The Red Cloud chief., 1897-02-12
HAD A LIVELY SESSION.
kansas House Railroad COMMITTEES ~
war-Mrmbers Locked In.

TOPEKA, KAN. Fcb. S.-Ihc House
committee on railroads had u stormy
session yesterday afternoon. Tho
maximum freight rate bill was under
discussion. aud some of the members
tried to break up the meeting. A
fierce quarrel followed aud IL became
necessary To call tho sergeant alarms
to qucll the disturbance. The good
sense of the members perhaps was all
that stood in The way OF a serious con-
fiict.
The trouble occurred when Chair
man Brown, Populist, suggested that
the maximum rate bill be read md
considered section by section. Mr..
Try, Republican, objected. lie said
that there were several other bills in
the hands Of tho committee, and asked
that they all be brought out SO tho
committee could decide upon which
should bo read first Brown insisted
upon reading the maximum bill.
Try struck the table with his fist
aud declared that he would not vote
for the maximum bill II the state never
got any railroad legislation.
Brown said he guessed TRY would
have to lay aside his p%rejudiccs, For"
AtS uNtu'Ns WIS JIM ~ w ~ w
day, and in my Judgment II will be re-
ported and passed"
Try jumped up and said he would
not listen to the reading. 'I1l leave
the ROOM" he roarcd, and started to-
ward the door.
The three other Republican members
-Burtis, Henley and Brooke crosse TO
follow TRY.
"You men can't go out of here"
Brown shouted, and he made a dash
for the door, too.
The head of the table Mt which
Brown sat was near the door, while
the Republicans were IN n sido
toward the lower end. Brown, there.
fore, reached the door first, and had 10
locked and the key In his pocket be-
fore Ury and his friends got fairly UNI
der way.
TRY demanded that Brown open tho
door. Brown refused.
For ten minutes the Populist chair
man and his Republican adversary
abu sed each other, and the rest OF the
me mbers put in" whenever there
was u lull. -
Kansas Arid Counties.
TOPEKA, Kan, Feb. SD Jaquins
OF Cowley county this forenoon pre-
scnted in the House q petition signed
by j.. +. Conklin, n loan agent OF VIM
field, praying the Legislature to grant
to nonresident owners Of land in
Western Kansas relief from unjust
laws and from the cxtortion and x
travagance Of county officers.
Conklin IL agent In Kansas of tho
North American Trust company,
which owns in Greeley, stanton, Fin
ney, Seward, Lane, Meade, Hodgman,
Kiowa, Morton, Scott, Haskell, Stevens,
Garfield now a part Of Finney) Clarke
and Comanche counties I,535 tracts Of
land, or 255,O55 acres. These tracts
were obtained by lending money So
cured by mortgage and due process OF
foreclosure. In few cases has the
company received either principal OF
interest. The loans were made In 1885
and 1887.
+, "These countless" the petition says,
''are hopelessly bankrupt, and all have
a bonded indebtedness. The one with
the least bonded debt Is Greeley county
II owes the permanent school fund
I S75, 800 and Is resisting In the courts
, the payment Of either principal or in
terest Scott county owes the per
manent school fund $3.50, 500 and II Il
/" also resisting payment. These coun
ties stand in h position among thu
. beneficiaries Of attempting to defea'
the state in the collection Of its mos
sacred fund.
. 1.-THE bonded debts of the remaining
counties range o upwards Of 500,
{ 0 to nearly $500, 900 and upwards o
81, 900, 900 Of this debt formed a part O
the permanent school fund, and but /,
, p~retense is made of paying either prin
cipal or interest. The taxes that ar,
collected are used In sustaining expen
u sive county organizations and tn,
a laws machinery of many Of thes'
t counties is used to defeat payment
I Notably Is this the case In the coun
Z ties Of Greeley and Scott.
Conklin asks that the laws be re
pealed and his petition a that mort
gage companies made loans In Western
Kansas In good faith. When the loan
I were made there were on the land
: buildings, fences and other improve
Q ments, which in most cases have bee,
destroyed, and for years, with yer,
, few exceptions, the loan companie
have not received q dollar of inter
est, but instead in many Of thes
t cases, notably in Haskell they have
S constantly increasing liability In tn
amount Of taxes paid.
Continuing, Mr.. Conklin makes tn
k broad statement that the courts are Il
: league with the people. lie says: ~
IL impossible for us to obtain redres
in courts, for the machinery OF tn
n courts Is too slow and is inimical, no
c only to our interests, but hat of al
r non-residents. Or, in other words, l
8 Is impossible for us to obtain justic
or protection in these counties. As
final resort we now come before thi
Legislature, make u statement of GU
y grievances and request such remedis
d legislation as will give virtue to on
o rights by relieving us Of this unjus
taxation"
"As suggestions along this line, 4