Oklahoma civics and history

Front matter

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Preface To First Edition

This book cannot fail to commend itself to the schools of Oklahoma, and the Union.

FIRST, it is Oklahoman, yet the text will give the student a knowledge of state and federal government in general. The conviction that our state constitution is the best in the Union is fast becoming settled, and it has been given a prominent place in the text, and exhaustively treated.

SECOND, it is adapted to every factor of the school; the pupil, the teacher, and the home. To the pupil it is inductive, outlined, clearly indexed, and annotated. In style it is simple, and explanatory. Too often, in building a text, we fail to clothe the skeleton of dry fact with the flesh and blood of human interest. We have earnestly endeavored to avoid that mistake, and if we have done so we have special claim to consideration at the hands of those who are seeking to build well for the school child. It follows that to the teacher it extends the same virtues afforded to the pupil. To the home it pays special .tribute. The family, school, and all phases of local government have been deeply stressed, in order that boys and girls may have a proper conception of the home, and its environment. Further, it should be a valuable addition to the family library, for it contains the only authentic, comprehensive compilation of the state constitution, exhaustively crossindexed. In this connection, let it be understood that the topical index preceding each article of the constitution, and the section numbers and words immediately following in black-faced type, are notes and annotations, and are no part of the original instrument.

THIRD, it has sought by quotations, illustrations, songs, and earnest language, to incite patriotic fervor. It is well to know of our government, state and national, but it is infinitely better to love, and be proud of them.

FOURTH, it embraces history never before recorded in a book. For an understanding of our state government, children should be told of the men who have led, and are leading, this twentiethrt PREFACE

century s^ute into the ways which make for power, and progress This has been done by story, quotation, and narrative.

FIFTH, it is brief, yet complete, thereby adapting itself to a study of four months or a year. A discerning teacher will find it sufficiently elastic to meet the simple requirements of a class in the sixth, seventh or eighth grades, or the broader demands of a class in the high school. For example, in the grammar school grades, in the study of state government, the class might be confined to the introductory chapters on state government, while in the high school, in a whole year's work, the pupil might take up the state constitution by sections.

SIXTH, few civics make the text replete and progressive by presenting the latest governmental growth of the nation, Our Insular Possessions. The importance of this feature will, we hope, be understood and appreciated by teacher and pupil.

The main text will give a knowledge of federal and state government generally, but following Chapters III, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX there are stated briefly the provisions of Oklahoma law, relating to the subject of the chapter. There will also be found, following each article of the complete text of the constitution and enabling act, questions relating to the various provisions. These questions will be found very useful when the class is studying the chapter on state government.

We acknowledge the courtesy of Collier's in permitting the use of the Frontispiece; also of Mr. G. V. Buck, Washington, in permitting the use of copyrighted photograph of Senator Gore; also of The New England Publishing Company, Boston, for the use of their copyrighted poem, "The Schoolhouse Stands By The Flag"; also of Messrs. Asher and Jacobus, Enid, Oklahoma, in permitting the use of words of copyrighted song, "Oklahoma." ^ We also express our gratitude to teachers, superintendents, and friends for words of encouragement, and commendation.

With this brief outline of the scope of the work, we cherish the hope that it will lessen the labors of the teacher, and stimulate and inspire in the pupil those exalted ideals so essential to civic righteousness, and good citizenship.

THE AUTHORS.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Introductory l

I. Evolution of Society

Part II. Oklahoma History 167 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Inauguration of Governor Haskell frontispiece

State University and A. and M. College Buildings 21

Municipal and Congressional Townships 37

General Election Ballot 43

Sample Primary Election Ballot 49

Capitol at Washington 121

The Flag 158

Two Prominent Americans \ . . 161

Map of Oklahoma 179

State House, Guthrie 215

City Hall, Guthrie 215

OKLAHOMA CIVIL (IOVEKNMENT

INTRODUCTORY

Curriculum, or Course of Study. — The curriculum of the schools of any land is what the experiences of a people have taught them to secure in early life, in order to escape suffering and to acquire success.

Natural Tendencies. — According to sociologists, there are six instincts for good within the human brain, — health, wealth, knowledge, sociability, beauty, and righteousness ; and education alone can best develop these instincts for the ultimate glory and happiness of mankind. It is encouraging to note how well, during the centuries, the curricula of the schools have twined their tendrils about these natural powers.

Each Study Feeding Certain Instincts. — Xot reading, but knowledge, and the great means of obtaining knowledge, should we teach. Not spelling or getting words for mere time-consuming, but for making a formidable chain of the child's language, which makes for social strength. Xot arithmetic for pestiferous reasons unknown, but to create the sense of estimates, that a child may compute the value of a farm and library, and note that wealth puts them both together. Grammar for parsing or tripping children by its entangling rules, no ; but a study where speech is used and loved, because it is a passport to the society of success.

