Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1896-09-09
THE WISE KANSANS.
How They Sought to Increase Their
Wealth by Legislative
Enactment.

+. A. Stillwell has prepared a icafet
purporting to give q history of certain
events occurring near the close Of the
Nineteenth century. 1t was declared to
be a period of depression. during which
it occurred to the wise men of Kansas
that they could ~legislate themselves into
affiuence. The governor assembled the
wise men and said:
A Kansas policy for Kansas is the
need of the hour. Wheat is hard 10
raise, and the yield is light and uncer-
tain; but we are great ON corn. Make
We, therefore, n law in accordance with
which sovereign and august statute corn
shall be put upon a par with wheat.
They shall be interchangeable, and the
price of corn shall be the same as the
price of wheat.
The wise men passed the law as the
governor had advised and all the people
otsthe state reloiced, for their cribs were
tuh of corn. They could hardly contain
themselves till the governor had signed
the bill which raised the price of Kansas
corn from 10 cents to 40 cents a bushel.
All the people now felt rich. They
bought many ~luxuries and the most Of
them went in debt. Then the farmers
from other states began hauling their
corn to Kansas. 1t seemed as if the coun-
~ Nao As VIII iiiU II WAS III Upgupn
for Kansas. The people of Kansas took
their medicine-that is, they took the
corn and gave up their wheat.
Ihe farmers from the other states
thought Kansas people were queer, but
they kept bringing them their corn, Corn
came in and wheat went out.
When the other states saw this vast
accumulation, the price of corn began to
decline till it could be purchased any-
where except in Kansas for 10 cents a
bushel. In Kansas the price was still
40 cents, which was the price of wheat.
but there were no buyers. When the
autumn came the Kansas people did not
have any wheat for seed. Then thew
sent to the n~eighboring states and i'm
pl0red farmers to exchange wheat nj n
parity with corn. But the farmers said:
I'VE will exchange one bushel of wheat
for four and one-half bushels of corn
Our law replied the Kansas people.
puts corn and wheat at II parity. They
are equal, for our wise men said they
should be-" And the farmers replied:
You wise men are asses; let thcm eat
your corn" So the Kansans went back
home and all their people were in de-
SPAR.
Then the governor again assembled
the wise men and said to them. Most
c|OnsulnHhte, picturesque ana glittprlng
COLL darned fools. There is but N
| bigger fool than yourselves. 1t is he
who addresses you.
1--WE thought we could bluff the ever
lasting law Of supply and demand with
our statute. We thought we could Leg
islate value into a thing and make our
| people rich by a law. We thought
we were patriotic. We were idiotic.
Let us honestly acknowledge our as
sininity, repeal our fool law. get back
into line with the other states and imag-
| inc no more that we are wiser than the
whole world. Do this, and may we live
long enough to know that the other
states have ceased laughing at our folly
and that our own state has ceased ours
ing us for It,"
Then the wise men repealed the law,
but 1t was many years before the peo-
pie recovered from the effects OF the corn
scare.