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IAPRIL 19, 1907
The Commoner.
A GREAT STATE IN THE MAKING
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Oklahoma City, Okla., April' 5.Cltizens of
all classes who arc seeking those reforms which
shall make for better citizenship and therefore
better things, are deeply concerned in the work
of the constitution makers who have just wrought
so well for the soon-to-be great state of Oklahoma.
No other constitutional convention ever had such
great opportunities; no other ever found Itself
fronted by such grave problems of statecraft, and
no other ever wrestled with greater problems that
affected vitally the interests of the people who
should live under- the constitution thus framed.
Coining into statehood at a time when it had'all
the experiences of other Btates to guide it; with
the shoals and icefs that had so .often threatened
other ships of state plainly marked, and with the
channel of safety marked by the buoys of jmarhiers.
who had passed before, the constitution makers of
Oklahoma have wrought well. They have given
the people of that great state a constitution that
will serve as a model for the states that come
after, and be a living witness to what the people
of other states missed by not being alive to their
own. best interests.
The constitution of Oklahoma was framed by
democrats more concerned in the welfare of the
people than they were in the welfare of any polit
ical organization or partisan movement Of the
112 delegates in the convention which framed tills
splendid tloeument 98 were democrats, 12 were
republicans, and 2 were independents. It must
not be understood that this preponderance of
democratic delegates means that the new state is
equally democratic on a vote. Upon two proposi
tlnos the republicans were divided prohibition
and the initiative and referendum. One faction of
the republican party insisted on writing prohibi
tion into the constitution, and another faction In
sisted upon submitting it to a popular vote. The
democrats were a unit in demanding that the
question bet submitted to popular vote. Upon the
Initiative and reterendum the republicans were
also divideda small portion favoring it" and a
majority of them looking upon it as a. "fad" not
worthy of serious attention! The democrats .were
solid In favor of the plan. As a result the farm
ers' union strength was throw largely to the
democratic ticket, for the farmers are strongly In
favor of the initiative and referendum. But Ok
lahoma is a democratic state. The knowledge of
this fact has kept Oklahoma out of the union for
ten years. It was knowledge of this fact that
forced joint statehood, for the political powers that
rule at Washington, feeling that they could no
longer keep Oklahoma out without danger to them
selves, insisted upon joint statehood with the
"Indian territory in the vain hope that tlie federal
officeholders and the political managers could con
trol enough votes in the Indian territory to give
them control of the. new state. And it was a vain
hope, for in the election of convention delegates
the Indian vote, was almost unanimous for the
democratic ticket The Indians of the Territory are
far and away ahead of their brethren elsewhere
in point of wealth, education and fitness for citi
zenship. They have had all the experience they
want with men of the class who have been sent
to the Territory to look after them carpetbaggers
whose interests were not the interests of their
,wards.
Sentiment is somewhat divided upon ttie ques
tion of the desirability of joint stateho.od, but it s
evident that a majority are well satisfied with It.
While the Indian territory section is not nearly
so well fitted for statehood as the Oklahoma sec
tion, the Indian section abounds in natural re
sources that will be of immense value to the new
state as a whole mineral lands and oil lands that
become the property of the new state, and which
safeguarded as they will be under the new con
stitution, will become the mainstay of education
and the basis of a system that will make the bur
den of taxation comparatively light There will
be no stealing of the states resources, no gam
bling away of the people's rights, no giving into
the hands Of a favored few the resources which
are and of rlglit ought to be the property of all
the people.
There are few objections made to the new con
stitution, and even these few are not well founded.
The chief opposition comes from members of the
party that had but little to do with its making and
Is founded on partisan bitterness. A few who
may be classed among Hhe fanatics oppose it .be
cause in fixing' the qualifications for suffrage, "ex
confederate soldiers" are named before "ex-federal
goldlers." The'' rest. of the opposition comes from
the carpetl)agr regime that realizes the near ap:
Features of Oklahoma's Constitution
Intiative and referendum.
Nomination of all state, county, district and
township officers by primaries.
Prohibition of succession In state offices.
Submission of the prohibition question to
the people of the whole state.
Elective state corporation commission.
Two-cent passenger fares.
Forbidding railway companies from owning
any productive agency of a natural commodity.
Fellow servant law.
Prohibiting corporations from owning more
land than is absolutely necessary in the opera
tion of their business.
Prohibition of Issuance of watered stock;
books q corporations made subject to 'Inspec
tion at all times.
Appointment of commission to negotiate
purchase of the segregated mineral lands in
Indian .territory, valued at many millions of
dollars.
Fixing legal rate of interest at six per cent
and contract rate at ten per cent
Compulsory and separate school system.
Labor and arbitration commission.
Commission of charities and corrections.'
Agricultural commission.
Oil, gas and mines commission.
Requiring majority vote to amend the constitution.
proach of its dissolution, and whose only hope is
the defeat of the document The combined oppo
sition harp loud and long on the length of the con
stitution and the length of time and the expense
of the convention. The constitution is long, but
there is ample reason for It In the first place it
had more problems to solve and more things of
importance to deal with than any other constitu
tional convention in the history of the republic.
The bill of rights is the best ever promulgated.
Its provisions for the regulation of railrdad And
other corporations are the most explicit and the
best from the people's standpoint ever drawn. The
safeguards thrown around the people are the most
rigid, the most explicit and the fairest ever pro
mulgated by a constitutional convention. There
are upwards of 45,000 words in this new constitu
tionwhich Is about 30,000 more than the average.
