The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1909-02-13
46THJEWEL IN THE
NATIONAL D|ADEM
Senator Owen ExtoIs the Virtues Of
Oklahoma at Annual Banquet
of jewelers. Organization.

Senator Owen represented Okla
homa before the annual banquet OF
the Jewellers of the United States at
the Delmonico, New York. This
beautiful banquet, with four hundred
notable guests, had invited Senator
owen as the guest of honor to de-
liver the principal speech of the oc-
casion, which he did in answer to the
toast 'The 46th Jewel in the Nation
al Diadem- Oklahoma"
The jewelers. Circular-W Weekly of
New York gives the following ac-
count of the speech;
Senator Owen, the next speaker,
tall, handsome, and in the prime Of
manhood, captivated his hearers at
once and held the attention of every
body in the room from the moment
he said his first word until the end
Of his closing paragraph. His clear
diction and apt phrasing and the
beautiful flow of language in which
he expressed, not in simile or fantas-
tic metaphor, but in syllogistic clau-
ses, his ideas ON his State; upon inn
portant economic questions and upon
how they had been served in his
commonwealth, held every ear; ex-
ceDt when he was interrupted by ap-
plause the silence of his auditors
paid most eloquent tribute to the
speaker. Ills discourse was a mass
Of facts, but they were as interesting
as if they were anecdotes instead.
Senator Owen discussed the 46th
Jewel in the National Diadem--Okla-
homa. He told OF its size, showing
it as large as Massachetts Connect
icut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, Vermont, Delaware and
the half Of New York combined. It's
wonderful fertile soil, fine climate,
it's fruits flowers and tress, it's artes-
ian waters, its wonderful resources
in lead, zinc, granite, marble, gyp-
sum, etc, were all dwelt upon as was
its great fields, its wonderful gas and
oil field and its fine rivers. Above
all, he enlarged on the Oklahoma Con
stitution, establishing the Initiative
and Referendum, the mandatory pri-
mary, the control of monopoly the
protection and safety of capital in
vested in legitimate enterprises, and
the manner in which the constitution
accomplished this. The immunity
bath" given to State witnesses, who
are called upon to uncover crime or
conspiracy, whether in civil or Grim
inal cases, was pointed out as step
in advance of all present corrective
legislation.
The speaker pointed out the evil
effects of our present national laws,
by which monopoly fiourishes, as
men, in spite of every modern advance
and modern opportunity, and modern
invention, We're not enjoyed proper
tionately to their intelligence, indus
try and moral worth these opportun
tiles of life
He attacked the evils of the ex
cessiVe accumulation of wealth IN
the few hands, and its crushing effect
upon the weaker elements of the ma
tion, and showed how the Oklahoma
Constitution provided for the correct
ion of these evils; provided for the
rule Of the intelligent masses of the
people in their own behalf, controlling
land monopoly controlling the purity
of the laws against the lobby, against |
corrupt practices and other evil agen-
cies to entrench special interests. He |
pointed out emphatically that the |
criticisms against Oklahoma's consti- |
tuition were utterly untrust-worthy |
and could be attributed to articles |
prepared in the interest of those who |
had been dealing unfairly with the
body of the people.
Many facts presented in Senator |
Owens speech caused considerable |
surprise. particularly the statement |
that Oklahoma today has population |
greater than any of 26 states of the
Union: also that this year it will de-
liver more petroleum than did the en-
tire United States at the last census,
and that pipe lines run direct from
Oklahoma to New York and the Gulf
of Mexico
However the material wealth of the
state, he claims, was the least of all
its great value to the country. the
greatest being the impetus it had Civ
en- to thought and reason, for in Ok
lahoma a new birth of freedom had
occurred and the greatest problem OF
modern times, namely, the more equal
of the products Of human
labor, was being solved.
His statement that New York and
New Workers were provincial was re-
ceived with laughter, together with
cries that's right and he explained