USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 55
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SEC. 12. That in lieu of the grant of land for purposes of internal improvement made to new States by the eighth section of the Act of Sep- tember fourth, eighteen hundred and forty-one, which section is hereby repealed as to said State, and in lieu of any claim or demand of the State of Oklahoma under the Act of September twenty- eighth, eighteen hundred and fifty, and section twenty-four hundred and seventy-nine of the Re- vised Statutes, making a grant of swamp and over- flowed lands, which grant it is hereby declared is not extended to said State of Oklahoma, the fol- lowing grant of land is hereby made to said State
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from public lands of the United States within said State, for the purposes indicated, namely: For the benefit of the Oklahoma University, two hundred and fifty thousand acres; for the benefit of the University Preparatory School, one hundred and fifty thousand acres; for the benefit of the Agri- cultural and Mechanical College, two hundred and fifty thousand acres; for the benefit of the Col- ored Agricultural and Normal University, one hun- dred thousand acres; for the benefit of normal schools, now established or hereafter to be estab- lished, three hundred thousand acres. The lands granted by this section shall be selected by the board for leasing school lands of the Territory of Oklahoma immediately upon the approval of this Act. Said selections as soon as made shall be cer- tified to the Secretary of the Interior, and the lands so selected shall be thereupon withdrawn from homestead entry.
SEC. 13. That said State when admitted as aforesaid shall constitute two judicial districts, to be known as the eastern district of Oklahoma and the western district of Oklahoma; the said Indian Territory shall constitute said eastern district, and the said Oklahoma Territory shall constitute said western district. The circuit and district courts for the eastern district shall be held one term at Muscogee, one term at Vinita, one term at Tulsa, one term at South McAlester, one term at Chicka- sha and one term at Ardmore, each year, and the circuit and district courts of the western district shall be held one term at Guthrie, one term at Oklahoma City, and one term at Enid, and one term at Lawton, each year, for the time being. And the said districts shall, for judicial purposes, until otherwise provided, be attached to the eighth judicial circuit. There shall be appointed for each of said districts one district judge, one United States attorney, and one United States marshal. There shall be appointed a clerk for each of said districts, who shall keep his office at Muscogee and Guthrie, respectively, for the time being. The regular term of said courts shall be held at the places designated in this Act, at Muscogee on the first Monday in January and at Vinita on the first Monday in March and at Tulsa on the first Monday in April; at South McAlester on the first Monday in June; at Ardmore on the first Monday in October; at Chickasha on the first Monday of November; at Guthrie on the first Monday in January; at Oklahoma City on the first Monday in March; at Enid on the first Monday in June, and at Lawton on the first Monday in October, in each year, and one grand jury shall be summoned in each year in each of said circuit and district courts. The circuit and district courts for each of said districts, and the judges thereof, respec- tively, shall possess the same powers and jurisdic- tion and perform the same duties required to be
performed by the other circuit and district courts and judges of the United States, and shall be gov- erned by the same laws and regulations. The marshal, district attorney, and clerk of each of the circuit and district courts of said districts, and all other officers and persons performing duties in the administration of justice therein, shall severally possess the powers and perform the duties lawfully required to be performed by similar off- cers in other districts of the United States, and shall, for the services they may perform, receive the fees and compensation now allowed by law to officers performing similar services for the United States in other districts of the United States; and that the laws in force in the Terri- tory of Oklahoma, as far as applicable, shall ex- tend over and apply to said State until changed by the legislature thereof.
SEC. 14. That all prosecutions for crimes or offenses hereafter committed in either of said ju- dicial districts as hereby constituted shall be cog- nizable within the district in which committed, and all prosecutions for crimes or offenses committed before the passage of this Act in which indict- ments have not yet been found or proceedings in- stituted shall be cognizable within the judicial district as hereby constituted in which such crimes or offenses were committed.
