The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-01-17
The aaeha 1aiIy EAGLE Eriday gorue gamuary IT.
WAS JU.>T A JOKE
KE 4DMIRES EXPLANATIONS OF
OKLAHOMA CITY CONVEN ZION.

Took PIzce-It Was All a Joke and Al
the Delegates Were Into 1t They Dit
Not Expect to Do Anything and COnse
quentIy Did Nothing-No One Wa
Drunk or Mad or Hurt-Eyerybody sat
isfied With the shawnee Convention.
Kingf1sher, o. T., Jan. 16.-(SpeciaL
Jake Admire, who attended the Okla
homa City convention, has this to say
in this weeks Kingfsher Free Press:
Much has been said about it:-muct
has been said by those who do not un-
derstand the situation. This is espec-
tally so of those outside of Oklahoma
who have assumed to deliver solemn
lectures on the subject. The pro-
ceedings of that convention have also
been very greatly exaggerated TO the
| disadvantage of the territory. The
convention has been described as an
angry, turbulent, ungovernable mob
| in which knives and pistols and threa IS
of violence cut big figure. The con-
vention was turbulant, and purposely
ungoverna'ble, but there was really no
anger, and no knives or pistols. No
| body wanted ITO fight except with his
mouth. After the meeting gathered
at Oklahoma City, before it met at the
| hall there was a widespread DISPOSE
tion to treat the whole matter as a joke
and on both sides, so far as there were
| two sides, there was serious deter
, mination to adjourn the convention
| without action.
The aIbsurdity of allowing two or
three men, assuming to represent the
Indian Territory or any pant of it, but
who really represented nobody, TO
come in to an Oklahoma convention
and, by casting fifty or more votes,
deciding whether the real people Of
Oklahoma wanted statehood or not,
was such a transparent farce, that
everybody laughed at ii. There was
really nothing for the convention to
do, but to have some fun. 1t had sew
eral bushels of that healthful tonic.
1t probably should never have been
called. and yet 1t did no harm. In it's
physical and intellectual results it
was better than whole train load of
patent medicine. This view of the
situation was apparent from the start
and the result was in keeping with
the general understanding. The Shaw
nee convention, which met a few
weeks before, was an orderly, deliber-
alive, friendly and thorough discussion,
it adopted a declaration upon the SUBJ
ject of statehood. 1t declared that
the people of Oklahoma want state
hood, and that they want it so earnest
~ that they are willing to leave all
details as to boundary lines to the judg-
ment of congress. But they are not
willing to wait until the vexed and
perplexing Indian question is settled.
unless congress chooses to settle it ait
once. They declared that they favored
statehood without any jumping-jack
string to the proposition. If congress
desires to include the entire Indian
Territory within the boundary lines
Of the state of Oklahoma, all well and
good. There is little or no objection
to that, as certainly would not be
done unless it was done in a rational
and orderly manner.
Politically speaking, there was no
politics in the last so-called Oklahoma
convention. There were no Demo-
Gratis, no Republicans and no Popu-
lists there. It was an assemblage of
good-natured intelligent, orderly,
law-albiding Oklahoma citizens, who
concluded, after looking the ground
over, to have a good time, and pro-
ceeded TO carry out that idea in the
highest style of the art 1t was fun
from first to last-good-natured, roll
licking, intelligent, harmless fun. The
chairman of the convention was a
Democrat of the most pronounced
type, and the person Judge Mackay)
who finally made the motion ITO ad-
Journ sine die, was a Democrat. This
motion was also delayed until the
proper moment for its rational con-
sideration was reached. 1t was not
made until the time for the climax had
and then it was offered with /
dignity, sumbitted to the convention /
calmly, and carried amidst the greatest |
That's all there was 10 !
that convention. 1t had accomplished /
its mission; and, that being done, the |
only thing left to be done, was to ad- 1
journ. OF course at the convention
there were a few solemn people, who !
are found in all public meetings and /
everywhere else, who are not able to .
a joke-who can never be /
provoked to hearty, good natured
laughter, no matter how irresistible /
the surrounding circumstances may
be. There are men who never smile
unless they are ''poked in the short 1
ribs" as the saying is. or the end of a
harmless traw is delicately applied to
the bottom of their naked feet Some
men of this class were at the Okla /
homa City convention, and their be
was so great that ii will
naturally take them a long time to
see through the joke that was perpe-
trated. When, however, they do wake
up, in the course of five or six months,
they will split their sides with laugh
ter and wonder why everybody else
S so solemn.
As before said, this Oklahoma City
convention has been made the text
'or some very solemn and very digni-
led lectures. Some have even gone
20 the extent of concluding that, be-
'ause Oklahoma people enjoy a joke
hey are, therefore, incapable OF self
government, and the uproarous bilar-
ty which charact erized the proceed
ngs on the occasion named is cited 5
evidence of that fact /
We have no use for a man who does
lot know when TO laugh The west !
5 full Of fat people-their adipose It's
sue Is not the result of overeating or |
is the rational pro-
iuct of hearty. sensible. harmless fun.
There was nothing wrong about the
Oklahoma City convention, whatever.
I II had broken up in such a disgrace
ul row as characterized the proceed
ngs of the Kansas legislature under
dwellings administration, in which
republicans, Democrats and Populists
4 nigh standing participated. or such
wild, reckless and dangerous riot as
occurred only a few months ago in the
'apital Of Indiana. in which many per-
ons were seriously injured. then there
night be grave doubt about our capa-
'ility for seIf-goverhment. Nothing
Il that sort occurred, however. Nobody
vas mad. nobody was hurt. nobody was
trunk. there were no serious threats Of