The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1909-08-30

Sundays O|klahomau contained the
following:
Lee CruCc Of Nrdmore asserts
that the commercial interests Of the
state should lay the matter of the re-.
cent Indian land suits before presi-
dent Taft and Attorney General Wick
ersham, in an endeavor to prevent the
appeal of those cases to the higher
courts.
According to a newspaper arti.
cle,' said Mr.. Cruce. yesterday. "one
OF the assistant attorney generals re.
Gently stated that he had examined
the opinion of Judge X. l.. Campbell
in which the suits we're dismissed.
He regarded Judge Campbells opin.
ion as sound law. but believed tae
government would appeal on certain
pionts.
An appeal means that the whole
matter would be tied up in the courts
for three or four years, and Just "a
long as IL is a subject of litigation,
land titles of the east side of the
state will remain unsettled and the
proper development OF that section
of Oklahoma will be an absolute i'm.
possibility. To stop these cases with.
out an appeal does not deprive the
Indian of any of his rights under the
law. for according to the opinion OF
Judge Campbell the Indian citizen can
still file his suit in the state court
and set aside any conveyance obtain.
ed through fraud"
The object of the department of
the interior in filing these suits was
claimed to be for the protection and
interest of the Indian citizen. While
every character of business is suffer.
ing as a result of these suits, the
greatest penalty of all is being ex-
acted OF the Indian. II has stopped
all Legitimate competition In the our.
chase of lands and the only man VINO
will buy lands under present condi.
tions is the land Spectator who Is
willing to take chances on the aues.
ton OF title and thus procures the
land at his W price. Instances are
numerous in which Indians are selling
their lands to these spectators at
less than one-half the price offered
them Immediately prior to the filing
Of the suits.
The ~!niention of the secretary OF
the interior may have been a good
one, but the effort to carry his IN.
tention into execution has been dis
astrous. Instead OF making ~investi.
cations TO find out where frauds had
been perpetrated upon the Indian IN
bringing suits only where fraud was
found actually to exist, clerks and
s~tenographers who had no knowledge
of law were sent to the differer
towns in that portion of the state
where transfers OF real estate are
kept and lists made of all transfers
of lands sold by any Indian allottees.
From these lists suits were filed to
cancel all such transfers. Many suits
were filed to cancel transfers from
one person 10 another where neither
the purchaser nor the seller had, nor
ever claimed TO have, a single drop
of Indian blood.
More han 10000 such suits were
filed and it is doubtful If among the
entire lot n per cent of them were
on their merits.
NO greater wrong has ever been
perpetrated by any government upon
its citizens than the outrage involved
in this litigation. The result has
been TO cast a cloud upon all titles
to land in the eastern portion OF the
state, e%ntailing a loss upon the people
interested that can hardly be caicu-
lated. Until these suits are finally
settled there can be no real progress
and development OF eastern Oklaho-
ma"