Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-09-05
A Governors Reply TO a 1yhis,.v liz

"8ut in Kansas all these things are
otherwise. My ten years residence here
mas been revelation to me. and assert
what every man may verify by observa-
tion-that the social and commercial
condition of Kansas to-day is little less
than appalling. The perverted moral
Judgment of these people are a men
ace to the prosperity and stability OF tie
State.
"Ihe Kansas of to-day is not the Kan
sas OF few years ago-a proud, pros
porous, growing State. She is empnat-
icaliy poor, bleeding. Kansas now. her
very lifc-bood going out in continuous
streams from every side. All real prop
er1y has. deprecated in value. Popula-
ton has decreased by tens of thousands,
many of her best citizens having gone
elsewhere in quest of homes. The muir
murs OF discomfort are everywhere heard.
and flood tide of dissatisfaction is
sweeping over the people.
Nothing has done so much to stop the
wheels of progress in Kansas as prohib-
itory legislation.
The above portrayal of the awful eff
fects of prohibition in Kansas, says che
Northwestern MGil, is taken from Il letter
purporting to have been written from
Ottawa, that State. We first saw it in
the Bre,oers' Gazette, published in Mime
apois. We did not believe it was true
to the facts, and so cut it out and sent it
to Gov. L. U. Humphrey, of Kansas, ask
ing him to affirm or deny the facts as
narrated and to make any explanation
that would help the people at distance
to know the exact truth. We append
his reply, which we hope may be repub-
lished by every truth-loving paper in the
country.
STATE OF KANSAS. Cows. OFFICE,
TOPEKA. August S. 1890.
The Northwestern Mail, Madison. Wis.
GENrLEMEN: Yours of the 4th instant,
with inclosed clipping. received. The enc
mics of prohibition never tire of slandering
Kansas, and it is a difficult undertaking to
keep up with their misrepresentation and
refute them. AS a matter of fact, for six
or seven years following the adoption of the
prohibitory amendment Il. e., 1880, Kansas
enjoyed a most marvellous era of prosperity,
never equalled in the same length of time
before in the history Of the State AT pres
ent, and for a year or two past, Kansas has
been suffering from failure of crops, BUSH
ness has become stagnated; but this era Of
hard times is not due to prohibition any
more than the remarkable era Of prosperity
enjoyed for seven years after the adoption
of the prohibitory amendment was due to
prohibition, and no one ever heard
of an -prohibitionist attributing
our prosperous season to such a
cause. If prohibition has resulted in
the present stagnation of business, then the
same cause must. have produced the pros
porous season. Kansas is as thoroughly
wed to prohibition as the Republican party
is to freedom. Yesterday the package
houses were in full blast in this city. To-
day. although it is not known that the
President has signed the 80. p. BILL there
is not one of them Open 1 merely state
this fact to illustrate the majesty Of the
prohibitory law in Kansas, and the high
esteem in which it is held, even by the enc
mies-the whisky power. No one supposes
for q moment that if prohibition was ruin
ing Kansas, as it is alleged by the anti
prohibitionists, that the people of the State
would continue to enforce the law or indorse
it as the policy of the State. The truth is,
prohibition has nothing to do with our pres
ent hard times, and the hard times in Kan
sas are no worse than in other States where
they have high license.
return the clipping as you requested.
Yours very truly,
LYMAN U. HUMPHREY.