Arizona republican., 1901-02-15
KANSAS.


 The performance of Mrs. Carrie Ma ton and tho other fanatics who are riot!nS against the saloons in Kanfas may be interesting enough to the stu dent of emotional insanity and the hysteria of crowds. Mrs. Nation and her associates in joint" smashing are sincerely religious and perfectly cons vinced of the necessity ani propriety of their proceedings. They talk about the arm f the Lord" and their "holy warfare" and they sing Nearer, My God. to Thee" while the hoodlums are getting drunk on the free liquor spilled by the crusaders. In the minds of these enthusiasts. lawless destruction of the property of persons whom they believe Ia be Wrungdoe.s assumes the authori- " If law, higher law. with positive religious sanction. The passionate lan- guage. the anger as of prophet re- buking sin and judging sinners. the prayers. and hymns in front of "mur- Ger shops" the eXcite mcnt and high key of the whole movement. the insoa lenca t1 public officers. might well be- long to Il w sect coming t1 den DYEce Nhh iNi'l UT Nase W ullb, bNN III Nan. RS these outbreaks count for less than they w.uld anywhere else. Part of klr as Is mad an the time, apparently.
 Perhaps prena al influences have left their strong mark on the state. In the conflict between fire, soil. r and b1rd ar rui'lan type was developed some what like that of Cromwells men, as great at holding forth as at shooting. Bes5t,en Of the bible and Sharp's rifles, bleeding Kansas still keeps the traces of the fierce Zeal. the unbenG.ng con- sci 2usness of rightsou nsss and the fighting temper of the earlier times. An eXcitab,e ,enthusia stic, proselyting disposition seems common In 1t. There is an immense amount of spouting and rantin2, much OF most nf it sincere Eccentric and picturesque individuals abound, such as hung about the skirts of the anti-slavery agitation. Talk and action have sharp angles. Their blz- gard is bl,wing always In the hraln Around the common sense of the ma- crank minority is always muttering or booming.
 SUI fly there neVcr was in all the 'e'' ''' - i'N 'Altati 'l 'It tifl StA 'l m.oEstruck men and women than dan in procession along the roads of Kansas p1puNsm. It was a sort of tarantlsn, albeit the grassh)pper and not the tarantula had n'pped the danc- CTS. IL was a costly business for Kan sas. bu; it was curious spectacle. For there was something spectacular and theatrical about popullsm as there Is about the sma Ter show which Mrs. Ma u n is stvirS Stage pays may not grt tatly prosper in the Kansas farming districts, but the people have their amusem ants anu Topuiism has been one of them. The popu,ists were frantic singers. They were strong in festivals and powwowing. They were rich in prophet ases. The'r conventions were f.equon, arl loud. Populist young wo- men refuS to marry rl-pOpulis. young men. Harlequin and C1lumb.ne Jerry Simpson and Mir. Lease. delight cd the crowds. A serious emotional pay with mum rous comic characters aHl interludes. Great excite ment and some grotcs1ueness were the charac- teristics of populism. On its serious side it indicated gr-at capacity for emoti n in the regions of politics and political economy, sciences not natur- ally sentimental.
 The burning Cf the negro Alexander at L5aveRwCrth tha other day may be thought to be aro,her example f ex- citable and neurotic Kansas tempcra- ment. There. too. prenatal influences may he sought by the ruri us inquirer. 1t VII he remembered that cid John Brown, for all his pres=nt con IT. able aureole. was great deal of a lynch lawyer himself.
 Mrs. Nation and her corps of hatch eteers are figures that will soon d'slp- pear from the stereopticon, but lnavl- tably they will be followed by other specimens of the irrepressib,e Sunnow- CT I5fCrmar. Tn SC vis.Onaries and their cranky pranks should nJt make anybody forget that Kansas is an ex- traordinarily prosperous and intelligent commonwealth. These weeds shoot up m rich soil.-N. r. Sun.