The Springfield herald., 1904-09-16
Why ALL'S WELL IN KANSAS.
Il IL Because of Sound Money a.d the
Protective Policy.


Few people realize how or why the
condition of Kansas is watched with
such solicitude throughout the country
especially in the Western States.
The fact is indisputable that there is
something about its climate, the mer-
curial disposition of its people and the
conditions of life in Kansas that make
It a sort of barometer for the rest of the
sepublic. When there is anything seri-
Gus the matter with Kansas it Is GER
tain thA. all Is not exactly right with
her neighbors. When there is drouth
In Kansas there is apt to be a mighty
thirst in all the region west of the Mis-
sissippi. When the rains and sunshine
bless Kansas with bountiful harvests
and the cyclone and grasshopper give her
wide berth, the fatness is apt to extend
beyond her borders and fill the land with
reason for rejoicings and content.
When Providence frowns on Kansas
the heart of the nation is usually SORROW
full for her-and for itself.
When Providence smiles on Kansas
the rest of US generally bid au revoir to
melancholy.
Therefore Senator Fairbanks did well,
in opening the Republican campaign at
Marion, Kan, Sept. !. to remind his au-
dtors of the change that had come over
their prospects since the days when the
whole land rang with the cry, whats
the matter with Kansas" Happily he
was able to proclaim, il not from the
house tops, at least to the telegraph op-
orators for dissemination throughout the
nation, that "All's well in Kansas"
Swiftly he drew the picture of the con-
ditions as they existed eight years ago:
kansas was suffering from the effects
of Democratic administration. The in
terests of her agriculture languished. Her
crops rotted in the field or were market
ed at unremunerated prices" And much
more to the same effect. Then he point
ed to the prosperity of the present, with
out need to recapitulate the blessings
that good crops good prices, good govern
ment and sound money showered upon
Kansas as from an exhaustless urn.
During the last seven years." he said,"
mo one has shared the prosperity which
has come to the country in n fuller de-
gree than the farmers of Kansas" And
he illustrated the prosperity of the State
by the increase in her bank deposits
from $33,OO0,OOO in 1895 to over $780,
100000 in 1903" As n matter of exact
record it might be we'll to say that the
bank deposits in Kansas increased from
S30529,4S7 in 1896 to $S4,055, ,11O, or
$50 per cent, while those of the whole
country increased from $231, ,S2S, ,333 to
S54O, ,649, ,7O2, or slightly under 1874 per
cent.
Would the reader know how all this
wonderful prosperity came to Kansas?
1t was through her own industry stimu-
lated and protected by the sound econ
omic and monetary policies of the Re
publican party.
In 1895 corn on the farms of Kansas
was bringing 1S cents n bushel; last year,
according to the report of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, it brought 30 cents
or exactly double as much.
In 1895 the price of wheat on the Kan
sas farm was 81 cents per bushel; last
year. according to the same authority,
it was II cents.
In 1895 the price of oats on the Kan
sas farm was II cents; last year it was
30-a case where 30 cents was a joke
down to his boots.
During this period freight rates on
wheat per 100 pounds from Atchison,
Kan, to Chicago were reduced from pa
to 10 cents, and on rye, barley, corn and
oats from 20 to 16 cents.
In 1895 the revenue OF the railways
per passenger per mile in the territory of
which Kansas is the center was 2.2I5
cents; in 1902 it had fallen to 2.23G
cents. In the same period the railroad
revenue from freight in the same terri
tory had fallen from 1.161 cents per ton
per mile to O.07S cents.
There are good times in Kansas be-
cause of good government, good crops.
good prices increasing manufactures and
declining rates for transporting the fruits
OF all kinds of industry to the markets
of the world; and when there are good
times in Kansas there is little occas sion
for discomfort throughout the rest Of til,
Union.