, 1889-03-14
KANSAS EXODUS.
The Hegira From the Land OF
DrOuth.
Hundreds of Families Headed
for the Northwest.


radv. N-~-. ut Mach 3, 10 reproduced by
the kEvIkw a. ,unirnation OF the re-
ports iro" rqa .rtrrs a. to the unprece-
dented inin,s Tatioo yo the Pacific North
west TO be expected this spring:
The Kansas exodus which the News has
mentioned is likely 70 prove q very much
more serious matter for the prohibition
state than was believed when the frst ar
ticle VIA written. All through Western
Kansas for the past five years there has
been an almost total failure OF crops, and
as natural consequence the farmers OF
impo serished. Their farms are loaded
down with mortgages, and they have
reached point where they must stop.
The soil Of Kansas IL almost everywhere
fertile. Where there is water the farmer
raises good crops and prospers. Years ago
Western Kansas and Nebraska were
know on tas .P. =: t1s SGs1s -" .sA Amsr ss
moved westward and each year has seen
the settling up Of the vast
region. lying between the Missouri
and the Rocky mountains, become more
rapid, the great desert become inhabitable
and where once the parched OF and mule
traips prayed for water. Aourished the
comfortable farms Of thriving people.
ern Kansas was wonderful, Communities
sprung up In mushroom fashion and viii
lases and han.lsts followed close In the
wake. For time everybody h0urished.
Crops were good. there was q sufficient
quantity Of moisture, and the prophecy
that the rain bet was Do,,nk westward
seemed to have hepn fulfilled For several
years these conditions txisted. with slight
exceptions, and throughout the East there
was cry Of "Ho for Kansas!"
A DESERT AREA AGAIN.
Then the conditions changed. While
Western Nebraska continued to be favored
with rains copious enough to sustain vege-
tation, tho rainfall In Western Kansas re-
trograded until it very nearly reached the
status OF the old desert" period. Why
this was a matter which has been studied
very extensively by the government
weather bureau and by the state officials
and de6nlIe solution has never been ar.
rived at. But whatever the cause, which
might have been result OF forest depopu-
lation in Colorad0-for oil the rain for
Western Kansas is waited eastward from
ttc Rockies--the one fact remains that
that section has suffered very severely
from the lack OF water, the one thing
which Ia supposed TO 6e prolific ia the pro-
hiLition sts..e. and the lands Of that sec-
ton, fsr:ile to excess when there is plenty
of water, have again become the
dry. burnt desert of years ago. Snch
is the state Of affairs in Western Kansas
tU- day.
u idsr such circu Instances it Is no won-
der that this particular region has been in
y very bad way for the past few years. and
that the CORES pondents OF various East
trn ,,apers have hid opportunity OF
writing extended reports Of the impover-
ishei aud mvrtKaged condition OF the Kan.
sas farintr. Though exaggerated in many
instances. these reports, IN ich to the gen.
eral reuret, were but too true. BurdeDed
lao h...vv nkaa bv Al punrni0ua
load Of rsilroad bonds, and held down by
local taxation, the poor farmer. whose
crops we're either q failure or who by
reason Of low prices was unable to
show balance on ae profit side of his
accounts, was unable to pay his taxes and
niake the ne,. ,sAry improvements on his
farm. Then zane the farm mortgage
companies. the one thing which has en-
soied tue Western Kansas farmer to live
there for the past few years. The farmtr
put more or iess heavy lien on bis farm,
trusting that fortune would so favor him
In following eeasohs chat be could lift the
NOR tgage. Fortune did not favor and the
debts still remain. The average Western
Kansas county is bankrupt.
Although the failure Of rainfall and
therefore Of crops, IT. the primary cause
tor this srate OF affairs, there are other
reasons which enter into it largely. 1t
has tritely been said that the Kansas
county which has no railroad 10 fortunate. !
The truth Of this Is only toe apparent to
one familiar With sae railroad methods in
that state, and Us IA reflex it IL not to be
wondered at thas Kansas is passing some
very strinPent railway laws. These meth
ods Of securing subsidies and bonuses
from counties and towns hardly require
repetition. Tney are familiar TO most
Westerners. who know the articles EN-
pioyed aud the beguiling manner in which
the tOGus we're loaded with an inkebted-
ness which can carcely be paid. The
taxee. raised 10 the maximum by the
bonded interest have been the most seri-
ous question with which the farmer has to
deal. Even In che WORT year he could
subsist IN the products ut his farm; but
when no came TO pay his taxes it took
cssh--vO0d hard cash. This he had not
unless he could sell some product OF his
farm.
UNANIMOUS UPRISING.
Just how the present exodus from that
section began does not appear. IL Is not
hard. after considering the points dis
it came on suddenly and with NO apparent
beginpiug. II was like an uprising, and
every train goinv westward from the west
eru nart Ut the state At the present time is
bearing awsy scorea of farmers and their
families. The objective points of the i'm.
mixrlnts aIe Washington territory and
Oregon. which arr inviting settlers with
great Inducements. Ihursday nearly 500
Kansas farmers passed through Colorado,
eaund for these territories.. and Friday
fhere was a'most m great Q number.
Yesterday the number was still larger.
They Hooked Ia ON every railroad line
that reached out westward, and this one
featuve of the travel has been the one par.
tscuiar object of comment among the pas