The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-03-16

= Our Motto: We mean TO be as -
= pleasant as sunshine, but as per =
= sistent as fate"
The news I have for yop this week
is good news. There are many more
hopeful and encouraging things than
can give you in the breif space Of
one column, but here are a few OF
them.
attended a meeting Of the best
women Of Topeka last week, about
two hundred Of them, called for the
making plans for the election Of good
men 10 the various city Offices There
were addresses BY leading women, ac-
tive in church, club and other phil
anthrOpic work, such as AIRS. 7. F.
Carver, Mrs. E ". HOch, Miss Viola
TrOutman, Mrs, Margaret Hill Nc
Carter, Mrs s s Estey, Mrs ] NJ
ThurstOn. Miss Olive P. Bray, Mrs J.
W Mcfarland and several others,
were leaders in urging the women to
register, attend primaries. vote and
get others to do the same
Mrs. ThurstOn raised a laugh by
saying that she had had a great sur
prise that evening. You know" she
said, that we women have long been
told that if We want to know any
thing we shall ask our husbands at
home, but this morning a man asked
me to tell the women here to be sure
to see to it that their husbands voted,
and voted for the right man, next
Saturday" Saturday was the day Of
the county primary when the women
themselves could not vote.
William Allen White has been stir
ring up things, and other leading pa
pers Of Kansas have followed the sug-
gestiOn Of the EmpOria Gazette, by
saying that until Topeka cleaned up
the town and became a law-abiding
community the support OF her semi
centennial celebration plans should
receive no support from them. There
is a thorough awakening here, and q
determination by the best element in
the city to clean house this spring
not only in the city but throughout
the whole county. The primary cleo
ton Saturday resulted in a victory
for the law and order forces.
3 = =
Under the title OF The Civic RevO-
luton in Kansas" Newell Dwight Hill
lis has this to say:
For months the magazines and
newspapers have been filed with &C
against municipal corruption and
wickedness in high places. These
movements have been negative in that
the people and their refOrmers have
said that there shall be no more loot
ing OF the city's treasury, no more
Doodle, no more betrayal Of trust
funds. But in one or two great states,
where native Americanism is at its
best the revolution has passed on to
the positive reforms; there the people
are not content with destroying the
weeds, but have gone on to cover the
fields with sheaves and shocks.
Men have been writing the stories
Of the upheavaI in St Louis and Phil
adelphia; they have passed by the CT
vic revolution that has swept over
Kansas in the last sixty days And
yet no more fascinating, interesting or
promising series Of events has taken
place in this last year that will prob
ably be looked upon by historians as
the annus mirabilis. the wonderful
year Of reform in the great cities Of
the republic.
The explanation Of this civic revo-
luton in Kansas is to be found in the
intense Americanism Of the people
One-half Of the state was founded by
anti-slavery people, refOrmers, Puri-
4
sas and Nebraska war they sent out
boxes OF rifles and labeled them
Beecher bibles. They founded the
school and the church, the academy
and college, side by side Some towns
like Lawrence and EmpOria, have al
most as many bookstores as they have
grocery stores.
other states sell beer; these towns
sell books. More magazines and
great books in proportion to the pop
ulatiOn are sold in this part Of Kan
sas, publishers say, than in other state
in the union Perhaps this in part
accounts for the civic rebellion that
started spontaneously about sixty days
ago.
"One evening a group of business
men assembled in a gentleman's house
in a city OF Kansas. They were
bankers, merchants, manufacturers,
solid business men, who would have
been Mortified at the word ''pOpu-
lism," They decided to resume their
right to run their Own politics They
determined to sacrifice enough Of
their time and business interests to
give themselves to good government
They have made out list Of men
who were professional 'heelers' at the
primaries with the men who went to
IOpeka 70 lODDgs Deln8 the secret ana
paid tools OF certain corporations
They sent a coH1mittee and notified
the lobbyists that they were not to
hang around the legislature next win
ter They notified the ward heelers
to stay away from the primaries.
They informed the professional cor
rupt politician shat henceforth he
could dig bitches, saw wood or buy
a farm They informed agents Of the
corporations that they had decided
to govern their own state
Later on IT was discovered that
twenty towns and cities had held 81
milar quiet meetings and taken prac-
tically the same action. The rich cat
tie dealers Of the state, representing
both parties, came together in En-
pOria and arranged to notify their
representatives in the state legislature
that they wanted them to pledge
themselves to an anti-pass movement
No more bringing to the legislature
on free passes lobbyists and hired \
men to force through legislation in