The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-08-26
THE LATEST INDIAN SCANDAL
(Sioux City Tribune

(Sloux City Tribune.)
Several years ago a lawyer om
McMurray went about among tba
Chlckasaw n Choctow Indians nro-
curing them one by one until the
several thousand of them had sign
eo a contract to pay him 10 per
cent or the price for selling their
Oklahoma lands.
McMurray knew what the Indians
did not know, that the lands were
very valuable, that a syndicate had
already been organized in New York
to take them and that he, pretend
ing he would perform some valu-
able service as selling gent, had
really nothing to do but procure the
signatures of the more or less ig-
norant n unsophisticated Indians
to the 10 per cent contract.
Instead of being agent for the In
dians, as he pretended to be, he was
in reality agent for the syndicate to-.
procure the to a contract that
put the lands ostensibly into his con-
troll, but in reality into control of
the syndicate.
The Indian department of the gov
eminent that should have been
guarding these Indians looked on,
congress looked on, and the old game
that the white men have been play
ing on the red men from time inn
memorial, getting their lands for less
than they were worth, went on, Nc
Murray and his assistants in behalf
of this syndicate proving first
among the Indians in Oklahoma and
later among the congressman and
senators at Washington, and it was
all about to be consummated when
Senator Gore of Oklahoma, who,
without eyes, could see it was a rot
ten deal, stood up in his place in
the senate and offered a resolution
providing hat the contract with the
Indians should not be binding nor
carried out without the sanction Of
congress.
This sudden and unexpected in
reference with it's plans about to be
consummated Jared the syndicate.
1t could begin to see trouble ahead.
If the Oklahoma Senator would make
such a move as hat he would go
} further and would maybe expose the
inward r~ascality of the whole affair
when the time came, and something
must be done to get his hindering in
Auence out of the way. Accordingly
Jake l.. Hamon went TO Senator
Gore the next day and offered him
$4,000 if he would keep still and
allow the deal to go through. Cora
refused, and told the senate of the
attempt to bride him.
The commission now investigating
the matter heard Cores story in full
at Muskogee, where he said that Ha-
mon told him that Vice President
Sherman and other members and
ex-members of congress were inter-
ested in the deal. The vice president
and the other accused deny. They
do not dispute what Gore says as to
what Hamon told him. They aen.
that they were interested in the MIC
Murray contracts, as Hamon said
they were. The effect Of their denial
is to say that Hamon lied about
them while he was trying to bribs
Gore.
Now, what are the corroborating
circumstances? 1t is for the invests
eating committee to get at that.
There is one circumstance that
points to the guilt of ex-senator Long
of Kansas. He went to President
Taft in behalf of the contract. What
did Vice President Sherman do:
What was his attitude and the atti-
tide of the others who were
by the Hamor statement to Gore?
The investigating committee, If it
is in earnest, can get at these cor
roborating circumstances. In the
meantime the vice president cannot
afford to rest his cause on a simple
denial. The vice president is now
r advertised to speak at a number of
places throughout the country in
this campaign. He cannot afford to
pose before the public as the leader
OF the party, o can the party vot-
ers, in the name of the party, af-
ford to c~ountenance him until this
embarrassment is relieved by
something stronger than his mere