JUDGE G. A. BROWN, SUPREME COURT, whose lamentable death occurred on Monday, October 25th, while engaged in the duties of his office, was in his sixty-seventh year. He was born on his father's farm in Washington County, Texas, on June 25th, 1849. At the age of nineteen with money he had himself earned, he entered school and by earnest efforts in two years completed a four years' course of study and was chosen valedictorian of his class. He studied law in the office of Throckmorton & Brown, the former an Ex-governor of Texas, and the latter was afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. Some years later he was married to Miss Adele Hart Davis of Denton, Texas, who survives him. Judge Brown was admitted to the bar at Sherman, Texas, in 1873, and was associated with Ex-governor Throckmorton in the practice of law in that city. In 1882, he moved to Donley County, Texas, and was appointed county judge of that county the same year. After two terms in office he resigned to devote his entire time to the practice of law. In 1889 he was chosen judge of the 44th Judicial District of Texas, to which office he was afterwards three times re-elected and held the position until 1903. The latter year, Judge Brown removed with his family to Mangum, Greer County, in this State. At the Oklahoma Statehood election in 1907, Judge Brown was elected Judge of the 18th Judicial District and re-elected to that office in November, 1910. During his term on the bench as District Judge, he tried many important cases in other districts where the local judges were disqualified. During his service as a district judge in Texas, he tried the celebrated case of the State of Texas vs. Rev. George E. Morrison, who was convicted and hanged in Vernon, Texas, in 1899, for poisoning his wife. In Oklahoma, the negroes, Alf Hunter and Ed Ellis who killed Sheriff W. G. Garrison, of Oklahoma County, were tried and convicted before Judge Brown in Blaine county. Ellis is serving a life sentence in the Oklahoma State Prison and Alf Hunter was hanged at Watonga, in 1910. Judge Brown also tried the celebrated cases of State of Oklahoma vs. Rudolph Tegeler, charged with the murder of James Meadows, and of the State vs. Mike O'Brien, charged with perjury committed while testifying as a witness for Tegeler in the trial of the latter's case. At the November, 1914, election, Judge Brown was elected Justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Jesse Dunn, and this position he was holding at the time of his death. He had been a member of the Baptist Church since he was sixteen years of age and was a member of the Masonic Order. Judge Brown was a man of striking personality and was distinguished for the uprightness of his private life, his high conception of legal ethics and the eminent value of his public services. Notwithstanding his age, he had been seriously and earnestly considered by a large number of friends as a most promising candidate of his party for the office of governor of the State at the next election. Vol. XIV OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA., OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1915 OKLAHOMA LAW JOURNAL Published by WARDEN COMPANY 13-15 West Main Street, Oklahoma City, Okla. CHAS. F. BARRETT, Editor. FRED RISELING, Associate Editor. Subscription: $2.00 per year Entered at Oklahoma City Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879 IMPORTANT It is important that all old subscribers to The Law Journal should give a moment's attention to their subscription account. On January 1, 1916, the yearly price of The Journal will be advanced to three dollars, but all renewals or new subscriptions received prior to that date will be accepted at the two dollar rate. All arrearages now due should be paid by December 1st, whether the subscriber cares to take advantage of our subscription renewal offer or not. ANNOUNCEMENT Subscribers and friends of the Law Journal will be pleased to learn that with this issue the Warden Company, one of the largest and most substantial printing and publishing institutions in Oklahoma, have acquired all the stock of the Oklahoma Law Journal Company, and will hereafter become the responsible publishers of this magazine. Chas. F. Barrett will remain as editor, and Mr. Fred Riesling, a newspaper man of ability, well and favorably known in all the departments of state and to the business and newspaper world of Oklahoma, becomes associate editor and manager of the publication. These changes not only add to the business importance and financial stability of the Journal, but materially increase its editorial efficiency and give to its management the actual, individual efforts which have heretofore been limited by the fact that its promoters were primarily engaged in other work, and were unable to give the Journal that No. 4 active, personal attention which its importance and continued improvement demand. The company organized to take over the Journal from the heirs of the late Mr. Fernandes, acquired the magazine very late in August, and the issue for that month and September were published nearly a month late in each instance. In order to "catch up" and have the Journal appear promptly on time the two numbers for October and November have been consolidated in this issue and hereafter the magazine will appear on time, and we hope greatly improved both in volume and subject-matter. The Warden Company succeeds to all accounts and will carry out all obligations of the Law Journal Publishing Company. Respectfully, OKLAHOMA LAW JOURNAL CHAS F. BARRETT, Publisher. THE GROSS PRODUCTION TAX DECISION The Journal takes pleasure in being able to reproduce this month the full text of the Supreme Court decision in the gross production case, a matter that involved several hundred thousand dollars of revenue to the state and the counties within the oil belt. It is unnecessary to observe that the court's unanimous decision that the law is constitutional was hailed with delight by thousands of taxpayers throughout the state, but there is some disappointment in administration circles that the court divided on the proposition of whether it was a property or occupation tax, and that the majority held to the proposition that it was an occupation tax. On this point it is understood that the Attorney General will ask for a re-hearing. The main point on trial in the case adjudicated was the constitutionality of the law and in this the decision is an overwhelming victory for the people and ends a fight that has raged since statehood, and one in which the state has always hitherto been worsted. The Oklahoma State Library Perhaps outside the legal profession, the courts, and a few special students, the public has a very inadequate conception of the volume and value of the state library. It is an institution of which the people of the state may well be proud when we consider the short period of time covered in its accumulation and the state. lawyer, will find it a congenial and profitable field, not including the large stock of court reports on hand for sale by the The library houses about 50,000 volumes. The foregoing is intended to give some idea of the range and size of this department, its utility as a public benefit need not be argued or urged. There remains, however, to call atten tion to practical needs. First and foremost, space clamors for attention; happily this problem is in a fair way of solution, for ample room has been provided in the new Capitol building for the entire library. It is a source of great regret that the present cramped quarters prevent the stocking and display of probably 5,000 valuable documents, furnished the state by the United States and the various states. An exceedingly attractive feature can be made of this literature as soon as room is provided. In the meantime these publications are carefully boxed and preserved. A valuable, commercially valuable I mean, department in agricultural publications can be maintained. The agricultural department at Washington furnishes us a complete service in published matter and the nucleus of a magnificent collection is already on hand. Time, space, and talent are required for its development. The same may be said of manufacturing, engineering, patents, geology, coast and geodetic surveys, commerce and navigation, horticulture, stock raising, diseases of stock, their prevention and cure, and many minor publications besides. A valuable and interesting annex can be made to the library from government sources alone. One of the needs-the most imperative one, perhaps—is a complete catalog. Much valuable material is not available because it can not be put in place and cataloged. This requirement will be met, however, in the next fiscal year, 1917, but cannot be completed until space for expansion is provided. Careful study has been given to the problem of making the library readily accessible, and during the month of August while most of the courts and many of the law |