Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-07-31
WORDS AND WORK.
A City is the Logic of the Sit
uation.
In the Absence of Power to Prevent II
Rival Interests, Corporations ana
Men Must Stand Aside or Get Hun.

There is no disposition upon the part Of
the business interests of Wichita 10 ct down
on ANYBODY, on any interest or on any town
in southwest Kansas. So far as the RAILWAY
interests which are claiming that the city
has placed herself in an offensive attitude We
say without fear of contradiction that What
Wichita is to-day she is in and Of herself
1.-THE railway interests with which she haa
been connected have not been in reality I'M
friendly, they have been at least Indifferent
Her millions of property and her jobbing
and retail trades, in all their ramifcations.
have come Of her superior location and Of
the foresight and energy Of her citizsns.
No train has ever been operated from here
if it could possibly be avoided The Frisco,
rather than to stop here, run over the
Wichita and Southwestern. The engine
house built here by the Santa Fe was torn
down at the earliest possible moment The
depot facilities given Wichita, the heay-
lest and most important business center IN
the state, do not average better than those
placed al towns of from one to two thousand
inhabitants.
With no railway company or line taking
any interest in her future as city, Wichits
has been compelled to look after her own
interests. OF course she has had advan-
tares, great and superior ones, but the raiL
roads would never acknowledge them and
do not now, although the town In q decade
Of years has jumped from mere village 70
the second or third city in the state in pop
ulation and in returned valuations, and in .
county that the state board Of equalization
at their late meeting placed nj the head in
development. and third as to actual vslua-
tion.
As for surrounding cities, we have only to
saw, touching some letters received at this
Office within few days, that they are based
upon an entire misrepresentation of facts.
Wichita has no envies nor can she expect
more than one rival, in sny event Rivalry
is well nigh out Of the question. That there
will be city somewhere in Southwest Kan
sas from 200 to 800 miles removed from
Kansas City nearly every observsnt man
comedies. Wichita's ambition from tho
start has been to reach that
goal, to this end has she ever looked, plan
ned and worked with the utmost faith and
confidence. That she has succeeded beyond
the expectation OF her friends we will not
deny. Now thsi the time has come when,in
order to hold the vantage ground already
gained and to widen her facilities for reach
ing interests that would at best be scattered,
or go to building up the Missouri river me-
t-opolis, it becomes necessary 10 move in Sc
surfing the construction of other lines Of
roads, and il is not done as against the in
terests of any other town or city, whatever
their ambitions, nor against any railroad al
ready constructed. Il is simply an act
looking 10 self preservation and future
growth. The man, set of men, corporation
or rival interest that don't like it, in the alb
sence Of the power to present it. must
either stand aside or inevitably
get hurt. The logic of the situation is that
Wichita must be downed and downed at
once, elsewise she is destined to make the
greatest city in Kansas. Whether the effort
is made to down her or not will make no
difference in the action and faith of the men
who have been working TO this end for
years, and whose all depends upon the cast
Of the die, the box and die both having been
fashioned by themselves. In looking to
this end, in working for this end, in employ
ing their capital to this end, there is no feel
ing against the growth and prosperity Of
other towns nor antagonisms touching other
railway interests. Railway men and railway
interests can run roads when and where
they please, Wichita proposes to tap them
all and 10 utilize them all, so far as this sec
ton is concerned. If she possibly does not
possess all the necessary capital within her
self to do this, she has influence with those
who do, and not only that, but what is bet
ter, the figures if commerce, production and
growth which are the open sesame TO resdy
money.
All talk, therefore, that Wichita is fight
ing against any other city or against any
other interest is entirely grAtuitous.
Wichita is fighting for herself