Capitol Hill News. (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, June 22, 1906 Page: 7 of 12
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The bill granting statehood to the
twin territories—Oklahoma and In-
dian Territory—has passed both
houses of congress and now becomes a
law' by virtue of the signatures of the
presiding officers of each house and
the president of the United States.
The omnibus bill, providing for state-
hood for Oklahoma and Indian Terri-
tory as one state and New Mexico and
Arizona as another, was one of the
first bills introduced at the convening
of the fifty-ninth congress. Several
bills looking towards this end have
been framed and referred to the com-
mittees. Many amendments have been
tacked to tthe original bills and the
consideration of this question has con-
sumed more time than any other
measure _ ^bre8n. At times
the prospect for statehood would
appear quite encouraging and hopes for
immediate passage of the measure
would look bright, but some disagree-
ment either in the committee rooms
or among the members would cause
a halt in the proceedings. At no time
w'as the fitness of Oklahoma doubted
or the lack of qualifications of her in-
habitants to govern themselves ques-
tioned. The national lawmakers
seemed determined to combine the tw’o
other territories, whose ability to
govern themselves—either united or
separated—was not considered in the
most favorable light, with Oklahoma
and tied them together in an omnibus
bill, for which it seemed impossible to
disentangle them. Citizens of Okla-
homa and Indian Territory did not see
the consistency in this stand taken by
certain leaders in congress. They
held, and rightly, too, that if the new
state of Oklahoma w'as entitled to
come into the union it was only right
and proper that she be admitted and
her citizens given a chance to exercise
the rights of members of a soverign
state.
There has never been a state ad-
mitted to the union that w'as as far
advanced at the time of admission as
Is the new state of Oklahoma. She
has w’ealth, resources and population
today tnat will exceed a number of
states. What has been accomplished
in the way of development in the past
few years cannot, perhaps be equalled
by any section of country in the world.
She has, besides the finest agricultural
land, untold wealth in oil, minerals and
timber. Some of the largest oil wells
in the central west have been drilled
within her borders. The climate is
delightful as w'ell as healthful. Almost
any product that can be grown
flourishes in Oklahoma. Here is
located the happy medium in the
climate and ability to bring forth the
products native to the north, south,
east and w'est. The cattle range of
a few years ago is now a thing of the
past and the wild steer has been
abandoned for the best pure bloods
that can be procured. In educational
matters the western part of the new
state or old Oklahoma can boast of
as fine a public school system as exists
In any of the older states. Her uni-
versity and normal schools are the
pride of the people and the perpetual
school endowment derived from the
leasing of school lands, excels that of
any state. Conditions in the eastern
half, or Indian Territory, have not been
the same as the w'estern part. There
has never been any provision made for
common schools except at the expense
of each separate town or city, but
under these adverse circumstances the
people have done nobly towards edu-
cating the white children. Tribal
schools have flourished, but to most
of these the children of white parents
could not be admitted and it was not
until the last year that any provision
was made by congress for their educa-
tion. Under the terms of the state-
i hood bill congress has provided a fund
! that will at once enable schools to be
built where there are none, and educa-
tional matters w’ill be brought up to
j the high standard of the western part
| as rapidly as it is possible.
Oklahoma enters into statehood wifjt
J a larger population than any one of
i tv’enty-tliree other states in the union,
| among them being Arkansas Colorado,
Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Maine,
; Nebraska and Oregon. The new state
| has a population of approximately
I 1,350,000, Oklahoma contributing 700 -
! 000 and Indian Territory 050,000.
The new state of Oklahoma is one
| of the richest portions of the vast.
Louisiana Purchase acquired from
France in the reign of Emperor Napo-
leon I. It has an area of 70,230 square
miles and close to forty-five million
acres of land, of which about twenty-
five million acres came from Oklahoma
territory and twenty million acres1
from Indian Territory. The state is
j slightly smaller than Kansas and j
larger than Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, j
} Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or j
; Ohio. It lies between the thirtv-third
| and thirty-seventh parallels north lat- |
| itude, and between meridians ninetv I
four and one hundred and three west j
! longitude. It is bounded on the north |
by Kansas and Colorado, in the west j
j by New Mexico and Texas, on the |
south by Texas, and on the east bv j
Arkansas and Missouri. Because of j
the extension of the long narrow
I county of Beaver, the north boundarv |
1 line of the state is close to 450 miles
inlength.
