The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-17
HolO To, the Poor Lndian,
 Bossed Oklahoma Contention

1 to come, for the naughty politicians O Oklahoma Congress had forbidden th' l liquor traffic in the Indian Territor, part of the new State. The Indians said they wanted no monopoly of { good thing and they voted to take pro- l hibition into the new Constitution. Both the manufacture and sale of liquor are forbidden. And there are several frantic breweries in Oklahoma still struggling desperately to have that
 cause modified. But the Indian is un- | relenting.
 Curious enough, despite his appetite ! for nrewater, when 1t is thrust before him. Lo is a rabid proh1bitionist when 1 1t comes to voting. He recognizes the desirability of keeping the stuff at a l safe distance. And he thinks that l same sort of absent treatment ought to do the white man good
 The Constitutional Convention has twice clashed with President Roosevelt. The first time it had about decided to include a clause forbidding any indi- vfdual. concern or corporation bring ing armed guards Into the State with out the Governors consent The Pres
 ident declared this to he a violation of
 liberty, and persecution. If 1t went in
 he would not accept the Constitution.
 Hell have to- shouted one of the
 whiskered lawyers from Oklahoma.
 He has no authority under the En- abling act to reject our Constitution as
 long as 1t Is republican in form and
 conforms to the Enabling act.' All of Oklahoma's cornfield lawyers talked
 likewise.
 Then Lo. the untutored red man,
 stood up and had his say.
 That is all right about the President not having authority" he agreed mild ly. That Is also my view. But the point is that If he says he will reject our Constitution he'll do 1t anyway. authority or no authority. You ought to know Roose gelt by this time"
 It went out
 Both Against the Negro.
 Likewise on the race question. which is funny one in. the new State. For there are the copper-colored citizens who are proud of their color. The In- dians are the big land owners and the aristocrats. They call themselves In- dians when they have but the faintest trace of Indian blood. Indeed, it Is hard for stranger to pick out the
 Indians". The whites and the Indians associate as equals and intermarry. But neither wants to have anything to do with the negro.
 The Five Tribes were shareholders themselves But the Creeks complicated Sft1 tIAhEs IhoS0 dAyS, Dy lnL1T1n4F- rying with their negro slaves. They are not proud of this now, and Creeks with trace of negro blood insist on being considered as pure Indians. In this troublesome situation there could be no "color" line. and definition of what constituted negro" was consid- cred imperative. For Indians and whites are determined to hive Jim Crow laws. The present Constitutional Convention is almost unanimously Democratic be- cause that party called itself the White Mans Party" and its leaders openly advised the negroes to support the Republican tickets. Consequently the Republican tickets. with many ne@ gro candidates and stamped with the name Black Mans Party. was knifed in scandaious fashion by white Republi- cans.
 But Roosevelt interfered again with the proposition to put a Jim Crow clause in the Constitution. The h. dian Constitution framers were clever enough to get around that, however. They have decided to adopt a resolu- tion, which will not go into the Con stitution, advising the first Legislature to enact as statutes the Jim Crow clause they had intended to put in the And no one in Okla homa doubts for minute that this will be done.