The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-10-18

and the handling of his tenants. He
was an Irish landed gentleman of con-
siderable means and he first came to
this country about so years ago, with
the avOWed purpose of purchasing great
quantities Of farm lands and renting
them out.
He first bought thousands of acres Of
land in illinois, in Logan county, on a
direct line between Chicago and ST.
Louis. This was before a railroad con-
nected these two cities and he got this
land for a song. He increased his hold
ing from time to time in Illinois. and
extended them to Nebraska, Missouri
and Kansas, and the 10000 acres he
owns in this state are located principal
" in Marion county.
LORD Scully had ideas of his own
about the management of this immense
amount of land he controlled and these
ideas frequently brought all sorts Of
denunciation down on his head. Both
Kansas and Illinois passed laws against
aliens holding land in those states,
which were directed particularly
against Scully, but the supreme court
declared them unconstitutional Not
long after this he took out naturaliza-
tfOn papers and then moved from ~Illi-
nois with his family to Washington, D.
c., where he occupied the old home Of
Gen. John A. Logan on Calumet ave-
nue.. 1t was his custom to make a
journey every year or two to his old
home in Great Bdirtain and went on
one Of these trips early this summer.
He took all sorts Of pride in the fact
that he was "the great American farm
er." Any land that he purchased he
never sold unless it was q striD here
and there for q railroad right of way
which would enhance the value of his
property. He rented all his land to
farmers at rentals of from three to five
dollars an acre and he hedged abOut
his leases with all sorts of restrictions
which a good many Of his tenants, and
other people thought were a trihe un-
American.
He had a set Of rules which all his
prospective tenants agreed to obey be-
fore he would rent lands to them. Some
of these rules We're.
You must not drink intoxicants to
excess
You must pay your debts.
You must not quarrel or engage in
lawsuits with your neighbors
you must build your own houses
and barns and plant your own orch
ards.
Your stock must be well fed and
present q sleek appearance
your machinery must be kept in
good condition.
You must make money to pay nv
rent fees and money for yourself over
and above that.
you must so deport yourself that
The Scully colony and Scully name will
be respected in your community"
When any Of the tenants Violated
THESE L41So MI 1EUily. or MS agents
found way to abrogate their leases
Perhaps the greatest howl against
the socalled dun-Americanism Of ScuIlv-s
methods was raised in Kansas three or
four years ago when he insisted that
the tenants on his Kansas land should
sign leases with clauses in them that
would compel the tenants to devote at
least 20 per cent of the land they rent
ed to the growing of alfalfa. SculIv
did this so that he would take no
farms through the failure Of crons he
figured that with 20 per cent of the
farms devoted to alfalfa his rent
would be assured. Corn crops and
wheat crops might fail but alfalfa
never.
Many tenants refused to sign these
leases. They thought that if they
rented the lands they had a right to
grow what they pleased on them.
Scully insisted on these terms ana any