Civics Merges into Righteousness. — And thus geography becomes knowledge; history becomes righteousness; physiology, health; and civil government — what? Undoubtcdly with history, it forms a compendium of civic righteousness, as well as contributing liberally to sociability and knowledge.

Teach Civics of Active Men and Deeds.— This gives at once a viewpoint toward which all facts should be constantly led. Machinery of government should be taught — that is knowledge — but, by all means, the social influences working out the plan of government, and by greater means still, bring living, breathing, responsible man to light at every turn.

Spice with Variety. — Is the home discussed? Then link emotions with intellect, by introducing great men like Gladstone, Roosevelt, v and Bryan, as home-makers and homelovers. If you care and know how to do it, sing John Howard Payne's "Home Sweet Home/' and if done with tender care, more home government would be taught thereby than can be estimated.

Civil Government a Thing of Life. — If the state is the theme, ascertain how and why men rule, but at the same time be sure you introduce the legislators, the executive and judges as vividly as possible. Would it not be excellent teaching, if every pupil of civics could be taken to the capital and there see some men and things as they are ? This may not be done, and yet a fresh newspaper, breathing all the life of government of the last few hours, can and should be upon the desk of the teacher of civil government every morning.

Teacher Responsible. — Is civics as a study dull? Then let us place the blame where it belongs, and never upon the pupil or the subject.

THE TEACHER

First Requisite. — If it were our privilege to give to a teacher the first requisite to teach civil government, after a general competency had been proved, we should unhesitatingly give a nature that leaps and glows when the name of home, state, or nation is uttered.

INTRODUCTORY

The Other Extreme Avoided. — Patriotism can be sustained by undemonstrative, formal minds, but it cannot be imparted to the young by them. Understand that equally as important as irradiation is over-radiation. Too often patriotism in some schools is turned by the effervescent teacher into "Pat-Riotism," but the idea is —

"Breathes there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own my native land!"

Current Events. — To this requisite we would add another: the habit of keeping informed daily about the events of the locality, the county, the state, the nation, and the earth on which the teacher lives. There is no teaching of living civics done by any other kind of soul. 1 he atmosphere should fairly blaze with current events, bulletin boards, clippings, and portraits of representative men and women.

Special Occasions. — Third requisite; to have the teacher link the past with the present, by observing special occasions, which the world of feeling and life is observing. The best civics lesson that could be taught was taught a whole school of five hundred, besides the representatives of many homes and the entire community, by stopping the round of routine, 2nd coming together in one room to pay tribute to the murdered McKinley. Evils of anarchy, blessings of citizenship, reverence for home, state, nation, all, were sent to the center of half a thousand hearts ; not by speech-making citizens and teachers, but by well-prepared remarks of pupils.

THE PUPIL

Keep the pupil active and receptive, by giving him things to write, to report, to outline, to debate.

Have him connect the old with the new, and vice versa. Let him connect civil government with his history, geography, and everything. "What can be said of Oklahoma geography and history that does not recall its struggle for government? Then why not do that? Have we no time? All the time in the world is at the disposal of the person who takes it.

Have him make civics a thing of deeds and men, not facts and dates. When a constitution is studied, let us take time, by all means, to study the great leaders of men who fashioned it.

These suggestions arise, not from theory, but from active teaching of civics for several years, and superintendence of its teaching for many more. They are said with faith in the alert, aggressive American teacher; the active, receptive American child ; and in the American nation.

Chapter I Evolution Of Society

Order is Heaven's first law. — Pope's Essay on Man.

Society Instinctive. — Those who closely observe animal life will discover that some are gregarious, or society-forming, while others are not. The ant, the gorilla, and man are examples of the former, while the butterfly, the bear, and tiger exemplify the latter. Man, then, by nature, is a social being. He cannot exist apart from his fellows, any more than can the branch without the trunk.

Definition of Society. — Society, then, is interdependent Where men come together in any place, district, or nation, this mutual relation makes society. Sociarc, 1 the Latin verb, means "to meet together/' "to form associations"; and societas, from which "society" is derived, means a "union" or "communion." Thus we see that the United States is a vast society, because it was ordained and established, "to form a more perfect union" or communion.

