The Daily Telegraph of Friday contains a long Renter tele-
gram from Muskogee (Oklahoma) in regard to the alleged American land scandals. In the course of an inquiry by a Congressional Committee into the sale of Indian lands, Senator Gore stated that Mr. Hammond, an ex-National Republican Committeeman in Oklahoma, had offered him a bribe of £5,000 "if he would promote the £6,000,000 Indian land deal " :— "The Senator deposed that the offer was made in Washington on May 6th. He further stated that the politician in question told him that Senator Curtis, of Kansas, and Congressman McGuire, of Oklahoma, were interested in the contracts, and an official higher up in the Government was also interested. Pressed further, Mr. Gore declared that Vice-President Sherman was the higher up' man named. The offer of a bribe, Mr. Gore explained, followed his opposition to the approval by Congress of what were known as the McMurray contracts, affecting the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indian tribes, who were forbidden by the present laws to dispose of their land holdings. Mr. McMurray, who was an attorney, and his associates, were to receive 10 per cent. of the profits on the sale of 450,000 acres of coal and asphalts lands belonging to the Indians. As a New York syndicate was prepared to pay 30,000,000 dole. for these lands, the McMurray interests would realise 3,000,000 dole."
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