The Leavenworth weekly times., 1875-02-18
rHEDEsr1rur1ox-wzY 1srr,

The OE3IITV 1I06-WHY Is III
EDITOR TIME:-lt apIears tha, numer-
out persons in various parts of the county
claim TO be unable to live without county
aid. Tonganoxie, Reno, aud parts of Alex
andria and High Prairie townships appear
to be the worst off; there whole neighbor-
hoods put in plea OF destitution, and the
the cry is, ''Give us bread, or we perish ~
Donations are coming in from outside
sources, and our County Commissioners
have appropriated considerable fund,
raised Tor another purpose, to supply the
needy.
Now, Mr.. Editor, it is right the hungry
be fed, and the naked clothed. But several
questions arise Just at this point, and JUS
tice demands that they be not dismissed too
lightly.
First: Is not this account of de~titution
more or less exaggera ed? Some of your
correspondents speaking for ionganoxie and
thereabouts, claim that it is l notice
among them Crawford Moore, who is an old
citizen thoroughly acquainted with the con-
dition of things there, and who has too
EobN a Itputdtipfi lof Cdi1ubT anu ucdi-
ing to be readily doubted. In the last an
nual showing of the crops and resources OF
the county, as published not long since in
our county papers, there was nothing surely
! TO excite fears Of a famine. 1t seems in
credible that region Of as good well-i
proved farms and sturdy farmers, as the
western portion of this county Is, should
have 30 iamentably failed 10 raise enough,
nsf q ha, IL
scattering population living there, even al
lowing that the chinch bugs were number
less, and that the grasshOpper was 'bur-
den"
Is net much OF this destitdtion due to
unsSillful and shiftless tillage on the part of
many farmers, and TO the laziness and dis
| sipation OF many Others? Experience has
proved that early planting and sowing is
| the only system that can be depended upon
| in Kansas, or at least, this part of it; late
planting may hit occasionally, but in four
| cases out of five the result is unfavorable
| I he late put in crop is more at the mercy
| of the drou;h and insect pests all the season
through, and more liable to be chOked by
weeds or TO be insuihciently titled than the
earlier crop; and yet there are farmers, who,
waiting for pleasant weather, or settled
weather, or some cheap hired man to come
along, let the early working days Of
Spring slip by without doing much of any
thing towards getting their ground ready
for the crop. In short, it is lack of en-
ergy or "git up" that ails them. Weeds,
insects, drouth, everything that works
against success have them at advantage all
the season through. In the Fall they come
up with vacant granaries and empty pock-
ets, and then like the man in the fable,
they churlishly implore Jupiter to help
them out OF the rut, or more commonly
rail out against "Kansas," and waste their
time in schemes of beggary and emigration.
Making due allowance for the drouth and
insect devourers, / venture to say that
enough of farm staples might have been
raised to winter the people and the stock in
the localities before mentioned, had the
farmers there profited by the experience Of
former years, making the best of such con-
ditions for the successful prosecution of
agriculture as the country affords, and
worked early as well as late.
Again, it is not clear how a party with
good grace can accept public aid, when he
has not only been squandering his time, but
his money, for that which not only profit
eth not, but which debases and destroys.
There are scores Of men in this county
whose monthly expenditures for whisky
and tobacco, would go far towards supply
ing their now destitute households. How
can persons who have money to spend for
luxuries (such luxuries (?) be classed as
mendicants? ! am informed by a gentle
man who has lately visited the southern
part of the county, that in the neighbor-
hood of Lenape is settlement of which
nearly every family is destitute and crying
Tor county aid; and Vet that settlement
literally patronizes one of the vilest whisky
doggeries in the country, the same being
located AT Lenape, and carried on in utter
defiance of all law, decency and good order
According to a vulgar classification, there
are "The Lords Poor, the DEVILS Poor,
and Poor Devils" There is doubtless a
numerous representative OF all these classes
in Kansas at the present time, and the
question is, how are we best to get along
with all of them. The treasures" which
"the Lords poor" are supposed to have laid
up in Heaven, however blissful TO the an
ticipation, is poor capital TO draw upon for
the supply of present necessities. But what
patience and what charity can the WE'LL
minded, industrious, judicious classes fee
for those who go about sniyeliing and starv.
ing for the lack of means which they have
fooled awaw in the service of the Devii
Just think OF the thousands OF do lars tha.
have been sGuandered, not by tine rich
alone, but Dy the poor of this county in de-
baSing luxuries and now We are inaugu.
rating policy of taxing the property OF
the county To maintain them, virtua IL, in
this style OF living.
| Well, something must be done, and the