The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-12


| granting the Interstate commerce COM
mission more power in the handllng u
rates. so that Determinations agalnsu
| certain sections of the country and par
| ttcular of Kansas points In favor OF
| Kansas City should be prohibited. TINS
report met with the unanimous appro-
baton of all the members present ana
on motion the report was referred 70
the incoming committee on state ana
national legislation. A set of resoln-
tions was introduced at this point
which provided that the governmental
business which is. now conducted by the
isthmian canal commission and is car
ried on almost wholly through New
York city should be carried on through
the gulf ports which is a more natural
outlet from this country to Panama.
These resolutions were adopted.
For Oiled Roads.
The report of H. w. McAfee, the
chairman of the goods roads commit
tee, was read and referred to the new
committee on good roads. The report
of the committee is in part as follows;
Il recommend that our street conf
missioner prepare West Fifth street
from Topeka avenue to Potwin and
that we furnish the oil. and Prof
Dickinson at Manhattan Will bring down
his machinery and see that the work is
proerly done and at no cost to the city
whatever for putting osl the oil. would
also like to see West Sixth street
macadamiZed road oiled to lay the dust.
They have a macadamized road at
Manhattan college that was SO dusty
and they used only a gallon of oil -
the square yard and now the surface
is perfectly smooth and no dust arises
from 1T whatever. 1t will only cost g
cent a square yard to have it oiled and
rolled. The county commissioners have
pledged us an addition to their Sixth
street road this year and they expect
to expend some four to six thousand
dollars a. year in building permanent
roads. We hope this club will take some
action to assist us and assist the county
commissioners in the good work they
have undertaken"
Seeing Topeka Car.
In the report of the committee on
entertainment of which E. H. Crosby
is chairman, Seeing Topeka Car
was advised as good means of get
ting visitors acquainted with the city.
The present street car services are all
right but according to the committee
much better results could be obtained
from a car which is particularly de-
vised for sight seeing. Another thing
which this report proposed was to
have large number of automobiles
which could be hired at any time for
the purpose of showing visitors over
the districts where the new paved
streets are located. This report was
referred to the incoming committee on
entertainment.
The following report was submitted
by Judge c. E. Foote, chairman of the
committee on promotion:
During the year just past more
than half a hundred Industrial pro-
positions have been presented in one
way and another to this club. Quite
a number out of the long list of the
more meritorious propositions have
been examined by your committee on
promotion. "A great majority to which
our attention has been called were for
many reasons, in our judgment, I'M
worthy of any serious consideration
and even those, which on their face
clothed with such unreasonable and
even silly requirements as to render
them absolutely impractical and I'M
attractive. In every proposition, to
which your committees attention has
been called, the prevailing thought on
the part of the promoter was to secure
money with which to go into business.
During the year, we have had an OPP
portunity to start UP in business
small army of fellows who were will
ing to make great sacrifices in order
to come to Topeka. Here and there
was an old factory that desired very
much to close out its broken down ma
chinery, and for that reason, would
make us very liberal offers on moving
their plants to this city. About all we
have to say along this line is that if
Topeka has sufficient funds, she can
establish almost any sort of factory
that the club may desire and the
worthy secretary of this club can
doubtless furnish us the names of any
of gentlemen who will come
and run the factory, providing, you
give him a good salary and a sufficient
rake-off to make his advent into this
city attractive. After spending more
or less time in examining the various
propositions that have come before u.s. |
we have concluded that. the easiest |
quickest and the most practical way
to establish factories in this city is to
build them ourselves and find some
good Topeka man who is able and |
willing to run them after they are
equipped, for the average proposition |
from outsiders to do this is simply
ridiculous and unworthy of any serious
consideration on the part of the bust
ness men of this community
For Washburn College.
President Plass spoke on What |
Washburn College Has Done for To- |
peka." He said that Washburn had |
done much toward helping to deter
mine the character of Topeka, because |
she had done much in attracting the |
right kind of people to Topeka, and |
young people. He spoke of the fact |
that Washburn was ''talkink point"
with the real estate men of Topeka.
Men come west with view of set
Ting somewhere, and the fact that
there is so strong a college here helps
to attract them. Besides that, hun |
dreds of families from all parts of
Kansas have moved to Topeka to edu-
cate their ChIldren at WaShDurn, a |
large percentage of whom remain and |
are counted among the leading citi- |
zens.
President Plass stated that every |
piece of property and every business
in Topeka was of more |
value because of the presence of |
college here.
The members of the Commercial |
club were especially impressed with |
the statement that in the last five |
years the college and her students had |
spent $1,029,000 in Topeka. During |
that time the citizens of Topeka had |
less than $4,000. In |
other words, Topeka had invested |
10000, and had received back 3,43O |