Society Values. — This social instinct, like all other great common impulses, pushes man to greater excellence. Each family must have an instructor for its children. Many fatmilies grouped together find it convenient and economical to place their children in one building, and have an instructor in common. For a time, all the families control and support the teacher ; but, in a little while, trouble ensues because it is discovered that what is everybody's business is nobody's business. The interested parties meet and organize in order that certain persons may control certain things

1 Every time any word not English is used, it is defined. Pupils in the seventh year should analyze words.

G OKLAHOMA CIVIL GOVERNMENT

about the school. Thus the blessings of organized society demand government.

Rights and Duties. — Our forefathers held that men possessed three inalienable or natural rights: "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." They called attention to these, because a selfish nation was trying to destroy some if not all of these rights. They had rights, and it was plain duty to protect them from injustice. In the face of giant selfishness, the colonies banded together in order "to establish justice/' This is the first duty of society.

Functions of Government. — If we have discovered the first duty of organized society to be to establish justice, and its second to create schools, and such factors of progress, and these duties are to be discharged only through government, then we are ready to define government. Government is the organization of society to secure these ends: justice and progress. Believing this, we see that society without government could not exist; anarchy would reign supreme, every man a law unto himself, and then would come chaos. Man in most primitive states may not have had legislatures, governors, and judges, as we have them, but they existed in some fashion. Let us remember that "govern" springs from the Latin word gitbernare, which means "to steer."

Government Supreme. — Thus we see that in its very nature government arises because of the need of the few to regard the needs of the many. It took the ratification of only nine colonies to render che government made by thirteen effective. Governmental mandates must be supreme. Society has no defense if its government is not obeyed.

Political Science. — If it were permitted in discussing government to classify its principles, and in turn expose its virtues and vices, we should develop a political science, or a treatise on politics. Politics relates to the principles of government. In the abstract, such matters have no place in a work of this kind. But a few terms of political science are upon our lips every day, and it is our duty here to determine their meaning.

EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 7

The State. — A great political writer says that "a state is a particular portion of mankind, viewed as an organized unit." In America the state has grown out of historical, geographical, and educative reasons, — historical, because certain migrations brought particular people to particular spots; under different religious, political and material influences governments were established ; each became an independent colony, and after separating from England each became an independent state; geographical, because different climatic conditions yield different products, these in turn giving rise to corresponding industries, demanding, in the end, different laws; educative, because the training of the Saxon mind has been toward one general end in government: to keep power in the people's hands. "Decentralization of government," or "back to the people," has been the Englishman's political war-cry. He makes the nation, but permits it to do nothing which the state can do for him. He makes the state, but creates the county, to bring the rights and duties of a citizen closer about his hearthstone.

The Nation. — Perhaps no better term is known to patriotism than the word "nation." It springs from the Latin word nascor, "to be born." Thus a nation is a people having a common ancestry, birthplace, language, traditions, customs, manners, and civilization. The Jews, though scattered through the earth, in this sense are a nation. State and nation, in this sense, are in many cases synonymous; for England, Austria, and Prussia, as states, each includes a number of nations. Common interests seem to be the nuclei about which we group the idea of nation at times. The American colonies before the Revolution were called a nation, but never a state; while in this same sense Canada is often styled a nation.

Kinds of Government. — Philosophers of ancient Greece divided governments into three classes ; the monarchy, the democracy, and the aristocracy. Whatever deductions may have been drawn from these forms since, they rest to-day as the best basis for division of governments.

Monarchy. — A monarchy is a government whose functions are chiefly vested in one person. This person is named king, queen, emperor, empress, or prince. Monarchies are more numerous than all other governments. They are limited or absolute, according to limitations placed about the ruler.

. Limited Monarchy. — In this form of government the people have placed about their ruler certain restrictions, as in England and Germany. The monarchy is usually limited to the extent of the people's intelligence.

Absolute Monarchy . — In an absolute monarchy there is no limit to kingly power. Life, liberty, and property are at the command of the czar, shah, or sultan. The last decade has shown a beginning of the end of this form of government.

Hereditary Monarchy. — This is where the sovereign receives his right to rule from heirship, usually from his father.

Elective Monarchy. — Roumania, Greece, and certain other countries have rulers elected by certain electoral princes or monarchs.

Patriarchy. — This, as the name suggests, is that form of monarchy which rests the rule in a father of a family; at the head of a tribe.

Theocracy. — A theocracy is a government finding its existence in the commands of a god. The Hebrews of old gave the world the truest form of this government.

Democracy. — A democracy is a government by the people. A pure democracy is a government conducted by the people in person. Athens of ancient day, and the New England town meeting of modern day, are examples of this.

A Republic, or representative democracy, governs itself by representatives chosen by the people. The United States is a democratic republic. Mexico, France, and Brazil claim

EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 9

to be. This form of government is the product of modern times, as the ancients knew nothing of it. Its development is largely due to the Saxon or German mind.