SEC. 15. That all appeals or writs of error taken from the supreme court of Oklahoma Ter- ritory, or the United States court of appeals in the Indian Territory to the Supreme Court of the United States or the United States circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit, previous to the final admission of such State shall be prosecuted to final determination as though this Act had not been passed. And all cases in which final judg- ment has been rendered in such Territorial appel- late courts which appeals or writs of error might be had except for the admission of such State may still be sued out, taken, and prosecuted to the Su- preme Court of the United States or the United States circuit court of appeals under the provis- ions of existing laws, and there held and deter- mined in like manner, and in either case the Su- preme Court of the United States, or the United States circuit court of appeals, in the event of reversal shall remand the said causes to either the State supreme court or other final appellate court of said State, or the United States circuit and district courts of said State, as the case may re- quire: Provided, That the time allowed by existing law for appeals and writs of error from appellate courts of said Territories shall not be enlarged hereby, and all appeals and writs of error not sued out from the final judgments of said courts at the time of the admission of such State shall be taken within six months from such time. .
SEC. 16. That all causes pending in the supreme
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and district courts of Oklahoma Territory and in the United States courts and in the United States court of appeals in the Indian Territory arising under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States, or affecting ambassadors, minis- ters, or consuls of the United States, or of any other country or State, or of admiralty or of mari- time jurisdiction, or in which the United States may be a party, or between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants from different States; and in all casese where there is a contro- versy between citizens of said Territories prior to admission and citizens of different States, or be- tween citizens of different States or be- tween a citizen of any State and citizens or sub- jects of any foreign State or country, and in which cases of diversity of citizenship there shall be more than two thousand dollars in controversy, exclusive of interest and costs, shall be trans- ferred to the proper United States circuit or dis- trict court for final disposition: Provided, That said transfer shall not be made in any case where the United States is not a party except on appli- cation of one of the parties in the court in which the cause is pending, at or before the second term of such court, after the admission of said State, supported by oath, showing that the case is one which may be so transferred, the proceedings to effect such transfer, except as to time and parties, to be the same as are now provided by law for the removal of causes from a State court to a circuit court of the United States; and in causes transferred from the appellate courts of said Ter- ritories the circuit court of the United States in such State shall first determine such appellate matters as the successor of and with all the power of said Territorial appellate courts, and shall thereafter proceed under its original jurisdiction of such causes. All final judgments and decrees rendered in such circuit and district courts in such transferred cases may be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States or by the United States circuit court of appeals in the same manner as is now provided by law with reference to existing United States circuit and district courts.
SEC. 17. That all cases pending in the supreme. court of said Territory of Oklahoma and in the United States court of appeals in the Indian Territory not transferred to the United States circuit and district courts in said State of Okla- homa shall be proceeded with, held, and deter- mined by the supreme or other final appellate court of such State as the successor of said Terri- torial supreme court and appellate court, subject to the same right to review upon appeal or error to the Supreme Court of the United States now allowed from the supreme or appellate courts of a State under existing laws. Jurisdiction of all
cases pending in the courts of original jurisdiction in said Territories not transferred to the United States circuit and district courts shall devolve upon and be exercised by the courts of original jurisdiction created by said State.
SEC. 18. That the supreme court or other court of. last resort of said State shall be deemed to be the successor of said Territorial appellate courts and shall take or possess any and all jurisdie- tion as such, not herein otherwise specifically pro- vided for, and shall receive and retain the custody of all books, dockets, records, and files not trans- ferred to other courts, as herein provided, subject to the duty to furnish transcripts of all book en- tries in any specific case transferred to complete the record thereof.
SEC. 19. That the courts of original jurisdiction of such State shall be deemed to be the successor of all courts of original jurisdiction of said Terri- tories and as such shall take and retain custody of all records, dockets, journals, and files of such courts except in causes transferred therefrom, as herein provided; the files and papers in such transferred cases shall be transferred to the proper United States circuit or district court, together with a transcript of all book entries to complete the record in such particular case so transferred.
SEC. 20. That all cases pending in the district courts of Oklahoma Territory and in the United States courts for the Indian Territory at the time said Territories become a State not transferred to the United States circuit or district courts in the State of Oklahoma shall be proceeded with, held, and determined by the courts of said State. the successors of said district courts of the Terri- tory of Oklahoma and United States courts for the Indian Territory, with the right to prosecute appeals or writs of error to the supreme court of said State, and also with the same right to prose- cute appeals or writs of error from the final de- termination in said causes made by the supreme court of said State of Oklahoma to the Supreme Court of the United States, as now provided by law for appeals and writs of error from the su- preme court of a State to the Supreme Court of the United States.