But the excess Is easily explained. The provision
submitting the question of prohibition is a long
one. The portion fixing the new county bound
aries is almost one-third of the document and the
provisions, full and explicit, providing for the in
itiative and referendum the first ever fully writ
ten into a state constitution take up a large share
of the space. This -will explain the length of the
instrument
Just and righteous things which the people of
older spates have fought in vain for years to se
cure through, the operation of legislation, are
glyen the people of this great new state by the
constitution which they have themselves written.
It Is a people's constitution in fact as well as in
name. It took Massachusetts, New York, Illinois
and other states a third of a century to secure
adequate legislation against child labor, but Okla
homa's constitution prohibits It ever entering the
state. Workingraen in older- states fought and
plead for years for laws safeguarding them and
abrogating the old English rule of fellow servants.
They will not have to make that fight In Okla
homa, for the constitution fixes it forever unless
changed by a majority vote, and employer's lia
bility Is the fundamental law of the new state.
In a score of states free labor Is 'still compeled
to compete with contract prison labor, and In the
two' or three states where free labor has rid Itself
of tills injustice It has been after a long and
costly fight This injustice will never be worked
against Oklahoma's workingmen until they ex
press by their vote a desire to compote with the
labor of convicts.
The eight-hour day In state, county and muni
cipal work is provided for, and the legislature is
empowered to provide a state printing plant which
will relieve the people from the exactions of the
school text-book trust and a printing combine
thai lias long looted the territorial treasury. The
employment of children under 15 years of age In
factories or underground mines is prohibited,
nder the head of "Labor and Arbitration'' the
constitution contains the following provisions: J
" A department of labor Is hereby created in
charge of a labor commissioner to be elected by
tho people, whoso term of office shall bo four
years, and whose duties shall bo prescribed by
law.
Tho legislature shall create a board of arbitra
tion and conciliation In the labor department, and
tho labor commissioner shall be cx-officlo chair
man. The legislature shall pass laws to protect the
health and safety of employes in factories, In
mines, and on railroads.
The interests of the people have been Jodked
after in every way. By "the people" is meant
those whose toil and sweat and sacrifices have
wrested tho now state from desert control and sot
it firmly on the highway to prosperity not tho
corporations who seek to so influence lawmaker
and legislation as to enable them to fatten upon
the necessities of the people. Oklahomans have
not been deceived by the cry of "driving out capi
tal," "wronging widows and orphans who have
their little all Invested in railway stocks," or
"taxing enterprise." These cries were raised, but
they fell upon deaf ears, for the, first concern of
Oklahoma was lor her own people and the safe
guarding of their interests.
The interests Unit have so long kept Oklahoma
out of the sisterhood of states builded unwisely,
for the longer Oklahomans were unjustly deprived-,
of statehood the stronger grew their determina
tion to start rignt when given the boon of state
hood and the making of their own constitution.
Undisturbed by the partisan rivalry Indulged in
by the states during national elections, Oklahoma
profited by the mistakes made, audi when the time
came to draw their constitution the people avoided
the bad features of all, drow upon the good features
of all, and initiated features that other states
long to have but are prevented from securing by
the shrewdness of the selfish interests that secured
the whip hand when the constitutions were in tho
making. As a result, Oklahoma joins the sister
hood of states with thc best constitution ever
drafted by the people of any state. And no other
territory was ever better fitted for statehood.
The citizenship of Oklahoma combines, within it
self the best blood and brain and brawn of all the
states a typical Americanism that Is better than
Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Celt or Dane men who
have nerved themselves to dare and do, and In
the doing have established a commonwealth the
like of which tho world never before saw at a
similar ago.
Is Oklahoma ready for statehood? Yes, and
was ready a decade ago. The total population is
in excess of 800,000, a greater population than that
of fifteen other states, some of which have been
in the sisterhood for a century. Fourteen other
states have fewer dwelling houses. Not less than
twelve other states have a greater mortgage in
debtedness per capita. Few states have a better
school system than tills new territory that stands
on the threshold-of statehood. The "little white
school house" is to be seen everywhere. The cities
are prosperous, substantially built and enterpris
ing to a degree that will astonish tho new be-
holder. Manufacturing is growing at a wonderful
pace, and the resources of the new state offer
abundant proof that not alone In agriculture will
Oklahoma stand pre-eminent
More than eleven years have elapsed clnce
Utah, the last state admitted, rejoieed to see her
star upon the blue of the nation's banner. When
Oklahoma's star appears It will mark the admis
sion of a state that, at the time o admission, was
the richest, the most populous, the most enterpris
ing and the most enlightened of all the galaxy of
states. This is no exaggeration. The figures ana
the Indisputable facts prove it beyond the shadow,
of doubt or dispute.
WILL M. MAUPIN.
MARCH ON, MY SOUL
March on, my soul, nor like a laggard stay,
March swiftly on, yet err not from the way
Where all the nobly wise of old have trod J
The path of faith made by the sons of 'God.
Follow the marJcs that they have set beside t
The narrow, cloud-swept track to be thy guide;.',
Follow and honor what the past has gained,
And forward still, that "more may be attained.
Something to learn and something to forget;
Hold fast the good and seek the better yet; -'"'
Press on, and prove the pilgrim-hope of youth,
03iat creeds are milestones oil the road to Truth. .
- Henry Van Dyke, D.-'D
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