Governor's Message to Fourth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Oklahoma

Excerpt from Governor's Message to Fourth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Oklahoma: Delivered January 13, 1897 Oklahoma is most fortunately located. The soil is so fertile and diversified that the cotton of the southern and the cereals of the central states are produced in equal abundance. This happy location is in part responsible for the slight effect here felt of the financial distress that now prevails in so many parts of the country. Many of the people are poor, and have had' and are now having a hard struggle against the conditions that necessarily exist in the settlement of a new commonwealth. However, an examination of the expenditure of the poor fund made in the various counties shows that a remarkably small per cent. Of the inhabitants are subjects of public charity. The people of Oklahoma are intelligent, courageous, energetic and frugal. You gentlemen are to be congratulated on being chosen to legislate in behalf of such a people. You also, com ing fresh from among the people, are acquainted with their con dition and familiar with their needs. Still it will not be out of place for me to suggest that much is expected of the Fourth Legislative Assembly. Many abuses exist that can be remedied by proper legislation. The evil most apparent is high taxes. Complaint comes from every county, city and school district in the territory that the exactions of the tax-gatherer are not in keeping with the con dition of the people. This condition is not only burdensome to the people, but it drives capital from the territory and is a bar against other coming in. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.