Kansas City daily journal., 1897-02-11
KANSAS TOPICS.

The Populists who are claiming the bill
reducing state printer fees as a party
measure must believe that the people CT
Kansas have suffered total loss of men,
ory Two years ago the Republican house
passed bill reducing these fees to even
greater extent than the present bill and
the Populist senate killed it.
'I am going to introduce a resolution
Tomorrow" said a Populist member of the
lower house to Topics yesterday, de
manding that the executive council rescind
the order which compels all of the en-
plcyes at the state house to wear uni
forms. The first thing Napoleon did after
he became first consul was to compel
everybody to put on gay trappings and
his uniform, and you know how soon after
that it was when France became a mon
archy. Uniforms are the first step toward
monarchy as well as a servile confession
of inequality" From which we infer that
the state administration will be brought
up short in its efforts to put on dog"
In looking through the files of a Kansas
paper the other day Topics discovered an
account of a speech delivered by Senator
PETER before an Alliance meeting in 1889,
in which he declared that no officer should
It must, therefore. be apparent that the
senator is now retiring on principle.
Yesterday the Kansas legislature passed
the 1000 mark in the business of introduce
ing bills. While it might seem that every
thing under the shining sun had been COW
ered, it is not so and there will probably
be 500 more bills introduced before the end
OF the session.
B. w. Hanna. son of the late B ]. F.
Hanna, and former resident of Salina, Is
now chief business manager for Stephen
B. Elkins, of West Virginia. He was pri-
vate secretary to several of the secretaries
of the interior, commencing with Carl
Schurz, we believe. and later went with
Senator Elkins in the same capacity.
It has developed that Mrs Amelia Spof-
ford, the Minnesota woman who went in
sane on a train near Oswego, was form
erly member of John Breidenthal's To-
polobampo colony. 1t will be a work OF
supererogation if the jury hears any other
evidence.
1t is reported that Anderson Grey. he of
hypnotic murder fame, who was recently
pardoned out of the Kansas penitentiary.
intends to organize company at Kansas
SiNS eHA NeaiAS - ~ Neoo'
1t doesn't necessarily follow that winter
is over. One of the coolest days Kansas
has ever known fell upon the 18th of
March, 1860. Cattle and men were frozen
to death all over the state.
Sol Miller is opposed to the bill now be-
fore the Kansas legislature which removes
the disabilities of all ex-rebel soldiers. He
tbipkS hilifv should
come forward and ask for forgiveness in
an open manner, and not try to sneak
back under an omnibus law which will
not let him be individually known.
1t must frequently have been a source of
wonder to people where so many statistics
come from which are given out as accur-
ate. For example, the temperance lectur-
er will tell his audience precisely how
many drunkards there are in the world.
the prison reformer how many thieves, the
marriage reformers how many unhappy
marriages, and SO on down through the
list. How. for instance, does Miss Ruby
Wheeler, who is lecturing over Kansas in
the interests of the Florence Crittenton
home in Kansas City, know that there are
Just 232 600 American girls living a life of
shame? And how can she be so positive
that precisely 100 girls are being lost ev-
cry twenty-four hours? If these figures
are no more reliable than her further
statement that "it is our best girls who are
going down" they are not entitled to much
consideration. Miss Wheeler does give
some figures, however, which are undoubt-
ly reliable, as they deal with the Kansas
City home with which she Is familiar.
During the year just closed the missionary
meetings had an aggregate attendance of
56011. The number of conversions were
7S4 men and pa women. The total number
of girls rescued by the home was 169, of
whom IS confessed religion. "Of those we
rescue" said Miss Wheeler, "about 10 per
cent remain true" One feature of this
work is unexampled anywhere. The men
converts exceed the women converts more
than three to one, and this is a direct re-
versal of the usual experience In revival
meetings.
The dismay felt by the Populist party of
Kansas over the discovery that 1t had
elected a man to the United States senate
who was willing to give the Republican
idea of protection a fair trial, and who de-
clared in his speech of acceptance that
corporations were not only useful, but alb
solutely necessary, is as nothing to the
| horror which seized it yesterday when Sem
| ator Harris made a speech on the bill re-
| ducing the legal rate of interest. He op-
posed the bill and took occasion to enfil-
ade the whole Populist theory that the
man With money is the natural enemy OF
| society and therefore should be preyed
upon. I'VE hear good deal about Shy
| lock-" ssi( Senator Harris, but in all the
| years in which the greed, the avarice and
| the malignity of that consummate char
acter of fiction have been held up to the
scorn of mankind, nothing has been said
| of another character In the same play who
stood for qualities more despicable. An
| tonic made his contract with his eyes
open; but so far from living up TO mis- writ
ten agreement he went into court and took
| advantage of the law to strip Shylock OF
his entire property
do you know what beat John Breiden-
| thai for senator?" said well known Pop
ulist member of the legislature yesterday
well, I'll tell you. 1t was the Republican
| press of Kansas and Kansas City. Every
Republican paper in the state has been
! booming BreidenthEi and declaring that
he was the brains of the Popuiist party.
It looked mighty suspicious TO us and we
beat John. If the Republican papers set II
| up on him IL was a mighty cute trick"
Professor Blake, of the state university,
has everlastingiy queered himself with the
| Kansas people. he has been telling them