The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1910-11-01
BUILDING
IA STATE
WHAT WAS DONE, WHY, AND
WHAT IT COST.
cHAprNR WI.
Public Buildings, Building Land Fund
and Credit.

and Credit.
IN every state or territory where
tie speopfe desite to promote educa-
tion, care FOR the unfortunate and de.
tain the prisoners, pnblic buildings
are a necessity. This subject. like
all others pertaining TO state building
and state government. has been most
yiclously misrepgeaented by the old
Oklahoma Territory gang and the cor
poration press bureau. In the cam.
paign three years ago the same gang
told the voters OF Oklahoma Territory
that they would be required to pay
several million dollars taxes to open
aud improve public roads in Indian
Territory. Time has demonstrated
that statement was false and known
to be false by those who made It.
The same gang are now telling the
voters OF Oklahoma Territory that
they have been laxed to build three
thousand public school houses In In
dian Territory. This IS another de-
liberate falsehood told simply to de-
ceive the voters But enough Of the
falsehoods, let US got to the condl-
tions.
Some years ago Congress assigned
about 274,00O acres OF the public lands
10 Oklahoma for the building OF pub
lie institutions. Ever since that time
these public building lands have been
rented and the rents have aecumu.
lated to be devoted to the erection Of
public buildings according to the
terms Of the grant. These rentals
have accumulated from year to year
until at the beginning or state govern
ment there was about flye hundred
seyenty'four thousand dollars of this
rent money accumulated and available
for the construction Of public build
lngs. This money the state found In
the string Of banks known as,the "Joe
McNeaI banks" The people Of the ter.
ritory had been getting the benefit
OF only very small rate Of interest
on this money, rangin. from nothing
up to the highest Of II three per cent
There Is no explanation given by the
territorial officers as TO why they kent
this idle money on hand at such an I'm.
significant rate Of interest when the
people OF the territory were so sadly in
need of having it invested IN the cree.
ton of necessary public buildings. IT,
was certainly a grand source Of profit
to Mr.. McNeaI TO have this large sum
of money at such a tri1ing rate Of
interest, when his banks were loaning
the money to their customers at out
rageously high rates. The figures
show that the difference hetween the
small rate Of interest the public was
getting on this building fund and the
average rate Of nterast at which Me
Nea's banks were reloanlng the
money would give Mr.. McNeal. profit
OF little over one hundred thirty.two
thousand dollars year. Thiads prob
ably what Mr.. MoNeal would call
MORE BUSINESS AND LESS pol.
TICS" AT the same time the terri
tory had about FIVE hundred eleven in
zane patients, requiring public care
aud Notwithstanding the large amount
Of public building funds that had been
laying in the McNeal banks, much Of
1t for several years, there was no in
sane asylum provided and the patients
were being kept at private asylum
at Norman, Oklahoma, where the ter
ritory was paying the corporation that
owned the private asylum such an ex-
trayaganl rate for keeping the patti
ents that the stock OF the asylum cor
poration Was generally understood to
De worth four hundred dollars tor a
single one hundred dollar share. And,
es was shown by the reports when the
controversy came up about who cWned
the asylum corporation stock some
years before statehood, 1t was found
that the MeNeal bunch had the stock
under their control. This, indeed, was
a fat opportunity. Keep the public
building money at an average OF two
per eeut loan 1t to the bank customers
at such tremendous profit as the above
figures show, and then get the Job Of
taking care Of the insane patients at
price that made the private asylum
company's stock worth such fabu-
ious premium. Perhaps this is what
Mr.. McNeal would call "MoRE 5usI-
. NESS AND LESS PoLlTlcs.p
Prisoners
Also the state prisoners we're be-
ing kept under contract with the
State Of Kansas at fortyecents each
per day, and the State of4lansas got
the benefit Of the labor performed
by the prisoners. There is no evi.
dence that the Guthrie gang got any
profit out OF this Kansas contract fur
ther than the use of the public build.
Ing money. portion Of which should
have been invested IN building pen
itentiary 30 that the prisoners could
have been kept at home, where they
could easily have been Kept at thirty
cents each per day and the value OF
their labor would have made the insti-
tuition self.sustaining. but, Of course,
TO have built nensentiary would
have taken this large two per cent de-
posit out of the McNeal string Of
hanke 1uhfrh ,.nufd b-t,. .hcn. oo~I