Hollis Post-Herald. (Hollis, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 21, 1920 Page: 1 of 8
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Two Sections of Eight Pages Each-First Section Pages 1 to 8.
Hollis Post-Herald
Vol. 17, No. 49,
HOLLIS, HARMON COUNTY, OKLA. THURSDAY, OCT. 21, 1920.
PRICE 92.00 IN ADVANCE
sum ml rat
eshkl imhbi
Un-American Methods Used by
Supporters Of Scott Ferris
People Wont Fairness
Oklahoma City, Oct. 27.—The
democratic, state machine slander
mill has lost hope of electing Con-
gressman Scott Ferris to the senate
because of his support of the league
of nations and his subservience to
the wishes of the machine greasers
i. t turns mmouces
cmdmnm house
The tloin is rapidly approach-
ing when you will go to the polls
to register your decision as to
who shall represent you in the
halls of the State Legislature J or
the ensuing two years, and in
that connection I wish to say
that any consideration that you
may see fit to give my candidacy
will be appreciated in the true
spirit of friendship that has been
in'this city. Realizing that Congress- j founded upon twenty-eight
man J. W. Harreld has driven Fer-j years residence in your midst.
.lis from the field in the discussion
of the issues before the people, the
democratic machine moved up the
mud mill guns and now seeks to ac-
complish the election of Ferris by
1 malicious and terrible slander of
Mr. harreld.
The Oklahoma City Times, the
stepson of the Daily Oklahoman,
Ferris mud transmitter de luxe, in the
issue of October 15, sought to make
it appear that Congressman Har-
reld had voted to give Victor Berger
socialist elected from a Milwaukee
(Wisconsin) district to congress, a
seat in that body, although Berger
had been convicted for disloyalty.
The Times editorially says:
"When Representative J. W.
Harreld Voted to 3eat Victor
Berger in the congreess of the
United State's, he sought to give
a man convicted of disloyalty to
this country a high place in its
governmental affairs."
The statement is so falsa it seams
imposible for it to be credited by the
most casual observer. Congressman elected that it. will be.tuy Uesirt
The people of Harmon county
and myself have witnessed the
varying fortunes of Old Imperial
Greer and Harmon county lor
so long that we feel a strong
fraternal feeling that is not
abridged by some small diffe.-
ences in opinions.
The time is close al hand for
the general election and I find
that it is impossible to see and
meet each and every one of you
and to shake you by the hand
and make a personal solicitation
in favor of my' candidacy as it
would afford me great pleasure
to do. But, pot withstanding, I
wish 'thfe good peonle of our
county to know t.iat any assist-
ance or vote mat may i e given
me, whether I am present to
thank you or not, will be appre-
ciated.
1. wish to say that if I am
Harreld never had an opportunity as
a congressman to vote to seat Mr.
Bejger. Congressman Griffin offer-
ed a motion to def^p action on the
Berger case until the courts could
pass on the charges aganist him,
such charges then pending against
him, and, for that matter, are still
pending.
Had the Griffin resolution prevail-
ed, Berger wouid not have been seat-
ed as a congressman, nor wouid he
have drawn pay for the time he
awaited the action of the house mem-
bership.
The Griffin resolution was in line
with the established precedents of
both the house and senate since the
beginning of this republic. It has
.since been followed in the case "of
Senator Newberry of Michigan, who
was convicted in the courts for the
improper use of money ^in securing,
his election.
Newberry's seat is unquestioned in
the senate, and not a democratic sen-
ator has protested his presence.
Neither will it be protetesd untif the
court of appeals has passed on the
case decided in the federal district
court.
But Mr. Harreld himself offers a
fair statement to the public regard-
ing the Berger case. He says:
"If my vote had prevailed, it
would not have seated Bergar. By
the established rules of congress that
when a member of congress or mem-
ber-elect is charged in the courts
With a crime, action by that body
have acted. The Berger case stands
out as an exception. I saw no rea-
son for making an exception in his
case, especially as to the Griffin sub-
stitute proposed to Keep him standing
outside the door without pay until
the courts, passed upon his case. I
saw no reason for applying a differ-
ent rule to a socialist than is applied
to a democrat or a republican. It is
justified by a sense of justice and
fair play."
htceoinshiteesucit
The attempt to show that Mr.
