adoption of the first eight amendments. While it was not a necessary part of the Constitution, the wisdom of its insertion is beyond question. It left nothing to interpretation, nothing to construction. It furnished a beacon light to the official and a sufficient guarantee to the people.

If we had with us today the despoilers of the American people and we should refer to the Declaration of the American Independence they would enthusiastically applaud it if we would renew our allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, they would ask to be included and give it apparently a most pronounced approval. If we should renew our faith in the teaching of the Bible they would beg to join us and proclaim their devotion to the lowly Nazarene. We have, therefore, nothing to gain by copying the Ten Commandments into the Constitution. We have, therefore, nothing to gain by filling it with glittering generalities and fulsome declarations of general principles, but we have everything to gain and nothing to lose by making a definite and specific application of these general principles and of the Ten Commandments to the business of the people. In my judgment the law rightly enacted and rightly interpreted is but an application of the Ten Commandments to the affairs of men.

This and every other generation of a free people has its own peculiar problems to face in Constitution-making. The men and the generations that have gone before us have with splendid intelligence, unfaltering patriotism and a courage that has challenged the world, confidently faced and as intelligently and courageously solved the problems of government and in Constitution-making that confronted them. We will be unworthy sons of worthy sires if we fail to meet and intelligently and courageously solve the problems now pressing upon our people for solution. We, the accredited delegates of what is destined to be the grandest State in the grandest country in the only Republic that ever lived. A moral coward should have no place and

no seat in a Constitutional Convention.

On motion of N. B. Gardner, Delegate-elect from the 91st district, Jno. M. Young was elected temporary Secretary, who thereupon assumed the duties of his office.

It was moved by J. A. Baker, Delegate-elect from the 81st district, that the roll be called and that the Delegates-elect take the oath of office in numbers of ten and that the oath of office be administered by a member of the Supreme Bench of Oklahoma. Motion seconded. An amendment was offered by W. J. Caudill, providing that Chas. H. Filson, Secretary of the Territory of Oklahoma, call the name of the Delegates-elect from the official report of the canvassing boards and that all such members present and hand in their certificates of elec

tion to be sworn in at the same time. The amendment was carried; the motion as amended was then adopted.

Secretary Filson then called the roll and one hundred and nine delegates responded to the roll call, as follows:

T. O. James, First District; Fred C. Tracy, Second District; Ed R. Williams, Third District; E. O. McCance, Fifth District; Geo. N. Bilby, Sixth District; John C. Majors, Seventh District; Geo. W. Wood, Eighth District; D. G. Harned, Ninth District; Wm. F. Hendricks, Tenth District; Chas. H. Pittman, Eleventh District; J. A. Alderson, Twelfth District; Chas. L. Moore, Thirteenth District; Albert H. Ellis. Fourteenth District; D. S. Rose, Fifteenth District; Joseph Francis King, Sixteenth District; Henry S. Johnston, Seventeenth District; Geo. M. Berry, Eighteenth District; E. G. Newell, Nineteenth District: J. E. Sater, Twentieth District; F. E. Houston, Twenty-First District; Joel M. Sandlin, Twenty-Second District; Henry L. Cloud, TwentyThird District; W. L. Helton, Twenty-Fourth District; Henry E. Asp, Twenty-Fifth District; Wm. B. Jenkins, Twenty-Sixth District; W. T. S. Hunt, Twenty-Seventh District; John L. Mitch, Twenty-Ninth District; Silas Marion Ramsey, Thirtieth District; James H. Maxey, ThirtyFirst District; Isaac Benjamin Littleton, Thirty-Second District; T. Charles Wyatt, Thirty-Third District; J. S. Buchanan, Thirty-Fourth District; Jacob K. Norton, Thirty-Fifth District; John J. Carney, ThirtySixth District; Mathew J. Kane, Thirty-Seventh District; Thad D. Rice, Thirty-Eighth District; Chas. C. Fisher, Thirty-Ninth District; Henry Kelly, Fortieth District; C. H. Bowers, Forty-First District; Hymen O. Tenor, Forty-Second District; W. S. Dearing, Forty-Fourth District; John B. Harrison, Forty-Fifth District; F. E. Herring, Forty-Sixth District; B. E. Bryant, Forty-Seventh District; J. J. Savage, Forty-Eighth District; Luke Roberts, Forty-Ninth District; W. J. Caudill, Fiftieth District; W. E. Banks, Fifty-First District; James B. Tosh, Fifty-Second District; Wm. H. Edley, Fifty-Third District; John M. Carr, Fifty-Fourth District; G. M. Tucker, Fifty-Fifth District; T. J. Leahy, Fifty-Sixth District; J. J. Quarles, Fifty-Sixth District; Joseph J. Curl, Fifty-Seventh District; Walter D. Humphrey, Fifty-Eighth District; W. H. Kornegay, Fifty-Ninth District; Don P. Wills, Sixtieth District; J. W. Swarts, Sixty-First District; Riley Copeland, Sixty-Second District; J. K. Hill, Sixty-Third District; Clement V. Rogers, Sixty-Fourth District; J. Howard Langley, Sixty-Fifth District; J. Turner Edmonson, Sixty-Sixth District; J. H. N. Cobb, Sixty-Seventh District; Flowers Nelson, SixtyEighth District; William T. Dalton, Sixty-Ninth District; A. L. Hausam, Seventieth District; James A. Harris, Seventy-First District; Albert S. Wyly, Seventy-Second District; Chas W. Board, Seventy-Third District; W. A. Cain, Seventy-Fourth District; Philip B. Hopkins, Seventy-Fifth District; Chas. N. Haskell, Seventy-Sixth District; O. P. Brewer, Sev

