The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-11-27
THE KANSAS FAKER.

To be perfectly frank in the matter,
no really superior romances, excepting
those Of Mr.. Ed. Howe's, have ever
come from Kansas. And it is a burning
shame.
Enough fine imaginative material is
wasted in Kansas every year to fill a
bookshelf in large library. Most
Kansas imaginative writer's under pres
sure Of the necessity of big profits and
quick returns, have the evil habit Of
turning al the children of their brain
into fakes. What is fake? A fake Is a
lie Just commonplace enough to counter
felt fact The minute a lie becomes
too picturesque and Independent If is no
longer a fake, because 1t does not then
successfully counterfeit a fact. When
a lie fools no one, it can not be mistaken
for a fact. And what Is the difference
between a fake and a romance? A ro-
nance is a lie which informs the reader
Of the fiction in the preface, while a
fake admittedly starts out to deceive.
1t was by mingling the fake and the TO
nance together that Coin Harvey really
convinced forever many Kansas people
that "A School of Finance" did hold
forth In Chicago. and that Lyman Gage
Partridge and other prominent men did
attend.
About ten days ago some Kansas
writer evolved the thought that perhaps
if would be possible for state in the
United States to make a foreign silver
or gold coin legal tender within the
borders of that state. He looked into
the Constitution of the United States to
see what there was in the idea. 1t look
ed rather plausible. 1t was certainly
unique. Could he sell 1t? That was the
first idea which came into the writer's
head. He might have woven the idea
into story. 1t was certainly no more
unusual than some Of Colonel Mu1ber-
ry's crotchets. Had the same thing oc-
Cured to Mark Twain he would have
built story on it. That would have
been romance But that Kansas writer,
having evolved the thought, at once be-
gan to change it into fake. 1t would
not do to send it out as dispatch that
some state proposed to do such thing.
He must name the state. He announced
that the Kansas legislature proposed to
pass a law making Mexican silver dol
lars o legal tender. Kansas had just
elected Populist legislature whose de-
signs were Indefinite. The country &C
cepted the lie which was counterfeiting
a fact, bit at the fake. and Kansas was
again the target of infinite abuse and
ridicule.
II Mark Twain's bullet-loaded frog in
cldent had taken place in Kansas. what
would have happened? Some Kansas
writer would have heard of it and sent
it east as dispatch" No eastern pa
per would have paid for the story as a
mere incident of frog rivalry. The Kan
sas writer would have known this in a
second He would have had the owner
of ole frog charge the other with fraud.
a fight would enSue and one man would
he shot dead. 1t is necessary 10 kill
some one ordinarily in order 10 get east
ern papers to accept fake dispatches.
The Killing. while merely incidental
would gain the acceptance Of the story.
Mark Twain's story is handed down as
literature. Had ii sprung from Kansas
il would have lived on the telegraphic
pages Of the eastern dailies for day,
among the paragraphs on the editorial
pages for another day and then died.
There is another requisite in making
Kansas fake acceptable in the east:
II an imaginative story which would in
cidentally mention some Of the natural
advantages OF Kansas should be sent
east. 1t would be spoued in the metro
psolitan newspaper office Immediately as
Il thin pretext TO slip in some "boom adj
verlising" and would be At once kill
eCi" This is generally understood
among the fakers Of the west and care
is taken not to send out anything that
might be beneficial to the state.
AID taking. in iniuring the state. also