The Topeka state journal., 1897-08-26
NO KANSAS SALT.
Big Plants at Hutchinson and
Lyons Close.
Seven Shut Down and Five Run
With Half Force
AT REDUCED WAGES
One of Kansas Greatest Indus
tries is Dead.
High Tariff and the Trusts Are
Responsible.
AT REDUCED WAGES

SaltwOrks in this city have closed down
altogether and the other five are barely
running more than half the hands haV-
ing been laid off and the wages OF the
remaining cut from 20 TO 80 per cent
Practically the same condition prevails
at Lyons The Kingman and Anthony
saItwOrks have been abandoned alto
gether- The salt trust has the salt or
Kansas under control.
Last fall the managers of the con-
Germs at Hutchinson told their men that
if Mckinley was elected there would be
pie ty of work for ali and higher wages
Mckinley was elected and the salt
works doomed for two weeks and the
promise OF the managers were tudnIled-
AT the end OF that squirt, hoWeVer,and
after II was announced through the pa
pers far and wide, that the salt works
of Hutchinson had started up and the
hum OF industry was again heard, half
the men were discharged and there was
a cut in wages. When the men asked
the managers about the promises they
were told TO wait until the D1ngley Dill
was passed and all their promises would
be redeemed The men waited
The salt trust told its local managers
and asked them to bring pressure 10
bear on the Kansas congressman and
senators to vote for it.
Through the influence of John r.
MuIvane, and Frank Vincent, it is said,
CongI essman Curtis and Senator Baker
were induced to vote for it,
The DingIey bill was passed and all
the tariff required was put On salt.
The salt mines of Hutchinson again
opened with a great flourish of trump
cts, and the smoke and steam over the
salt works at Lyons Obscured the sun
and everybody sang the praises of the
DingIey bill. This lasted about ten days,
when the smoke and the steam began
to grow less and salt rakerS and sifterS
and 1aborers were laid off one by one
1t began to be nOised about that the salt
works of Kansas were shutting down,
but the agents of the trust are men of
some genius and in order TO offset the
report that was creeping out into the
world they resOrted to the audacfouS
scheme, at Hutchinson at least, of in
serting an advertisement in the papers
calling for so men to work in the salt
works. The advertisement, of course,
was made tn text of a boom editorial
and it went out among the people of
western Kansas cheering everyone but
the men who were being discharged
every day.
The Hutchinson operators are smart
er than the Lyons operators The lat
ter gentlemen, living in a smaller COM
munity became confidential with their
Eeighbors and told them the reason
they had to- shut down was that the
freight rates were so high that they
could not go beyond the Missouri river
with their salt and that the farmers of
/ Kansas were not salt consumers any
way. This, to some extent, is true. The
| fact is that Kansas salt could not go
I beyond the Missouri river five days aft
/ salt trust then had what it wanted and it
| commenced to apply the screws
Before that time there was an eight
| cent rate to the Missouri river on Ly-
| ons salt and a 16 cent rate to Chicago.
( About a week after the Dfngley bill
| was passed this rate was not only
| Cancelled but Cancelled by telegraph, to
! take effect at once. The trust ordered
/ this rate Cancelled and threa tened the
| Santa Fe that if it didn't do so it would
! paralyze its west bound traffic from
| Chicago by causing eastern roads hav-
| ing interest in the carrying of eastern
/ salt westward to give west bound
/ Fe- OF course, the other roads entering
J eued but the threat against the Santa
F'e seemed to be particularly harsh
! At any rate the Chicago rate was aban-
/ doned and the salt productions of Kan
/ sas were confined to the state for sale
/ The result is that all the mines not
| in the trust are SHUT down, while the
! trust mines are running with only
| enough force to supply the local demand
! of the state, or at least to make a pre-
| tense of doing it. The probability is
| that the salt works of Kansas will fol-
/ low the sugar works of Kansas out of
/ existence. The sugar trust shut up eve
| ry sugar mill in the state and the salt
| trust will do the same.
| 1t is said that new salt firm is COM
Irg to Hutchinson to defy the trust and
compete with it. but the SuppOSitiOn is
that it is coming here simply for spec
ulati purposes, expecting that the salt
/ trust will buy them off