Harreld, among the state's most
.conservative men and one who has
attained success in his profession and
in the business world, is in league
with the discordant elements of socie-
ty shows to what great lengths the
proponements oft the Ferris candida-
cay will go in order to assume some
semblance of respectablity for the
Lawton congressman's cause. Dur-
ing the campaign between Senator
Core and Congressman Ferris for the
democratic .senatorial nomination, the
Ferris captains belaboraed the sena-
tor and his supporter? as disloyalists
and sought to ccnvincc the democrat-
and purpose to,-serve you as fel-
low citizen, friend ana ne ghbor, J
regardless of .uuliiic&l aft? u*. ti on. i
and I vfish eai:Li and i>veiy one I
to feel no .hesitancy in approach-j
iug any subject that may be ol
interest to you. iu widen I may I
be o( assistance, j
I desire'to say that if a bond ;
issue for $50,CU'J.IOO.OO or any!
other Pxtrxvagint legislation is!
proposed I will not. support itj
uniess f-o direeled oy a majority j
f the people of Harmon county, j
Rh\s| etfnllv.
ROBERT G. MORRIS, j
Candidate lor tliu Legislature, j
voters that whomsover opposed |
Ferris were mcmberes of a cult op-j
posed to America and in sympathy |
with Germany. )
And to make this argument more;
effective the Ferris newspapers re-'
fused to publish paid advertisements
from the senator's committee, such
advertisements containing complete t
refutations of the slanderous charges, i
Following the primary, these same
mad malcontents of the cause of au-
tocracy and machine government
have sought to attack thG character
and citizenship of congressman Har-
reld, and the quotation from the Ok-
lahoma City Times is one of the
many similar false and unjilst accu-
sations.
It is fortunate indeed that Mr.
Harreld is posses cd of a tempera-
ment which will not allow him to
indulge in petty personalities. He
has waged his campaign for the sen-
ate on the issues w^ich ^confront the
people at this hour, and his' conduct
has won the admiration of his own
party followers and tens and thous-
ands of good democrats who are anx-
ious to have Oklahoma represented
in the senate by a man with a suf-
ficient mind to understand the issues
involved and whicih should be set-
tled right.
Aside from the mud batteries
spouting from Ferris headquarters
and the frantic command to demo-
crats to save the ticket from a crush-
ing defeat at the polls, the Ferris
captains are rapidly reaching the
stage of senility. With a candidate
who has not yet awakened to the
fact that the people o?"this state re-
quire more than a rubber stamp in
the senate, Ferris captains find it
next to impossible to camouflage j
t'nc'r chief into even the semblance
of a man with a mind capable of un-
derstanding a public question, much. .
!es one who is presumed to have
~' *ne small conception of how to
solve the pros nt day problems.
Post-Herald's Offer of $500.00
Has Not Bee| Claimed
This Paper Makes No Personal Attack Up-
on the Board of Couty Commissioners
Bnt Insists on a Square Deal For
the People of Harmon County
The $500.00 offer made by The Post-Herald
in the last issue has not been claimed by County
Commissioner J. D. Ready or any one else up to
the time this issue went to press, and the offer is
renewed in this issue.
A regretable feature about the situation is
that Mr. Ready apparently takes the matter as a
personal attack upon him, two of his sons having
threatened the editor of the Post-Herald. There
wasn't a single; word of abuse in the aritcle publish-
ed. The Post-Herald merely called upon Mr. Ready
or anyone else to disprove the statement made in
this paper of September 9th.
The Post-Herald had published the news of the
resignation of R. D. Miller as county attorney, the
appointment of H. N. Gambill to fill the vacancy
and the appointment of Mr. Miller as assistant
prosecuting attorney. The Post-Herald was in-
formed that Mr. Ready had denied that the appoint-
ment was made, or that it was approved by the County
- commissioners or that it carried with it a salary
of $75.00 per month. Now, if Mr. Ready did not
make isuch a denial, and if he will so state, the
names of the people who told the Post-Herald edi-
tor thai he did will be produced, and if it is proven
that Mr. Ready did not make the statement attribut-
ed to him this paper will so state.
