Arizona republican., 1903-08-21
PHoENIx. ARIZONA, AUG. 21. 1903
Begging as Promoted by the Governor
 of Kansas,


 Very properly, the newspapers of Kansas City, Missouri, are protesting against the begging spirit which has developed so strongly in Kansas within the past few months. Kansas had al- ready suffered SO severely from the floods of the early spring that the ex- perience of the last week with cloud bursts has been dishaartening. natur- ally But it is not a pleasant or in- spring sight to see the imperial Sun flower state standing with hat in hand, and humbly begging aims from the wayfarer. And the latest development of the begging habit-the boom in Kansas City. Kansas, for an applica- ton to Andrew Carnegie for a gift of a half million dollars or so wherewith to repair the damage wrought by floods, has aroused vigorous kicks from the newspapers of the Kansas City across the line, which is the real metro- polls of Kansas.
 While, of course, q stricken munich pality finds no practical relief in the fact that the state itself is overfiowing with wealth, the situation does not ap- peal to the charitable people of other states when it is so manifest that Kan sas is abundantly able to take care of her own. And that is very likely to be the view of MT. Carnegie. That gentleman is not in the habit of hand ing cut his wealth for the relief of hu- man suffering-charities of that kind yield no permanent advertisement for than he is to see that every dollar of Carnegie money helps to perpetuate the name of Carnegie. he would find little encoura cement to respond to the begging of Kansas City, Kansas.
 Governor Bailey and the legislature of Kansas are entitled to most of the blame for the discreditable position in which that state is now so conspicu- ously placed before the country. Short ly after the great flood which wrought such devastation along the Kaw river in Kansas City, Argentine. Lawrence, Topeka, and other places of less inn portance, Governor Bailey called special session of the legislature to deal with the situation. Dozens of costly bridges had been carried away, and quite apart from the great losses sui fered by individuals, there had been enormous damage to public property. r~L. -hoy tot hod fTi standing that the losses were localized, and it was clearly the duty of the state to provide relief. But the governor get "cold feet" After calling the legisla an appropriation from the state treas ury, or rather. the necessary mourning of a state indebtedness to meet the out lay needed, and the legislature fiddled without doing anything. Meanwhile. however, Governor Bailey continued his appeals to the outside world to come to the relief of his state. With the pos sihle exception of the governor himself. nobody was surprised that the contri- buttons in response to these executive proclamationS and requests were insig- nificant. The charitably inclined of other states felt that the state of Kan sas was scarcely in a position to ask for the charity of the world while boasting that her banks were full of cash deposited by prosperous people and that her crops exceeded anything grown elsewhere on the planet
 And this feeling that Kansas should take care of her own troubles has been strengthened by the news of the crops matured since the great flood. The state board of agriculture caused the bulletin to be telegraphed from Topeka a few days ago that the total wheat yield of Kansas this year is 90,270,000 bushels. The significance of these fig ures can be grasped, in a measure. when it is remembered that no other state in the union ever raised such a crop. Kansas already held the cham pionship for wheat raising, her crop of 1900 having been pronounced by the department of agriculture to be the largest ever harvested in a single state, but the crop of this year far exceeds the extraordinary yield of 1900. Nor is this all. Although there was drought in June, following the floods, and the corn suffered somewhat, the board of agriculture now states that the corn yield will be very close to the usual stupendous crop that Kansas produces.
 Governor Bailey should be ashamed of himself. and the. papers of Kansas City. Missouri, are not too severe in holding him to account for the humili- ating attitude which his state has taken before the WOrlI.