The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-05
GUS SAUR==G. VAN WERDEN

ought to acknowledge the buncomb ard
| deception and injustice of their campaign
| and its methods. II any of them had
| curling placed in front CT their property
| under Mr. Ross and hadn't the money
! to pay for it at the time. they will, by re-
/ ferring back TO their tax receipts. not
! only see that SIX per cent was added 70
I the original sum, but something ike hf-
! teen per cent besides. Will anybody who
has had cement curbing or a cement side
| walk placed in front Of his property under
] the conditions stated deny this? Will
| F1nlay Ross or anybody else contend that
| a park common bond is better than a
public Improvement bond which is not
| only secured by the city but secured as
well by the property of the individual?
So much for the mares nest in question.
The methods pursued by the managers
| of the mongrel, ticket all tend TO create
| the impression that Ben McLean's admin
! istration is not honest. Their attacks are
/ insidious. They dare not make them
J openly, for If they did every good man
| in sympathy with their movement would
/ desert on the spot. They are doing it by
| throwing inuendos in the ears of a lot of
/ people who are apt 10 accept them too
| readily. This is a shame and disgrace
and Finlay Ross, against whose character
/
| the fellows who are now with him. should
call halt and muzzle the character ira
| ducerS under his banner. Ben Mclean is
as honest a man as ever lived. Finlay
| Ross knows this for ne appointed him,
during his administration as mayor. to a
| position in which he was incOrruptible-
| He is rot only as honest man as there is
| in the city, but he is as capable, and the
results of his two years administration
| prove it. If Mr.. Ross does not call a halt
on the "shysters' who are attacking Ben
Mclean the public will; for on all sides Of
this question the present mayor of Wich-
tia has personal friends to the core who
viii rebuke, and rebuke hard, the ire
sponsibles who are attacking him. A
name which appears on more freight cars
unloaded for any one man in this city;
name which appears in the directory
OF some of the strongest business institu-
tons in this city; name that is at the
head of the subscription lists in every
movement for the advancement of Wich-
ita is not a name that should be juggled
with too reclklessly by a lot of curbstone
statesmen. The people will not stand for
it.
One Of the stories told is that s64. O00
was turned over to the Mclean admins
tration and that on the first of January
there was some thirty or forty thousand
dollars worth of unpaid bills on file in
the city clerks Office Both statements
in this report are false. The amount
turned over was S26.000 and against this
amount was an inheritance of $1,000 in
bills due. The books OF the city treasurer
afford the best evidence in this matter
and they are open TO the public Instead
of there being $50 600 or $4,000 of unpaid
bills on the first Of January Ben Mclean
had settled the entire business of the year
TO a penny except one bill of Sl33 which
the finance committee deemed to be I'M
just, and turned down. The public will
find out after while that too many lies
are told in this campaign and will rebuke
those who are telling them.
Had Mr.. Mclean been boaster of what
he has done for the city" had he been
given to footing his own horn, he might
have had more applause. but Ben has sue
ceeded i'm Wichita thus far by quietly
doing things and quietly getting to the
front. and he is no doubt satisfied with
results Way down in the corner of West
Douglas avenue for a dozen years, with
out any brass band or "hoorah' he quiet
ly carried out business prestige such as
few men in the state enjoy. Nobody has
ever heard him boast of what he was
doing. but when a subscription paper was
taken to him in the interest of any pub
lie enterprise lie was Always ready TO
take out his pencil and put down more
than was expected Of him He has prob
ably given more than S1000 a year on an
average for ten years to advance the in
terests Of Wichita and no living man has
ever heard him boast of it.
Has anybody ever heard how Mr.. Wat
son came To Wichita with his 1,000 barrel
Touring mill? OF course they have. Too
81
did it." Has anybody ever heard Ben
Mclean say Il did it," Not one. And yet
Ben Mclean is the man who is largely
responsible for the locating Of that great
mill here If you don't believe it ask
+. Howard. who will be believed by ev-
erybody. The story is as follows;
When Mr.. Watson Of the Watson Mill
ing Co. had left Wichita for Kansas City
and the commercial club became alarmed
for fear he would not return 10 carry out
the plan agreed upon with reference TO
building his mill. the club delegated Mr..
j. Z. Howard TO 20 to Kansas City with
some other man he NIGH: name for the
purpose Of inducing Nj. Watson 10 locate
his mill in Wichita. AIR. Howard agreed
TO 50 To Kansas city provided Ben Nc
Lean would so with him They went to
Kansas City and found Mr.. Watson I'M
decided. 50 much 50 that he had almost
concluded 70 locate in Kansas City. ow-
ing u building material freight rates.
etc. After considerable controversy pro
and con Il developed that the Kansas City
people had agreed 20 furnish ar Watson
the building material that would be need
ed In the construction OF his mill al cost
and they had agreed 70 guarantee him
half freight rate CT the same. Some
thinc had 10 he done. and Ben Mclean
agreed with Mr.. Watson that he could
correspond with some twenty OF thirty
wholesale lumber dealers in the south.
giviag him their names and addresses.
and that the letters could be addressed 10
him IN care % Mclean and that he could
omen his own mail and decide where he
wanted 10 buy his material. have it
charged to Mclean. without expense TO
same arrangements with him with refer
enes 10 the hardware. and aided him In
many ways with reference TO brick and
stone and never received p penny from
Watson for his services directly or lIdi-
rectlv He also personally agreed 70
guarantee a half freight rate for the
building material. The thoGsand barrel
Touring mill being operated now by Mr.
Watson IN the north part or town IS there
because e Air. Howards personal efforts
ana McLean's guarantees 81 Kansas City
Mr. Mclean has never said y did il.
Mr. MsI-ean conceived and planned the
tine system Of p0blic parks at Riverside
while he was 81 the head of the park COM
mittte in the city council. Air- Ross being
mayor fell in with the idea and carried il
OUT admirably. 50 did the ccuncTmea
The work accomplished viii long remain
q monument 10 the entire administration
-. ,Isr..s