The citizenship of the state is typ- •
ically American, not less than ninetv- |
seven per cent being American born. j
the percentage in Oklahoma territory j
being 90, and in Indian Territory 98. ;
Of white population, the percentage is ■
actually greater in Oklahoma, the
heavier Indian population in Indian
Territory Causing the statistical dif-
ference in favor of that portion of
the state. The population is growing !
tremendously by the constant incom- j
ing of vigorous men and women from !
! northern states, the movement being
1 greatest from that direction. The per-
centage of illiterates is five and one-1
third in Oklahoma territory, and nine-;
teen in Indian Territory.
The constitution of the state Will he
formed by 112 delegates, fifty-five from
| Oklahoma, a like number from Indian
Territory and two to be elected bv the
| qualified electors in the Osage Indian
i reservation. There will be only 111
districts. The governor, secretary of
state and chief justice of Oklahoma ;
shall apportion Oklahoma into fiftv-
six districts, of which the Osage reser-
vation shall be one, and the judges of
the court of appeals in Indian Terri-
tory shall apportion that territory into
fifty-five districts. The governor of
Oklahoma and the judge senior in
service in Indian Territory shall order
an election of delegates within four
months after the approval of the en-
abling act, the proclamation to be is-
sued sixty days before the election.
I The laws of Oklahoma regulating the
election of a delegatee to congress
j shall apply. In Indian Territory the
judges of the United States courts are
required to establish and define elec-
tion precincts and appoint three judges
j of election for each precinct, not mere
j than two of whom shall be members
of the same political party. The elec -
tion judges appoint their dwn clerks
and report to the judges of the United
States courts and the iatttety constitute
j the ultimate and final, canvassing
board in Indian Territory, The consti-
j tutional convention will^ assemble at
Guthrie on the second Tuesday after
the election of the delegates, who shall
not receive pay for service longer than
sixty days.
Two senators and five congressmen
will represent the state in Washing-
ton. There were twenty-six counties
in Oklahoma, exclusive of the Osage
Indian reservation. Indian Territory
had twenty-six court recording dis-
tricts, which were established for the
ultimate purposes of their becoming
Counties.
The state begins with practically no
public indebtedness. Oklahoma terri-
tory had outstanding obligations ag-
gregating about $600,000, or less than
fifty cents p^r capita for the state. This
indebtedness existed in the form of
warrants, due to failure to make a
levy sufficient to meet the running ex-
penses of the territory. These war-
rants, however, Were looked upon as
gilt-edge investments that in amounts
of $200 or more they have been selling
at a premium of 2 per cenk
For the erection of public buildings
the sum of $140,000 is ready to be
turned into the state treasury. This
money Was derived from the leasin'-
of section 33 in every township in cer-
tain portions of Oklahoma, aggregat-
ing 316,361 acres, the land having been
set aside by congress to raise funds
for the erection of state buildings. The
citizens of Oklahoma Were never per-
mitted to erect a capitol building. At-
tempts to do this caused such disturb-
ance in the legislature over the rivalry
of different towns for the location of
the capita! that congress forbade anv
change in the temporary location of
the capital and prohibited the con-
estruction of a capitol building. The of-
efies of the Oklahoma officials we-o in
private buildings, rented by the ter-
ritorial secretary for the federal gov-
ernment, which paid the rent. The
enabling act fixes the capital of the
state at Guthrie until 1913.
For the maintenace of public schools
the state has 1,413,803 acres of land,
being sections 16 and 36 In original
Oklahoma, being worth twenty mil-
lion dollars, and the sum of five million
dollars appropriated by congress for
Indian Territory. The Oklahoma
school lands have paid in rentals more
than two million dollars for the sup-
port of Oklahoma schools, and the an-
nual income from leases now amounts
to more than $300,000 a year. In orig-
inal Oklahoma there are about 3,200
school houses.
The mineral resources of the state
embrace nearly ail the products use-
ful in commerce, are seemingly inex-
haustible, and in greatest abundance
in Indian Territory. Beginning far
out in western Oklahoma, the first val-
uable product encountered is gypsum
used for cement ahd plaster. Geolo-
gists estimate that there are 125 bil-
lion tons of available gypsum in Okla-
homa, a supply so enormous that the
world could hardly exhaust it. In
northwestern and western Oklahoma
are vast plains, beds of salt, a con-
tinuation of the Kansas field. These
deposits practically are untouched. In
southwestern Oklahoma is the red
granite of the Wichita mountain
range. Further east, the extension of
the Kansas limestone bed appears, es-
pecially in the neighbornood of New-
kirk, Ponca City and Pawnee. In
northeastern Indian Territory are rug-
ged flint hills with lead and zinc de-
posits of the Quapaw field, now devel-
oping, Oklahoma does not equal In-
dian Territory in the amount and va-
riety of building stone and granite.