SEC. 21. That the constitutional convention may by ordinance provide for the election of officers for a full State government, including members of the legislature and five Representatives to Con- gress, and shall constitute the Osage Indian Reser- vation a separate county, and provide that it shall remain a separate county until the lands in the Osage Indian Reservation are allotted in sev- eralty and until changed by the legislature of Oklahoma, and designate the county seat thereof, and shall provide rules and regulations and define the manner of conducting the first election for officers in said county. Such State government
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shall remain in abeyance until the State shall be admitted into the Union and the election for State officers held, as provided for in this Act. The State legislature when organized shall elect two Senators of the United States, in the manner now prescribed by the laws of the United States, and the governor and secretary of said State shall certify the election of the Senators and Repre- sentatives in the manner required by law; and said Senators and Representatives shall be en- titled to be admitted to seats in Congress and to all the rights and privileges of Senators and Rep- resentatives of other States in the Congress of the United States. And the officers of the State gov- ernment formed in pursuance of said constitution,
as provided by said constitutional convention, shall proceed to exercise all the functions of such State officers; and all laws in force in the Territory of Oklahoma at the time of the admission of said State into the Union shall be in force throughout said State, except as modified or changed by this Act or by the constitution of the State, and the laws of the United States not locally inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within said State as elsewhere within the United States.
SEC. 22. That the constitutional convention pro- vided for herein shall, by ordinance irrevocable, ac- cept the terms and conditions of this Act.
[Sec. 23-41 pertain to New Mexico and Arizona.]
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CHAPTER XXVII
CONSTITUTION MAKING AND ADMISSION AS A STATE
The election of delegates to the consti- tutional convention was held at the general elections on November 6, 1906. The re- sults of the election were a matter of some surprise to the country outside of Okla- homa, where it was generally considered that Oklahoma was safely Republican. The inclusion of Indian Territory within the field of a national election introduced an unknown element, but even so the election of an overwhelming majority of Demo- cratic delegates to the constitution was un- looked for. Out of the 112 delegates, only
thirteen were Republicans. By many it was considered that the Democratic land- slide was a rebuke to what was often called the "carpet-bag government," and the long-range administration of affairs in the territory by the central government at Washington. Though it was thought in advance that the Indian Territory might poll a large Democratic vote, as it turned out, there were more Republican delegates in the convention from the Indian Terri- tory side than from Oklahoma.1
According to section 3 of the enabling
1 The 112 delegates to the constitutional con- vention, chosen in the general election of Novem- ber 6, with the number of the district from which chosen, the political party represented, and the address of the delegates, follow in tabular form below :
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention. District.
1. T. O. James.
2. F. C. Tracy, D., Beaver.
3. Edward R. Williams.
4. H. P. Covey, R., Fargo.
5. O. E. McCance, D., Mutual.
6. Dr. G. N. Bilby, D., Alva.
7. J. C. Majors, D., Granton.
8. George Wood, D., Cherokee.
9. D. G. Harned, D., Ringwood.
10. W. F. Hendricks, D., Wakita.
11. C. H. Pitman, D., Enid.
12. J. A. Anderson, D., Pond Creek. Charles L. Moore, D., Enid.
13.
