The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1903-07-13
WONDERFUL INTERVIEW.
Jhdge Gill Says Territory Officials
Court Investigation.

trict Of Indian Territory, was here
for short time today. He form.
erly lived at Colby, Kan, and has
gone out there to spend week .
" "In my judgment the officials
b Of the Indian territory are not
afraid Of an investigation by the
Washington officials" said he.
''In fact. they rather court it after
wthe many insinuations that have
Z been thrown out concerning their
official dishonesty. Taken as a
whole the officials in all depart
ments OF the territory are az COM
petent and honest as those of the
& states. The courts and the Dawes
commission are just as separate as
the supreme conrt Of Kansas and
the Kansas railroad board. They
are entirely different branches OF
territorial government. inspect
ors at intervals, drop into the
territory and inspect the records
Of each department, and the fact
that they have found nothing
wrong is a pretty fair indication
that the officials are honest"
"The four federal judges OF the
Indian territory do more work
than any twenty judges in Kansas.
This is due to the large amount OF
crimes committed there and the
endless number OF civil cases
growing out Of the settling ap Of a
new country.
lone remarkable thing concern
ing crime in the territory is that
rc0sl of the criminals are young
men, said Judge Gill. "Ninety
per cent Of them are under %
years'of age. Crime is hereditary
/. with them. At the close Ct the
civil war the Indian country be-.
came a refuge for the criminal
class. Children OF these criminals
inherited crime.
+. They never had any educational
advantages and could not equip
themselves for the ordinary duties
OF a citizen. 0nly A very small
per cent Of them can read and
write. Ii wasn't hard for them to
steal living and 50 they became
criminals. Many women are mix
ed in the crimes, but they are
scarcely ever caught. The men
protect them. Hanging Is about
over 10 the territory. The juries
there have the option Of banging
mao or sending him to prison
for life. La recent years they re-
commend life imprisonment and
the courts must follow their recon-
mendations. That is, the court
can not sentence q murderer to
death if the jury has found bim
guilty with recommendation that
\ be be not hanged.
"Another peculiar thingl have
discovered is that there Is less
crime near the Kansas line 10 the
territory than elsewhere" " contin-
ued Judge Gill; "In that division
OF my district which borders on
Kansas I have from one to five
criminal cases to try a term.
Further south crime seems to in
crease The district along the
Arkansas line is the worst II Is
frequent thing 10 have $50 to 200
criminal cases on the docket there
each term. II shows that the civ
liking influences Of the people Of
Kansas have good effect on the
territory.
"The Indian country is badly
handicapped for lack Of facilities
to care for the insane. We need
an asylum there the worst way.
We have been sending most Of our
insane to Washington but the asy-
lum there is full and don't know
what We are going to do from now
on. The insane laws are very
lame also. There is 20 way to
take a per son into custody on the
charge Of insanity. He must be
charged with a crime and thrown
into jail, even thoeh he basu's
....-tt.l - orfnoo IL Il tba