The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-06-17
J. M. ROBERTSON
ADVISES PEOPLE
TAXPAYERS SHOULD HESITATE
10 SIGN INITIATIVE PETITIONS
FOR SPECIAL ELECTIONS.
Editor Ardmoreite:

Editor Ardmoreite:
Loco, Okla, June 14.-Crop condi
tons in tnis part, generally speaking
are good. Most people are wei III
with their farm work. There are 4
lew small patches OF oats and they are
being cut this week. While crops NJ,
not suffering, a good shower Of rain
would be beneficial.
Loco is almost an entire hospital
scarcely a house in town but that has
from one to a hall dozen cases OF
measles, in a bad form making almost
all who have them very sick.
Wen, June II has gone by with vic
tory for Oklahoma City and railroad
amendment defeated. l feel that Ok
lahoma City should have been defeat
I ed also from the fact that she went
strong for the railroad amendment.
/ oklahoma City wanted our (the peo-
ple) support for her welfare, at the
same time voted against the interests
of the people on the amendment. We
want and invite railroads along with
all other great enterprises but let them
come as one of us. Come under the
same laws, come under the same tax
alton, come and be tried by same
juries that we are tried by, and not be
allowed to pull us off to courts of
some other states, by so doing wear us
out physically, financially and in the
end should we have just claim, We
are forced to lay down for court eX-
penses would eat up what little We had
to begin with.
Everyone who has shipped stock or
goods and had cause for action against
the railroads before statehood will re-
member that if we got what was justly
due us from any railroad We were
compelled to go to Montague, Texas
and bring suit If We sued in the fed
eral court in Indian Territory as it was
after being continued from court to
court term We finally were forced to
say to our lawyers, Take what you
can get and quit l have spent all my
money running to court and now must
go to work"
Should amendment June II have
carried We would have been back un-
der the thumbs of the few railroads
as we were before statehood Just
so it was in the two-cent rate case.
There is always some federal judge
ready to grant an injunction and the
railroads always know where to find
him. We want railroads together with
capital for any Legitimate enterprise,
but let them come under the laws Ct
Oklahoma and stand equal taxation
with us who have borne the blunt Of
Indian Territory for the past thirty
years. as / have. / will say to the tax
payers of Oklahoma we should be
careful how we sign petitions asking
that a special election be called The
one on June / cost the tax payers dol
lars upon dollars when it could have
been held or voted upon at some regu-
lar election with but little extra cost
to the tax payers. | have been told
that one man on the Rock Island rail
road got ten cents for every one of
our names that he secured on the
petitions that were the means of the .
election being called If We continue
to sign every petition that is gotten .
up by some railroad or any one for
self interests, the greater our taxes
will be; so | advise that we be more
careful concerning what We sign.
am told that almost every railroad
eX-employee was engaged by the rail
roads and out stumping our state in
favor of the amendment voted On
June II. Was this for the interest
of the taxpayers of Oklahoma or
some special or selfish interest?
J. NJ. ROBERTSON.