14. A. H. Ellis, D., Orlando.
15. D. S. Rose, D., Blackwell.
16. J. F. King, D., Newkirk.
17. H. S. Johnson, D., Perry.
18. G. M. Berry, D., Pawnee.
19. E. J. Newell, D., Yale.
20. J. E. Sater, R., Stillwater.
21. R. E. Houston, R., Ogra.
22. J. M. Sandlin, D., Prague.
23. H. L. Cloud, R., Wellston. 24. W. L. Helton, D., Marshall.
25. H. E. Asp, R., Guthrie.
26. W. D. Jenkins, R., Guthrie.
27. W. T. S. Hunt, D., Oklahoma City.
28. W. C. Hughes, D., Oklahoma City.
29. J. L. Mitch, D., Oklahoma City. 30. S. M. Ramsey, D., Tecumseh. 31. J. H. Maxey, D., Shawnee.
32. I. B. Littleton, D., Earlsboro.
33. T. C. Wyatt, D., Annette.
34. J. S. Buchanan, D., Norman.
35. J. K. Norton, D., Piedmont.
36. J. J. Carney, D., El Reno.
37. M. T. Kane, D., Kingfisher.
38. T. D. Rice, D., Hitchcock.
39. C. C. Fisher, D., Hinton.
40. H. Kelly, D., Minco (I. T.).
41. C. H. Bowers, D., Cement.
42. H. O. Tenor, D., Taloga.
43. David Hogg, D., Grand.
44. W. S. Deering, D., Clinton.
45. J. B. Harrison, D., Sayre.
46. F. E. Herring, D., Elk City.
47. B. E. Bryant, D., Gotebo.
48. J. J. Savage, D., MeKnight. 49. Luke Roberts, D., Olustee.
50. W. J. Caudill, D., Granite.
51. W. E. Banks, D., Hess.
52. J. B. Task, D., Hobart.
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act, the delegates were to meet at the seat of government of Oklahoma territory on the second Tuesday following their elec- tion, form permanent organization, declare their adoption of the constitution of the United States, and then proceed to the formation of a state constitution. The Democrats being in full control, the election of the convention president was decided by caucus before the convention assembled. The factional skirmishing that preceded the election of the presiding officer was an in- cident of the politics of the time that can have no proper discussion here. The three principal candidates for the office were William H. Murray, of Tishomingo; W. C. Hughes, of Oklahoma City, and Pete Han- raty, of South McAlester, the last named being president of the twin-territory labor federation. At the caucus on Monday be-
fore the opening of the convention, Mur- ray was chosen by 61 votes against 26 cast for Hanraty, and the latter was then given the vote by acclamation for vice-president.
Brooks opera house in the city of Guthrie was the scene of the first day's pro- ceedings of the convention, which was called to order at 2:30 o'clock on No- vember 20, by Delegate Henry S. Johnston, of Perry. After the invocation by Rev. Frank Naylor, of Shawnee, J. S. King was chosen temporary chairman, and John M. Young, of Lawton, temporary secretary. Justice Burford, of the territorial supreme court, who as president of the Oklahoma City Commercial Club in 1890 had signed the call for the first statehood convention held in Oklahoma, administered the oath to the delegates.2
For the election of a president of the
53. W. H. Edley, D., Fletcher.
54. John M. Carr, D., Frederick.
55. G. M. Tucker, D., Comanche (I. T.).
56. T. J. Leahy, D., Pawhuska.
57. J. J. Curl, D., Bartlesville.
58. W. D. Humphrey, D., Nowata.
59. W. H. Kornegay, D., Vinita.
60. D. P. Willis, D., Chelsea.
61. J. W. Swarts, D., Chelsea.
62. Riley Copeland, D., Fairland.
63. J. K. Hill, D., Catoosa.
64. C. V. Rogers, D., Claremore.
65. J. H. Langley, D., Pryor Creek.
66. J. T. Edmondson, D., Mayesville.
67. J. H. N. Cobb., R., Sapulpa.
68. Nelson Flowers, D., Tulsa. 69. W. T. Dalton, D., Broken Arrow.
70. A. L. Husan, D., Coweta.
71. J. A. Harris, R., Wagoner.
72. A. S. Wiley, D., Tahlequah.
73. C. W. Board, Okmulgee. 74. W. A. Cain, R., Oktaha.
75. P. B. Hopkins, R., Muskogee.
76. C. N. Haskell, D., Muskogee.
77. O. H. P. Brewer, D., Webber Falls.
78. W. N. Littlejohn, D., Bushy.
79. W. B. Hudson, R., Henryetta.
80. N. G. Turk, R., Checotah.
81. M. H. Tate, R., Wewoka.
82. Elf Nessenger, D., Holdenville.
83. Wm. C. Leidkter, D., Eufaula.
84. D. M. Faulkner, D., Gans.
85. S. O. Hays, D., Chickasha.
86. Charles McClain, D., Purcell.
87. Carlton Weaver, D., Ada.
88. B. F. Harrison, D., Newburg.
89. J. I. Wood, D., Scipio.
90. Pete Hanraty, D., South McAlester.
91. N. P. Gardener, D., Styler.
92. E. T. Sorrells, D., Helton.
93. R. J. Allen, D., Chickasha.
94. Miles Lancaster, D., Pauls Valley.
95. F. J. Stowe, Ind., Wynnewood.
96. C. S. Leeper, D., Sapulpa.
Boone Williams, D., Lehigh.
