The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-20
The Craze in Kansas.

The Craze in Kansas
The Nation craze in Kansas has at length
come to head and broken, but not until
it had resulted in bloodshed and murder,
and NAV il more before the embers Of
the fire can be stamped out. Two events
which have happened may probably be
relied upon to bring the people Of the State
to their senses. 4 judge has been found in
Topeka with courage enough to declare the
Nation woman insane. and to keep her
locked up for the present. pending final |
disposition of her case; and a most de-
testabIe murder has been committed upon
an unoffending woman by the prohibition
lists This crime is certain to cause
revulsion of feeling, and bring the blush
Of shame even 10 the army Of female
hatcheteers. with their clerical and hys-
tericaI followers. who have made all the
wreck and mischief.
On Monday night. our dispatches say. a
ha3f-drunken mob of total abstainers, raid
ed the little town of Wildwood, Kan. and
proceeded to attack It's single saloon. The
keeper was assaulted by the crowd. His
wife, rushing from a rear room TO his as
sistance. was filled with bucRshot from
gun held within Il foot of her body This
fairly illustrates the spirit of the Nation
crusade. ard the reason why it should he
suppressed without any loss of time. On
the present occasion the violent propensi-
ties Of the popUlace are directed toward
bar rooms. On another, they might be
excited and utilized for any other iawIess
purpose, supported by organized fanati-
cism or some form of hysterieal faddism.
In placing Mrs Nation under bonds to
keep the peace Judge Hazen, Of Topeka
made number Of sensible remarks. con-
yeying a warning to the rioters that the
Law has been insulted and defed quite long
enough In part, he said;
1T has been 4 matter Of the greatest sunrise
to me that woman Of the calibre Of Mrs. Nation
could come to TopeEa and enlist the support OF
the intelligent and law-abidin. people who have
followed her in this crusade ! have marVelcd At
II from the beginning Her action has been Who'll
placed the law
No further evidence than her de1neanor and
! conversation IN this case and upon the witness
stand Is peeded 10 prove that she Is insane and
ought 10 be restrained II an ASYLUM. / want 70
say 10 her followers that this Is q court of law
and not one Of inn use sentiment Having
. broken the law. they have more rights in this
court and viii receive no better treatment than
the l"lntlst- Their contempt OF the law is as
great a. his
Mrs Nation and her followers made an attack
SJinCay on Il perfectly legitimate business in
. which hundred thousand dol ars Is invested
They have repeatedly broken the law and de
stroyed property and gene unhinderei and IN
punished The time has come IN this community
when tie people are demanding that something
be dCre-
= say to them that his unwarranted destruction
Of property must stop Have people no rights that
a crazy woman and her deluicd followers are
bound to rea'ectz Reputable men IN this com
munIty have given sanction to the movement that
has led to riot and may lead to bloodshed.''
Words like these from the local bench
encourage Us TO believe that sanity has
not altogether departed from the grass
hopper region and 10 hope that an out
break which has brought ridicuIe ana dis
grace not only upon The State Of Kansas,
but upon The wtCle country. viii now be
put down with q strong hand and peace and
order restored The cause of prohibition
has received a severe blow through the
destructive and homicidal mania Of the
crazy Ms Nation and her imitators.
It is announced that President Mex n
ley IS hard at work on his inaugural ad-
dress. and that he hopes to make it the
greatest of his state papers. This state
ment Of facts, we regret 10 observe. is
ambiguous If it means that Mr. NcKin-
ley intends to make the document his
greatest in point Of expressing exalted
thought and purpose, and desire TO
return to the straight path of the Con-
stitution, We are delighted But If. on
the contrary, it conveys the menace of
a Mckinley paper. greatest of all in vol
uIne, We are weeping ana shivering. If
the Chief Magistrate viii be so good, he
viii recall to his versatile mind the
story Of the young preacher on the Can
ton circuit, who asked his presiding elder
what the length OF sermon ought to be.
and was told that the maximum should
be twenty minutes, with a leaning
toward mercy"