The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-02-17

other localities in Kansas. There is a
demand, but nobody meets it.
Each locality has wealthy men well
along in years who could add to their
cities modern, safe, sanitary and sat
isfactory temporary residing place for
the wayfarer. Newcomers first i'm
pressions of a city are formed at the
hotel where they register; and first
impressions are important. They turn
transients into permanents
The ready sentence which pops to
the tongue of some hotel people to the
effect that you cannot have good no.
tel without bar is exploded, is out
of-date, and is untrue. There are
scores of excellent hotels without Ii
quor adjuncts. One of the greatest
hotels in this country, completed two
years ago, the Davenport of Spokane,
Wash, is financed without consider
ing the drink profit or habit Its bar
is now no more. 1t is taboo 1t is
going out of hotels and elsewhere. A
good hotel is social center. 1t is
! place for commercial clubs. for social
clubs and rotary clubs and university
clubs and business organizations to
meet about and within for their own
profit and pleasure and the entertain
ment of home people and travelling
people.
To what are we pointing with pride
of late in Kansas: to the fact that we
are out of debt; that the state with
much ceremony burned it's last out
standing bonds on New Years day of
this promising year of our Lord 1916.
At the cremation ceremonies, Gov
ernor Capper with great glee recited
that the per capita of wealth in the
state which he governs, is now S1,725.
1.-The greatest per capita of wealth,
he said, 'of any state in the Union
We of noble estate and attainment,
are playing the plebeian and pauper:
not the prince we pose. If we are the
hub, let us hum with the car. not
move in the mud with the wheels
Let us make Kansas real to others
as she appears to us, the best state in
the Union, and Topeka her worthy
capital.
But you see, dear reader. that we
are not living up to our claims or
opportunities. Think what we could
do with our wealth in the way of ere
ating comforts, convenieuces, living
possibilities for ourselves, and there
by attracting others to come to us,
bring their savings to Kansas, build
more homes, and add to our wealth
which now is so great according to Of
fetal statistics!
With all of our needs, probably the
most we need are good highways;
and the irony of it all is that the
splendid roads of California and Ore
1
under what is known as THE Topeka
Specification" the best known COM
bination of bitumen and crushed rock!
Secretary Mohler, of the state board
of agriculture, says we have $4,000
automobiles, one for every twenty-five
people. With five members to a
family, this would enable Kansas to
give a representative from every fam
lily in the state an automobile ride at
the same time, providing the roads
would permit. A good road is SER
viceable in all sorts of weather, with
the possible rare exception when deep
snow covers it for a short time. Good
roads would thus mean that the serv-
ice and usefulness of every automobile
would be very greatly increased. One
could almost live on the road for
pleasure or business almost two years
in one; and with the time saved, three
years in onei
Kansas really ought to have per-
manent, smooth highways connecting
every county seat with every county
seat in the state. This would give US
not only real roadways for the Gold
en- Belt and along the Santa Fe trail,
but north and south and between all
of the important town centers, for
both the city men to get out of their
own towns into the country and to
another town, and giving the farmers
interconnecting highways of the ut
most importance to enable them to
best sell their products, and secure
the comforts, and indeed the luxuries,
of both rural and city life.
We have no saloons to fitch our sur
plus, or weaken our abilities. We
have splendid schools in the main, al
though we do let many of our best
educators get away from us to Cali
fornia and other states where the diff
ference between the salaries and the
high cost of living is not so great. We
are looking more for desirable parks
and Fairgrounds, and we are going to
have interurban railways; but we have
got to spend some money for roads
to dig deep, possibly, for that pur-
pose; but we have the means and
money. Let US use them. We have
the material for the roads. We have
the labor. We can easily learn how to
build them. All we lacl. are the roads
themselves. We have good places to
put them.
, Lyon county, for example, spends
S25, 900 annually in repairing it's roads,
and they admit they have mighty lit
tie to show for the expenditure ex-
, cept in good weather, and where the
| roads have been dragged. We dis
, cuss rock roads and macadamized
. roads They are not enough The