Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-08-10
BE RELOCATED
TO OBLIVION"
What Gore Hopes VIII Become
Of Charge Against Sherman
he MERELY QUOTED HAMON

HE MERELY QUOTED HAMON
Choctaw Indian Leaders Swear That
They Were Offered Brides to With
draw Opposition to McMurray Con-
tracts-Further Sensational Testi-
mony In Land Scandal-curtis and
Mcclure Make Denial u4i;,a
Muskogee, Okla. Aug. 8.-Senator
Gore issued the following statement
relative to Vice President Sherman:
Il have never, either in the senate
or before the Investigations commit
tee, made any charge whatever
against Mr.. Sherman. l never said
he was interested, in the McMurray
| contracts, directly or indirectly. The
vice presidents name was mentioned
to me by Hamon as the man higher up
who was interested in the contracts.
When l testified before the COM
mittee I was under obligation to re-
late all that Hamon had said, and
when it came to mentioning what Ha-
mon had said to me about Mr.. Sher-
man, named the vice president with
extreme reluctance. I had no al
tentative but to tell the truth.
Il think l owe it to Mr.. Sherman
and to the country to hope that the
fact that Hamon mentioned Mr.. Sher-
man will be relegated to perpetual
oblivion"
Not only Jacob L. Hamon but ]. F.
McMurray was mentioned as would
be briber in the investigation of the
SO 900, 900 Oklahoma Indian land deal
before the special congressional COM
mittee.
McMurray is the holder of the con-
tracts with the Chocktaw and Chicka-
saw Indians, to promote which in
congress Senator Gore charges he was
offered a bribe
D. c. McCurtain, a Choctaw In
dian and a delegate to Washington
for his tribe, charged that in 1906
McMurray offered him bride of $25,-
900 to withdraw opposition to the old
tribal McMurray contracts which sub
sequently we're disapproved by Presi
dent Roosevelt.
Green McCurtain, chief of 10, 900
Choctaws, a venerable Indian of 81
years, took the stand and told the
committee that one George w. Scott,
who he believed acted in the interests
- hi h
of the profits" to be realized from the
land deal, provided he induced the
tribe to withdraw all opposition to
the deal. This offer referred to new
contracts held by McMurray, which
are the cause Of the present investi-
cation.
The amount of the bribe mentioned
by D. G. McCurtain, who is son of
the chief, is the same as that which
Gore alleges was offered him On May
last by Hamon to put through the
pending contracts which, according to
Gore, would result in the sale of $50,
900 acres of coal, asphalt and timber
lands owned by the Indians to a New
York syndicate on a basis that would
give McMurray and his associates ar
attorneys fee" Of 10 percent, or SO,
600 900. -
; Senator Curtis testified to having
been summoned by telephone to the
, White House to discuss there with
, President Taft and Vice President
Sherman the merits Of the McMurra!
contracts. President Taft expressed
the belief that the 10 percent fee wa:
too high, and his visitor agreed witt
, him. This, the senator thought, suf
ficiently refuted the imputation tina
he was interested" in the land deal.
Congressman Creager of Oklahoma
!, attacked the testimony previousl!
given by Hamon, whom he accused
of having suggested that he might OBJ
. tain an interest in the contracts
This Hamon denied.
!, Congressman Mcclure denied he
ever was interested" in the con-
tracts, or sought their approval by
congress. He asserted he was never
!, improperly approached in regard tC
the contracts.
r. l.. Murray of the Chickasaw
tribe said Governor Johnson of that
tribe urged him repeatedly to induce
as many Indians as possible to send
kilograms to Washington to have the
contracts approved, which he refused
to do.
E1a,nAI Nonui1%e Nu%xA,i& La,.nL-