The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-07-28
DRAWING
SYSTEM Is
ALI. RIGHT
Everything Is Fair and Open
About Il.
NO CHANCE FOR JOBBERY
As a Kansan Sees Opening al
Ell Reno.

FL Reno. o. T., July 2.-There never
was q system Of opening a new country
that was so successful as the on fnaug-
urated and put into effect in relation to
The Mowa- -Comanche country. There is
every element Of fairness and equity IN
It. There is no room for "jobs." Every
thing is open and above board. Cover
nor Richards, assistant commissioner of
the general land Office, in charge Of the
opening at FL Reno, is man better than
whom for the work there could have
been none To his lasting credit is the
general success Of the thing.
Nearly 10000 persons have come to Fl
Reno in the last two weeks and have
been registered for the drawing which is
to begin Monday. This enormous crowd
has been disposed of creditably to the
government. Whatever may be said Of
the work Of grafters, the inconveniences
necessarily incident to the handling Of
large crowds by railroad and town; the
discomforts and other unpleasant cir
cumsIances-yet the work of the govern
ment through its representatives at FL
Reno has gone of like clockwork. There
has not been q hitch. The clerks and
Governor Richards have taken care Of
the people who have come down to reg
lister, with a regularity and celerity that
is commendable.
The fact that nearly 10000 persons have
come from al over the west to register
for 13 600 claims has excited some won
derment. 1t Is explained in a word. The
element OF chance; of speculation, if you
please, has been responsible. The fever
of speculation has a firm hold on Amer
3can people and it is shown In this mat
ter. Every man believes that # there
had been q haIf-miilion Of people regis
tered, he has an excellent chance, a cinch
to win. That is what has brought per
sons from Chicago to Colorado; from
Minnesota to Texas, to the capital Of
Canadian county to register for claims
which more than nine-tenths of them viii
not receive.
There is something OF sentiment in this
connection. The fact that the Kiowa-
Comanche country is the last Of the
public domain to be opened to public
settlement has excited something more
than common interest Delegate Dennis
Flynn said today and his words fifty ex-
press it:
The first thing IN the vast to become
extinct was the buffalo; next came the
Indian; now it is the public domain"
The buffalo and the Indian practically
have gone, and so now has the public
domain. The Choctaw-C -Chickasaw coun-
try has been allotted to the Indian in its
entirety; so has the Creek nation; and
there VIII be no more opening of land in
the west. This had added to the inter
est always attaching TO openings Of new
countries.
There probably never was a country
opened to homestead settlement where
SO much money went in as IN the present
Rffair. Every man who goes to the Eio-
wa-Comanche country takes more or less
money with him. Even the poor fellow
who has been hanging on the edges of
the new country for six months has
kept little money which he has made /
some way, and the latter arrivals have |
taken considerable sums with them in |
most instances. This win largely pre- /
vent the partial famine and suffering /
which almost inevitably result shortly /
after the influx Of thousands to a new /
country.
Everything is in readiness for the
drawing and tonight whether in the tent |
ed addition TO the city of Ii Reno; or on /
the plains Of the Kiowa-Comanche coun- /
try; around the toWnsite Of Lawton and /
other towns in the new country; all over /
Oklahoma or southern Kansas-wherever
he may be-every man who has regist- /
cred firmly believes he VIII land q claim
r. II FANON