enty-Seventh District; W. N. Littlejohn, Seventy-Eighth District; William B. Hudson, Seventy-Ninth District; H. G. Turner, Eightieth District; J. A. Baker, Eighty-First District; E. F. Messenger, Eighty-Second District; William C. Liedtke, Eighty-Third District; C. O. Frye, Eighty-Fourth District; Samuel W. Hayes, Eighty-Fifth District; Charles M. McClain, Eighty-Sixth District; Carleton Weaver, Eighty-Seventh District; Ben F. Harrison, Eighty-Eighth District; James I. Wood, Eighty-Ninth District; Pete Hanraty, Ninetieth District; Neil B. Gardner, Ninety-First District; Edmond T. Sorrells, Ninety-Second District; Royal J. Allen, Ninety-Third District; Milas Lasater, Ninety-Fourth District; Frank J. Stowe, Ninety-Fifth District; C. S. Leeper, NinetySixth District; Boone Williams, Ninety-Seventh District; Albert G. Cochran, Ninety-Eighth District; Jas. S. Latimer, Ninety-Ninth District; C. C. Mathis, One Hundredth District; Cham Jones, One Hundred and First District; L. J. Akers, One Hundred and Second District; Walter A. Ledbetter, One Hundred and Third District; William H. Murray, One Hundred and Fourth District; James H. Chambers, One Hundred and Fifth District; J. C. Graham, One Hundred and Sixth District; Geo. A. Henshaw, One Hundred and Seventh District; R. L. Williams, One Hundred and Eighth District; Gabe E. Parker, One Hundred and Ninth District; B. F. Lee, One Hundred and Tenth District; Preeman J. McClure, One Hundred and Eleventh District; W. C. Hughes, Delegateelect from the Twenty-Eighth, was unable to attend on account of sickness.

Each of the delegates above named, as their names were called, presented their several certificates of election, which were duly passed upon and approved by the Convention, as entitling said Delegates to seats in the Convention.

Upon request of the Convention, Hon. John H. Burford, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, administered to the Delegates-elect present the following oath of office:

"Do you and each of you solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation of purpose or evasion and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Delegate to the Constitutional Convention on which you are about to enter? SO HELP YOU GOD."

W. A. Ledbetter, Delegate from the One Hundred and Third District, offered and moved the adoption of the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Delegates elected to form a Constitution for the State of Oklahoma, do now proceed to the permanent organization of the Constitutional Convention and until others are provided the following shall constitute the permanent officers of the convention, to-wit: A President and Vice President, a Secretary, a Sergeant-at-Arms,

Assistant adopted.

