The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1922-03-09
D. o. McCRAY
Candidate for Secretary of State
Writes an Interesting Letter to
the Editor of the Free Press

writer and d. o. McCray of Topeka,
decided to come to Kansas. The de-
cision was reached after a heart-to-
heart talk in the editorial room of
the Lucas Couny Republican, at
Charlton, Iowa, a newspaper we pub
ished. A few months later the
printing plant was moved here, and
after a year at Hartford, it was ship
ped to Mcpherson, where we estab-
hshed the Freeman. Later Mr.. Nc
Cray sold his interest in the Free
man and we separated, but we have
always kept track of each other and
have exchanged many letters. D. o.
McCray is now Assistant Secretary
of State, and it seems certain that he
will be accorded the Republican NOM
ination for Secretary of State in the
August primaries without opposition.
More than $50 Kansas newspapers
have either published Mr.. McCray's
announcement or editorially endors-
ed him for Secretary of State. He
has received hundreds of letters
from active Republicans in the state
pledging him their unqualified sup
port. These and the newspaper en-
dorsements come from every one of
the 105 counties of Kansas. This
spontaneous offer of support is due
to the fact that Mr. McCray has been
closely identified with the daily and
weekly newspapers of the state for
more than forty years, and that in
all that time he has helped hundreds
of Kansans in their political ambi-
tions. Now they feel that they
should help him to realize his only
ambition-Secretary of State-and
thus reward him for his many friend
ships, and for his useful life for more
than forty years as a newspaper man
who always stood up for Kansas and
her people.
A personl letter this writer has
just received from D. o. McCray is
characteristic of the man. His devo-
-eien and loyalty to his state, his tri-
butte to its pioneer citizens, and the
his forty-four years residence, al
ways stand out in his letters and the
printed page. This Letter, 1 think, will
be read with interest by every citizen
of Kansas, and we are going to print
it:
Topeka, Kansas, March 5, 1922
Dear Friend Clark:
l have just read with interest your
news story about the visit of n. H.
Loomis, general attorney of the
Union Pacific Railroad company, to
Hays, and of the great changes he
noted in the wonderful growth and
development of that city. 1 presume
Hays has made rapid strides in its
commercial life since last l visited
you some six years ago. Even then
! was surprised at the substantial
and permanent buildings and bust
ness institutions of the city, and
when you and / went out to the nor
NAL school and l was shown through
its massive buildings and great audi
torium, l could not but think of the
wonderful advancement of Kansas in
every relation of life since we came
to this state for a home in 1877. In
=
witnessed a grand opera entertain
ment that would do credit to New
York City. The young women and
the young men who gave that enter
tainment-that rare feast of song
and stOry-came from the farm
homes and the little towns of west
ern Kansas. l congratulate you, old
friend, that fate pointed you to Hays,
and that your home is among a peo-
pie who have done so much, with
their neighbors of western Kansas,
TO make this the best state Of the
Union.
What a story of romance could be
woven around the lives of the pio-
neers of western Kansas who were
struggling and enduring, sacrificing
and hoping for better days, when you
and l came to the state forty-five
years ago. We knew that no state
in the Union, or no country in the
world, could boast of a braver, more
intelligent, hberty-loving and law-re-
specting population than the men
and women who constituted the pio-
neer settlers of western Kansas. It
could not be otherwise, for more than
100000 soldiers who had fought for
free Kansas in the Civil war, preced-
ed US. These pioneers, these sol
diers, their wives and children, are
deserving of our gratitude and affec-
ton, for they wiped a desert from
the map of the continent and made
it a garden of beauty. Many of the
young women and the young men we
heard and applauded in grand opera
in the auditorium of your great Nor
nal school, are the children and
grandchildren of pioneer parents
whose early homes were the dug-outs
and sod houses of western Kansas.
Since we came to Kansas, thou
sands of these pioneers-these sol
dier-citizens; heroes of peace and