The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1916-06-06
MAY YET
CET|TSQU0TA
Of j. 8. LANDS
CONGRESSMAN McCLlNTlC GETS
FAVORABLE SUB COMMITTEE
ACTION ON MEASURE - CLAIM
is OLD ONE.

| Oklahoma City, June 5.-Thc blI
/ introduced by Congressman jim Nc
Clintic of the Seventh Oklahoma Gis-
trict, providing that the federal gov
ernment pay the state of Oklahoma
$21O,0 and give it the remaia,ng
42177 acres of mallotted land in the
state in lieu of the land the state
| should have received under the terms
of the Morrill, act, was favorably re-
ported Saturday by subcommittee
of the house committee on public
lands, according to information re-
ceived in Oklahoma City Saturday
afternoon,
The report of the subcommittee
was unanimous and this is taken to
indicate favorable report within a
short time by the whole committee.
The states claim for the land, land
script or money has been pending
before the department of the interior
at Washington in one form or another
for several years. A short time ago
decision adverse to the state was
rendered by one of the assistant sec
retaries who held that the wording
of the Morrill, act was such as to
not include Oklahoma.
McCIintic Persisted.
Just after this decision Congress
man McClintic introduced his bill
which was favorably reported Satur-
day.
The history of the controversy
dates back to the time Oklahoma
was admitted into the union as a
state. According to the acts of 1862
and 1866, better known as the Morrill,
acts, each territory admitted as
state was entitled to receive 10000
acres of land for each senator and
representative in congress, provided
that the state accepted within three
years by proper legislative enact
ment the terms of the acts.
Soon after Oklahoma became
state the legislature passed a joint
resolution accepting the terms of
these acts, and made application
through the governor and attorney
general to the secretary of the inter
ior for the number of acres Okla
homa was entitled to receive. This
application was referred to the COM
missioner of the land office who rem
dered an opinion to the effect that
| inasmuch as Oklahoma had received
other grants of public land in his
opinion they were given in lieu OF
the amount the state was entitled
to under the act of 1862, as amended
in 1866, and for this reason the state
was not entitled to receive any fur
ther benefits.
Claim Again Rejected.
I. Later e. G. Spilman, representing
the state, went to Washington and
filed a supplementary brief appeal
ing from the decision rendered by
the commissioner of the land office,
and when this was considered by the
secretary of the interior an opinion
was rendered upholding the decision
of the commissioner of the land office
and rejecting the claim of the state.
Soon after January /, Congressman
McClntic, after making an investiga-
tion of the facts of the case, decided
that the state of Oklahoma had not
received the amount of land it was
entitled to, and on February 20 he
addressed a letter to the secretary
of the interior asking that the case
be not closed until he could have ad-
ditional time to appear in person and
present such facts as he desired in
the case.
Teehee Lends Assistance.
Mr. McClintic then enlisted the
help of Houston B. Teehee, register