Whereupon, R. L. Williams, Delegate from District One Hundred and Eight, placed in nomination for the office of President of the Constitutional Convention, Wm. H. Murray, Delegate from the One Hundred and Fourth District. The nomination was seconded by Delegate Maxey, of the Thirty-First District. J. H. N. Cobb, Delegate from the Sixty-Seventh District, placed in nomination P. B. Hopkins, from the Seventy-Fifth District; nomination was seconded.

It was moved that the vote upon the candidates for President be taken by a rising vote. The motion was seconded and carried. Thereupon a vote being taken P. B. Hopkins received eleven votes, and Wilham H. Murray received ninety-seven votes, and said William H. Murray, having received a majority vote of all of the Delegates elected, was by the temporary chairman declared duly elected as President of the said Constitutional Convention.

A committee consisting of R. L. Williams, C. N. Haskell, J. H. Maxey and P. B. Hopkins was appointed to escort President-elect Murray to the platform, whereupon Mr. Murray was escorted to the platform and addressed the Convention as follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Delegates to the Constitutional Convention:

I do not know whether I am expected to make a talk, but I want me and I am to say I deeply appreciate the honor conferred upon mindful of the great responsibility which it carries. I know that I will not be able to satisfy the various persons who want promotions in the way of committees and appointments, but I do want to say that I feel proud of the fact that I have not made a single promise, save and except one little boy for page. (Applause.) There are two ways to manage politics. One is to promise everybody that comes along everything and the other is to promise no one anything. The last one I have followed. I belong to that class of men who believe that there is such a thing as honesty and integrity in politics. I believe the quicker the people of this country believe that and understand it the quicker they will conduct campaigns on the broad basis of honesty and public policy and not on the basis of misrepresentation, and the quicker will honesty and good men come into politics and try to steer aright the ship of State. We regret to say that in some of the older states politics is so corrupt that the religious and pious dare not enter. I believe it would even be wise to provide in the oath of office that each and everyone swear that he did not offer anything of value for a vote or to withhold a vote at an election at which he was elected or appointed.

I want to say to you especially that a while ago we were two Territories represented on the North and West with a thrifty population who came from all of the States of the Union and who, by their indus

try, their courage and intelligence, have made this country what it is. On the other, the East and South, is the home of the Five Civilized Tribes, three of whom were never savages and which five are the most advanced and civilized Indians on earth, represented here with their history and memories of their great men, such as Douglas H. Johnston, of the Chickasaws; Green McCurtain, of the Choctaws; Pleasant Porter, of the Creeks; W. C. Rodgers, of the Cherokees; John Brown, of the Seminoles, each the Chief Executive of their respective tribes, whose courage, intelligence and diplomacy have made them the equal of many of the Governors of the various States. In addition to these are their past patriots and heroes marked among the graves of the dead. There was the renowned and beloved Tishomingo, who represents the father of the Chickasaw Tribes, as does George Washington that of the United States. There was a Push-ma-ta-ha, the renowned warrior and executive of the Choctaws, who, with his seven hundred warriors, stood side by side with General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans and from behind cotton breast works, assisted in whipping the British from off American soil. There was the bright and splendid genius, the inventor of the alphabet and syllabary of the Cherokees, Sequoyah. (Applause.) These tribes, together with their white neighbors and friends, sought first to hold their cherished ideas and Territory rights for separate statehood and to create out of their statesmanship the State of Sequoyah. In this we have failed, but we accept conditions as we find them; we bow to the decrees of fate. We take them as one accepts his sweetheart, with the determination that there shall be peace and love between these two Territories. We are now united, not as two Territories, but as Greater Oklahoma. (Applause.)

Now as we are in this convention to make a Constitution, and as your presiding officer I shall not be allowed to say much, I am going to have my say now. In the first place I want to thank you for my election, and I want to say that I will perhaps take an unusual course in the selection of the committees. I am going to select every committee with care. I am going to take time to investigate the political principles and character of every Delegate before I appoint a single committee. I want all Democrats and my friends, the Republicans, to hand me their platforms on which they ran in the campaign, together with a statement of their first, second and third choice for committees. because there may be a conflict where you will have to take second or third choice, at least on one committee, because I have understood that nearly everyone wants to be appointed on the committee on County Boundaries. (Laughter.) In the appointment of a committee as I see it, there are two things to consider. First, the qualification. Second, the peculiar views relating to a given subject. I am going to be responsible for what I do, and if a man gets on a committee that represents