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Show GORE WILL TELL ALL DETAILSOF SCHEME MUSKOGEE, Okla.. Aug. 3. Investigation Inves-tigation of the charges made in the United States senate by Senator T. P. Gore that be and a member of the house of representatives had each been offered a bribe of $23,000 to foster fos-ter a scheme whereby the Indians of OKlahoma were to be deprived of $3,000,000 profits due them through the sale of coal and asphalt, lands in this state la to be begun here tomorrow. tomor-row. Gore's Statement. On the eve of the investigation, Senator Gore said tonight: "I will tell the full details of the scheme hatched at Washington to mulct theso Indians out of $3,000,000 through Ihe sale of their lands. 1 will give names, dates and other circumstances cir-cumstances relative to the tribe of $25,000 offered to me and a member of the house of representatives to remove re-move our opposition to the scheme which would throw, the vast sum of money' luto tbe hands of private attorneys." at-torneys." The committee was appointed by the house of representatives to Investigate Inves-tigate what are kDOwn as the Mr-Murray Mr-Murray contracts with the Chickasaw and Chcetaw tribes of Indians. Tbe charges were made by Senator Gore in the senate on June 24. and which made the lands which form the basis for the present Investigatlon. Enormout Profttn for McMurray. That J. F. McMurray of MoAlester, Okla.. and his ansociates bad obtained 0,ooo individual contracts with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians ' for the sale of 450,000 acres of coal and asphalt lands, estimated to, be worth from 130.000.000 to JieO.000,000. That the profit to McMurray and his a6so-elates a6so-elates was to be 10 per cent, or a sum ranging from 3.ooo.ono to $16.-000.010. $16.-000.010. That a New York syndicate already waa prepared to take over, I tbe lAJid at .$30,000,000. That when opposition to approve the contracts aros in congress he (Senator Gore) was approached and told that $25,000 or perhaps $50,000 would h" available to blm. and that a like sum would be available to a coembAr of the house of representatives representa-tives if all opposition was removed. That If the contract had been tp- proved th Indians would have been 1 deprived of 10 per cent of the profits I guaranteed them by the government and the money would have gone to : pay "attorney fees" for which no ma- I terial servko had been rendered, j Senator Gore also charged that an ox-senator from Nebraska and an ex-senator ex-senator from Kaasas were interested i In tho contracts, "That and other information I am now ready to impart before the investigating inves-tigating committee. "When the government made its treaties with the Indiana It agreed to sell the land and hand over the full profit to thoso Indians. It would be absurd for the government to sanction reduction of 10 per cent to be banded band-ed out in tho shape of attorney fees It is especially absurd, since no attorney's' attor-ney's' services are needed." Dennis T. Flynn, counsel for J. F. McMurray, eald today that he would contend that the contracts were valid, blnco the Indians were members of what are known as tb"five civilized tribes." and as such bad the right of citizenship to make contracts. He Mid he would assert, however, that no offer of bribery had ever been made, Cecil Lyon, chairman of tbe Republican Repub-lican state committee of Texas, who was charged by Congressman A. P. Murphy on the floor of the house of representatives with having assisted Mr. Murphy in working for the ap: prwal of the contract?., is expected here tomorrow when the investigation begins. |