People's voice., 1897-05-06
Sumner In the Soup.

COllOh OlOE. L nave SGGu III UIlG
PEOPLES VOICE the ffattering ac.
counts OF the Kansas City, PittSburg
& Gulf railroad. Prospects presented
TO the people along that line Of rail
road briugS to my mind the gross in
justice done the people OF Sumner
county by the Sumner, COwley & Ft.
Smith railroad and that injustice
confirmed by the courts OF Justice OF
the land. In lS7Sor 79Sumner county
voted $4,000 in bonds per mile built by
the Sumner, Cowley & FL. Smith rail-
road in Sumner county. The rail-
road was TO build their line to Fort
Smith and open up a line to the south.
east so that we could get cheap lumber
and find an outlet for our grain to a
country that never raised enough for
their own needs. | was one OF the
few who thought the road would have
been built without our aid if the line
would pay the company when COM
pleted and would not be built il it did
not havea prospect of paying, even if
the bonds were voted. So | voted
against said bonds and was branded
as one Of the Democrats who al
ways were ClOgging the wheels Of
prog 'ess But the bonds carried and
where is the Sumner, COwley & Fort
Smith railway?
They have received the 100000 in
Sumner county bonds and have failed
to comply with their charter or their
contract with the voters of Sumner
county as they have never given them
the line TO the southeast. | believe
the courts have said that as the bonds
have fallen into innocent hands, that
the county will have them to pay. II
| am correct in this | must say IL is a
gross injustice to the people of
Sumner county. When the railroad
company failed To comply with It's
part Of the agreement, the contract
was vitiated and in justice the bonds
were void, and it was the duty of the
purchaser of those bonds 10 know
whether the parties had complied
with their agreements. If | steal 8
horse and sell it TO an innocent party
his ignorance of the theft does moi
save his loss as the owner of the
horse can take the same upon the
proper proofs. When the railroad
company failed to meet or compl,
with the agreement made with the
people, it obtained their money under
false pretenseS and in the eyes q
justice are as guilty as / would be if
took the horse without permission
When | was in Kansas two Years agt
| heard 1t said that certain parties
who were county commissioners die
not lose anything by the bonC
business. But be that as it NAV th,
time has come when Sumner count,
can see what it has lost by not havini
the road to the southeast.
II the line had been built the,
would now have a direct line TO Por
Arthur and competing line I,
Galveston. AS it is it will cos
Sumner county more to get its whea
over to the Kansas City, Pittsburg {
| Gulf than it will to ship from Kansa
City to Port Arthur. Omaha o
AtchiSon will be nearer the coast a
far as freights 90 than Wellington
II we had back our 100000 we cuult
see that a line was bull. TO a cOn
nectiOn with that line, and you vii
not get much benefit from it unit
| there Is southeast connection.
know that the southeast road ha
been a lever used to pry money out O
the pockets of the people of Sumne
county when nothing else would
But you must have the road at som
time in the near future. am gla
that l voted against the steal if /
did clog the wheels of progress.
hope that the state OF Kansas vii
see that the people need the road an
will build it and make it the nucleu
for a state system. | have been toll
that there are too many roads i
Kansas now. l admit too many of tn
kind, but not enough of state roads
Hoping that when l 90 to Kansa
again that l can ride over a roa
owned either by the state or genera
government.
am yours truly,
R. S. HANsBARGER.
Dallas, Tex, Mar. 70.