The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-01-25
MAKES A GOOD DEFENSE.
Gov. St John Stands Up for Kansas in
His IninaitabIe Way.

The Chattanooga, Tenn, Times has
recently published an abusive article on
Kansas. Ex-Governor John p. St John
happened to see a copy Of the paper
containing the editorial. He proceeded
at once to defend Kansas in his well
known expressive and interesting style.
In this Tennessee critiQue Popul1sts
and Republicans were miSrepreSented
unfortunately. Governor Stanley was
referred to in a sentence which read:
'Leedy's successor is a rather more
hopeless crank than the man he re-
Places
After taking to task the Chattanooga
paper for gross errors showing lgnor-
ance of railroad legislation and politics
in Kansas, Governor St John proceeds
to peel the hide as follows in an open
letter which he addressed the Times, a
copy of which he sends the State Jour-
nal:
Next" says the ex-governor to the
editor of the Times, you turn on your
Calling guns with the declaration that:
a" When a new party springs up, or
an old one is diverted by some catchy
slogan, then look out for the tricks of
demagogues. The most unsafe men an
the community come to the surface
when popular upheavals stir the pol1ti-
cal fabric to its very bottom They lead
the honest crowd a merry dance, as the
adventures, since the days of the typ1-
cal rascal, st. John, have led the Kan
sans for a dozen years. One stands
amazed at the vitality of a community
that goes on prospecting under such
list of scamps and crack-brains as Kan
SaS has had for governors since 1S50-'
when I read that paragraph felt
like Lazarus did at the rich mans gate,
that had been licked by dog The
fact that our people never elected a gov
ernor until after the state was admitted
into the union in 1861 shows your ignor-
ance of Kansas history 1t will pro-
woke a broad smile, tinged with a slight
degree of Indignation, on the part of the
old settlers of Kansas, when they find
that a man has been dug up down in
good old Tennessee who brands as
'scamps and crack-brains' such grand
eX-governorS as ChaS. Robinson, Thos.
Carney, Samuel A. Crawford, James NJ.
Harvey, Thomas A Osborn, Geo. T.
Anthony, Geo. w. Click, John A Mar
cling. E. N. Morrill, and John w. Leedy.
And I will add, though I do not agree
with him politically, that our present
governor, Hon. W. E. Stanley, is no
hopeless crank as you call him, but
man of high moral and intellectual at
tainments, who would do credit to the
executive chair of any state, even dear
old Tennessee.
while your editorial, as a whole, in
dulges in a very great economy in the
use of truth, yet an occasional fact
crops out, and the following is one Of
them:
But, as a matter of cold fact, Kan
sas has never been in as high condition,
financial, social and political, as it is
now.
You might have told your readers
that while it took Tennessee, as an or
ganiZed state, about 100 years to gather
within her borders population in
round numbers OF 100000, Kansas in
thirty-eight years has secured a pOpu-
lation of nearly 1,500, 900. That the pub
lie school term in Kansas averages 120
days in the year, while in Tennessee it
is only ninety days; that Kansas has
IL, 700 teachers to 1913 in Tennessee, and
that our people contribute 81, 133, 1876 to
the cause of education, while Tennessee
contributes but $1.5S7,S 1874 during the
same year. You could also have truth
fully added that from 1880 to 1890 All 900
newcomers settled in Kansas, against
only 225, 159 in Tennessee, and that while
Tennessee has but 3,136 miles of rail-
road, here in Kansas we have S,S77
miles. And all this and more has been
accomplished, despite the single gold
standard, high tariff, chinch bugs, grass
hopperS, drouth, Indians, monopolleS,
and trusts, and that long list of 'scamps
and crack-brains' and one typical ras-
cal that Kansas has had for govern
orS.'
Now, If under these adverse circun-
stances, the people of Kansas have
made such wonderful progress, what
would have been the result had they
been blessed by a long line of illus
triOus statesmen, such as have occupied
the gubernatoriaI chair and shaped the.
destinieS of Tennessee? The people Of
Kansas don't claim to be faultless; they
readily realize how painful it must be
for you to look down from your ex-
allied position upon our imperfections;
but we can't help it; we are doing the
hest we can and beg you to be easy on
us. Don't press the crown of thornS'
down upon our brow too hard.
There are thousands of TenneSSeeanS
in Kansas; we like them. They are
warm hearted, generous people. And
now that the president of the United
States can wear a Confederate badge
without offending his party, we may,
aTl sure, be permitted to indulge the
hope that whatever sectional bitterness
has at any time existed between Ten
nessee and Kansas has passed away
forever.
81 know that I speak the sentiment of
every true KanSan when 1 say that the
doors of our state are thrown wide open
and a hearty welcome extended to all
good citizens of Tennessee, whether they
wore the blue or wore the gray"