Mexico weekly ledger., 1893-12-21

~ NSAllpVA. Aoii fou alS hoh
lngi Laughter.
Mr.. Clark Of Missouri. Yes,
when you are fishing! Laughter.
! made this kind Of a proposition to
the men who were with me-that
the first place We came to that had
two rooms we would call for accom-
to stay all night. The
first habitation we met vas a tent
and a dugout. Well. | had an idea,
such as some of you gentlemen
have, that they were tough citizens
out there. We drove up and made
our request to stay all night, and
they told us we could do so. We sat
down to supper. They did not have
very much to eat, but it was nicely
cooked it was we'll served, and they
had napkins on the table. [Great
Laughter Wait a minute and l
will tell you something more.
Mr.. Dunn. Will the gentleman
allow me to ask him a question?
Mr.. Clark of Missouri. Wait till
l finish this sentence. l decline to
yield until | have done SO.
The fact that there were napkins
on the table led me into converse
ton with the lady and gentleman
who lived there. The man had
served his country in the army and
| wore a medal for heroic conduct, and
the woman was as intelligent and
refined a lady as any that live in
the city of Washington with all its
palaces. [Applause.] Such are
the people who live in dugouts in
Oklahoma. They are an honor to
any country. They are fit to have
been the fathers and mothers Of the
Gracchi. [Applause.1
Now I yield to the gentleman
from New Jersey for his question.
Mr.. Dunn. Are you in favor Of
admitting a State where they have
nothing to eat? Laughter
Mr.. Clark of Missouri. A man
may have very little to eat and still
be a good citizen. Applause.
Good citizenship does not necessar-
lily mean great riches and clipping
coupons and eating terrapin and
canvasback ducks, though some
people seem to think SO. Zap
plause. And remember that they
have had two harvests since then,
and a harvest out there means some,
thing. They raise 80, 40 or sc
bushels OF wheat to the acre. They
raise more stuff on one acre than
can be raised on forty in New Jersey.
Talk about it being a poor country
Why, it is a country that raises the
finest cotton that is produced in the
United States. They took the prem
ium at the Worlds Fair for cotton.
[Applause.l
A Member. Arkansas got it.
Laughter.
Mr.. Clark of Missouri. Well, !
do not know about that. | do not
want to say anything against Arkan-
sas; but if she got it | think she
must have hooked the cotton from
Oklahoma. Laughter.
Now, these people go out there
and subject themselves to great
hardshlps in order to establish
homes, but they are American citi.
zens, all. [AppIause.] They take
their rifles with them as a part OF
their accoutrement. [ undertake to
say, Mr.. Chairman, that if our
country were in peril, if we were en-
gagged in a general foreign war with
all of the nations of the earth, there
would be more volunteer soldiers
from Oklahoma, in proportion to the
population, than from any other
State in the Union, and they would
be made up one-half of the old
Union soldiers and the other half OF
the old rebel soldiers, and they
would vie with each other to see
who would fight the hardest for the
American flag. Applause. Let
no man, l do not care where he
comes from, assail the hardy
pioneers that go out into that wild
country and conquer the wilderness,
making it blossom like the rose.
[Applause.1 God bless them!
They are State-makers. After awhile
your children will go there; it may
be a good while, but finally after
these hardy pioneers have smoothed
the pathway your children will be
proud to be citizens of the great
state Of Oklahoma that is to be.
[Applause.l
Another thing, Mr.. Chairman,
and then | will conclude. l say l
do not know whether l shall vote for
the admission OF Oklahoma or not.
As far as l am individually concern
ed | would rather see the whole thing
come in together. But OF one thing
you may be as sure as that you live,
and that is / am not going to lose an
opportunity to so vote as to increase
in this House, and in the other end