Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1897-01-20
Various Recommend.tlon..


| and weighers be appointed by the state
| consolidation of boards is recommended
| so as to have all the penal institutions
| under charge of the board of directors for
! penal institutions. and all of the charitable
| institutions under the supervision of the
| state board of charities"
Reform of the insurance laws for the pro-
| lection of insurers is urged
District ownership of textbooks while not
urged upon the legislature, is strongly rec
| commended.
AS to the Kansas City stock yards, Gov
| ernor Leedy suggests that 100 per cent
| profit above the price in the Kansas CITY
market is sufficient on the sales of grain and
nay, and recommend an enactment to that
| effect The statutes should provide that
| the live stock sanitary commission should
have such control of the stock yards owned
by the above named company as shall be
necessary to the enforcement of the laws
| you make, if this recommendation COM
mends itself to your Judgment"
Mortgage Legislation.
Governor Leedy's recommendation as to
| mortgage legislation is as follows:
| "A great deal of complaint comes from
| over the state in regard to mortgages made
ana executed in this state, which have been
made, as rule, to companies organized
under the laws of our state for the pur-
| pose OF loaning money These mortgages
| are sold In the East and in many cases the
| party who struggles through and paws his
| loan finds that he has been swindled and
| In order to clear his title he. must again
| pay the amount er lose his home. Section
| 1889 should be so amended as to REQUIRE
| every assignment of mortgage, or note Sc
| cured by mortgage, to be placed on the rec
| ords In the county where the real estate is
located. This, in great measure will guard
| against any recurrence of these swindles
winch are unjust and work great hardship
10 the people of the state. Such an enact
ment will enable the debtor to deal directly
with his creditors, without the intervention
OF somebody who preys upon the necessities
| of both"
Commissioner Breidenthals recommend
attons as to the changes in the banking laws
are commended to the attention of the leg
lslature, and strict state supervision of
building and loan associations and of loan
trust and investment companies urged.
State Railroad Proposed.
IF the corporations will accept such lust
and fair regulation, subject to review by
the supreme court of the state, well and
good but, in the future, as in the past,
they hock under the protecting wing of the
federal courts, where Justice to the people
seems not only blind as it should be but
deof and dumb Also then 1 advise the peo-
pie of the state of Kansas to seek for Justice
out OF court In doing Sd can only point to
| one route by which it can be obtained, and
that Is for the states west of the Mississippi
river to build road of their own to tide
water by the shortest and most direct route
which VIII put them in 4 position to COM
mand the situation without getting into any
complication with the railroad COM
panies or with the federal courts We
have at Galveston now a harbor that
can be entered safely by the largest ships
The federal government has expended
s6.OOO,O0O in creating an outlet in Galveston
bay and providing a safe harbor for a term
1nal point. In order to get to this harbor
there are no mountains to tunnel and no
large rivers to cross and no engineering
dlfhc ulueS in the way. 1t is practically a
plain upon which a road cannot only be
built but can be operated as cheapiy as any,
where IN the world At the present value of
labor and material a road can be built for
from $4,000 to $4,000 mile, and it would
De as UNJUST TO the people of this generation
to ask them to support a railroad
bonded at $4,000 Il mile as it would
nave been to the people of a preceding gen.
Grafton to haul their grain and merchan-
disc on the turnpike of that time after they
had been parallelled by railroads No doubt
the owners of stock in the turnpikes of that
day claimed that they had a vested right to
1alr interest upon their investment, but the
railroads did not consider the interests of
the turnpike owner in any way. They sim
ply superseded the turnpike, and if the rail-
road company of the present time do not re-
duce their capital to a basis upon which
railroads can be built now, then the people
Will be forced. as a last resort to parallel
Arguments for State Road
II the states of Texas and Nebraska would
join us in the building of line to Galveston
the expense of building such a road would be
merely nominal, when compared with the
vast sums of money that would be saved to
the citizens of these states through the
lowering of freight rates; in fact the over
charge above what is reasonable and fair
charge on grain upon the crop now existing
In the state of Kansas would paw all the
r n 1Y-JaG IF rom .1atfr
state of Kansas to undertake it herself
Such road, when completed would place
the people of this state in position of inde-
pendence in the matter of transportation SO
Tar as the railroad companies and the fed
eral courts were concerned, and I do not be-
HeYe that such move would be injurious to
the railroad companies in the long run
The lowered rates of freight would at
tract great and constantly increasing
business by drawing traffic in that direction
and the decreased rate at which the rail-
roads would be compelled to carry freight
would be made up in the volume of business.
The state of New York, by completing the
Erie canal and keeping the tolls at a low
rate. has caused the commerce of the coun-
try to flow in that direction 50 as to make it
the great commercial metropolis of the
country. but this did not retard the
building of railroads, which do business
in competition with it; in fact the
finest railroad in the world, with four
tracks, was built tor the purpose of COM
peting with this canal for business The
total amount of money expended bv the
state of New York upon the Erie canal ac-
cording to recent publications. has been
sll6,OOo,OO0. and the receipts there
from have been 1892. 900 900. If the
state OF New York has profted SO vastly
by pursuing this course think it would be
policy for the West to quit taking their ad-
vice on commercial affairs and begin to
follow their example. And elsewhere.
where 1t has been necessary to compete
with water transportation in the carving
OF freight, railroads have never hesitated
TO enter into that competition. The haul
from Chicago east to the Erie canal is
greatly reduced. because water transporta-
uol makes II necessary The hsul from St
Louis to New Orleans is also made at low
rate in order to compete with water trans
portation. These railroads that do business
at very low rate and in competition with
water transportation are in as good condi-
ton financially as railroads which do not
nave TO compete in such a way. Thereto
II seems TO me that ii would be wise for this
legislature 10 ask the legislatures of Texas
and Nebraska, whose state laws have been
set aside and annulied as ours have been 10
consider the feasibility of such a plan. In
case the laws that / hope will be passed by
this Legislature should fail of success
Following John Brown's Lead
Gentlemen of the legislature, we cannot
hope, in the short space of fifty DAYS to cor
rect all the mistakes. to remedy all the evils
that have been made and have arisen
along with our magnificent civilization, but
we should endeavor to accomplish such
follow US that our intentions were good
our actions determined and our cOunselS
judlctous- We are mere hands the dial
plate of Kansas. The works are beneath
NJ n u