Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-11-03
Z E r M 8:
Sl,50 PER YEAR IN A lvANCE.
40 oo n aha Ana uf Six Months.
CON ErFTHNG WE ~Aw AND LEARN
ED IN KANSAS.

O =
recently, we visited Leavenworth and
Lawrence and the surrounding coun.
try. On the whole, the State has beer
blessed with a good crop, and has re;
covered much from the severe slleti
to its prosperity, sustained last year
by the grasshopper raid. There isnd
discounting the fact that the soil ol
Kansas is excellent, and that ii will,
eventually, become very rich agri-
cultural State. 1t is, however, sadly
deficient In timber. The most dam
aging feature Of all others in that
State, is its tremendous public and
private Indebtedness. A prominent
citizen of Lawrence told us that the
public Indebtedness of Douglass coun-
ty, in which Lawrence is situate, was
M.DO,0OO. This is, by no means, an
isolated case, so far as we could learn.
The laws of Kansas have given far
too broad license to the cReation of
public indebtedness, by permitting
subscriptions to railroads, and other
enterprises. The sad effects of this
policy, some few counties in this State
are conversant with, TO their sorrow,
when the people went wild in aid of
railroads, and voted bonds in spite of
law, and wrung from our courts de-
cisions in favor of their action, by the
force of public opinion. Such an in
debtedness as that referred to in
Douglass county, amounts to mort
age upon every foot Of territory
within it, Of no mean proportions.
1t is an incubus weighing down the
prosperity of scores of counties, and
chiefly the richest and most populous
counties. This public Indebtedness
is supplemented by individual debts,
and farms are being sold by the shcr-
ifs on foreclosure of mortgages in
large numbers. No bidders appear
but the judgment creditor and so the
result is simply forced sale of prop
erty, and oftentimes the back taxes
and prior liens to be paid of, make
it even a hardship upon the mort
gagee. An occasional grasshopper
year could be far better withstood
than can the immense public indebt-
edness which weighs down many
counties in Kansas.
Both Leavenworth and Lawrence
are beautiful placcs-their sites arc
splendid and they have been laid out
with care. While this is so, there
has not been expended in new build
ings, in both these cities, $4,000 this
season. Lawrence is especially an
elegantly laid out city-no streets are
less than so feet wide, while the prin-
cipal business street is one hundred
feet wide. 1t is historic city, in
that it was the scene of the COM
mencement of that great struggle for
the mastery, in this nation, between
the opposing elements of pro-slavery
and anti-slavery. 1t was here that
the late Senator Summers noted re-
mark, that American slavery begot
barbarism in all classes, had fearful
and terrible cxempliflcation i'm the
raid of Quantrell and his band.
We would not have it understood
that all Kansas is cursed with these
heavy public debts, but simply say
that few of the large and populous
counties or cities are free from them.
and that this state of things retards
immigration and the influx of capi-
tai into Kansas far more than its
grasshopper cpidemics.
We will mention that at Law
renee the Raw river has about the
same volume of water that the Dcs
Moines has here, and that there has
recently been completed there wa
ter-power of fifteen hundred horse.
A magnificent Touring mill is run by
this power, also a machine shop and
several other manufactures. Those
shops using the power at present, do
SO chiefly by means of wire trans
mission from three hundred to five
hundred feet. The citizens of Law
renee rightly regard this power as
their chief mine of wealth and pros
peritY.