The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-11-06
RYAN AND PLUKB ON OKLA
HO1FA

HO1fA.
Walnut Valley Times At have been
requested to give my views IN regard to
Oklahoma and make statement OF my
position upon the question" said Hon :.
Thomas Ryan in his speech last SatuF.
day night. ~ will do 50 briefly. Now
It has been charged that am . cattle
king and am In some way interested In
the exclusion Of settlers from the Indian
Territory for the purpose Of. keeping
free paAturage for cattle. ALI have 70
say is that I never owned two head Of
cattle in my life. I had q
COW once, but she gave me
90 much trouble about coming
home 70 be MIXED that sold her. So
far az OkIahoms Is concerned I have
never been appealed TO by the people Of
Kansas to take any, action in the matter,
but my own inclinstions would be 10
vote to open that country to settlement;
and If the matter IL brought up in con-
gress I shall SO vote unless / am APP
pealed to by the people ofmy district
not to do 30. repeat, following my
own inclinations / shall vote to open
Oklahoma to settlement by the white
man. Is. 1 ao1i
Senator P. B. Plumb said: cit has
been repeatedly charged that / am inter
ested in some of the large herds Of cattle
which are grazing In the Indian Terri
tory. I do'not feel that it is necessary
for me TO be continually denying the
charge, because know thai statements
based on untruths sooner or later outrun
themselves. But I will say that II ali
the cattle in the Indian Territory were
to come up dead tomorrow evening /
should not be the poorer by one single
penny. At the time when was elected
to the senate Kansas was opposed to the
opening of the Indian Territory because
she felt that In her then unsettled condi.
ton, the opening Of a new country right
on her southern border would be det-
riment to her. The senatorial contest
was partly made on this issue, my oppo-
nents favorlng the opening OF
the territory. I therefore con.
sidered myself instructed to oppose the
opening of that country. Since thai
time circumstances have changed, Kan
sas has become settled and no longer
fears the competition Of the territory.
have therefore within the last three
years given considerable attention to
this matter to see what might legally be
done. have introduced several resolu-
tions IN order to obtain the sense of the
executive head Of the government in re.
gard to Oklahoma. In 1867, think,
congress made grant to the Atlantic s
Pacific railroad company OF every Other
section in a strip ten sections WIDE on
either side of a road which they were au
thorized to build through that country.
That road has only been built As far a
Tulsa and the time within which they
were TO build the road by the terms Of
the grant has expired. But the supreme
court has held that until congress has
declared the grant lspsed the railroad
company can bpild the road and take the
land. therefore introduced bill into
the senate repeating the grant to the rail
road beyond Tulsa; that bill passed the
senate and will probably become law
at the next session OF congress.
When the Indian Territory was frs
organized IL was with the idea of bring
ing the Indians from all parts of the
United States and putting them upor
lands in that territory. Since then, the
Indian policy, whatever that may be
has changed. and In 1870 Congress pro
hIbited the placing of any more Indians
IN the Indian Territory, and in what Il
known as the Cherokee strip. without
the express sanction Of congress.
The Oklahoma lands were obtained
by the governmentby purchase from tn,
IndIans-Creeks and Seminoles-
the Negroes who were in the Indiar
Territory could take homesteads FREE
from any control or interference by tht
Indians. The last Of the purchase
money, something less than $40. OO0, wa
paid In July last.
| Last winter 1 introduced into the sen
ate bill opening Oklahoma to settle
lment. THIS bill was referred to the In
dian committee. This committee fount
themselves confronted with many grav
questions. How was this committee d
be governed when openedP Wher
were to be its courts, and what was to b
Its torn Of government Anarch,
would be the result unless these quea
lions were Inteliigently answered. The
therefore deferred action upon This bill
until subcommittee could 60 dow
there and investigate the whole mater
Just a. soon as this election is over the,
will go down there and look this coun
try over preparatory to making a repoE
at the next session of congress.
I am just as free from any interest u
the Indian Territory IS any man In tn
United States, A great deal has bee
, said about the cattle men being respon
slble for the removal OF the settlers fror
, Oklahoma How that may be car
not say positively. but believe the re
movAl would have taken place if no ca.
tie men had been in the Indian Terri
J tory. Nor do l know whether the gov
J eminent exceeded its authority in TIL
, removal possibly 1t did.
Finally, while did feel myself In
3 structed against the opening Of Okla
. homa, now believe that the time hs
come when every acre of land frov
which the Indian has been remove
should be opened 20 settlement by th
; people free from the control of corpors
( none, railroads or monopolies of an
! kind, and as fast as it can be done wit
justice TO the Indians, the whole teri
tory shoCld be opened to settlement an