THE

OKLAHOMA

LAW JOURNAL

EDITED AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

D. H. FERNANDES, GUTHRIE, Oklahoma.

VOL. 11.

July, 1912.

No. 1

SENATE BILL No. 7260

This Bill was drafted by Senator Robert L. Owen, and has passed the second reading.

A BILL Providing for the sale of the remaining portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw unallotted and segregated lands.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress. Assembled.

That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to sell, on twenty years' time, at five per centum interest, the remaining portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw unallotted and segregated lands, under the following provisions, to wit:

That the land shall become taxable immediately after the sale and the first payment in cash is made; that the payment for such lands shall be divided into twenty equal installments, the first payment to be made in cash and the remaining nineteen payments to be made annually with five per centum interest; that upon making the first payment the purchaser shall de entitled to a certificate

of purchase, which shall be evidence of his right of occupancy and improvement and transfer, and upon making final payment of principal and interest the purchaser or his assigs or heirs shall be entitled to a deed; that the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, may at any time pay up in full and receive a title; that the Federal Goverment shall immediately pay to the Choctaws and Chickasaws the total amount of the price at which such land is sold without waiting for the deferred payments to be liquidated; and that the deferred payments shall be paid into the Treasury to the credit of the United States to reimburse the advance made by the Government.

THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND

THE NOBLE WORK IT HAS IN VIEW.

On page 492, of volume ten of The Oklahoma Law Journal, we called attention to the fact that through the the influence of The American Bar Association an el ready large number of laws had been made uniform throughout many of the States of the Union. This work and the continuance of it, is most desirable both by the Bar and the public; for while uniformity of law will to a certain extent diminish the labor of the lawyer, it has no tendency to simplify the law that every man may become his own lawyer. Even if it were possible to make every topic of the law, State and Federal uniform, the number of topics and the ramifications of each are such, "that only the greatest minds can expect to reach their outer boundaries." In full accord with the view just stated The American Bar Association, whose memership is made up of many of the foremost lawyers of the Nation, set out the purpose of its existence in the following words: "To advance the science of jurisprudence promote the administration of Justice and uniformity of legislation throughout the Union, uphold the honor of the profession of the law, and encourage cordial intercourse among the members of the American Bar." The sentiment expressed in the purpose of the organization, existence and

continuance of The American Bar Association is an evidence of the great and patriotic minds that compose its membership. It widely contrasts with the view expressed a few years ago by a few members of a certain State Bar Association, that by raising the fee of membership a few dollars that it would have a tendency "to keep the smaller fry out of the Association," and thus raise higher the "dignity of membership. How small and selfish this as compared with the action just taken by the great and magnanimous jurists of The American Bar Association which has appointed committees in every Federal District to enlist the interest of lawyers in good standing to join the Association and co-operate with it in the work of increasing its usefulness for the public good as well as for professional benefit.

The present President of the Association Stephen S. Gregory of Chicago, is lending his influence to the movement to increase the membership of Association and thus give impetus to the great work that can be accomplished by larger numbers enlisted in the betterment of our laws and its practice. In view of securing efficiency in mem、 bership instead of "dignity” in financial ability to pay a large fee for membership, the admission to this great body has been put down to five dollars.

GAS AND OIL CASES.

Oil and gas leases will be construed most strongly against lessee and in favor of the lessor. Frank Oil Co. v. Belleview O. & G. Co., 119 P. 260.

In an action for injuries caused by the breaking of a pipe line, evidence held to show that it resulted from defendant's failure to properly protect the joints of the pipe, as well as by reason of an extraordinary flood.

2. Evidence held sufficient to warrant a finding that plaintiff's land was injured by an overflow of oil, due to defendant's nengligence in failing to equip its pipe line with clamps at a point where it crossed the river. McMurry v. Praire Oil & Gas Co., 141 S. W. 463.