahoma may as well realize now as
later that whether or not our party continues the dominant
party in this state does not hinge on whether or not the ne-
groes are prevented from voting, but upon the broader ques-
tion of whether or not we deserve to continue to be the gov-
Crnl^rom a political standpoint, purely, it would be a much
greater benefit to the party to squelch a few of our state of-
fice holders whose chief ambition seems to be to engage in
newspaper controversies over trivial affairs, with the evident
intention of manufacturing thunder for a campaign for gov-
ernor, than to prevent the negro from voting.
Returning to the subject of the special session, however,
there is an unquestioned demand from the farmers of Okla-
homa for a usury statute that will not force the borrower to
violate his word or else submit to extortionate chat ges. Like-
wise there is a need of some law to prevent, impossible, the
growing evil of landlordism and tenantry in this state.
The Star hopes that laws which will effectually control
these evils can be formulated; if they can, they should be
put in effect at the earliest possible moment.
The question of whether or not the negro is to vote is not
so important to the democrats as that the officers we have
elected discharge their duty in the proper manner; if our
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Harlow, Victor E. Harlow's Weekly (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 22, Ed. 1 Saturday, November 20, 1915, newspaper, November 20, 1915; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1601011/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.