﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 149 



of accounts of the destitution and suffering which this visitation en- 

 tailed on the people of our sister State, and the agents of relief socie- 

 ties have appealed with effect to the generosity of the people through- 

 out the land. The accounts of the suffering and distress have been 

 very conflicting, and the truth doubtless lies between the heart-rend- 

 ing, sensational compositions, and those which, prompted by State 

 pride or real estate interest, go to the other extreme, and underatethe 

 real distress. The following from Mr. Gray's Report, undoubtedly 

 gives a calm and truthful statement: 



About the i25tli of July one of those periodical, calamitous visitations to Avhich 

 the trans-Mississippi States are liable once in from eijjht to teu years, made its appear- 

 ance in northern and northwestern Kansas — the Grasshopper or Locust. The air was 

 lilledand the fields and trees were completely covered with these voracious trespassers. 

 At one time the total destruction ot every green thino: seemed imminent. Their course 

 was in a southerly and southeasterly direction, and before the close of Aug'ust the 

 swarming hosts were envelopino: the whole State. The visitation was so sudden that 

 the people of the State became panic-stricken. In the western counties — where immi- 

 .^i^ration for the last two years had been very heavy, and where the chief dependence 

 of new settlers was corn, potatoes and garden vegetables — the calamity fell with terri- 

 ble force. Starvation or emigration seemed inevitable unless aid should be furnished. 



Again, Gov. Osborne says in his message to the Legislature, con- 

 vened in extra session by special proclamation to take action regard- 

 ing the suffering: 



Since issuing my proclamation convening the Legislature, an extensive corres- 

 pondence has been carried on with the people, especially in the western counties, and 

 every effort has been made by the executive office, as well as by the ofHcers of the State 

 Board of Agriculture, to obtain reliable statistics in regard to the condition of the peo- 

 ple. The result of this inquiry shows that while Kansas as a State has an abundance 

 of breadstuffs — much more than is needed to feed all her people — that that portion of 

 the State which has been almost entirely populated during the past eighteen months, 

 will suffer for want of the necessities of life unless provision is made for its relief. 



From information now in my possession, it appears that the sections of the State 

 for which relief should be provided by legislation are confined to the counties west of 

 the sixth principal meridian. The counties most seriously affected, and for which the 

 needed relief cannot be afforded by the local authorities, are Norton, Rooks, Ellis, 

 Russell, Osborne, Phillips, Smith, McPherson, Rice, Barton, Reno, Barbour, Edwards 

 and Pawnee; while the counties of Harvey, Jewell, Ellsworth, Sedgwick, Sumner, and 

 possibly some others, may require more or less assistance. Of these, the greatest des- 

 titution seems to prevail in the extreme nortiiwest, embracing Norton. Phillips, Rooks, 

 Osborne and Smith counties, and the unorganized counties lying west, where immedi- 

 ate aid seems necessary. 



At the special session, townships in the destitute counties were 

 authorized to issue bonds to the amount of $50,000, but the act was 

 subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Attorney-General, so 

 ■that no bonds can be sold. This source of relief was therefore of no 

 avail, and the regular Legislature was subsequently strongly petitioned 

 and urged to afford relief by direct appropriation. Its action will ever 

 redound to its discredit and to that of the State. After the whole 

 country had, by sanction of its authorities, been canvassed and impor- 

 tuned for aid and relief, it was still evident as Spring approached that 

 much assistance was needed in the frontier counties, and that, with- 



