The Washington herald., 1914-10-17
Progressive Kansas.

The Kansas politicians may be opposed to trusts,
but Kansas has of the most monopolistic trusts
in the world. 1t is bug trust. Kansas has been
breeding and fighting bugs for the last half century
almost since it came into existence as a State-and
Kansas has attracted much publicity and sympathy
because of her grasshopper nvasions for her up
rsngs of Populists and Progressves But instead Of
appealing for charity to her people from the
invasion of bugs, Kansas has found way to harvest
new and strange bugs and make profit even greater
than that from her wheat fields Chancellor Snow of
the University of Kansas has for years been teach
ing the Kansas youth the iniquity of the trusts and
the damnabIe niquity of monopoly, and in his teach
ngs he was compelled to study the methods of trusts
and monopolies. This study of Chancellor Snow is
responsible for the Kansas bug trust
Several years ago Chancellor Snow made tour
of exploration in Western Kansas, and in Wallace
County he discovered new bug that had not been
cataogued by the entomologists He recognized that
he had found new variety, and he collected about
five gallons, something ike 1000 of the new bugs
They were blind and had wings other means
of travel. They were localized like some Kansas
ideas. With true Kansas enterprise, Prof Snow
proceeded to give publicity to his discovery and he
named the new Kansas bug neutrality-suspicious.
That name caught the eye of the entomologists in
all parts of the world It was expansive and pro-
gressive like Kansas None of the entomologists had
ever heard the name before, and they all wanted a
specimen,
Prof Snow had good trading stock, and he en-
tered the bug market with offer trade specimens
of the new Kansas bug for specimens of the bugs
of the world. He succeeded, and now claims that
Kansas has an chronological collection valued at
$2soooo This simple story of country life in West
ern Kansas and the genius of college professor to
take advantage of bug plague and apply the
modern methods of trust combination and monopoly
shows how alert these Kansas people are They have
capitalized their infections and their blessings their
sins and their virtues, their and their joys
They capitalized Kansas when it was first laid out
on the map with the aid of the Emigration Aid So
ciety They capitalized their trials with Congress
over the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the Lecompton
constitution. They capitalized bleeding Kansas
starving Kansas Populistic Kansas mortgage-ridden
Kansas, Prohibition Kansas, Progressive Kansas
automobile Kansas, wheat growing Kansas, and even
lynching Kansas: Why shouldn't they capitalize the
Kansas bugs? 1t is part of the promotion of Kan
sas by publicity.
Years ago there was established at Wichita fake
foundry, and collected and then localized and dis
trbuted every story of freak and every example of
fake published in the press of the whole world 1t
did thriving business and was the salvation as well
as the bane of every night editor in the United
States These night editors knew that when they
received query from Wichita that it was a fake
but they also knew that they would be scooped if
they did not take it So they all ordered the fake
whether it was about threeIegged chicken or
new bug The fake foundry prospered, and Kansas
secured countrywide publicity. The system estab-
lished long years ago continues and Kansas is still
the generous object of publicity and Wichita the
center of fakes. Col Roosevelt recognizes Wichita
as the head center of the Progressive party