Aristocracy. — This word, which springs from a Greek word meaning "best" or "select," is applied to a government where the reins of power are held by a particular few. These few usually secure their power by trampling on the people's rights. Rome just before the empire, Greece just before the Republic, and Venice of the Middle Ages are types of this government. The aristocracy governed by a certain few was called an oligarchy. However, this term became corrupted and was used for the word "aristocracy."

Mixed Governments. — Some governments combine many elements. England, in its ruler, has an hereditary king; in its house of lords it has the remnant of an ancient aristocracy; while in its commons, its most powerful factor, it has a republican body.

Dual Government. — There are two well-known forms of this kind of government: confederate and federal. A confederate government arises from laws set forth by states in league. It represents these states, and not the people. If supplies are needed, it asks the states for them, and each can furnish in its own way, or refuse. A federal government is the creation of a nation "of the people, by the people, and for the people." "We, the people of the United States, do ordain and establish this constitution." It acts directly upon the people.

Civil Government. — It can well be asked here, What is civil government? "Civil" is derived from the Latin civia, meaning "citizen," which is closely related to civitas, meaning "state." Therefore, civil government, in the best sense, is a system of laws resting upon intelligence and moral force. It is to be distinguished from military government, or government by the army, and from savage tribes.

Constitutions. — Every civil government is based upon a constitution. A constitution is the supreme law of the whole land. Some are written, as in America, while others rest upon precedents, customs, and powers of certain authorities, as in England. These are called unwritten constitutions. Each has its virtues and likewise its weaknesses.

Governmental Growth ; Evolution. — Political governments are like civilizations; not things of a day, but of growth. In brief time, growth is very slow. But, as slow as governmental wisdom and justice may be, they imply the use of means. Some of these are: universal education, patriotic interests, newspapers and magazines, agitation of public questions, political parties, and a free ballot. This process is the sure and slow process of evolution, or unfolding, but it has never failed to give glorious results.

Revolution. — "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another," if they are not able to do it by petition and remonstrance they must resort to arms. Thus our first fathers said and did, and so says all history. It is a violent means to better conditions, and is never excusable save whenever all peaceable and just means have been employed without avail.

1. Where does society have its origin?

2. Define society, and show how the United States is a society.

3. How is it shown that the blessings of society demand government?

4. What are some inalienable rights, and why so called ?

5. What are the two great functions of government?

6. Why must all government be supreme?

7. What is "politics/' and why not discussed here?

8. Define a state, and show some reasons for so many in the land.

9. Distinguish between a state and a nation.

10. What are the great kinds of government? State worth of each.

11. Why ire there so many monarchies? Name five of the greatest

12. Why is Russia an absolute monarchy and England a limited mon-

archy?

13. Why was the patriarchy adapted to the Hebrew people in Abraham's time?

EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 11

14. What is an aristocracy, and what traces of that in our country?

15. What are some mixed forms of government used by certain na-

tions, and how came these?

16. What are confederacies and federal unions? Give examples.

17. What is "civil government?"

18. What is a constitution? Name some kinds.

19. Tell how governments grow.

20. What is a revolution?

Chapter II The Family

But where to find that happiest spot below Who can direct, when all pretend to know?

The shudd'ring tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own; Extols the treasures of his stormy seas, And his long nights of revelry and ease: The naked negro panting at the line Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave, And thanks his gods for all the good they gave Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, His first, best country, ever is at home.

And yet, perhaps, if countries we compare, And estimate the blessings which they share, Though patriots flatter, still shall wisdom find An equal portion dealt to all mankind; As different good, by art or nature given, To different nations makes their blessings even.

Goldsmith's "Traveller."

THE DEAREST SPOT ON EARTH

The dearest spot on earth to me

Is home, sweet home!

The fairy land I've long'd to see

Is home, sweet home!

There how charm' d the sense of hearing, There where hearts are so endearing, All the world is not so cheering

As home, sweet home!

Chorus The dearest spot on earth to me

Is home, sweet home!

The fairy land I've long'd to see

Is home, sweet home!

I've taught my heart the way to prize

My home, sweet home; I've learn'd to look with lover's eyes

On home, sweet home. 12

THE FAMILY 13

There where vows are truly plighted, There where hearts are so united, All the world beside I've slighted For home, 3weet home.

IV. T. Wright on.

Family the Basis. — The family is the oldest government of man. Nature has made this so through the law of self-preservation. True, the way has been long, from the caveman, with his savage instincts, rude home, and wild affection for mate and offspring, to the modern gentleman, with his education, his refined home, and true love for wife and child. But the same elements ever appear.

