The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1912-05-17
SENATOR OWENS
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An Address of Robert |. owen at
Webhers Falls, Muskoeee County,
Oklahoma, Thursday, May 16, 1912,
Announcing His Purpose to Become
a Candidate For the Nomination as
United States Senator Before the
Democratic Primaries, August 6,
1912.
FELLOW CITIZENS:
In making the announcement of my
purpose to become candidate before
the democratic primaries on August
9Th, next, have chosen Webbers Falls,
the reason that my mother was born
at Webbers Falls October 3, 1881, and
/ have felt the natural desire to do
this honor 10 her memory and to call
to mind the historical fact that my peo-
pie were the first settlers of Oklahoma
and of Muskogee County, where | my
self have been constant resident in
the city of Muskogee for twenty-seven
years, and where | am thoroughly
well known to thousands of men by
the compe nioship of a lifetime.
On December 16, 1907 | entered the
United States Senate as Senator of
the United States, representing Okla
homa, but representing also ninety
millions of people.
For four and half strenuous years
I have given every ounce of energy
possessed in my endeavor to show my
appreciation of the great trust which
had been confided to me by the peo-
pie of my beloved state. No truthful
man can say that | have failed in any
particular to discharge my duties to
the extreme limit of my capacity and
physical strength.
A brief and partial abstract of the
things which ! have done or tried to
do has been submitted to you, and it
is for you, the people Of my state, to
say now whether have been faithful
and efficient, whether | deserve vote
of confidence or vote of condemna-
ton. This issue l submit to your gen.
ercus Judgment.
o When you sent me as your public
servant to the Senate, you gave me
a power of attorney to represent your
interests. You did not tell me what
to do; in the nature of the case you
could not be expected to tell me pre-
eisely what to do. 1t was my duty
to find out what ! should do in order
to serve your interests, and then it
was my duty to do that which would
best accomplish this great object.
found the United States Senate
controlled by Aldrich, Frye, Hale,
Platt, Depew, Foraker and other prom
inent representatives and benehciaries
of the existing alliance between cor
rupt commercial interests and politi-
cal bosses and machine politics, under
which few Senators controlled the
Committees of the Senate and con-
trolled the Senate, under the machine
rules of the Senate. found that the
people of the United States were pre-
vented from exercising control of the
Government itself through an intelli-
gent, honest and unrestrained major
ity, by the existence of u corrupt COM
bination between the representatives
of powerful financial and commercial
interests and the representatives of
political organizations.
At present, under the rule of monop-
oily in the various industries and in
transportation, the people are COM
PEELED to pay exoibitant prices for
everything they buy, and they are COM
pelled to sell their products at less
than the fair value because there is
but one buyer under the monopoly
system. What chance for fair price
have men who raise cattle and hogs,
when the Beef Trust can fix an arti-
fetal price and steal the legitimate
fruit of honest labor by an artificial,
unfair price on what the people sell
and then fix an unfair price on what
they buy back for consumption?
The inevitable result of such a sys-
TEN is manifest to everybody. Gigan-
tic fortunes have accumulated in a
few hands, the Beef Trust managers
are multi-milionaires Rockefeller is