The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1891-04-22
THE CONGRESS- OPENED.
The Western Commercial Congress
at Kansas City.
Address OF Senator Kelly. the "Father Of
che Congress"-Gov. Francis Speaks
For the Great and Growing
West.

FOR the Gfe0t ana OfOWl0X
West.
KANSAS CITY, Mo-. April H. The
sfrst western states commercial con.
gress gathering not only of the great
west but also of the new south, as
sembled in the Coates opera house, gay
with the bright colors of red, white and
blue.
At 1920 o'clock State Senator Kelly,
of Kansas, the father of the congress,
stepped TO the front of the stage, and in
measured tones said:
Gentlemen, delegates to the first
commercial congress of the western
states: As chairman of the executive
committee of this congress, now call
this convention to order. The chaplain
will now invoke the divine blessing,
Rev. DR.. Hays, of Kansas City"
DR.. Hays then delivered a prayer for
the divine blessing upon the congress.
Taking up the gavel, Senator Kelly
said: Gentlemen, the first thing in or
der is the selection of temporary chair
man"
Gov. D. R. Francis, who occupied q
seat upon the stage, arose and moved
that Senator Kelly be chosen temporary
chairman. There were no other nomi-
nations, and the governor declared Mr..
Kelly temporary chairman.
Senator Kelly then delivered care
fully prepared forty five minutes speech
reviewing the causes of the calling Of
the congress, and delivering an exhaust
i've presentation of his ideas upon bust
ness and agricultural depression, its
cause and remedy. He said:
'Gov. Francis and Gentlemen of the
Congress: You have assembled here
upon the calls of state legislatures, pri-
Fmarily Of those states in the great val.
ley of the Mississippi. embracing a re.
as fertile agricultural country, a re-
;gion with a population of a little less
than "a, 600, 900.
This congress represents the great
est intelligence in agricultural regions,
and the greatest productive region in
the world. The eighteen states com.
posing this sisterhood produce three.
fourths of the cereals, meat product
and cotton of the country. They pro.
ducc enough meat to feed the nation,
enough wheat to supply the United
States and 2,O0O,O 600 a year more and
cotton enough TO supply the spindles
and looms of Great Britain; and yet
from this region comes complaint-not
of this year, not of last year, not of the
year before. but for a number of years.
The question is and has been:
What is clogging, what is retarding the
prosperity of agriculture?' This
thought suggested this convention.
This convention is not drawn upon the
line between the man who holds the
handles of the pillow and the man who
lives in the city in the same region. All
wealth is the result of labor, and in this
country the one great source Of wealth
is our fruitful, fertile soil.
"When the thought of this congress
was first discussed the cry went up that
the coming together of men with party
affiliation from Kansas and from Mis-
-sissippi, from Michigan and from Ala.
bama, from Missouri and from Ohio
could but result in political controver-
sizes"
Hon. c. L. Lavretta, of Mobile, ther
stepped to the front of the stage and in
behalf of the citizens of the gulf city
presented the convention with two
magnificent floral tokens. One was
banner, quite five feet in height, and
containing over 5000 roses and almost
rs many other flowers. The other was
ship, full rugged, of roses, carnations
and other fragrant flowers. Mobile
Kansas City," appeared in blue letters
upon the banner and upon the pennants
of the ship.
Hon. John w. Springer was made
secretary. Then Gov. Fran.
els was introduced and received an ovar
ton.
The convention, the governor said,
marked a new era He referred briefly
to the war which left the west saddled
with an enormous debt Then the west
was in its infancy. Very near where
he stood was the great American desert.
In building up the waste places obi.
cations had been incurred, for which
the people cried for relief. Even the
school houses were mortgaged. During
this time all had contributed towards
the burdens of the state. Rail.
road influence. class legislation. dis.
crimination-put the blame where one
would-there was wide dissatisfaction
and determination that remedies must
6e found and inequalities corrected.
We of the west felt, he said, that we
had not looked after our own interests
The west was out of her swaddling
A moral conviction was an
irresistible power in modern society.
a feeling of that kind was rising in
the west 1t was felt that legislation
had been in favor of the east The
currency had not kept increase
with the population. We had
Been buying at fictitious prices
md selling surplus products at
prices regulated by supply and demand.
The congress was called to confer con-
the interests of the west-the
wealth producing section of this coun-
try. Its scope was enlarged until il
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