Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-24
KANSAS THE BENEFICIARY"

Probably the widest and most absurd
ly e1travagant screed ever written along
the line of political economy is an edl-
torial appearing in the Kansas City
Times of Thursday under the above cap
ton, in which that paper affrms that the
Missouri river is of more Importance to
the people of Kansas than deep water
harbor in the Gulf. The writer among
other very foolish things declares that
the Missouri river-which in fact touches
but one corner of the great state OF Kan
sas-is the natural and profitable basiDg
line for all western and eastern bound
frelghts. In other words, Kansas City
should be made the dumping place, or
the toll gate for all Kansas products, and
the jumping off place for all freights
consigned to this state from the east.
The writer makes another equally alb
surd declaration, that ''the long haul is
the profitable haul winding up with the
following diaphonous blinker:
Kansas City is working with energy and
money to get the river navigated, to get the
Savannah railway and steamship route
Wen ESTABLISHED, 10 DrinS eastern truHk
lines from the other side of the Mississippi
70 the great bend of the Missouri. In these
efforts we ought to have the moral CO.
operation of Kansas public opinion, for it
is Kansas which will get the benefit.
We pity Kansas City, pity her as the
priest pities the crying victim on the
sacrifcial altar, but higher call and
one Of more directly personal interest
demands renewal of the fires and of
fresh blood. The "Iocaf' not the ''long"
haul pays the dividends. The Missouri
river is nothing new to three fourths Of
Kansas, whatever it may have been in
the past. Kansas has had but one gen.
eral direction, for all her products, one
continental line, practically, to all the
worlds markets, which line included
this same Missouri river, and what she
wants now is a competitive route which a
deep water harbor on the gulf would af-
ford; competitive route not only to all
the Atlantic sea board but to all the
markets of Europe, and no want or in
terest of the Missouri town can balk our
people in the effort to obtain this add,
tional highway for our immense pro-
ducts.
The writer above sneeringly alludes to
the efforts of two or three Kansas news
papers" All right, the EAGLE years
ago opened up her fight on the Missouri
river basing line policy. For years it
stood alone in its fight to break that line
by advocating that the trunk roads
should cross over into Kansas. When
victory was in sight and the Missouri
river commenced to realize that her
profitable ''toll-gate" business would be
cleared out" the Capital and one or
two other papers made great splurge,
dashIDg to the front with the enemy
really in retreat. While the EAGLE
would not have brought itself around to
the Capitals tactics, we concede the eff
fectiveness of the charge. However, the
Times must not fool itself with the idea
that the fight on the Kansas side is but
that of ''two or three newspapers" 1t is
war which has practically enlisted the
interests and sympathies of a million
and half of people and the Missouri
river will be found but poor breast
works for Kansas City in the final
charge already sounded