Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1891-02-26
seems 70 Like Not The ohief.

Seems to Like Not The Ohief.
i Mr.. EDIroR;-Chief Mayes il
his answer to tho farmers petitioF
for reconsideration of the COW
law fails entirely to meet the Is
sues presented and refuses fatty
to make any effort to relieve ths
cattle raisers-the small farmer,
of this nation and with one sweer
of his pen he satisfactorily &C
himself) disposes of the charge
made that the law is "class legis.
lation." There is no question but
that the cattle king, including
"Brother Sam" for whose sole
benefit he seems to be running this
government, will accept this an
Ewer with a whoop. We poor
devils with our wives and children
who make up nine-tenths of the
population and without whom
there would be no Cherokee nation
see it otherwise, but must zee the
main stay of our business go to
destruction in order to give these
pets Of the chief chance to grow
rich. He may be right in his in.
depreciation OF the law, for it is
claimed for him by his friends that
he is smart. This much was said
of him more than fifteen years ago
when, as a Judge on the bench, he
ruled out transcript Of the record
Of the supreme court as incompe-
tent testimony in case that ho
was trying, and contemporaneous
history shows conclusively that he
keeps an eye on the "main
chance" by putting his family in
all of the fat places at his disposal
But the poor farmer, uneducated
in the law, can only take the words
as they appear and interpret them
into the usual and ordinary mean
ing in which they are used. Now,
if east Of the Arkansas river means
south of the Arkansas river the
chief has got us and Canadian dis
trict is not affected differently from
the other eight districts and the
people Of Canadian must bow to
the COW kings as we do. Answer
ing the complaint as to the exten-
sion of the time for importing cat
tie, he freely admits that he was
ignorant in the matter but
having consulted the COW kings he
became satisfied that it would not
hurt them and signed the bill
whereby it became law, practi,
cslly placing the cattle trade OF the
Cherokee nation in the hands Of
less than twenty men, citizens Of
this nation. Talk about Bob
Owens coal oil lease being a mo-
nopoly, then what combination Of
Latin or Greek would you get to-
gether TO name this.
Mr. Mayes as cider maker and
small cattle raiser might be jusu-
fed in risking his four or fine hun
dred cattle grown on his farm in A
venture of this kind but Mr.. Mayes
as chief magistrate of this people
forgcts his oath and loses sight of
the sacred trusts imposed in him
when he jeopardizes the personal
interests of the poor men of the
Cherokee nation as is done in the
COW law. The COW kings could
well afford to make him whole if
he lost every hoof of his boasted
four or five hundred cattle that
have grown on his farm. He
loses his dignity and descends
from his high estate and becomes
a shystering special pleader when
he proposes to lortify his position
aud excuse his action, whom he
refers to the great expense OF the
Mcclellan and Audrain cattle
cases, and the expense Of the old
law, He says the law cost the
nation $4,000. Well, suppose it
did, is that any reason why new
law should be made that will cost
the people s50,0002
For unblushing egotism, bad
and poor argument this
letter of the chief is OF itself and by
itself. With his left hand he hugs
to his breast the COW kings, aud
with his right he pats the Alliance
on the head and says: Il am of
you; | $, mpathize with you; but
these are my boys; l can't lie: them
90" XXXN