Diaz has been released.

BENJ. HARRISON.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 8, 1890_.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:

I have received, under date of July 29 ultimo, a communication from Hon.
George W. Steele, governor of the Territory of Oklahoma, in which, among
other things, he says:

A delegation from township 16, range 1, in this county, has just left
me, who came to represent that there are at this time twenty-eight
families in that township who are in actual need of the necessaries of
life, and they give it as their opinion that their township is not an
exception, and that in the very near future a large proportion of the
settlers of this Territory will have to have assistance.

This I have looked for, but have hoped to bridge over until after the
legislature meets, when I thought some arrangement might be made for
taking care of these needy people; but with little taxable property in
the Territory, and very many necessary demands to be made and met, I
doubt if the legislature will be able to make such provision until a
crop is raised next year as will be adequate to the demands. * * *

Now I know whereof I speak, and I say there are a great many people in
this Territory who have not the necessary means of providing meals for
a day to come and are being helped by their very poor neighbors. No one
regrets more than I do the necessity of making the foregoing statement,
and I have hoped to bridge the matter over, as I have said before,
until the legislature would meet and see if some provision could be
made.

I now see the utter hopelessness of such a course, and I beg of you to
call the attention of Congress to the condition of our people, with the
earnest hope that provision may be made whereby great suffering may be
relieved; and I assure you that so far as I am able to prevent it not
one ounce of provisions or a cent of money contributed to the above
need shall be improperly used.

Information received by me from other sources leads me to believe that
Governor Steele is altogether right in his impression that there will
be, unless relief is afforded either by public appropriation or by
organized individual effort, widespread suffering among the settlers
in Oklahoma. Many of these people expended in travel and in providing
shelter for their families all of their accumulated means. The crop
prospects for this year are by reason of drought q