Fuming, frothing, ranting and threatening the
editor of The Post-Herald don't prove anything, nor
does it help in clearing up the matter.
It would, of course, bC an easy matter to
"beat up" the editor of 'The S^ost-Herald, but that
wouldn't prove anything, either, and besides the
$500.00 offer wasn't made to anyone who would do
that.
The public acts of county officials, or of any
other public officials, has always been considered a
proper subject for discussion, and nearly all public
officials invite a discussion of their public acts. In
fairness to the people whom they serve, or should
serve, they should be perfectly willing to have the
light of publicity thrown upon their every act.
The Post-Herald has been informed that it has
been argued that as evidence-that the apponitment
was NOT made there is no record of it in the coun-
ty clerk's office at the present time. The Post-
Herald is prepare^ to prove that the record WAS
there, and the disappearance of that record opens
up another angle to the whole question. When a
matter comes before the board of county commis-
sioners and is approved in open court, has anyone
a right to destroy that record? What became of
the record may be a theme for discussion at some
. other time. Space and time will not permit just
now.
In fairness to all parties concerned The Post-
Herald will say that, so far as is known, not one
cent has been paid from the county treasury in con-
nection with the appointment, and it was the under-
standnig of this paper that Mr. Miller did not ac-
cept the appointment, but that was not the question
under disucssion. Nothing was said in the news
item of September 9th about Mr. Miller accepting,
declining or anything else—merely that he had been
appointed and the appointment had been approved,
and this paper had been informed that the state-
ment had been branded as untrue. The Post-
Herald has only been endeavoring to prove that it
told the truth. We made the offer of $500.00 to
anyone who will disprove the statement, and the of-
fer is still good. If Mr. Ready or anyone else will
enter a denial under oath, The Post-Herald will sub-
mit its evidence. We will be willing that a commit-
tee of 3, 5, 9, 12 or any other number of reputable
citizens be selected, and that the hearing be held
publically. We don't believe that fair-minded men
are going to claim that this is unfair* The state-
ment has also been made that the editor of The
Post-Herald has an advantage in that it can get its
side of the question before the people and the com-
missioners can't. The Post-Herald makes this prop-
osition: If the commissioners desire to answer any
statements made in the Post-Herald space for that
purpose will be given absolutely free. The Post-
Herald desires no advantage, it insists onlv on a
square deal. THE PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO
THE TRUTH.
here is another count
against county board
From the Revised Laws of
Oklahoma, 1910, Section 1648,
wa take the following;
"1648. Publication of Pro
ceedings. It shall be the duty
of the board of county commis-
sioners to cause to be published
in a newspaper printed in the
county, a full and complete re-
port of all their official proceed-
ings at each regular and special
meeting, such proceedings to be
published as soon after each
meeting of the commissioners
as practicable; and the board of
county commissioners shall pay
for the same: Provided, that
the ooard of county commission-
ers may also order the publica-
tion of the official proceedings
in a newspaper printed in any
other than the English language
whenever they shall deem it nec-
essary for the better informa-
tion of the inhabitants."
The Commissioners will tell
you, no douht, that they have
not published the proceedings
because they did not have the
money, or that they wanted to
economize, or they may have
some other excuse to offer for
nut complying with the law.
However, they will have diffi-
culty in proving to the people of
Harmon county that they with-
held the proceedings from pub-
lication in a desire to economize,
when they did not Hesitate to
agree to spend $800.00 of the
people's money for an assistant
prosecuting attorney, and also
when they paid $192 10 MOKE
fur having the financial state
ment and estimate published
than it would have cost them
had they*not been swayed by
political prejudice and personal
spite.
The laws of Oklahoma are per-
e. owens worthy
of support of people
Has Had Practical Experience ia
Road Work— An Old Tine
Citizen of Harmon Co.
One of the most important duties
a county commissioner has is to look
after the roads of the county, and,
due to the exeremely bad condition
of the roads in Harmon county at
this time, it is important that the
members of the board shoulr know
how the roads shoiJld be cared for—
how to keep them in a passable con-
dition.
