The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-01

 of ritting that might result from cne closing of AAs pDitz
 He ero.ainae that he aid not iu- tend 10 order the arrest ol yerseha ee ssia,. said soaslsl in keeping the Followers saspTisss.
 followers ot Governor Wsiton,s sa- gflntstra ton were surprised ne ct4 -ls for his state police force.
 The governors police constitutes an innovation in the law enforcement mashinery of the state. They repre- sent an enlargement of plan wnich the governor had in operation wnlle he was mayor of Oklahoma City, lm- mediately before becoming chief ex- ecutive. At that time he issued hun dreds of courtesy police cards whlcn extended to holders certain preroga- tives not held by citizens in general.
 While they did not constltute an actual police commission political op- moments of the executive waged con- stant attack on the courtesy cards. alleging that many persons were us- ing them as authority TOT bearing arms and that the holders had been subsidized for political purposes,
 Upon becoming governor, MT. Wal ton began the issuance or speciai state police ommissions. Ihese commissions were given freely Newspaper men had no difficulty m obtaining them and 1t was charge1 that virtually any one mno tha could obtain them. Opponents or the governor declared he was building up a political army as well as extendlng authoritv to thousands of persons to bear arms.
 The first state commissions were attested by the secretary of state ana a copy of the commission kept in the files of the secretary's office. After several thousand had been issued now ever, the acknowledgement oI the secretary of state was left OH the commissions and his seal was sup nIanted by the notarys seal of the governors priavte secretary NO salary was attached to the commas
 Followers of the situation express cd the opinion tonight that the or esnizatfon of the state police force sas of such a loose nature that the governor could not command the ser vices of a large number sucn as ne declarcd he would have on duty 1ues- day.
 Says s5,OO0 Volunteer.
 Likewise the announcement that ,o' oo0 volunteer guards would be caiies out, created a stir in the rahks U. those who have kept in close toucn with the situation. Following ms  out the state, the governor called up on all "citizen soldiers between the ages of 2l and 45," to stand ready TOT summons to duty. Last Week ne an nounced that 35.000 men had voiun teered their assistance Tn ms iisne mon the Ku Klux Klan and help Eln carry out his intention to baf im- Aachment session of the Legislature. Announcement tonight of t1e in- Creased number of such men Fyho had placed themselves at his disr osal was greeted with frank skept lcism in many quarters.
 Such a branch of the national guard had never been known in Oklahoma until Governor Walton made his frs. announcement that their strength had been recruited to 35,000
 George F. Short, state attorney general declared tonight, there is no I precedent for the governors action ] in the postponement of the election. Text book writers, however. In dis cussing the general subject are unan- imous in the opinion that the date or an election. once fixed cannot be changed.
 There May Be BlOodshed.
 Governor Walton made no effort to minimize the seriousness of the situation.
 There may be bloodshed." he as- serted, but there will be no elec- tion.
 This is my election. I called it and l certainly have the right to postpone it. Furthermore, it would be illegal to hold 1t now. for the req son that the law has not been com piled with through proper publica- tion of the questions to be voted on."
 The executive declared that w. C. ..iiiisttf secretary of the state election board, by whose orders ma chinery of the election was put in motion, was playing with that klan crowd"
 Mir. McAlister. following the an- nouncement of the governors proc lamation, declared that he was pow erloss to stop the work that had been started ana tesE | tue election w02