628 



OKLAHOMA. 



liara C. Renfrew, Democrat ; Secretary, Thomas 

 J. Lowe ; Treasurer, Martin L. Turner ; Auditor 

 and Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. H. 

 Parker, succeeded on March 2 by E. D. Cameron ; 

 Attorney-General, Charles A. Galbraith ; Chief 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, Frank Dale ; As- 

 sociate Justices, John H. Burford, Henry W. 

 Scott, A. G. C. Bierer, and John L. McAtee. 

 Population. The following table shows the 



The percentage of foreigners is very small. 



Finances. The financial statement of the 

 Territory up to May 1, 1894, is as follows : Gen- 

 eral fund warrants issued, $135,866.39 ; general 

 fund warrants redeemed, $52,195.53 ; warrants 

 outstanding on May 1, $83,670.86. The Territo- 

 rial tax levied in 1893 and payable this year 

 amounts to $42,484.93, which, if deducted from 

 the amount of outstanding warrants, would leave 

 $41,185.93 as the actual floating debt of the Ter- 

 ritory. 



The expenses for the year were heavy, and the 

 revenues are still limited, owing to the fact that 

 the title to most of the land is in the United 

 States and is therefore not taxable. Settlers are 

 delaying final proof as long as possible in order 

 to avoid paying taxes. 



The Territory now has outstanding $48,000 in 

 thirty-year 6-per-cent. school bonds, redeemable 

 in ten years, the proceeds of the sale of which 

 was used in the erection of buildings- for the Ter- 

 ritorial University, Territorial Normal School, 

 and Agricultural and Mechanical College. 



Insane and Criminals. The insane are con- 

 fined at Oak Lawn Retreat, in Jacksonville, 111., 

 by contract. The Territory has expended for 

 care of the insane from Jan. 1, 1893, to May 1, 

 1894, $25,805.96, having already exceeded the 

 appropriation made by the Legislature by $10,- 

 805.96. Territorial convicts are cared for at 

 Lansing, Kan., by contract with that State. 



The expenses arising from requisitions on the 

 governors of other States have amounted to 

 $7,110.31. The commitment and care of the 

 prisoners has cost about $8,000. 



Railroads. There are 4 lines of railroad in 

 Oklahoma in active operation. The Atchison, 

 Topeka and Santa Fe and Chicago, Rock Island 

 and Pacific run through the Territory from north 

 to south. The Choctaw Coal Road, from El 

 Reno to Oklahoma City, connecting the Chicago, 

 Rock Island and Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka 

 and Santa Fe, is being built from South McAl- 

 lister, Indian Territory, where it will connect 

 with the main line. The southern division of the 

 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe runs through the 

 northwestern part of the Territory and does a 

 thriving business in shipping cattle. A charter 

 has been granted to the Kansas, Oklahoma, Cen- 



tral and Southwestern Railroad Company, which 

 proposes to build a line from Coffeyville, Kan., 

 to Guthrie and through the Territory in a south- 

 westerly direction, connecting with Texas lines. 

 The valuation of the several roads, as fixed by 

 the Territorial Board of Equalization this year, is 

 as follows: Atchison, Topeka and Saiita Fe 

 (main track, 233-98 miles), $1,330,683 ; Chicago, 

 Rock Island and Pacific (main track, 116-86 

 miles), $674,815.38 ; Choctaw Coal Road (main 

 track, 31-68 miles), $159,235. 



Statehood. On this subject Gov. Renfrew, 

 in his annual report for this year, says : 



The matter of statehood for Oklahoma has been 

 much agitated, and the people are divided on the 

 question. Some desire statehood for Oklahoma with 

 its present boundaries ; others prefer to have the mat- 

 ter of statehood deferred until such time as Oklaho- 

 ma and the Indian Territory may be admitted as one 

 State. 



In this question one of the most peculiar conditions 

 arises out of the relations of the Indians to the United 

 States. The Indian tribes have so far been treated 

 as powers that treaties have been made with them, 

 and yet it is clear that they are merely wards of the 

 nation and are as much subject to the laws of Con- 

 gress as any citizen. The lands of the Indian Terri- 

 tory are held by virtue of these treaties with the 

 United States, upon which patents have been issued. 

 They have governments of their own, but are under 

 the jurisdiction of the United States courts. In the 

 attempts to treat with the Indians, considerable hos- 

 tility has developed among them against any further 

 treaties looking to the allotment of their lands in 

 several ty, or indeed any scheme which should open 

 the reservations to white settlers, or sale to white 

 men, or which should bring the Indians in closer 

 contact with the white man. There is, however, in 

 the Indian nations a progressive element that has 

 strenuously insisted on allotment and statehood with 

 both Territories combined. Much the larger portion 

 of the Indian Territory is unsettled and in a state of 

 nature. Some portions are very well tilled. It fur- 

 nishes a rendezvous unexcelled for criminals from 

 adjoining States, and is in itself productive of crime. 

 As separate States neither Oklahoma nor the Indian 

 Territory would rank among the great Western 

 States either in extent or wealth. Together they 

 would be equal to the greatest, and, in my opinion, 

 the finest State west of the Mississippi. The taxable 

 property of Oklahoma alone is too small to support a 

 State government properly. Already the burden of 

 taxation is as heavy as is consistent with prosperous 

 business. 



Education. The people of Oklahoma have 

 been loyal to the public schools. Neat school- 

 houses now dot the whole country, the school 

 district being generally 3 miles square. The 

 only Territorial fund for the support of schools 

 is derived from leasing school lands. This is 

 likely soon to reach $100,000 annually, but this 

 year only $31,241.28 was distributed as the net 

 income of the leases, averaging 42 cents for each 

 child of school age. 



The Territorial University, at Norman, is sup- 

 ported by a half-mill tax. By act of Congress 

 approved May 4, 1894, section 13 in each con- 

 gressional township in the former Cherokee Out- 

 let, Pawnee, and Tonkawa Indian reservations 

 was set aside for the use of the university, Nor- 

 mal School, and Agricultural and Mechanical 

 College. This fund amounts to about $7,500 

 each for the colleges. 



There were 147 students in attendance this 

 year, an increase of 28 over 1893. The faculty 



