The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1905-03-10
THE GAS
EDITOR TINES:

EDITOR TINES:
No one who was at the Board of
Trade Wednesday night Of last week
could fail to appreciate the neces-
sity of outstanding our gas supply.
The legislature failing to pass the
nti-pump bill left US prey to the
Standard Oil Octopus and having
passed the oil and anti discrimina-
lion bills antagonized that hugh
monster to the frenzied point. hence
we may expect it to use every pos
sible means in its power to rob us
of our gas and do everything in its
power, fair and unfair, to depreci-
ate and kill the gas and oil belt of
Kansas. If it be possible for it
to depreciate the value of farm
and city property so to 100 per
cent, we may rest assured it will be
done. 1 want to say to all who
have not been on the inside-who
know nothing Of what Tom Lawson
calls "frenzied finance" that the
oil and gas district of Kansas has
on its hands proposition of gigan-
tic proportions and huge pen
derosily.
The power of money is beyond
the comprehension of the finite
mind and when it turns the atten'
ton towards humiliating or destroy
ing any individual, corporation,
municipality, country or state it is
going to take the united, concen-
trated, energetic and determined
effort on the part of every man wo-
man and child to prevent the ac'
complishment Of its purpose. The
Standard Oil Octopus is known and
recognized as the most hearlless and
cruel trusts the world has eveI
known. 1t is known to be the head
and brains of the "Pipers-out" and
having watched the Kansas fight
, with an indifference born of its
, known power and past terrorism o.
every locality it has laid its pallic
! hands on until the oil men of Kan
sas "get the drop" on it, we, th'
, people of the Kansas oil and ga:
n belt have nothing to expect but
fight to the knife and the knife
to the hilt.
The farmers and land owners
. particularly may expect in the neal
4 future a rush for leases that wa
. never known before, and listen to
q the fairest promises ingenuity anc
rascalitv can conceive. They vii
h make some of US dream dreams anc
see visions of untold wealth flowing
into our Golfers, but none of then
will be realized and we will wake
a up when to late to find we have beer
miserably dupod, buncoed, robbed
Possibly some of US may get as mucf
r as $50 year per well when th'
octopus chooses while the Standard
q will probably get ten to twent,
times that amount per day.
We should, from this on, be ex
ceedingly careful to whom we lease
i, On the other hand, self preserva
tion being the first law o
y nature requires and demands the
organization of strong company
! | composed of the farmers, lanC
= owners of city property, merchants
3 bankers, lawyers, doctors, laborer
and everybody else to secure an'
hold leases for home consumption
and the use of factories that viii
l. flock to us, not for speculative pur
e poses but in self protection and t.
q give the farmer at least REASONABLE
d compensation for his gas and built
e up rather than tear down south
eastern Kansas and PARTICULAR
: Neoshe county. Unless somethln
. of this kind is done and done quic
9 {, we may expect real estate bot
i country and town TO depreciate 2
y y to so per cent. JACK