Oklahoma's Governors, 1907-1929: Turbulent Politics Page: 13
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Turbulent Politics/13
free textbook program, aided weak school districts with
$1,000,000, expanded farm cooperatives, improved benefits of
the Workmen's Compensation Law, and passed stronger ware-
house inspection laws for cotton and wheat farmers.
Trouble began for Walton shortly after his inauguration
when he compromised with both league advocates and con-
servatives in the legislature. Soon he alienated both groups.
Then he turned to patronage appointments to satisfy legislators
by loading state government departments with appointees.
Next he pressured the state's higher education instutions for
appointments, including the University of Oklahoma and
Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. He caused
both of their presidents to resign. Problems with the Ku Klux
Klan, a development during the Robertson administration, led
to Walton initially placing Okmulgee and Tulsa counties under
martial law. Promptly an Oklahoma City grand jury took steps
to investigate Walton's office. In reply, he placed the entire state
under martial law and applied "absolute" martial law to Okla-
homa City. The governor claimed he took these drastic steps to
thwart the Ku Klux Klan, viewed by him as a deadly enemy of
the state.
Soon leading newspapers in Oklahoma demanded Walton's
impeachment, but when the legislature attempted to meet, he
dispersed it with national guard troops because the constitution
provided that only the governor could call a special session.
Meanwhile Campbell Russell, a prominent, determined Demc-
cratic leader and foe of Walton, circulated an initiative petition
whose adoption would permit the legislature to assemble in
special session. The successful petition drive placed the question
on the ballot of a special election previously scheduled. The
special session proposal carried nearly three to one. Just over a
week later Walton called a special legislative session to consider
his proposal to destroy the power of the Ku Klux Klan. Instead,
the legislature recessed and met about a week later at the call of
the speaker of the house of representatives. The senate voted to
sustain eleven of the twenty-two impeachment charges pre-
sented by the house of representatives. On November 19, 1923,
Walton was convicted and removed from office on charges of
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Oklahoma's Governors, 1907-1929: Turbulent Politics (Book)
Book discussing the history of individual governors of Oklahoma from 1907 to 1929; each chapter is a biographical sketch of a different governor and their actions in office. Index begins on page 195.
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Fischer, LeRoy Henry, 1917-. Oklahoma's Governors, 1907-1929: Turbulent Politics, book, 1981; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc862886/m1/25/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; .