Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-08-27
KANSAS DEFENDED.
Gen. John II. Rice Scores a SLAM
derer.

Not That He Loves the Alliance Less But
Kansas More-The Editor of the Ma
ti0nal Economist Arouses . Lion
Falsehoods Refuted.
Gen John Il Rice, of Fort Scott. an
alliance leader and one of the sponsors
OF the peoples party, has written the
following letter to c. w. Macune, edi-
tor of the National Economist, the
national organ of the alliance and of
the peoples party, that explains itself:
Dr. c. w. Macune, Washington, d. C.
sIR:-On the 9Th day of June last you
printed in your paper an editorial on the
financial condition of Kansas, in which you
said:
-''The recorded mortgage indebtedness OF
Kansas was 1882. 90 Oo0. and that this only
told one-half; that the Indebtedness by
chattle mortgages, deeds of trust, bills OF
sale, notes and other debts of like character,
would give 1892 900 ,OO0 more. which, added to
the real estate mortgages. makes a total in
debtedness of SI64, Goa, OG0.''
Then, after you gave q lot of figures drawn
from your fruitful imagin a ion, with a flour
ish you reach the tremendous conclusion
and make the declaration:
1.-The plain facts are, the state (of kansas)
| Is bankrupt and her people ruined-''
On the 18th day of June, thereafter, pre-
pared, with much labor and care. commu-
nication for your paper in defense of Kan
| sas and the credit of her people, and in dis
proof of your assertions. AS old citizen
of Kansas. and one that had been active for
| twenty years in bringing the state from
| comparatively wild to a rich, populous and
| productive commonwealth, and being
| Jealous and active promoter and defender
OF the peoples party of Kansas, l feel it my
| duty, and my friends urged it as duty, to
| make an effort to rebut the effect of so mon
| strous a declaration, that could only de our
nd LIMO 1rrG Ma
| jury.
In my reply. 1 showed that the total
| bonded Indebtedness of the state of Kansas,
her counties, townships, cities and towns,
was only $S7, ,O96, ami that the total in
debtedness of the people of Kansas, on real
estate, mortgages, chattel mortgages, notes.
etc.. was not more than sso. 100000, or a total
| of s122, lie, O96
1 showed from the records (after taking
| the crop record of 1889, only fair crop year,
| and that of 1890. crop year almost a total
| failure, and striking an average) that in 1890
| the actual value OF the farm products and
! live stock, and farms and city and town lots
was s752, 719 461; total debts s122. 116 ,096 As
sets over liabilities. $685., 500. 3S5.
In addition to this We have furnished over
| one third of the actual Tin form of
| bonds) that built across our prafries $500
miles of railroad we have built 5000 school
houses, $500 churches; splendidiy endowed
n common school system; built the third
finest state house in the union; erected
splendid university buildings, normal col
lege and agricultural college buildings; pro-
| vided most bountifullv for our deaf, dumb.
blind and insane. This has been done in
thirty years. and every dollar for the state
institutions has been paid.
gave these rected facts in refutation OF
the statements in your editorial, and de-
handed of you. as 1 had a right to do, au-
thority for your bold statements In behalf
of our people and in behalf of truth and
Justice. challenged you for your proof.
did not assaiI the honesty of your motives,
or in ri do n0f Of fri I'M
to you intentional falsehood or intention to
harm us, but rather that you unwittingly al
lowed yourself to be imposed on through
your al in the advocacy of your party"
respectfully asked you to publish my COM
munication in your paper, as the least you
could do to undo the great wrong, and fur
nished you with a copy of it.
have been absent in Texas for five weeks,
and on my return home 1 found my article
returned to me with your message that you
declined to publish it. You did not conde-
scend to give a reason for your refusal.
You doubtless read it, but you have not had
the courage to reiterate your charges against
US or the honesty to say in your columns
| that you were mistaken
AS a citizen of Kansas Jealous of her char
| acter and the interests of her people. there
is but one thing left for me to do-to pocket
this insult and remain silent, and allow you
to slumber with the idea that your impor-
lance exempts you from being called upon
to explain or retract such articles, and that
your position exempts you from critici SIN
or else to denounce your editorial, which
| now do, the most diabolical attempt to
| intermeddle with the business interests of
| the state and destroy the credit of a whole
community that the world has ever known.
All the facts connected with this matter now
| clearly show to me that your editorial which 1,
| was wickedly false and maliciOuSly SANDER
Gus. Intentionally published for a base
and devilish purpose-fOr its political effect
| regardless of its injury to US. For your
/. | tic e has greatly injured our credit; it has
| nfQ6 md viii Varf of 0,lr
people from extending their loans; it will
cause the foreclosure of many mortgages
and will be the direct cause of turning many
. | men with their families out of doors, when
| otherwise they might have weathered the
| storm
Your statement that the people of Kansas
owed on real estate mortgages s23. 900, OOt
| was, I believe, malicious lie.
, Your statement that they owed on chattel
mortgages, deeds of trust, bills OF sale
notes. ETC.. .2s2. DOC, 900 more was another
f-monstrous lie.
. And your statement, that 'the state OF
, | Kansas was bankrupt and; her people
, ruined" was not only monstrous. SANDER
Gus falsehood. but was an unealled for and
; mean, devilish libel upon the people of 9
whole state. which, il uttered against indi-
viduals. would consign you to the -four
walls of a prison. and which ought to con-
sign you to infamy.
than 81. 0oO, ooO and the people of Kansas are
neither bankrupt nor ruined, and cannot be
come So only from the frowns of Providence
that will blight our crops. or the folly of po-
litical harlOts, like yourself, that would ut
terly destroy our credit for political argu.
ment to bolster party.
Our people do owe about sS5. 900 900. They
will pay one half of this in the next year
But if it takes years, they will pay every dol
lar of their Indebtedness Money is very
. scarce with US now and has been, because
, there is not enough in existence, and We
have had nothing to SELL But our people
are not repudiationsts. because they are mo-
scoundrels. We have some cranks, as every
, country has, but they are not all in Kansas
although. like yourself, they do much
harm, not only materially. but politically.
For only one thing can keep the people,.
, party from sweeping the republican party
from power in this state for decade-tha
, is the howlings of dozen or two impracti-
cable cranks in Kansas and their fool back
2 ers, like yourself. in other states, who seel
to promote party purposes by calamity
howl.
| Do not imagine that because I have de
? voted so much space TO- this matter that yot