Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-22

OF Congress. The land has all been given
aWay-all distributed among the members
OF the different trfbes-but no citizen can
reach his own farm without crossing the
land OF his neighbor, and he has no legal
authority for doing that. Congress will
have to go back and begin again, and put
machinery. by which the courts can re-
cover by condemnation a sufficient small
portion Of the land that has just been
given away for highway purposes.
Inen now bridges are to be built and
how the roads are to be paid for is an
even more serious problem. In its un-
reasonable generosity to the Indians Con-
gresSs has provided that their lands shall
not be taxed, but has made no provision
for raising revenues for public purposes.
AS told you the other day, in all the
volumes OF legislation which Congress
has enacted for the government of this
territory there is no provision for the
erection of a school house, the building
of bridge or the grading of road.
Cities Without Pavements.
Even in the cities there is no provision
for paving the streets or even reducing
them to grade. The law provides that the
ordinances which prevail In the cities of
Arkansas shall be applied to those of In
dian Territory, and the citizens here are
compelled to accept them. These ordi-
Eances, however, are old-fashioned and
were never framed for an enterprising,
up-to-date community like Muskogee,
which has grown from 5000 to 10000 or
1900 people within the past four years,
and continues to increase at the rate of
&c or % per cent each year. You cannot
look in any direction without seeing a
number OF new business blocks and resi-
dences In the course of erection. No city
of its size in the country has a finer ho-
tel, better office buildings, wholesale
stores, retail establishments and resi-
N al in nv re-
spect to any in Washington. except in
size, has just been completed. There is no
better in New York city except for deco
rations There is big jail in Muskogee,
opposite the opera house and the princi-
pal hotel, which, In its dimensions and
architectural pretensions, Is equal to most
of the hotels in New England cities of
this size; and you can sit in your room
and hear the colored prisoners sing camp
meeting hymns with great fervor.
Education and Prohibition.
There are four colleges in Muskogee-the
Henry Kendall College, under the care of
the Presbyterian Church; the Indian Uni
versity, under the Baptists; the Spaulding
Institute for Young Women. under the
care of the Methodists, and the Nazareth
Institute for both sexes, under Catholic
supervision. The public school system is
conducted, and the school houses
churches-more than one church per LOCO
population. including men, women and chill
dren-which seems to be an excessive sup
ply of the means Of grace; but Muskogee is
eminently a church-gong community, and
nearly all Of the different denominations are
represented. There are no saloons in the
town, but there Is big soda water foun-
tain On every block, where you can find
large part of the population these warm
evenings, drinking lemonade, root beer and
ice-cream sodas: Ninety per cent of the
guests of the Jail are detained there for In
whisky into the community
There is a line of trolley cars reaching the
most populous portions of the city, and a
big viaduct is being constructed to carry
them over the railroad tracks. But what
strikes the visitor most fercfbfy- ana urfa-
vorably is the condition of the streets A
few blocks are paved with brick, but
the greater part of the business
as wen as the residence section there are
no pavements or sidewalks; and some Of the
most frequented streets are often impassa-
BILE. Under the Arkansas municipal system,
which Congress has imposed upon this peo-
pie, there Is no way of laying pavements
or compelling property-owners to do so, so
that the public has to suffer from the par
simony of few citizens. A committee of
the Commercial Club went to Washington
last winter and appealed to Congress to give
them what is called the Omaha system"
under which the city authorities may pave
a street and assess the charges against the
abuttlng real estate upon a petition of q
majority of the property-owners But Con-
sress had no time to hear them. Now, each
Individual can lay his own sidewalk and
pave his own section of street whenever he
desires to do so. and he can choose his
own kind OF pavement. If the property is
owned by minors or is in litigation the
street cannot be paved at ALL
The worst spot l saw in Muskogee is a
stagnant pond of considerable size on the
principal shopping street, in front of 200
feet of property owned by person who. l
an told. is one of the largest property own
ars In Muskogee and never improves any
thing Several other large property-hold-
ars refuse to pave their streets or Law side
walks