Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1891-11-12

zen. Speeches were made on both
sides, Sargeah and Wolf support
ing Keys, and Buagb, and Bufiing-
ton, Of Flint, for Harris. just why
/ cannot say, but the president
ignored Keys objections, and on
motion OF one of his henohmen,
put the question, and Harris by a
strict party vote was elected. The
facts are. | am informed, that Har-
ris is only an adopted citizen, hav
ing been born a citizen Of the
United States, in Georgia, and
adopted by the national council
some fifteen or more years ago.
1t is said that Hon. J. A. Scales,
late chief justice Of the supreme
court who is now basking in the
sunshine of executive benificece
and earning his four dollars a day
as law officer of the crown, gives it
as his opinson that Harris is elig-
ible. The judge ought to know;
he is one of the three men that
made the law and if he does not,
who does ? If blood is the SUI
preme test as was argued by Sen
ator Baugh and accepted by the
majority, what could be objected
to scores of negro freedmen who
are Of unquestioned Indian (Cher-
okee) blood now in this nation,
who were born slaves and after
wards adopted and made citizens,
as was Mr.. Harris ?
In the morning of the day fol-
lowing the election and at the
closing of the reading of the min
utes of the day before, Mr.. Baugh
offered to correct the journal by
striking out all that part of the
record that made mention of Mr..
Keys objection to Harris. He
and others siding with him offered
several what they called reasons
for so doing. 1t would be no cred
it to the senator or senate to write
them here. The president, des-
pite the protest, put the question
and ten OF the eleven Mayes men
voted for Baugh's motion. One
man alone of the party had the
courage to stand by his conscience
and that was Burlington of Flint;
he voted no.
The new justice, Mr.John Wick :
life, is what is called full blood,
in that he is Cherokee straight
and uses only the Cherokee lam
guage in his intercourse with the
world. Whether he can talk any
English l anu unable to say. Be-
yond what he may have learned
from the new testament and hymn
books and the Cherokee part of
the Advocate and the code, he is no
scholar. Indeed it looks as il we
had reached that point where we
do not need scholars. Mr.. Wick
life is no doubt very good man,
but just what he will do with the
intricate questions of law that
must necessarily be brought before
him, when he can't inform himself
with whole library before him,
simply because he is ignoran! of
the language in which it is written,
| am unable to see. He may do
like some OF the senators--borrow
an occasional point, as will be
seen by the following "pointer"
picked up in the senate chamber
Immediately after the vote was
taken on Baugh's motion to ia-cor-
rect the record. The debate was
a little warm and the opposition
were having the best of the argu-
ment when a Jealous Harris man
and an official of the senate
undertook to post one Of the sena-
tors. make this point, that
nothing but motions to be acted
on are to be recorded in the jour-
nal and there was no motion as
part of the procedure"
With three or four exceptions
the senators are without expert
ence. Fargo has been in the
house but is no speaker; Wolf,
Sanders and Greece, of.the Nation
ais, have all been on the floor of
the senate as members before and
have about all the knowledge of
precedents and usages there is in
the chamber.
The allotment idea either east
or west does not seem to take
among the fullblood Indians and it
is going to be no little job to ever
get them to see it that way and
politicians are afraid TO offer a
word in explanation Of the plan.
don't believe there will for the
present be any steps taken by the
administration to sell, allot or do
else with the Strip. We
have the promise of the Cherokee
commission and the senate sub
committee to come, and until some
thing else is offered by the govern
ment the administration has no