The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-07-19
KANSAS AND KANSAS c1rY.

sas grain to Kansas City. OF course
Kansas City owns the state of Kansas
and has the right to command its rail
way commissioners in its own interest
In fact much of the legislative policy
of this state has been dictated by that
Missouri town, as have all Kansas rail
wys been forced to conserve the inter
ests Of Kansas City at the expense and
to the detriment of Kansas towns. AL
that is admitted. But when the pub
lie prints of that city indulge in crit
icisms of the Kansas board of railway
commissioners because Kansas farm
ers are getting cut rate, through a
railway fight, to St Louis, Chicago and
Galveston, and for which reason de
mands that the Kansas commission
take steps TO protect Kansas City, Mis-
souri,, the situation becomes ridiculous.
The Star asks to know of the Kansas
commissioners what they propose to do
| about it. We do not know what the
| commissioners think or propose in the
premises, but we can inform the people
Of that town that nothing will be done.
| Not that the disposition to employ the
| official power of the state in the inter-
est of Kansas City is lacking, but that
the power itself is wanting. Unfortu-
nately for Kansas, and unfortunately
in this single instance, probably, for
| the Missouri town, the state law Great
| ing the Kansas board of railway COM
missioners gave that board no power
| to enforce its mandates. 1t is like
| q court without authority to make good
its findings. That board is wholly
political and ornamental. Over and
again has that board found, through
regularly instituted proceedings, that
Wichita was being Disseminated
against, by the railways, in the interest
Of Kansas City, Missouri, and they
have in pursuance of such findings
issued orders to the roads commanding
them TO make their Schedule sheets con-
form TO the right But these orders
have gone unheded for the simple rea-
son that the board is utterly powerless
to enforce its orders. So Kansas City
railway commissioner law Of Kansas,
in the enactment of which the Missouri
towns interests and those of the rail
ways were only considered. Kansas
City would do well under the present
stress TO appeal to the national inter-
state commerce commission, which
commission having more authority has
come to the rescue of that place more
than once in the past. However, the
interstate commission is not absolute
In it's authority. But few weeks ago,
after patient hearing of a case en-
bracing outrageous determinations
against Wichita and in favor of Kansas
City, that commission peremptorily
commanded certain roads to make their
tariff rates conform to that which was
found to be equitable. These roads
rather than obey abandoned the traffic
involved in the case. and that ended
it, both to the satisfaction of the roads
and of Kansas City.
An unwarranted and inexcusable
fight between eastern and southern
lines, the past week, inspired by greed
solely has resulted in cut rate on
grain from Kansas to southern and
eastern terminal points, which fight
was inaugurated without the remOtest
reference to the welfare of the grower
of the Kansas grain, but which happens
to rebound to their advantage. I'm
fortunately Kansas City, Missouri, is
neither b southern or an eastern ter
minal, and so for once got the cold
shake. In her misfortune the people
Of Kansas, who only live TO serve the
Interests of that Missouri municipality,
beg leave to tender their sympathies,
appreciating, as they do, of what out
RACES traffic managers are capable. In
the meantime the Eagle would suggest
to its neighbor and for the monet the
victim of its own over-reaching, that it
earnestly set about having the Kansas
railway ay-commisSioner-law SO amended,
next winter. as to invest the commits
sion with at least q modicum of the
power possessed by the railway CON-
missioners of Texas, who bring the rail-
way companies Of that state up stand
ing. The people Of Kansas would not
be equal to such an enabling act in their
own interest, but the Missouri CONNER
cial center which is located only an
hours ride from the Kansas capital,
can, when no such outrage as the Star
now complains of would be possible.
OF course in securing the enactment Of
a law of such wider scope, our COM
mercial conServator, at the kaw'S |
mouth, whose people SO continuously
assert that Kansas would be nothing /
without Kansas City, would see to it |
that a proviso was appended which !
would prohibit the said Kansas rail- |
way commissioners from making any
order that would in any degree tend |
TO benefit any Kansas interests where |
those of the Missouri town would be |
adversely affected. or from interfering !
in any case of discrimination that |
would tend TO render less certain the |
Missouri towns ambition 10 be the |
dominant market and the political and |
commercial center of the state, whose |
destinies she proposes TO guide.
M'KINLEY, TIE TRIED AND TRUE.
The politics of America seem resolv-
ing into an unending series Of conven-