Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-04-01

leased at the rate Of two dollars an
acre bonus Everybody had an equal
chance TO get in. Leases in that quar-
ter were not considered worth the
paper they were written on and went
begging. Nobody was barred from
! going i'm there and drilling a well. The
same conditions idCntically which
have prevailed in every other oil-pro-
ducins district in this state and in
other states prevailed in Cushing. II
| is not unlike any other oil-producing
| territory in the United States except
that the production from a limited
area Is greater, for the time being,
| than that Of any other district All
| OF the gentlemen who are so vOcifer-
| GUS in their demands that the produc-
/ ton i'm the Cushing district be con-
trClled or regulated had the same OPP
/ pOruunity as ourselves to secure acre
! age ana production. They had the
same opportunity at HealdtOn and
/ they have the same opportunity now
in the new pool which is being opened
! near Taylor, Tex If we were suffi-
ciontly impressed by a hunch to put
our money into Gushing and other
districts TO our proht and sometimes
TO our loss where others were timid
end stayed out, we ought not to be
Icnalized or handicapped because we
backed our Judgment with our money.
Restriction n Handicap.
THE long and short of the whole
matter, so far as the leasing and de-
yclopucnt of Indian lands is con-
cerned in my judgment, rcsts upon
the capacity and the financial ability
of the bidder TO make good The
4,SO0-acre restriction arbitrarily i'm
posed by the interior department on
leases in the territory of the five civ
iiized tribes has not resulted I'm ac-
celebrating the development of the
natural resources of the lands owaed
by those Indians on the contrary
had the department thrown the acre
age limitation down and permitted re-
sponsible bidders TO make their prop
Csitlons suit their CAPACITY to carry
out the contracts there would have
been greater development all along
the line than we have witnessed We
might have had more oil and we
might have mad more dry holes, but
the interests of the Indian would have
been conserved. In no event would
the Indian allottec have suffered. lie
had everything to gain and nothing
to lose Bat the so-called conserva-
tiCn policy Of the Roosevelt admin
istration has been continued through
the earlier days OF the Wilson ad-
ministr1tion and the result is that the
lnuian has been the loser to the eX-
tent Of millions Of dollars which would
have been paid in rentals. bonuses
and royalties.
EallaCy of Conservation.
The national administrations Of
Roosevelt and Wilson have BETRAYED
a rather sardonic sense Of humor IN
that they preached ard are preach |
ing the conservation Of the national |
resources Of the country for the bene- |
fit OF future generations. while in /
creasing the national debt all the time
and fixing a tax on the resources of
the country which future generations
will have To pay. Had they permitted /
the orderly rational ard sensible de- I;
Velopment of natural resources to 60 /
ahead as n had gone ahead for more I
man hundred years of the cOlntry's 4
history no bond issues would have /.
been necessary and we would not be /
paying war taxes i'm a time of pro-
found peace. My own deliberate con-
'lusion after years Of dealing with the
Indians, and | have yet to have the
irst charge Of fraud and misrepre-
icntatlon lodged against me or any
member of the firm for which Ispeak.
s that the Indian md the country
would have been mrch better off had I
ho Indian been permitted to attend
o his business in his own way the
anne as any other American citizen. I
Not only the restriction on the Indian II
,ut the restriction on the white man \
hould be taken of.
whenever Indian affairs arc ham ,
He'd by persons familiar with condi- 1.
ions In tie Indian country, whenever
We take the conduct Of the Indian
business out of politics and put IL In
he hands of business men with a