Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-08-15
WOOD HAS LOST OUT
Might Have Been Governor of
Oklahoma Eventually.
AyARlCE KILLS HIM POLITICALLY
Legality of Lottery Plan to Be Con-
tested-Effort to Be Made to Upset
Entire DraWing-May Vet Be Chance
for Homesteaders.

Kansas City, Aug. 13.-According to
Judge Marum of Woodward, there VIII
Iassuredly be steps taken to upset the
recent land lottery in Oklahoma. Judge
Marum is a member OF the law flrm OF
Houston & Marum.
I'VE will go into court to contest the
lottery and we will win said Judge
Marum recently as he sat in the lobby
of the Midland Hotel. "The question
we will raise will be. Has congress
the power to delegate to the president
the right to unmake old laws and make
new ones?' 1t has not, and Oklahoma
| is being settled today under laws I'M
made and made. For instance, no man
can take up land until he has examined
| it for mineral. If he finds mineral on
! it, he cannot hold it. If he does not
! find mineral then he can prove UP on
| it. Claims are being sworn to as non
mineral bearing. We know, and ev-
eryone knows, the claimants have not
prospected to discover whether or not
there is mineral on Them The con
sequence is their non-mineral oath is
false and we propose to undo the lot
terry"
Then who will get the land?'
The first man to file on it.
Already they are being squatted on.
1t will be well for the man who drew
the claim to be on it the day the deci-
sion is given knocking out the lottery,
because, if he is not there, a squatter
will be and the squatter will have the
prior right, which right counts for
something under the homestead act.
Those lands are today open to home
steaders, lottery or no lottery The
lottery was wrong. 1t has no standing
in law 1t will all be thrown out"
Politics are bristling in the three
new counties and the country at large
will be entertained if it watches devel-
iopments Marum, democrat, IS
swearing by Ex-Governor Barnes, de-
claring him the ablest governor we
ever had" notwithstanding Barnes is
a republican. Barnes may be the man
who will retain Temple Marum to in
stitute the legal proceedings which
Judge Marum says would be institut.
ed.
Is there any money to back the
scheme?" the judge was asked.
There is world of people to back
it up, was the answer. There were
over 10000 people who got claims and
10000 people who got left. You don't
suppose those 100000 people will fail
to support the man who fights to get
homes for them, do you?" the judge
asked in his wise way. Most of that
great crowd is today in Oklahoma
4 rrcre- WIN ue-tIv Iavn
to fight the battle when it is com
menced
; When will it start?"
Just as soon as the non-minera
, oaths come in was the reply
Judge Marum says Wood, the Wea
} therford man who drew No. | and who
: crowded Matte Beals away from the
. townsite, had a perfect right to take
. his claim on the shoestring plan, in
stead of selecting 100 acres in the form
of square, taking up the 40-acre
. tracts running along the entire from
!; of the townsite He had right to dc
. that said Judge Marum. There arr
:. 5000 homesteads today in old Okla
/. homa taken up on that plan. There
;. has been decade OF precedence tt
give Wood the right, but when Woo
exercised that right and took tina
claim he threw away the governorshil
of Oklahoma.
h Yes" the judge went on, eff Woo
had said L won't crowd woman out
!. | will step aside for this woman, ant
il had dropped to the foot of the list TO
/, the day, he could have been governo
!. of Oklahoma for the asking. There i
nothing the people had to give h
Il might not have had. He lost the OF
:. portunity three-fourths of the men il
V Oklahoma are today striving for. Al
s empire with 100000 brave people i
q it, richer far than Wyoming, Nevad
a or Rhode Island Oklahoma will 500
v be state, and that man Wood dreN
q the goyernorship when he drew tlcke
+. No. l. But he ate his ticket and toda
he is unpopular
% He Went into the lottery Tor tn
q money there was in it, just as me
% went into the Louisiana lottery H
drew claim worth $4,000 and did nj
h propose to divide it with the secon
@ one. If he had felt he ought to, the
s he should have taken but one forty o
a the face of the town and let Mis-
r. Beals and the holder of ticket No.
" and ticket No. each have a forty o
y the township front. That would hay
been fair. What would have been th
II capital prize would have been to hay
Of stepped manfully and diplomaticall
Sc to one side Then nobody on cart
could have beaten him for anythin
s. he might have asked"
ID What is Miss Beals claim worth
lie 1T would not sell for more tina
Of $4,000 There was only one capt.
It. prize.
Judge Marum says Oklahoma
Is surely democratic. THE new distri
lg is 8 to 1 democratic he adds. IF tt
government had opened all the land c
fees for registration it would hay
OF been republican. because the stay-a
st home republicans would have registe
ed. But the Rock Island wanted
make people pay fares to Ell Reno. N,
every republican had the $50 it co