The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-26
Cyrus Leland Loses Fight for
State Salt Plant.
Measure Is Killed in House on
Close Vote.
MIR. FOLEY is FUNNY
Doesn't Know There's a Salt
Trust i'm Kansas.
DOniphan Man Gives a Few In
teresting Facts.


to Shrek and clang announcing tina
the day was done the house of repre-
sentatives laid Cyrus Leland's PEI
measure which provided for state
salt plant at Hutchinson at rest, the
vote standing As to AZ. The bill came
up for consideration Saturday and al
the request of Representative Leland
was deferred on account of the num-
Der of representatives who were alb
sent from the session. The bill was
among the first to come up for con-
sideration Monday morning and upon
motion of Foley was made special
order for o'clock and when it was
called the second clash between its
author and Foley occurred and the
battle of language was a royal one un-
til the bill went down to defeat by a
margin of but three votes
Foley was not alone in his fight on
the bill for every representative from
the salt producing districts of the state
was lined up with him and though Lee
land found number of supporters for
his bill when it came to vote, ne was
almost alone on his fight on the floor
for the bill.
II MOVE said Cunningham of Cow
ley, that when this committee arises
that it recommend house bill No Isl
for passage" This being Leland's
state salt plant bill and just as the
speaker was about to put the question
his attention was arrested by Foley
who was expecting move of the kind
Foley left his seat which is in the
rear of the house and speaking from
the front of the hall said: If this bill
becomes a law it sounds the death
knell of the salt industry in Kansas
and as to the argument that there is
a salt trust in the state there may or
there may not be. If there is one l
do not know of its existence and L
,f no hi
his assertion to the effect that there
is such a trust in the state.
I'm his talk this morning the MEM
bers from Doniphan county intimated
in his remarks that 1 am in some way
interested in the salt trust and that is
my reason for fighting this bill. 1 am
not employed as an attorney for the
SALT trust nor interested in any way
if such a trust and 1 defy the mem
Der flom Doniphan to prove his asser-
ton. The court records of my county
will prove that l have never been re-
tanned in the defense of the so-called
trust end that 1 have often been en-
pIoyed in cases against the salt plants.
AS to the trust proposition in the
state as far as salt is concerned, about
So per cent of the entire output of the
salt of the state aside from rock salt
is manufactured by one firm and the
remainder by smaller Independent
companies, and rock salt which does
not come into competition with the
barrelled product is all handled by in
dependent firms. The Hutchinson Salt
company which controls the greater
portion of the salt mined in the state
is a cons olidatiOn of men whose inter-
ests were identical and the company
was formed for the purpose of fighting
the salt trust. as prior to this time the
individual producers could not meet
the competition of the Michigan pro-
ducers. This law smacks of socialism
in its worst form for the good which
might come from socialism has been
eliminated and only the vicious portion
remains in an enactment of this kind.
Pass this bill and you place
weapon in the hands of the conYictS of
the state with which to beat down
wages and become an aid to the trusts
which the independent companies are
now fighting. 1t would be no place
for the convicts of the Hutchinson re-
formatory, many of whom are me-c
boys whose terms will expire within a
short time. The object of our re-
formatory as 1 understand it is to
teach trades to the boys who are con-
fined there so that when they are turn
ed loose on the state they may have a
way of earning an honest livelihood.
There is nothing to learn about the
manufacture of salt as it is all done by
machinery and unskilled labor is all
that is required to handle plant. The
very object of the state would pc
thwarted by compelling the boy pris-
oners to work in such a place and
while but a few of them would be so
employed it would necessitate almost
as many guards as there would be con-
Wet laborers."
Leland was on his feet almost before
Foley had taken his seat, st want to
say said Leland. that any man with
a grain of sense knows that there is a
salt trust in Kansas and that Joy Nor
ton of Chicago is at the head of it. 1t
is common knowledge and everybody
knows about it. 1 have sold salt to the
trust and 1 know that it exists and so
does every body else who wants to ad-
NIT it. When big corporation leases
an independent plant at an annual
rental of $4,000 per year for five
years and then allows the plant to rust
down as they did with one Kansas
plant It ought to be sufficient evidence
of the existence of a trust, for no pri-
vate corporation would consider such
a proposition.
"It is urged by the opponents of this
bill that the rates charged by the rail-
roads for transporting coal from the
penitentiary at Leavenworth are pro-
hibitive and that the plant could not
manufacture salt in competition with
the trust. 1 can sell coal delivered at
Hutchinson at less than 1t can be ship
ped from Leavenworth if such a course
is necessary.
AT a reduction of 25 cents a barrel
on salt a state plant would save five
times much as the binding Irvine
plant at the penitentiary is doing and
this saving affects every resident of the
state. While the output of the proposed
plant will be small when COMPARED with
that of the trust plants it will be a
lever by which the trust price can be
hammered down to somewhere within
reason. 1t has been shown that the
profit at the price salt is now sold is 40
per cent and I contend that this is an
outrage and that the erection of this
plant will remedy the evil.''
There was a running cross fire of
questions between Foley and Leland
and w Y. Morgan unable longer to
restrain himself arose and walking d.
rectly to the seat behind the one occu-