Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-09-02
VOLUME XIV.
"sALTED' NEAR HOME.
Kansas People Have an Object Lesson On
The Beauties (77 of The Trusts.

learn of the blighting, wItherlng eHects
of the present tariff laws snd their
protection of trusts and combines.
Kansas towns which have built up Q
salt industry are giving some object
lessons to our own people. The follow
ing special from Hutchinson to the
Kansas City Times tells how the salt
trust is handling one of Kansas in
dustres:
Hutchinson, Aug. 26.-Seven OF the
II salt works in this city have closed
down altogether and the other five are
barely running, more than half the
hands having been laid off and the
wages of the remaining cut from 10 to
20 per cent. Practically the same con-
dition prevails at Lyons. The King
man and Anthony saltworks have been
abandoned altogether. The salt trust
has the salt of Kansas under control.
Last fall the managers of the con
Germs at Hutchinson told their men
that if Mckinley was elected there
would be plenty of work for all and
higher wages. Mckinley was elected
and the saltworks doomed for two
weeks and theo promise of the man
ayers was fulfilled.
At the end of that squirt, however,
and after it was annOunceds through
the Iapers far and wide. that the
saltworks of Hutchinson had started
up and the hum of industry was again
heard, half the men were discharged
and there was cut in wages. When
the men asked the managers about the
promises they were told to wait until
the Dingley Bill was passed and all
their promises would be redeemed.
The men waited.
The salt trust told its local man
ayers that high tariff on salt was
needed and asked to bring pressure to
bear on the Kansas congressman and
senators to vote for. it.
Through the influence of John IL.
Mulvane, and Frank Vincent, it is
said, Congressman Curtis and Senator
Baker were induced to vote for it.
The Dingley Bill was passed and all
the tariff required was put on salt.
The salt mines at Hutchinson again
opened with great flourish of trumpets
and the smoke and steam over the salt
works at Lyons obscured the sun and
everybody sang the praises of the
Dngley Bill. This lasted about ten
days, when the smoke and the steam
began to grow less and salt rakers and
sifters and laborers were laid off one
by one. It began to be noised about
that the salt works of Kansas were
shutting down, but the agents of the
trust are men Of some genious and in
order to offset the report that was
creeping out into the world they resort
ed to the audacious scheme, i'll Hutch
inson at least, of inserting an adver-
tisement IN the papers calling for so
men to work in the salt works. The
advertisement. of course, was made the
text of boom editorial and it went
out among the people of western Kan
SdS CuC0IluR CNclJ JOHO OoU LhO IiCA WIZ
were being discharged every day.
The Hutchinson operators are smart
er than the Lyons operators. The
latter gentlemen, living in a smaller
community, became confidential with
their neighbors and told them the
reason they had to shut down was that
the freight rateswere 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 beyond the Missouri river five
days after the Dingley Bill was passed.
The salt trust then had what it wapted
and it commenced to apply the screws.
Before that time there was an eight
cent rate to the Missouri river on Lyons
salt and Is cent rate to Chicago.
About week after the Dingley Bill
was passed this rate was not only can
celed but Cancelled by telegraph, to take
effect at once. The trust ordered this
rate Cancelled and threatened the Santa
Fe that if il didn't do so it would par
alyze its west bound traffic from Chica
go by causing eastern roads having in
terest in the carrying of eastern salt
westward to give west bound freight
to other roads than the Santa Fe. OF
course, the other roads entering Lyons
and Hutchinson were also threatened,
but the threat against the Santa Fe
seemed to be particularly harsh. At
any rate the Chicago rate was aban-