The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-03-27
SAM SMALL AT HOME.
HE GIVES HOMA'TERRITORYA
GREATNEND OFF.
People Want More Money-~The Gentleman
States that he is Not aTCandidate for
any Office, Being too Busy.

States that he is Not aHCandidate for
any Office, Eeing to" Busy.
Rev. Sam Small returned Tuesday night
from four months tour in the west and a
soJourn in Oklahoma City, where he has
the control of the leading democratic jour-
nal OF the territory, The Daily Oklahomian.
Mr.. Small looks in the best of health and
was greeted warmly by lis host of friends,
VINO are unwilling TO see him abandon Geor
sla too long at a time. IN an interview
yesterday he spoke freely and interestingly
Of the status OF affairs tn the far west
What of Oklahoma" he was asked.
"Oklahoma Territory, in the main portion
of it. is about the finest area of land in the
great west. Its agricultural fertility is as
great as that OF any virgin land ever
brought under settlement in the United
States and the variety of its already proven
products runs from the finest of hard
wheat to the best of cotton. Oklahoma
only five years old next month. took seven
first premiums on agricultural products at
the worlds fair, and also the first premium
over the world for flour made from sofa
wheat. The land is rolling prairie with
some wooded sections along the rivers, and
is settled by a population that shows every
promise or permanency and progressive
thrift. OF course there are many adven-
turers and spectators in new country
such as Oklahoma, especially in the newly
settled Cherokee strip portion, but these
seldom hold on long; they drop off in time
from exhaustion of their speculative re-
sources and move on to fresher fields of
soonerism. But the prospect before Okla
homa is for a state that will be one of the
mos. eligible, prosperous and productive in
the southwest. She will be a southern and
democratic state in sentiment, provided she
is early accorded statehood and home rule
nv dam flo ,t.,;r.
What is the prospect tor statehood just
noW?"
I'VE can hardly tell. There are two
statehood bills now before the committee
of the house and it IS hoped that of
them may get through this congress. But
we know there serious distractions in
the way Of statehood. OnSthe one hand
the Indian Territory people object to being
Joined in statehood with Oklahoma, and
the other hand it is reported that the presi-
dent does not want the four western terri
tories given statehood on the ground that
they Will return silver men to the senate.
The bulk of the people in Oklahoma, how
ever, want statehood for the reason that
territorial government has shown itself in
adequate, unpatriotc and opposed by it's
very constitution to the best development
of popular interests Home rule is needed
and demanded, and the people out there.
with the Chicago platform before them.
think democratic congress cannot con-
ststently refuse mat boon to them much
longer. SO we hope daily to hear that Gen
eral Wheeler. who is southern home rule
democrat, has brought in a bill to admit
Oklahoma at this session of congress-"
How is the territory governed now?'
"By officials appointed by a governor
who is appointed oy the president. The
present governor is a democrat. Governor
Renfrow. formerly of North Carolina. and
latterly in the dentistry trade in Arkansas.
lie is a good man himself, personally, but
has had no administrative experience, and
his selection for the office is of the
mysteries of the national ..dm ira zion.
He has very bad adviser in Receiver
Ross, Of the Oklahoma City land office
VINO is q small bore politician, opposed to
statehood and anXiou to keep up terri
torial conditions so lons as he can boss the
national and territorial appointments. The
consequence is that, unless either the pres
ent administration out there is reformed
speedily or statehood and me rule is
granted, the 'ocratic pc II fail to
secure the. val of the Ina the
territory will fail into repub,. IN hands at
the first opportunity"
Are there many immigrants coming into
the territory?"
Yes. There are daily arrivals of men of
means. character and enterprise. When
land titles and values out there become
more settled the rush to Oklahoma of valu-
able citizens VIII be unprecedented, / am
sure. Oklahoma City has upwards of TO-
000 people now and her population is grow
ing every week. The opportunities for men
of means and industry out there are i'm
.Herse."
"You have some Georgians out there to
keep company with
"Oh, yes there are a number of Georgia
men in Oklahoma. There is Amos Fits.
Of the town site board at Perry--he is cor
respondent for my paper-and all the ole
compositOrs of me Constitution will re-
member his famous Greeley riValing chi
Biography and sympa thize with my force Of
printers. Amos is one Of the leading lights
of the phenomenal city of Perry and is
greatly esteemed, as ne deserves to be.
At Guthrie you can find VIII Searcy, OF
Griffin, in the registers Office, ana he is
now a candidate for the registers place,
made vacant by the death of Register
Lindsay. Senator Louis Davis, OF Toccoa,
is registered at Perry, and Patterson, OF
Macon is registered at Enid. Then / meet
Colonel Tom Olive Of olive bin fame in
Georgia, who is a special agent Of the in
terror department. Yes, you can meet
Cfeorgians al almost every turn out there
and l have bushcl of letters from other
Ge0rSians who are seemingly anxious 70 go
there"
"IIoW are the people talking, politically,
n the West?'
We'll, they are talking brsky and yet
so vaguely that one finds it hard to say
, what is the general trend of opinion out
there. On the currency question the people
are all demanding financial legislation that
viii enlarge the volume of money in this
country. They are almost for the re-
compton of the democratic pledges OF 1882
and understand those pledges to mean as
fair treatment to silver as to gold. But
since the repeal of the Sherman bill, the
$50000,000 bona issue ana the silence q tha
president on the seigniorage coming propo-
siton the people are wholly at sea as to
what the policy of the party is to be-so
they ease their ignorance by cussing The
goldbugs and crying Tor more money! In
Kansas and Colorado the public temper
is growing decidedly anti-denocratic, popu-
lstic, or anarchstic as you please. But
in Texas there is successful movement
for harmony as to state affairs and an
agreement to relegare national issues to
the eXiGencieS of the future. Both south
west and northwest there are freely ex-
pressed fears that the financial question
will turn the scale in the fall elections
and return a republican house of repre-
sentatives. But if the seigniorage bill is
signed that dread Will pass away and re-
neWed energy will characterize the demo-
cratic campaigns out there
How about that report that you would