The granite beds at Tishomingo, in
the Chickasaw nation, have been pro-
ducing for years, and a great deal of
the granite columns and superstructure
in buildings in the two territories
came from Tishomingo.
The coal deposits of Indian Terri-
tory are so immense that alone thev
would be a splendid mineral endow-
ment for any commonwealth. Oklaho-
ma lias no coal of commercial value
and has been depending for fuel upon
Indian Territory and other states. The
urea of the Indian Territory coal fields
includes the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Sem-
inole and Creek nations, and a portion
of the Cherokee nation. During the
last fiscal yeear nearly three million
tons of coal were mined and the work
' gave employment to more than 8.000
, pien and boys.
Asphalt, the allied product of coal,
is found in mountainous quantities in!
the Chickasaw nation, to a less extent
in the Choctaw nation and less extend-
sively in southwestern Oklahoma, di-
rectly west of the Chickasaw nation.
The oil and natural gas resourdes
of the state hold forth a promise!
of future wealth so great that careful1
statisticians hesitate in making esti-
mates. Bartlesville is the center of
the producing district, but the extent
of the field is not definitely known.
The western half of the Cherokee na-
tion from Kansas south beyond the
Arkansas river in the Creek nation,
and the eastern half of the Osage In-
dian reservation, together with east-
ern Oklahoma territory counties down
to the Choctaw railroad are believed
to cover the field. The oil is of su-
perior quality, and is equal to the best
Kansas oil. The Standard Oil com-
pany is heavily interested in oil land
leases in Indian Territory, and has
built a number of pipe lines that lead
from the Indian Territory-Oklahoma
field to its big refinery at Whiting.
Ind. Many of the best wells have a
pumping capacity of overy 500 barrels
a day.
The southwest has for several years
been growing faster than any other1
section in the United States, and even
under the limitations of territorial
conditions Oklahoma ar.d Indian Ter-
ritory have led at the forefront in this
great growth. Now that they are
free and able to govern themselves ac-
cording to their own progressive ideas,
it would require the vision of a seer
prophet to picture the splendid growth
and development of the state of Okla-
homa in the next few yearn Coming
into the Union with a larger popula-
tion, greater wealth and a more ad-
vanced state of civilization than anv
territory ever did, it is not extravagant
to predict that at no distant day Ok-
lahoma will be the peer of any state
in all the essentials that make for
prosperity and happiness.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
Governor Frantz Gives His Opinion or>
Constitution and Work
GUTHRIE: “While the matter of
extending the laws of Oklahoma over
Indian Territory has been discussed
extensively and several drafts of
measures, with that end in view have
been made, nothing had been intro-
duced in congress up to the time I
left Washington, seeral weeks ago,"
was the statement made by Governor
Frank Frantz while discussing pre-
parations for statehood. “I had under-
stood that a joint resolution had been
prepared recently. covering that
ground but it will not be introduced
unless there is a certainty of its pass-
age. It is now getting pretty late to
get anything of that sort through. It
may be that It will be taken up by th6
party leaders of both houses, in which
case it might be pushed through by
unanimous consent, but that ready is
the only chance for It.’’
Governor Frar.cz, who with chief
Justice Eurford and Charles H. Filson,
secretary of the territory, constitutes
the board which will have charge of
the district of Oklahoma for the con-
stitutional convention, said while no
steps have as yet been taken, they will
begin their work at once. “No plan
for the work has been proposed as yet.
even tentatively," said Governor
Frantz, “and no estimate has been
made upon how long it will take to
finish the work, completed more quick-
ly than can be the case in Indian Ter-
ritory, owing to the absolute lack of
local organization there. No steps will
be taken toward the calling of the con-
stitutional convention until the district
ing is completed in both territories.
Bailey to be Present
SOUTH McALESTER: At a meet-
ing of citizens, a monster statehood
celebration and free racing program
was announced for Fourth of July.
Senator Joe Bailey, of Texas, will be
the principal orator. Citizens of this
city will defray all costs which include
five purses for races and a barbecue.
The telephone system at Cleveland
has ben purchased by the Pioneer
company.
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Jackson, S. M. Capitol Hill News. (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1 Friday, June 22, 1906, newspaper, June 22, 1906; Capitol Hill, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc937636/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.