The Smoky Hill and Republican union. [volume] (Junction City, Kan.) 1861-1864, 1862-04-10
q he II n i o n


THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1862.
WESTERN KANsAs-..rrs RESOURCES AND DE.
VELOFMENT.
Kansas, west of the Pottawattomie Re-
serve, presents greater variety of soil,
timber, stone, coal, min erals and saline,
than any other portion Of the State. Over
a large portion Of this tract, stone of the
best quality are SO plenty, and easy to get,
that farmers find it just aa handy to use
them for building aud fencing purposes, as
the timber of other States. In this tract,
the Kansas river forms her numerous
branches, each possessing extensive bottoms
of the most beautiful farming land in the
world, and generally, for prairie country,
well wooded. But small portion of these
rich lands are settled. The policy of the
eastern portion Of the State has been to
turn all emigration south, which, with the
remoteness from water and railroad commu-
nicatiou, has resulted in leaving Western
Kansas to very slow settlement, But the
time is near when the eastern portion of the
State will begin to dee that her interest lies
in the development of her lands towards
he setting sun.
Commercial men will ere long discover
that to leave the western portion of the
State undeveloped, is to curtail their trade,
and to turn from them the great highway
to the Pacific. As yet, but little has been
done for this part of tho State. A very
large proportion of the lands, even of the
very best quality, remain in the hands of
the Government For hundreds of miles
on our streams, possessing lands that rival
far the valleys Of the Miami and the Wa
bash, scarce farm house can be found.
All that is needed to make this portion of
the State the garden of the world, is to
pierce it with railroad, and wake these
rich lands with the busy hum of life.
To secure railroad is the first question,
and one which should call forth the best
energies Of our leading men. For this
object. all minor considerations should be
thrown aside, and each man should remem-
Der that concert of action, unti7ing energy,
pecuniary sacrifice, and the most dogged
perseverance, is the price that must be paid
for the Pacific Railroad, or for the compile,
ton of the Leavenworth and Fort Riley
road.
The time has come when We had better
drop the cant and delusive sentiment,
" One day we shall have road up the
Kansas Valley" and apply ourselves te
putting forth such efforts as will defeat the
untiring energies of men laboring to tax:
} this National highway around the State
We are in great danger of being ruined by
an overwcening confidence, forgetting thai
logged and skillful efforts often defeat the
best plans, and the most natural order o.
, events.
e If We secure the Pacific Railroad, w
must put our appliances into the field and
work untiringly, 1t will do for such mer
as the editor of the Manhattan Express tt
, write rhetorical articles about the "Occi
a dental STAR but We tell him, and tht
l people of Manhattan, that if they ever se'
rail car passing their town, it will b
after they have put their hands into thei
, pockets, aud done something to defeat I
deep and skillful plan to cheat US out Of
: the Kansas Valley road. Western Kansas
has never till this spring, sent man t
Washington to aid in securing this road
S And when Mr.. McBratney, at the earnes
solicitation of the officers of the Leayen
worth and Fort Riley road, consented to g
, and lay this question before the people O
. Western Kansas, then forsooth, the editor
of the cypress grows unusually grandilo
, quent and indignant at such request, and
at once pours all his fiery thunderbolts cr
the head of an innocent man. Is this tht
way to secure the road, when every portion
! of the country, but Western Kansas, il
t we'll represented at Washington? Must I
man be maligned for even calling the atten
, ton of the people to the urgent necessit.
, of a proper lobby Influence at the National
e Capitol?
e Mr.. McBratney is called the {" Occident
: al STAR" We suppose, because he put hi
hand into his own pocket and went (.