The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1906-02-26

| retired lately as United States attor-
| ney in the Southe m district, was call.
ed to Washington to receive instruc'
tlons concernig certain cases. IL is not
! asserted that the official in the depart.
ment OF justice was moved by unwor.
| thy motives, but that he had been mis-
| led by the representations of adroil
lobbyists when he told Johnson that
the indictments would be Qiashed
johnson is a Kentuckian, Of sandy
complexion and belligerent tempera.
ment. He Is quoted as replying that
He'd be damned If he would do aay.
| thing OF the kind He was asked "
he did not think sucn language 10 a
superior officer was gross insuborll
nation. Johnson's alleged reply was:
Il have no superior officer wh1
stands above my official oath to DO
my duty in punishing crime; you clr
remove me from Office and get my lob,
but ~! he damned If you can tel no
Wndl my uuly 10
Shortly Afterwards an order was
made removing Johnson from olIlca
This order was followed quickly by
another from President Roosevelt, re.
instating him, and the indictments
were mover quashed. Citizens of In
dian Territory would like to know
what took place between the removq
Of Johnson and his reinstatement.
Washington dispatches indicate that
one fthe most important features OF
the proposed investigation will be the
probing OF the litigation of the last
few years of 1900 or 1000 persons,
known as the "court citizenship claim.
ants" to establish their rights to a
per capita share OF the property OF
| the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations
| In a special court, from which there
was no appeal, n majority of these
claimants were defeated. The cry in
Washington Is that gross injustice
was inflicted thereby on hundreds OF
men and women who have lived in
these nations for years and were known
as tribal citizens Naturally, the
claims of these persons were opposed
by the tribal governments, and the
law firm OF Mansfield, McMurray &
Cornish of South McAlester was EN-.
ployed undc. a contract giving them a
| fee of ten per cent of the property
involved in every case they defeated
The total amount involved was be.
tween Is and 30 million dollars. Al,
the claimants were not defeated, but
most of them were, and Mansfield,
McMurrray & Cornish were paid more
| than one million dollars in spite of the
wrathful opposition OF Secretary Hitch
cock. I...
Nobody believes that these lawyers
received more than a limited share
Of this enormous fee. Washington dis.
patches allege that they got between
| 100000 and n half million dollars
The balance was divided among the
lobbyists, etc If the books of the ma
tional banks in Indian Territory and
| Arkansas could be laid open much
light, IT is alleged. could be thrown up
on the distribution of much of this
money.
Conservative citizens of Indian Ter.
ritory suspect that a number of the
Washington champions Of the court
| claimants are in danger of making a
sentimental display of ignorance. 1t
may be true that claimants entitled
to citizenship We're wrongfully defeat.
ed. n defeated claimant being worth
about 500 to the fee syndicate, while
n winner would be worth nothing to
the syndicate. and would cost the tri.
bal government about $1,000 in land
and money.
There is just as much certainty,
however, that the grossest frauds were
attempted by many of the claimants
who were not entitled to citizenship
and that the litigation was a whole
sale opportunity for unworthy persons
to fasten themselves as parasites up
on the tribal governments. Here are
a number OF incidents disclosed in the
proceedings of the citizenship cour:
A scheme often employed by claim
ants was to select some tribal citizen,
long since dead. and distinguished
among his people, from whom to trace
their descent. Ex-slaves and aged In.
dians were induced 10 make afidavits,
and usually they swore TO whatever
was suggested to them. There were
more than n score of such witnesses
/