Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1901 — OKLAHOMA AND STATEHOOD. [ARTICLE]

OKLAHOMA AND STATEHOOD.

The Territory Make# Exceptionally Good Claim# for Admisaion. The Territory of Oklahoma seeks statehood and makes a good claim to it. It contains 400,000 people, 90 per cent of whom are native Americans and 100,000 of whom are school children; they have 2,000 school houses, no i>enltentiary, not a poorhouse, and only six per cent of illiteracy—less than any one of forty-five of the States. Thef- own $75,000,000 of property. And 12,000,000 acres are settled, and ’homesteader# are taking a million acres a year; LOOO miles of railroad brought last year 6,000 carload# of manufactures and carried away 40,000 carloads of produce. Ten years ago the population was about 00,000. Buch progress has ls-en made by no other area of equal size in the United States. If Indian Ter ritory should within a few years be added to Oklahoma, the two would have a population of at least a million, who would cast 100,000 votes and pay taxes on $150,000,000 of property.