The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-05-02
OFFICIAL PAPER OF COUNTY
ANOTHER OUTRAGE.

II bdsb w cuHccuuy MI. %. W. Au
living eight miles east of lola, came to
town on business. About one hour az
ter he reached here his son arrived with
the word that fifteen men had brought
teams and plows onto the land owned by
Mr.. Manly, Ia brother-in-law Of Mr. Ed
wards who is now in Illinois)and were
breaking up the sod. Mr.. Edwards
Immediately procured restraining or.
der from Judge Stillwell, and deputy
sheriff Lemasters was sent out to serve
it. /Mr. Edwards also applied for a
permanent injunction against the par.
ties and the case will be heard to-mor.
row. Now when itisconsidered that this
land is within the ten mile limit; that
the railroad title to it is beyond ques-
ton; that even the attorneys for the
leaguers have advised them not to inter
fere with it: that Mr.. Manly bought ii
and paid for it, and has used as pasture
land for three years; when all these
things are considered We say, the &C
ton of these men in entering upon 1t
and attempting to break up the sod by
force of numbers cannot be character
lied in other words than as an infamous
outrage. 1t certainly proves that the
Settlers Protective Association is not in
earnest when it declares its willing
ness to obey the laws. The men who
went upon that land, knew they were
violating the law. They knew they
were doing wrong or they would not
have come in such numbers. No
man gets fourteen of his neighbors to
go with him when he wants to pillow
land which he knows is his own.
But on top of this outrage comes news
of another even more indefensible.
Several years ago widow lady by the
name Of Mrs. Ford bought a piece of
land about four miles south of Moran.
She put good barb wire fence around
it and has used it as pasture ever since.
About month ago some Leaguers
came and put shanty upon it. She
locked the gates to prevent their enter
ing the field. A few nights since par
ty of men came and destroyed the en-
tire fence, cutting the wires and pulling
the posts out of the ground. We have
been assured again and again by the
leaders of the League that they re-
spected fences, that they never at
tempted to take possession of piece of
land which was fenced. But what are
all these assurances in the face of such
damning facts as the above? We do
notknow SO much as the name of any
one of the men connected with either
of these affairs (those who tore down
the widows fence came in the night
like towards, and went away in
the night that no one might know who
did it, but whoever they are they GER
tainly deserve the execration of all law
abiding citizens. Tt is the strangest
thing that in the face ofsuch outrages
as We have just mentioned, so many
of the citizens of our county can remain
Indifferent or even lean to the side of
the organization that permits and sane
tions them; that it is only here and
there that we hear even the feeblest
protest. And of the newspapers in the
county, THE REGISTER alone lifts
its voice in, protest and condemnation
The Inter State openly defends these
crimes while the Onion and the Cour-I
ant (" true to the best interests of the
county''D say never werd. We do
not blame the Inter State for it seems
to be on the wrong side of every ques-
ton by nature. Nor does any one ex-
pect the Courant to get off the bottom
rail Of the fence which it hugs at full
length lest by any accidenti it might fall
to one side or the other. But we are
surprised that the Union allows itselfto
be bulldozed into silence. There is
never anything gained by condoning a
wrong or by ignoring it Whatever in
jury it may do our county to publish
accounts of such outrageous violations
of the rights of property as we chron-
icle to day, it would do it ten times
more injury to allow such violations to
continue and to pass without notice.
Every body knows that our county can
never make any progress so long as
this question remains unsettled and 1t
can never be settled by ignoring it or
the evils that arise from it. While the
matter seems approaching settlement
now more rapidly than at any previous
time, it is our candid belief that it |
would have been settled years ago i'll
the newspapers of the county had
had grit enough to take a decided |
stand on the right side. And even i'll
they had supported the REGISTER in
the position it took last year, we have
no doubt that We should see a very diff
ferent state of affairs to day. 1t is very |
often the case that courts and legisla-
lures act only after the imperative del
mand of the people, and in a case of
such vital Importance as this it be-
comes the duty of the newspapers to
create that demand by showing the
necessity for it. 1t is for this reason
alone, and not to crafty any grudge
against the League or any member Of
it, that the REGISTER has taken the
position it now holds on this question
and calls on the other papers of the