The Topeka state journal., 1911-09-26
TALKS OF KANSAS
History of State Theme of Taft
at Hutchinson.
President Recites Her GlOries
and Achievements.
GIVEN AN OVATION.
State Officials Present When
Train Arrives.
Tribute to the Late Congress-
man e. III. Madison.
GIVEN AN OVATION.

Hutchinson, Kan, Sept. 26.-President
Taft was the central figure here to-
day in the celebration OF the fiftieth
anniversary of the birth of Kansas as
a state. Governor Stubs, Senators
Curtis and Bristow, and several mem
bers of the Kansas delegation in con-
gress were present and again politics
was laid aside. All parties and all fac
tions Joined in the greeting to the pres
ident, and all applauded his tribute TO
the Sunhower state. Mr.. TART also hao
something to say of the independence
of thought in Kansas.
The trials through which the state
has come" he declared, undoubtedly
have given a character to its inhablt-
ants. They are bold and original I'm
thought, coura geOus in execution. One
may differ with them in their conclu-
sions either upon politics or upon other
issues, but he must respect the sin
cerity and the energy, independence
and courage with which they support
their conclusions and carry them TO
their logical result"
The president arrived in Hutchinson
early this morning and viii spend the
entire day here, leaving at midnight
for Topeka. His program included the
review of a big parade, the address AT
the Hutchinson fair grounds, and an IN
spection of the more important exhibits
at the show, the laying of the corner
stone of the new convention han mere
and a dinner at The Country club In
his address Mr.. Taft referred at some
length to the late Congressman z. H
Madison who died suddenly a week ago
1t was at Mr.. Madisons invitation that
the president came to Hutchinson.
His Tribute to Madison.
His death was a great shock TO
me-" said the president Il had not
known him long, nor can say that 1
knew him intimately; but 1 knew him
well enough to know the strong quail
ties of his mind and heart, his judicial
instinct his intense desire 10 be tair'
and his clear. perceptions of the law as
jurist and his level headedness as
7 remember a speech which he made
in congress on the subject Of except
/ ing Iawless combinations of working
men from the application OF an ap-
preparation. It was a noble, clear eN-
! position of the necessity for making
/ all persons equal before the law and an
exhibition of courage and Indifference
| to consequences in the support or a
righteous judgment. His speech marx
ed him as one OF the coming men or
Mr.. Taft sketched the history Of Kan
sas in some detail, saying the state
was the child Of an issue. he dWelt
upon the struggles that preceded the
admission of Kansas into the Union
as a free state and on the long fight
between the slave and ant-slaVery
kansas as a state was the child Of
an Issue he said. 1.-THE pains OF
labor lasted more than half a decade.
and a full understanding of her origin
and her growth needs review ana a
study of the history of this nation
since it's foundation The issue Wnich -,l.
gave birth to Kansas was that of sla-
very Fate and the eXigencles OF pom
tics brought about CONDITION tnat
centered the conflict between those
who wished to maintain slavery ana
- those W1HnR0
strike il down within a radius OF
hundred miles in the devoted bosom
of that country which has since De
come the state of Kansas. me al
/ mission of other states has turned
upon issues of varying character ana
| importance, but those issues were set
/ tied by congress in Washington aIter
1 a nation-wide discussion. The peculiar
/ circumstances to which 1 shall refer
/ brought the issue upon which the
/ statehood of Kansas was 10 turn. 70
/ a personal, physical confict oetWeen
/ the warning elements within the Doun-
/ darfes of the territory itself, and con
! timed that intOlerable state Of AFFAIRS
/ for a fun five years.
"Of course, It is well known that
when our constitution was made IN
1888, though slavery existed IN the
southern states. many of their leading
/ men were willing and anxious TO make
/ some provision for its abolition JET
| ferson. who deplored slavery, nearly
/ succeeded in passing an ordinance
/ which would have kept II out OF Ala
bana, Mississippi. Tennessee and Ken
4 lucky. BY two votes was his motion
/ lost. and he was one Of those who
ioined in the ordinance of 1881, which
/ excluded it as an institution forever
from the territory north OF the Ohio
river and west Of Pennsylvania, as far
I as the Mississippi river.
! when Eli Whitney discovered the
cotton gin. and the profits in the rails
/ ing of cotton increased 50 rapidly az 70
rcontinued on Pag. Ninsl