The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1910-11-01
BUILDING
"A STATE
WHAT WAS DONE, WAY, AND
WHAT IT COST.
Public Buildings, Building Land Fund
and Credit

CHAPrER vi.

the people desire to promote educa
tIon, care for the unfortunate and de-
tain the prisoners, public buildings
are q necessity. This subject. like
all others pertaining TO state building
and state government, has been most
ricl0usly misrepresented by the old
Oklahoma Territory gang and the cor
pOrati0n press bureau In the cam
laiRn three Years ago the same gang
told tlieVyoters Of Oklahoma Territory
that they vpuid be required % bay
several million dollars taxes to open
and improve public roads III indian
Territory. Time has demonstrated
that statement was false and kuoNy
70 be false by those vino made H.
The same gang are now telling the
voters OF Oklahoma Territory that
they have been taxed TO build three
Thousand public school houses IN IN
dian Territory This Is another de-
liberate falsehood told simply 10 de-
ceiye the voters Bur enough Of The
falsehoods. le, us get TO the condi
lions.
Some years ago Congress assigned
about 27f,p00 acres OF thc public lands
10 Oklahoma for the building of pub.
lic Institutions. Ever since that time
these public building lands have been
rented and she rents iiaye aeeumu.
lated 70 BE devoted % the erection of
rublic buildings according 70 The
terms or lhc grant These rentals
have accumulated from year Is year
until at the beginning of state govern
lnent there was about i've hundred
seyenirfour thousand dollars Of this
ront money accumulated and available
for me coneimciion of public bnlid
ings This money the state found in
the string 81 banks known as the Joe
McNesl banks" The neopls 81 inc ter
ritory had been getting iAe benefit
Of only a gers small rate 81 niefest
o. this money. ranging from nothing
up TO the highest of Il three per cent
There is mo explanation given bg thr
territorial officers Az 10 wins they kept
this idle money on hand AT sneh ri lns
signiGcani tate of Interest when the
people 81 toe territory Nefc s0 axdiy in
need ~ having 4 invested ia the egecs
tion or necessary public buildings Il
was certainly grand source Of profit
70 Mr.. MeNesl 10 have thiS large SUM
90 mouey sl such 4 triflng RATE 0f
interest when his banke Wers loanine
the money 10 iheir customers a. OUT
rageously blgh rates The figures
show that ihs difference between the
small rate st lutcrsss the public vas
getting on this building fund and the
average rats of Interest al which NC
Meals banks we're rcloaninp the
money wouls give Mr. McNtai . press
Of little over CAe hundred ihirsy-t,No
thousand dollars year 1bls j. PROB
ably what MF McNesl would eai
more BUSINESS AND LESS POL
TICS" At ite same iimp ihe terri
tory had about fye hundred eleven in-
sane patients requiring public care.
and notwithstanding the large amount
Of public building iunds thar had been
laying IN the McNeal bapks. much -
i for several years there was no ln
sane asylum provided and lie patient
we're being kept al private asfiam
Al Norman Oklahoma. where the ief
ritoTy was paying the corporation that
owned the private ASYLUM such an ex
tra,sgant rate Tor keeping ihe pati
enis that the stock of the asylum COR
roraiiou was generally understood 90
Ne worth four hundred dollars tor 3
single one hundred dollar share And,
AZ vas shown ~ the reports when sbe
controversy came up about who owned
The asylum corporation Stock some
years before statehood st was found
that The AfcNeal bunch had lhe stock
under their control This. indeed. was
fat opportunity Keep the public
building money al an average Of iwo
per cent loan It TO the bank customers
at such tremendous profit IS The above
figures show. and then get the JON Of
taking care or the insane patients az
:; price iha, made the private asylum
companyE + stock worth such fabus
ious premium. Perhaps this Is what
Mr.. McNeal would call "MoRE BUsl-
NESS AND LESS POLITICS.
Prisoners
Also Tile state prisoners we're be-
ing kept under contract With the
State of Kanaas 4, forty cents each
per day. and ihe state az KANSAS got
the benenf at the labor performed
BY the prisoners There is no eYi.
denco thar the Guthrie gang got any
profit out oil this Kansas contract fur
ther yhnn the use Of the public hcild.
ing money. portion OF which should
have been invested in building a pen.
iteniisry so that the prisoners could
have been KEPT at home where they
could easily have been kept az thirty
cents each ner day and the value or
their labor would have made the lnsii
tuition self-susiaining. but. Of course,
70 have bnilt a pententisry would
have taken this large two per cent de.
posit out OF the McNeal string o.
banks, which would have been aood
politics but bad business -for Joev
with the advent of statehood the
size Of the state WAS doubled both III