The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-05-16
HE'S NOT A + TEXAN
JUDGE BURLINGAME MORE PROUD
OF BEING AN OKLAH0MAR.


has Mighty Good Idea of What Kan
sas Needs to Make Her Prosperous-He
Thinks Wichita is Exactly Right In Its
Location for a Great Commercial Cen
ter fsut She Must Turn Her Back on the
Old and Her Face to the New Conditions
Which Sow Confront Her.
Judge E. P. Burlingame has sent the
following communication, which ex-
plains itself He says:
I'm your kind purpose TO do me honor
you refer TO me in your issue Of the 18th
inst as citizen of Texas. but 1 desire
to have it known that 1 reside in Okla
homa. and that 1 am an enthusiastic
promoter of the short haul enterprise
because herein lies the redemption of
Oklahoma. Ny home and interests are
there and her general prosperity found
ed on the favorable trade advantages
thus secured cannot fail to confer upon
me a share Of profit. Texas is strong
and able to assert herself; Oklahoma in
her relations TO the great controlling
factors of r1ade and commerce is an in
fiuences for the modification of existing
methods, and she must ally herself with
those who seek the same objective.
'tAIy personal interests, as affected by
this enterprise. are Identical with those
Of every citizen of Kansas; and, as the
people Of Kansas are so certainly pur-
suing the proper course to bring about
desired reforms, We can do no better
than to give them all possible encour-
agement. There is a vast deal more in
this for both Kansas and Oklahoma
than mere grain business. That is
necessary, and the only means at hand
with which to make a beginning; but
who can prognostcate the rapidity OF
its growth, the breadth of its expan-
sion and the proportions OF develop
ment and creations in the realm of trade
and traffic.
what startling possibilities are I'M
folding for this favored city of WITCH
tia! If your people realize the value OF
the present day of opportunity, and
from the standpoint of history, past ex-
periences, and reasonable proba bilities,
are able to forecast the future. they
must be elate with hope and expecta-
ton.
1.-The founders Of Wichita were fortu-
and geographical advantages concur
with creative and artificial conditions,
now eliminated here. and almost burst
ing to find their legitimate vent through
improved methods and agencies for
traffic.
Your physical environment compasses
rich soil and genial climate. Near. and
remote, the products of nature are ac-
cumulating, and they viii necessarily
compel the activities of trade to active
competition.
Heretofore Wichita has not had her
proportion Of what nature has placed
approximate to her markets, because
older markets more distant, but pos
sessed OF better facilities and stronger
forces for centralizating, have been able
10 divert traffic in their own interests.
The situation is different now. Deep
water at Galveston has been anxiously
awaited by her citizens as an acquisi-
ton of supreme local importance and
value, but 1T is no less valuable and i'm
portant to the city of Wichita. II brings
opportunity to Galveston, but it does
this for Wichita as well, and in a larger
and broader degree than to any other
municipality in Kansas.
Wichita does not stand today in re-
did yesterday. She must now turn her
back upon the old, and face the new.
Benton, in the United States senate,
when Kansas was denominated a des-
ert, with true spirit of prOphesy. point
ing TO the west, said: There is the east;
there is India And we here, now point
TO the south and say: There is the
east; there is Europe
What a prospect is opened TO the
vision Of your thoughtful merchants as
they contemplate the changes to be
wrought in the matter of imports. and
see Wichita a great jobbing and COM
mercial center, the point Of distribu-
ton for the eastern slope of the Rockies.
Exports implies imports, and short
er haul and lower rates will apply TO
one as much as the other. Concentra-
ton must be had somewhere, and why
not here? The situation is sufficiently
remote from Kansas City. and 200 miles
nearer the initial point OF shipment,
consequently 200 miles cheaper 10 con-
sumers, theoretically. than Kansas
City. There is no competing town in
any other direction. Wichita has the
field Is she equal to the coca sion? VIII
she utilize imports and cheaper rates IN
aid OF factories. and become the proud
metropolis of the state, hundred thou
sand population, with long avenues Of
busy trade, her tumult of business. COM
mercial and manufacturing activities
bringing compensa tion to herself. and
distributing benefits TO every town and
community within the range Of her in
fiuence.
This Is no idle dream or else the past
is useless from which 10 anticipate the
future. Look at Kansas City. See
with what rapid and sweeping strides
she gained her ascendancy as soon as
her early advantages were recognized. 4
Chicago, planted inthe mud. Is a mar
vellous creation in every aspect. but
the seat of political power. the center
of population, the Capitalization Of our
productions, all point TO Wichita as
they never did 10 Chicago.
I believe in Wichita. and am encour-
aged to be confidant OF her purpose and
ability TO achieve with happy results.
On my travels some days since, l heard
two men talking about Wichita, and
one OF them praised her 50 earnestly,
the other asked him If he lived there.
He replied that he lived in Kansas City
but he had travelled through Kansas