The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-02-20

Arll Cf D.. o.. llr. fD4rCeA 80. AT W
leves he bin providing for the con
s,rlct.,u u state ra.iroad vii. pass.
he ssys that a large majority Of The
legislature ls favorable 10 the meas
gre and gives as their reasons the
fac- hat the railroad companies Of
rho state have resisted the laws Of
Oklahoma until a socialist sentiment
for state 9wnership has grown Up that
VII resllt 80 the state OV/.ing some
Of its lines of road II not all Of them.
Whether the railroads have fought
Oklahoma harder than other states
ve are not prepared to say. There
are suits pending In nearly every
state 10 the union against railroads
and express companies. and there ls
one continuous warfare with these
cC-p0ratiOus Whether the state can
better i,s condition By owning the
lines of roads is very doubtful II the
state begins the construction q lines
Il road every neighDOrhoOd In the
state will want a road, the people will
vote for the bonds whether such
road will be a paying proposition or
not and II must be acknowledged that
the state ownership Of railroads is
q, least a very serious question.
Following Is the complete text Of
the proposed Law.
HOUSE BILL 30. 373.
An Act 70 Create Railroad Benefit
Distric, Number One Of the State Of
Oklahoma; Providing for the Issuing
o., Bonds, the Interest and Sinking
Fund Of which shall be Guaranteed
and Paid by the Railroad District,
with which 10 Construct a Railroad
from the Northwest Part Of the State
70 the Southeast Boundary; Proyid.
ing for Issuing Of Fifteen Million Dol.
lars In Bonds II Voted BY the People,
and Providing for the Submission Of
the Proposition TO the People OF Rail
road Benefit District Number One.
Be It enacted by the people Of the
State Of Oklahoma:
Section ]. There is hereby Great.
Cd Railroad Benefit District Number
One Of the State Of Oklahoma, con
sistlng OF McCurtain, Choctaw, Bryan,
Atoka Coal, Pontotoc. Seminole, Nc
Claim, Pottawatomie, Cleveland, Okla
homa, Canadian, Kingfisher, Blaine,
Dewey, Woodward, Harper, Beaver,
Texas and Cimarron counties.
Sec. q II shall be the duty OF the
Governor Of the State to submit to
the voters Of said district, sixty days
after the people have ratified the
amendment proposed to Section
Twenty-Five Of Article Ten OF the Con
stltution Of Oklahoma and In CIse
said Section twenty-five Is not amend.
ed as aforesaid, then at the next gen
eral election held in the State OF Ok
lahoma 10 be held on the 9Th day Of
November. 1912, the question: Shall
the state OF Oklahoma issue its in
terest bearing bonds in the sum of
fifteen million dollars and levy an
annual tax upon the counties OF said
district sufficient to pay the interest
thereon at the rate OF five per cent
per annum and TO create a sinking
~~@~N-N-N~~-~-~O~-~-~-~O~-~O
by facilitating the commerce of ideas
as well as Of material products.
When the agricultural production
alone OF the United States for the
past eleven years totals $4,000, 900.
600, a sum TO stagger the imagination,
and 1t cost more to take this product
from the farm TO the railway station
than from such station to the Ameri.
can and European markets, and when
the saving in cost OF moving this
product Of agriculture over good high.
ways instead OF bad would have built
] 100000 miles Of good roads, the in
calculable waste OF bad roads in this
country is shown to be Of such enor-
nous proportions as to demand imme-
date reformation and the wsest and
best craftsmanship; but great as Is
the loss to transportation, mercantile,
industrial and farming interests, in.
greater is the material
loss 10 the women and the children
and the social life, a matter as i'm
Dortant as civilization itself. The
ruth OF the declaration OF Charles
sumner fifty years ago, that "the two
greatest forces for the advancement of
are the schoolmaster and
;ood roads" is emphasized by the ex-
lerience OF the intervening years and
'oints to the wisdom of a union Of the
commercial, trauspota-
ion and industrial interests of our
country in aggressive action for per- ;