OKLAHOMA. 



591 



Treasurer, William II. Taylor; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, .1. II. Rhodes; Judge of the Supreme ( 'mirl, 

 C. T. (Hark; Memlier Hoard of Public Works, 

 Mutt hew liaber ; Food and Dairy Commissioner, 

 Thomas N. Ilickmaii. 



The Democratic Convention was held at Cin- 

 oinnuti, Aug. and in. The [>latform included 

 the following : 



We hereby approve tin- platform of the Democratic 

 party adopted by the National Convention ut Chicago, 

 and especially those portions of it referring to the tur- 

 ill and to the currency legislation. \Vc congratulate 

 the country uj>on the curly prospect** of measure* of 

 relief as outlined liy the 1'resident's lute ni'->s;ti:e to 

 ( 'ongrcas, and we huvo confldence that the Democratic 

 Congress will devise laws to furnish such relief. 



The financial situation is the unfortunate legacy of 

 Republican administration. It is the natural result 

 of the MeKinley tarill', the Sherman silver law, ex- 

 travagance of the party lately iu power, and the crea- 

 tion and fostering of trusty and corrupt combinations 

 by tliat party, all combining to shake credit, to create 

 distrust in the money of the country, and to paralyze 

 its business. 



We believe in a just and liberal recognition of the 

 claims ot' the veterans, and favor granting them all that 

 patriotism could ask, all that national gratitude would 

 demand. But the granting of pensions on fraudulent 

 claims for partisan purposes or on department deci- 

 sions in contravention of law, as practiced under the 

 last Administration, needs to be investigated and cor- 

 rected. 



We condemn the unbusinesslike administration of 

 State affairs under Gov. MeKinley. 



The following ticket was nominated : For Gov- 

 ernor, Lawrence T. Neal ; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 William A. Taylor ; Judge of Supreme Court, 

 John W. Sater ; Treasurer, B. C. Blackburn ; 

 Attorney-General, John P. Bailey ; Member 

 Board of Public Works. Louis B. Wilhelm ; 

 Food and Dairy Commissioner, P. H. M'Keown. 



The canvass was carried on almost exclusively 

 on national issues, the identity of the Republican 

 candidate for Governor with the new tariff mak- 

 ing the election turn largely on the tariff ques- 

 tion. The fact that the Democratic candidate 

 for the same office was credited with writing the 

 tariff plank in the last Democratic national plat- 

 form still further emphasized that issue. The 

 result was the largest Republican plurality in the 

 State since 1863. The vote for Governor was: 

 MeKinley (Republican), 433,342; Neal (Demo- 

 crat), 352,347; Macklin (Prohibition), 22,406; 

 Bracken (People's). 15.563. McKinley's plural- 

 ity, 80,995. The other candidates on the Repub- 

 lican ticket were elected by pluralities ranging 

 from 75,043 to 77,794. A Legislature overwhelm- 

 ingly Republican was also elected, the Senate 

 standing 26 Republicans to 5 Democrats, and the 

 House 85 Republicans to 22 Democrats. Two 

 proposed constitutional amendments were de- 

 feated for lack of a constitutional majority. The 

 taxation amendment received 322,422 affirmative 

 and 82.281 negative votes, and the single legisla- 

 tive district amendment 322,877 affirmative and 

 81.481 negative votes. 



OKLAHOMA,aTerritory of the United States, 

 organized by act of Congress approved May 2, 

 1890; area (including Greer County, claimed by 

 Texas), 38,719 square miles; population (includ- 

 ing (ireer County), according to the census of 

 1890. 61,834. In 1893 the population was esti- 

 mated by the Governor at 151,213, and that of 

 the Cherokee strip at 100,000. Capital,.Guthrie. 



(iovernnient. The following were the Terri- 

 torial officers during the year: Governor, Abra- 

 ham J. Seay, Republican, succeeded in May by 

 William C. Ken f row, Democrat; Secretary, Bob* 

 ert Martin, succeeded in September by Thomas 

 J. Lowe; Treasurer, Samuel Murphj, soooeeded 

 in January, 1894, by M. L.Turner; Auditor and 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. II. 

 Parker ; Attorney-General, Charles Brown, suc- 

 ceeded in July by Charles A. Galbraith; Chief 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, Edward B. Green, 

 succeeded in September by Frank Dale; Associ- 

 ate Justices, John II. Burford and John G. 

 Clark, succeeded in June by Frank Dale, who 

 was promoted in September to be Chief Justice, 

 and was succeeded by Henry W. Scott. Late in 

 December an act was passed by Congress provid- 

 ing for the appointment of two additional jus- 

 tices, thereby increasing the court to five mem- 

 bers; but up to the close of the year, however, 

 no appointment had been made. 



Finances. Up to April 1, 1893, Territorial 

 warrants to the amount of $47,184,89 had been 

 issued, of which $19,863.59 had been redeemed. 

 At that date the treasury had not received re- 

 turns from the Territorial tax levied in 1892. 

 There was due the Territory $34.455.54 from 

 this source, and from insurance licenses $1,500, 

 making a total prospective revenue of $35,955.54, 

 with which to meet the warrants outstanding. 

 The Territorial debt, incurred this year for con- 

 structing buildings for educational institutions, 

 amounts to $48,000. The county and munici- 

 pal debts are heavy, owing to the necessity of 

 extensive public improvements at the first settle- 

 ment. The county debt is estimated at $560,- 

 660, and the municipal debt at $229,000. The 

 title to much of the real estate in the Territory 

 is still held by the United States, and it is not 

 taxable. For 1893 the tax rate was fixed at 3 

 mills for general purposes, | mill for the Normal 

 School, and mill for the Territorial University. 



Legislative Session. The second Territorial 

 Legislature began its session at Guthrie on Jan. 

 11, and adjourned on March 11. Politically, 

 its members were divided as follow : Council 7 

 Republicans, 6 Democrats: House 12 Repub- 

 licans, 10 Democrats, 4 Populists. An organi- 

 zation of the Council was promptly effected by 

 the Democrats voting with and for W. A. Mc- 

 Cartney, Republican, as president, and thereby 

 defeating the Republican caucus candidate. In 

 the House there was a long deadlock over the 

 choice of a permanent presiding officer. After 

 149 ballots had been taken, in which J. M. Sto- 

 vall, Democrat, generally supported the Repub- 

 lican candidate, the contest was ended by the 

 action of M. L. Stanley, Republican, in casting 

 his vote for T. R. Waggoner, Independent Dem- 

 ocrat, giving him. with the aid of Democratic 

 and Populist votes, the requisite majority. The 

 legislative work of the session consisted chiefly 

 in revising and correcting the hastily prepared 

 code of laws enacted by the first Legislature. 

 The Kansas civil code of court procedure was 

 adopted in its entirety. A new revenue law was 

 enacted, containing full provisions for a- 

 ment of property and collection of taxes, and 

 for equalization of local assessments by a Terri- 

 torial board. The annual tax rate for Territo- 

 rial purposes was limited to 3 mills on the dollar, 