97. 98. A. G. Cochran, D., Hartshorne.
99. J. L. Lattimer, D., Wilburton.
100. C. C. Mathis, D., Monroe.
101. Charn. Jones, D., Ryan.
102. L. J. Akers, D., Woodford.
103 W. A. Ledbetter, D., Ardmore.
104 W. H. Murray, D., Tishomingo.
105. J. H. Chambers, D., Atoka.
106. J. C. Graham, D., Marietta.
107. G. A. Henshaw. D., Madill.
108. R. L. Williams, D., Durant.
109. G. E. Parker, D., Bokoshe.
110. B. F. Lee, D., Hugo.
111. S. J. Herndon, D., Idabel.
? "I do solemnly swear that I will support and
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convention a rising vote was taken on the two candidates, 97 votes being cast for Murray, the caucus nominee of the Demo- crats, and II votes for Phillip B. Hopkins, of Muskogee, the Republican candidate. The other permanent officers chosen were Pete Hanraty, vice-president; W. A. Durant, sergeant-at-arms, and John M. Young, secretary.
The constitutional convention, instead of completing its work in sixty days, as out- lined in the enabling act, remained in ses- sion until March 5; 1907, and then took a recess until April 16, at which time the members assembled and signed the docu- ment. Even then, no adjournment sine die was taken, but only till July 5, the day before the date fixed for the election at which the people were to vote on the con- stitution and for state officers.
Probably no body of delegates gathered for the purpose of drafting the fundamental laws of a state was ever subjected to more criticism and abuse than the Oklahoma con- stitutional convention. Several reasons may be assigned for this-first, the conven- tion was overwhelmingly Democratic, and the party hitherto in control of the terri- torial government was completely shut out from any participation in the making of the constitution; a natural bitterness con- sequently existed among the defeated, and was manifested in a persistent hostility to all the acts of the majority; secondly, the majority of those chosen for the task of constitution-making were frankly pro- gressive, if not radical, in their views on the powers and limitations of government. The entire nation at this time was under- going a civic regeneration, as it were, and
defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any
revising its opinions and seeking to make the powers of government keep pace with the rapid progress of modern industrialism and social conditions. The spirit of change was in the air, and the constitutional dele- gates, no less affected by it than people in other states, saw in their present task an opportunity to profit by the ideals of the new era and incorporate its fundamental principles in the constitution. As a matter of course, the efforts to do this were re- garded with apprehension by the conserva- tive element, and the provisions of the con- stitution that, on one side, were believed to be progressive and in keeping with modern conditions, were denounced; on the other side, as experimental and dangerously radical. And, finally, the eyes of the entire country were upon the convention, its ac- tions were scrutinized and analyzed by critics in the east and west, north and south, and the reflex of public opinion was felt to a greater degree by this convention than any body of law makers has ever experienced.
After the first draft of the constitution had been prepared and the constitution had taken a recess, the constitution was sub- jected to most merciless criticism, and every possible means employed to discredit it in the eyes of the people. During the spring and summer of 1907 it was almost impossible for a disinterested observer to discover what was the actual sentiment of the whole people, or how the constitution would be received when it came to a vote for ratification. The public press was, as a rule, thoroughly partisan, either defending the work of the convention as a whole, or bitterly hostile, and a calm and dis-
natural reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the du- ties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God."
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criminating discussion of the constitution on its merits could not be found in the public prints.
A thorough review of the details of the campaign for and against the constitution cannot be attempted. One of the incidents, however, must be noticed because of the prominence it received in newspaper ac- counts. By the terms of the enabling act, the constitution, after being drawn by the convention, was to be delivered to the ter- ritorial secretary, and, being thus officially sanctioned as the convention's work, the
'For the reasons assigned for this action, see sketch of William H. Murray, volume II.
* May 2, 1907, at what was called a "Repub- lican love feast," held in Oklahoma City and attended by the Republicans of all parts of the new state, the party expressed its disapproval of the withholding of the constitution by the chair- man of the convention in the following resolu- tions, introduced by D. T. Flynn :
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