The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1875-08-26
Senator Ingalls, Letter.

ATCHiSON- aug ust 10, iO'"'
Hon. r. r. FitzWaliam, Learenioorth::
DEAR SIR have been Informed
that at public meeting of the citizens
of Leavenwortl few evenings since,
YOU said that the order of the Secretary
of War for the removal of the build
ings of the Chicago, Rock Island ~
Pacific Railroad Company from the
reservation, was procured at my lnstl-
CATION: that It was an Atchison move
ment. and that ] had been acting in my
official capacity TO secure special adj
yantages for the town in which L re-
side.
cannot suppose that gentleman OF
YOUR standing and reputation would
deliberately invent fabrication for
sinister purposes, and | therefore as
sumo that If YOU made the statement
10 which | have alluded, it was upon
authority which you believed to be
reliable.
respectfully ask you to furnish me
with the name of your informant IN
order that / may place the calumny
where it properly belongs.
The statement, by whomsoever made,
or from whatever source it emanates,
is wholly incorrect, and without ray
Of foundation in fact.
Inever had any communication, di-
rect or indirect, with the Secretary of
War, nor with any other person, upon
the subject.
The first knowledge | had of the
matter was the announcement i'll the
Times of your city, that the order had
been issued.
No citizen of Leavenworth, nor of
Atchison, has ever solicited me to in
terfere for or against the railroad COM
pany, and certainly would not do so
in any event, except TO see that strict
Justice was done to all parties con-
concerned. The interests of Leaven-
worth and Atchison are not hostile.
They are Identical What aids one
helps both, and that which assists Ell
Their benefits the State.
The present condition of Kansas re-
quires the generous and cordial CO.
operation of all our cities and all our
citizens in a hearty effort for the gem
eral welfare. We have had enough of
the policy of prescription aud intoler-
ance; enough of the methods of the
og-in-the-manger. A IS one inevitable
result of this system, our principal eX-
changes are effected beyond our limits
Our cattle are slaughtered and our
hogs are packed in outside markets.
Our wheat and corn fill the elevators
and warehouses of rival cities. Our
principal railroads, in many instances
largely subsidized by our bonds, and
supported by our traffic, terminate in
another State, and pour the products
of prairies into foreign bins and bar
rels. Missouri banks handle our money;
Missouri jobbers supply our merchants
and large share of the legitimate
profits of our industry, which should
enrich the people of Kansas, flows be-
yond our borders and nourishes the
commerce of a community whose in
terests are opposed to our own.
Unless this prodigious drain upon
our resources is stopped we must soon
be impoverished We shall become an
appendage to those of our neighbors
who are ready TO profit by our dissen-
sions, and eager to build their fortunes
upon our ruins. 1t IS difficult to recall
a lost opportunity, nor is itan agreea-
Bile duty to dwell upon chances that
nave Dten sdCllnctu pN ipiiF Dut ihcit
is no citizen who docs not know that
if the advantages which nature, and
the political condition of the country
have offered us during the past fifteen
years, had been properly utilized, Kan
sas, would have had a metropolis of
5000 people somewhere within her
territory, and would have controlled
the entire railroad system of the west.
Much may yet be regained, but not by
feeding the foolish feuds, and injurious
.ealouses of the past; not by nursing
local animosities, and axciting to en-
nifty those who ought to be friends.
As the statement imputed to you
places me in false position before
your people, have chosen this public
method of placing upon record my de-
NAL of its truth.
Lcavenworth has no interests which
| would not guard as strenuously as
those of any other community in the
State. She has no citizen whose well
fare | would not advance. if in my
power, as cordially as would my own.
Respectfully Yours,
JNo. j. INGALLS,.