KANSAS. 



873 



pears that there were mined in 1^95. :!.190.S(:! tons 

 of coal, valued at s::.:.!M.141 : 9.021 men and ::r. 

 h.>ys were employed in t lie industry ; and the net 

 product wa> l.'i >.:;;! i,>ns less than in ls<)4. owing. 

 no doubt, to tlie 1'aet that excessive freight rales 

 and low-priced corn made it cheaper for farmers in 

 the western and central portions of the State to 

 burn their corn rather than coal. Distress has been 

 caused among the miners in Osage County by the 

 decreased demand for their product and the re- 

 duced price of their labor. The amount produced 

 fell fmm 420.000 tons in 1885 to 263,000 in lsji.1. 

 and the wages declined 34 per cent., while the num- 

 ber of men employed was reduced only from 1.936 

 t" 1.604. The decline is due largely to the fact that 

 the Santa Fe Railroad Company has used much less 

 of the Usage County coal than formerly, and that 

 other coal fields have had better freight facilities. 



The first oil refinery in the State is building at 

 Xeodesha. The oil fields have been at a disadvan- 

 tage on account of the rates of freight. Half a mil- 

 lion acres were leased by the Standard Oil Company 

 about the beginning of the year, and the oil was 

 placed upon the market in June. 



The natural-gas industry in Allen County is 

 growing rapidly. In lola and its vicinity there are 

 9 gas wells, closed in and packed ready for use, hav- 

 ing a daily capacity as follows: Three wells each 

 famishing ,000,000 cubic feet, 1 of 7,014.000 cubic 

 feet, 2 of 8,000.000 cubic feet, 2 of 12,000,000 cubic 

 feet, and 1 of 9,000,000 cubic feet a grand total of 

 i :. l.uiiO .000 cubic feet of gas daily, equivalent to 

 3,000 tons of coal. 



The report on the salt industry in Reno County 

 shows the total amount of capital invested in the 17 

 plants to be $1,052,000. There were 387 hands 

 continuously employed, who received $159,885 in 

 wages. The amount of salt manufactured was 18,- 

 000 barrels. 



The zinc product of the State in 1895 was 25.775 

 short tons ; the previous year it was 25.588. 



Decisions on Legislative Acts. In May the 

 United States Supreme Court decided a case com- 

 ing under the Kansas mortgage-redemption act of 

 1893. It reversed the decision by Chief-Justice 

 Martin and upheld all previous decisions by Chief- 

 Justice Horton and Judge Hazen of a district court, 

 to the effect that the law could not be applied to 

 mortgages or contracts made before its passage. 

 The law gives the mortgage debtor and other 

 debtors the right to redeem their property sold 

 tinder foreclosure or execution within eighteen 

 months thereafter, by paying the amount bid by 

 the purchaser at foreclosure sale, with interest. 

 The Supreme Court holds that the law would im- 

 pair the contract by changing the conditions of the 

 remedy for the lender in case of default of pay- 

 ment if applied to contracts made before its 

 passage. 



The law of 1893 requiring railroads to provide 

 car scales at every station shipping a considerable 

 amount of grain was in April pronounced unconsti- 

 tutional, on the ground that the title of the act 

 stales that it was for the protection of the shipper, 

 while the body of the statute looked to the protec- 

 tion of the consignee; and the Constitution pro- 

 vides that the purposes of an act shall be clearly 

 stated in the title. 



The law of 1893 providing for weekly payment of 

 waires was declared unconstitutional in April, on 

 two grounds: The first, that it is class legislation, 

 as it provides that only certain kinds of corpora- 

 tions shall pay wages weekly. The second, that it 

 interferes with the right of contract, which is given 

 in the State Constitution. 



Political. The Republicans held their first. 

 State Convention, March 10, at Wichita, with 614 



delegates. The Committee on Resolutions reported 

 thai it seemed not appropriate to present a " plat- 

 form of defined policy on national administration." 

 The resolutions therefore were limited to general 

 declarations of confidence in the Republican partv 

 and condemnation of the Democratic administra- 

 tion in national affairs and of Populist rule in 

 the State, together with instructions to the dele- 

 gates to support Mr. McKinley. The primaries and 

 county conventions had instructed for McKinley. 

 There was considerable factional fighting in the 

 party during the interval between the two conven- 

 tions. 



The convention of Republicans to nominate State 

 officers was held Aug. 11 at Topeka. A majority 

 of the county conventions and primaries had in- 

 structed for Gov. Mori-ill, and he was renominated 

 by acclamation. Following is the ticket : For 

 Chief Justice, T. F. Carver ; Governor, E. N. Mor- 

 rill ; Lieutenant Governor, H. E. Richter ; Secre- 

 tary of State, W. C. Edwards; Auditor, George E. 

 Cole: Treasurer. Otis L. Atherton ; State Superin- 

 tendent, E. Stanley ; Attorney-General, F. B. Dawes ; 

 Congressman at Large, R. W. Blue. 



The convention of the People's party met at 

 Hutchinson, March 18, and chose delegates to the 

 national convention. The resolutions declared loy- 

 alty to the party and its principles and the follow- 

 ing policy : 



" First, we are in favor of the strictest honesty 

 and economy in the administration of the govern- 

 ment, both State and national ; second, we are in 

 favor of the overthrow and destruction of all mo- 

 nopolies and combines organized for the plunder 

 and oppression of the people ; third, we demand 

 strict and effective control and supervision by Gov- 

 ernment of all corporations, performing public or 

 quasi-public functions, and, if necessary to protect 

 public interests, the ownership by the Government 

 of all public utilities; fourth, we demand that the 

 President and the Secretary of the Treasury be de- 

 prived of the power to issue or sell bonds without 

 the authority of Congress being first given for each 

 separate issue ; fifth, we believe that all the money 

 of the country, either coin or paper, should be is- 

 sued by the Government and not by corporations or 

 by individuals ; sixth, we demand the free and un- 

 limited coinage of both gold and silver at the ratio 

 of 16 to 1, independent of the action of any other na- 

 tion, and we believe that the United States is capa- 

 ble of maintaining such a system of finance as will 

 promote the prosperity of its own people, without 

 asking the consent of any other Government : sev- 

 enth, we demand that the constitutional right of 

 trial by jury shall be extended to every form of ac- 

 tion, whether civil or criminal, and we denounce 

 the trial of o\\r citizens by injunction and con- 

 tempt proceedings without the right of a trial by 

 jury, as contrary to the spirit of our Constitution." 



The second convention of the People's party met 

 Aug. 5 at Abilene. The resolutions approved the 

 national Populist code of principles, severely ar- 

 raigning the Republican State administration and 

 demanding the enactment of a maximum-freight- 

 rate bill by the next Legislature. The committee's 

 report did not mention Bryan and Watson, but 

 after a lively debate a resolution approving their 

 nomination was carried. Afterward a plan of 

 fusion with the Democrats was accepted. The 

 electors named by the Democratic convention were 

 approved. The ticket follows : For Governor, John 

 W. Leedy : Lieutenant Governor, A. M. Harvey ; 

 Secretary of State. W. E. Bush ; Treasurer, D. H. 

 Hefflebower : Attorney General, L.C.Boyle: Au- 

 ditor, W. II. Morris; Chief Justice. Frank Doster : 

 Congressman at Large, Kev. J. D. Botkin ; Super- 

 intendent of Education. William Stryker. 