The Father. — There is the father, whose position has been to defend from all trespass and wrong; to support with raiment, food, and shelter; to give to the child all the training that may be needed to develop it into a being stronger than himself. To this end, the primitive nature of man shapes all things.

The Mother. — The mother, whose mission has been to nurse, to instruct, and supply all those elements of love and self-sacrifice, appears and makes the home the one spot on earth.

The Child. — But the center of the home, and the reason for its existence, is the child. The plan, the toil and hope of the father ; the love, the nourishment and self-sacrifice of the mother, — all find their force in the child. Out of these happy conditions nature demands, at all times, one flower to grow, and that, love and gratitude of children for father and mother.

Children's Love of Father. — If the duty of the father is to defend, to support, it is his right to receive respect for his life, obedience to his commands, and other assistance from his child. Let it be understood that every son and daughter owes to a good father a debt of love and gratitude that a lifetime is too short to repay. If it be the duty of the father to educate, certainly a deeper, corresponding duty rests upon the child to take the education offered. What woe and misery attend children who thoughtlessly turn away from parents offering them an education !

Children's Devotion to Mother. — If it be the privilege of a mother to sacrifice for the child, what child would deny her the right of respect, love, and full obedience? If it is the duty of the mother to nourish a child in its dependence, then it is the child's imperative duty to be her staff in her declining strength.

Importance of Home. — Of all the factors which go to make a nation, the home is the greatest by far. If we have homes of sober, industrious fathers, building with firm hands and loving hearts their children's characters, and we place about these the grace of earnest, religious motherhood, we shall have a country equal to every trial.

Grady's View. — Here is a picture of the true home of America by that master patriot, Henry W. Grady. Read and preserve:

"A few Sundays ago I stood on a hill in Washington. My heart thrilled as I looked on the towering marble of my country's capitol, and a mist gathered in my eyes as, standing there, I thought of its tremendous significance and the powers there assembled, and the responsibilities there centered, — its presidents, its congress, its courts, its gathered treasure, its army, its navy, and its 60,000,000 of citizens. It seemed to me the best and mightiest sight that the sun could find in its wheeling course, — this majestic home of a republic that has taught the world its best lessons of liberty; and I felt that if wisdom, and justice, and honor abided therein, the world would stand indebted to this temple on which my eyes rested, and in which the ark of my covenant was lodged for its final uplifting and regeneration.

"A few days later I visited a country home. A modest, quiet house sheltered by great trees and set in a circle of field and meadow, gracious with the promise of harvest, — barns and cribs well filled, and the old smoke-house odorous with treasure; the fragrance of pink and hollyhock mingling with the aroma of garden and orchard, and resonant with the hum of bees and poultry's busy clucking; inside the house, thrift, comfort, and that cleanliness that is next to godliness, — the restful beds, the open fireplace, the books and papers, and the old clock that had held its steadfast pace amid the frolic of weddings, that had welcomed in steady measure the new-born babes of the family, and kept company with the watchers of the sick-bed, and had ticked the solemn requiem of the dead; and the well-worn Bible that, thumbed by fingers long since stilled, and blurred with tears of eyes long since closed, held the simple annals of the family, and the heart

THE FAMILY 15

and the conscience of the home. Outside stood the master, strong and wholesome and upright; wearing no man's collar; with no mortgage on his roof and no lien on his ripening harvest; pitching his crops in his own wisdom, and selling them in his own time in his chosen market; master of his lands and master of himself. Near by stood his aged father, happy in the heart and home of his son. And as they started to the house the old man's hands rested on the young man's shoulder, touching it with the knighthood of the fourth commandment, and laying there the unspeakable blessing of an honored and grateful father. As they drew near tnc door the old mother appeared; the sunset falling on her face, softening its wrinkles and its tenderness, lighting up her patient eyes, and the rich music of her heart trembling on her lips, as, in simple phrase, she welcomed her husband and son to their home. Beyond was the good wife, true of touch and tender, happy amid her household cares, clean of heart and conscience, the helpmate and the buckler of her husband. And the children, strong and sturdy, trooping down the lane with the lowing herd, or weary of simple sport, seeking, as truant birds do, the quiet of the old home nest. And I saw the night descend on that home, falling gently as from the wings of the unseen dove. And the stars swarmed in the bending skies, the trees thrilled with the cricket's cry, the restless bird called from the neighboring wood, and the father, a simple man of God, gathering the family about him, read from the Bible the old, old story of love and faith, and then went down in prayer, the baby hidden amid the folds of its mother's dress, and closed the record of that simple day by calling down the benediction of God on the family and the home !