The Advocate and news., 1898-02-02

annual dinner, in Kansas City, on De-
cember II, 1897, with these words:
"And God said, Let there be light, and
there was-Kansas"
The boldness of this figure of speech may
be startling when set out by itself, but II
should be remembered that the public men
of Kansas are still In what may be called
the oratorical stage-the stage OF aston
ishing metaphors. Within two years John
j. Ingalls, wrote, apparently In sober ear
nest:
"Other States could be spared without
irreparable bereavement, but Kansas Is
indispensable to the joy, the inspiration,
and the improvement Of the world. . =.
Its arithmetic Is more dazzling and bewil-
dering than poetry, and the historian Is
compelled to be economical Of the truth
and parsimonious In his recital Of facts
in order not to impose too great a strain
upon the capacity OF human credulity."
The Eastern investor whose money was
lost In the riot of speculation that swept
over Kansas in the early nineties, or sunk
in the successive waves of hard times that
followed the speculation, may be inclined
to invert Mr.. Whites figure, and say that
at last the light which O kind Providence
intended should shine in the remotest
parts of the universe has reached Kansas.
This same investor, remembering only the
loss OF his money, would be likely to agree
with Mr.. Ingalls, in declaring the arith-
dering than poetry. The truth is there
is light In Kansas, and 1t has been Shin
ing like a beacon in the Middle West ever
since the enormous crops Of 1897 were har-
vested, and it is also true that Kansas
arithmetic has become more bewildering
than poetry since that time, for the pros
perity that those crops brought to the
farmers reads like fairy tales, and In many
cases Is dazzling. One can form a correct
opinion of Kansas and Its people better
by going to the State, and by speaking
with its farmers, Its storekeepers, its bust
ness men, it's officials, and its professional
men, than in any other way. 1t was for
this purpose that In December last visited
the State, and, in this and other articles
to follow, the exact truth about Kansas
and other Western States Is to be told
as 1t was learned after dillgent investi-
cation.
One needs to be in Kansas only a few
days to learn that the East has misunder-
stood the people OF the SunaOWer State
as much as the people of that State have
misunderstood the East. The real people
OF Kansas are no more repudiators and
cranks than the real people of the East
are >Shylocks and fanatics. There is no
patent of arithmetic whereby the Eastern
investor must pay losses and the Western
investor must not And despite all that
has been said to the contrary, 1t is easy
to show that Kansas people, nOtwithstand-
ing the fact that millions of Eastern dol
lars have been lost and swallowed up for
ever through reckless mOney-lending as
much as through reckless oney-borrow-
ing, are not only debt-payers, but among
the best debt-payers in the country.
Before producing figures to prove this as
sertiOn, a little recapitulation of recent
events is necessary. 1t was late in the
eighties that the boom fever struck Kan
sas. The get-rich-quick bacteria super
heated its blood, and the State was soon
in delirium. To account for this condi-
ton Editor White has said recently that
Kansas Is so highly educated that she is
more responsive to psychological currents
and conditions, than her sister States, and
therefore mas done more queer things than
they. During the boom times 1t became
known that many investors in the East
had been quietly making enormous profits
in the State by lending money at high
rates Of interest. Forthwith there was a
rush of capital from the East to share
in this prosperity. A regiment Of loan
was formed. At one time there
were no less than 400 Of these companies |
Adventurers in the East and in Kansas
formed many of them; 1t was so easy for
q time to make money by the mere signing !
of notes and putting them UP as collat-
eral in your own loan company. The peo- |
pie of the East showered money over the |
State 1t couldn't be kept out. Bonds of |
electric light companies, of waterworks |
and sewer enterprises of street car COM
panies, stock in banks, investment COM
panles, and what not, In places that were |
mere crossroads, and In places that did |
not exist at all, were subscribed for.
1t soon became necessary to use part Of
the principal to pay the alleged high in
terest. The era of swindling began. Nearly
all the loan companies had guaranteed
that was an easy matter-both interest and
principal. Companies with a capital of
S5O, O,0O0-perhaps $4,000 of which was paid
lp-had guarantees for millions out. Thou
sands upon thousands Of dollars which the
Kansas farmers paid on their loans were
stolen deliberately, and hundreds of law
suits over such cases are yet pending. One
company, according to the report OF the
State Bank Commissioner in 1895, collected
more than $S75, 600 from the Kansas people,
md deliberately stole it all. Forged salts
actions of mortgages were made out, and
hundreds of thousand of dollars were
borrowed on them under false pretenses
lne company did 100000 OF such business
Then there were bogus banks The Nc
2herson County Bank was one of these
There was no such institution, and yet
hundreds Of Eastern investors sent their
money to buy it's stocks and bonds with
tut investigating the matter. The famous
citizens Bank OF Wichita was a veritable
lutcksand for Eastern money 1t was sup
POSED to have initial Of 0Sn0 OO0 md