The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1909-10-26
BUT SMALL PER CENT
OF LESSEES PROTESTED
GoyeTnor Haskell Says Lessees
Committee Must Cease
UniaITneSS

The appraisement and adjustment
work recently in the nine counties
where 250.000 acres Of state lands
are TO be sold. has been more sue
cessful than the school land com
mission and the advisory committee
of the school land lessees had ex-
pected, according TO the statement
made by Secretary E o. Cassidy al
the meeting OF the school land com
mission last evening. In answer TO
the statements by members Of the
lessees' committee who reported that
the lessees We're not in any manner
satisfied with the appraisements.
Secretary Cassidy backed up his as
sertion by producing the records of
the department, which showed that
less than 10 per cent OF the lessees
in the nine counties had refused to
sign an acceptance of the adjust
ments made by the commission.
whidl the lessees' committee agreed
was being carried out according 10
the schedule agreed upon between
the commission and the lessees. In
Kiowa county, where the majority Of
the kicks had been received by
the Iessees' committee, namely from
the county officers, to the effect that
the assessments were unfair and that
politics vas being played in the
work. Secretary Cassidy showed that
1875 out of 204 iessees had signed
The adjustment made by the field adj
justers. IN Garfield county l52 out
OF l5S lessees accepted the appraise-
ment and the same ratio was borne
by tie records in the other seven
counties in which the adjustments
have been made.
Tosh Reiterates Statements.
J b. Tosh, chairman OF the les
sees committee. insisted that the
charges made were true, but Secre-
tary Hyde reported that the com
mittee's Information came from the
lessees' county organizations, and
not from the lessees who had signed
the adjustments
Secretary Cassidy stated that the
department. had not received a
single complaint from any lessee who
had accepted hts adjustment and
declared the statement that the les
sees were driven to sign the ac-
ceptances were made fog political
purposes and that the charges were
childish In the face of the records
which showed conditions to be 10
the contrary
No Politics In IT,
Governor Haskell, whose position
as chairman OF the school land board
makes him itH spokesman, said that
the board had been adjusting ap-
praisements on a basis fair 10 the
lessee, and stated tlaat in Lincoln
county alcne $4,000 had been taken
from the appraised valuation of the
$4,000 acres OF land there, and $780,
900 aided 10 the Improvements. The
charge that only Democratic farm
er could gel loan from the school
land dapartmens the governor refnt
ed by giving ms example from Kiowa
county, where. when elghty-seven
farm loans had been made an exam
nation of the list of farmers to
whom loaned showed forty-four of
ther1 to be Republicans and forty
bhles Democrats
The lessees' committeeman were
also inclined TO charge that the adj
justers were not adjusting improve
ment appralsemAnts hy the schedule
agreed on. but varied from II widely
at times
ANY attempt 10 play politics with
this matter Of adjusting school land
appraisements will be levying an
assessment on the lessees, and won't
20 here moment. The lessees com
mittee must cease its nnfairness
with the school land commissioners