In the person of M. E. Owens the
people of Harmon county have an
opportunity to elect a man for county
commissioner who has had ten years
practical experience in looking after
roads. Mr. Owens was appointed
road overseer for five successive
terms when he lived in Lawrence
county, Alabama, serving a total of
ten years in that capacity. This,
however, was not the only official
capacity in which Mr. Owens served
his county. For two years he was
deputy sheriff.
It is needleps to say that Mr. Ow-
ens did not seek the nomination, but
like others, it was thrust upon him.
Since his nomination, scores of citi-
zens, regardless of their politics, for
there is no poliitcg in this matter,
have assured him that they will sup-
port him. His opponent lost the Bit-
ter Creek, Edgeworth, Metcalf and
Hal Smithj^iecipcts in the primary,
and had a close race in Hollis and
the other precincts of the coUnty. The
people who voted for Mr. Cornell in
the primary know that if Mr. Ready
deserved to be retired to private fife
then, he • deserves to be rati red now.
Ii's a common thing to hear people
say: "Oh, .Uncle Joe is a nice sort
of fellow, But he has been hanging
around the court house so long he
tlvnks the people are under obliga-
tions to keep him there. I'd like to
see a chance.' Thafs what lots of
people th-nlc, ant! let's have a change,
and see if it won't improve matters
ju?t a little.
Mr. Ower.g. wa3 born on January 19,
185S, in North Carolina. As a mere
[child he remembers his father go'ng
foctly plain ia this matter. The j i:Wa-v lo • ■m t5ie Confederate mmy,
vith which lit served hoio.'.b'v
section above quoted does not
say that the proceedings shall
be published "if they have
funds", or at the pleasure or
whim of the commissioners.
It says "IT SHALL BE THE
DUTY," etc.
And let it be known, also, that
The Post-Herald offered to pub-
lish tlie proceedings at cost or
less,—3 cents per line, to be ex-
act, the cost for a whole year
not exceeding the amount the
commissioners paid MORE than
the legal rate to have the finan-
cial statement and estimate pub-
lished.
And, there are still other rea-
sons why the present board
should be retired.
the
■
l!u'>: ;riiUt tile v.-tr between
stati'is.
After having served through the
war the father and soldier was strick-
en dowqf and died in 1865, leaving a
vife ami three children. M. E. was
the only boy and as soon as he was
old enough he became the main sup-
port of the mother and sisters.
Mr. Owens continued to make his
home in Alabama until about 18
years ago, when he moved to Texas,
and located in Montague county, from
where so many good people of Har-
mon county came. After living there
six years he moved to Harmon coun-
ty, where he has lived ever since.
Mr. and Mrs. Owens have raised
a family of ten children, eight daugh-
ters and two sons. The two sons.
Bill and Homer, are married and
Oive in Harmon county. Five of the
daughters are married and the others
are at home.
Mr. Owens is a deacon in the Mis-
sionary Baptist church at Antioch,
with which the entire family unites.
Should the people of the commis-
sioner district No. 2—the people of
Hollis, Bitter Creek, Halsmith, Edge-
worth, Metcalf, Dryden and Lone
Star call Mr. Owens to serve the
people on the board of county com-
missioners, The Post-Herald believes
he will take up the work with a pur-
pose single to serve the people hon-
estly and faithfully to the best of
his ability. The Post-Herald believes
that a vote for M. E. Owens will be
a vote for a change that will prove
beneficial to the county.
Returned from Convention
A delegation of about twenty,
including their band, passed
through Hollis the first of the
week on their way home to Tulia,
Texas, after attending the Ozark
Trails convention at . Pittsburg,
Kansas, held there Thursday,
Friday and Saturday of last week.
The Tulia bunch succeeded in
electing a citizen of their town
president of the Ozark Trails As-
sociation, Colonel Harvey having
resigned.
The Post-Herald acknowledges
a fraternal call from J. S Engle-
man, editor of the Tulia-Herald, I j B Simmons and Miss Lore-
who was a member of the delega-1 na of the Sandy neigh_
tion. jborhood, were married Sunday,
"" ' Judge E. C. Abernetby officiat-
1 Subscribe for The Post-herald j ing.
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White, J. Warren. Hollis Post-Herald. (Hollis, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 21, 1920, newspaper, October 21, 1920; Hollis, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc185215/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.