514 



KANSAS. 



The census was taken on March 1. Clark 

 and Meade counties, m the southwest part of 

 the State, were organized subsequently. The 

 population in 1880 was 996,096; gain in five 

 years, 272,466, or 27-35 per cent. The popula- 

 tion in 1870 was 364,399. The following are 

 the chief cities of the State with their popula- 

 tion in 1885 : 



CITIES. .Population. 



Leaven worth 29.263 



Topeka 23,499 



Wichita 16,023 



Atchison 15,599 



Wyandotte 12,086 



Lawrence ... 10,625 



CITIES. Population. 



FortScott 7,867 



Emporla 7.759 



Parsons 7,245 



Ottawa 6,626 



Wellington 6,846 



Newton 6,128 



Growth and Development. The Governor, in 

 his message to the Legislature in 1886, says : 

 " An immense immigration has poured into 

 our borders, and spread over every section of 

 the State. Regions that, only a few years ago, 

 were regarded as unfit for agricultural pursuits, 

 have been occupied, and pronounced arable 

 and fertile. Railroads are penetrating every 

 section, and within a brief time it can be said 

 that no county in Kansas is without facilities 

 for transportation. Mechanical industries are 

 being established in our principal cities and 

 towns, and the commercial and agricultural 

 prosperity of the State justly excites the pride 

 of our own citizens." 



Financial. In March the State received from 

 the United States $332,308.13, appropriated by 

 Congress to reimburse expenses incurred in 

 "repelling invasions and suppressing Indian 

 hostilities." The following statement shows 

 the amount of State bonds outstanding: 



The $17,000 of* bends maturing in 1886, and 

 the $15,500 maturing in 1887, are provided 

 for by tax levies already made, leaving only 

 $815,000 unprovided for. " In view of the 

 fact," says the Governor, "that the bonded 



debt of the State, unprovided for, aggregates 

 only $815,000, and that only $256,000 of this 

 amount is held by individuals and corpora- 

 tions, I do not believe that it is wise or just to 

 impose upon the present generation of tax-pay- 

 ers the burden of paying our outstanding bonds 

 on their maturity. We can readily refund all 

 outstanding bonds, as they fall due, into new 

 bonds, bearing interest at not to exceed 3 or 

 4 per cent." 



Staty Institutions. The Penitentiary has 862 

 prisoners. The Reformatory has been located 

 near Hutchinson, Reno County, 640 acres of 

 land having been given for the purpose. A 

 site for the Soldiers' Orphans' Home has been 

 selected near Atchison, which city has given 

 the State 160 acres of land and $5,000 in cash 

 for the use of the Home. The work of con- 

 struction is in progress. The Asylum for Idi- 

 otic and Imbecile Youth is also in course of 

 construction, near W infield. A Bureau of La- 

 bor and Industrial Statistics was organized in 

 April, and Frank 11. Betton was appointed 

 Commissioner. 



Cattle-Diseases. Rigid quarantine regulations 

 were enforced, and no contagious or infectious 

 diseases have been reported, during the year, 

 among the cattle of Kansas. But a destruct- 

 ive epidemic of *' hog-cholera " has prevailed 

 in many counties. It is estimated that the 

 direct losses aggregate $2,000,000. 



Railroads. The traffic returns of the different 

 railway companies show a large increase in 

 freight and passengers. The total tonnage 

 hauled one -mile during the fiscal year endi 

 June 30, 1885, exceeded that of the previous 

 year 106,669,993 tons, while the freight earn- 

 ings for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1885, 

 show a decrease, compared with 1884, of $2,- 

 131,753. The saving to the people of the State 

 by the reductions in freight rates, secured 

 chiefly by the Board of Railroad Commission- 

 ers, aggregates, for the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1885, over $2,000,000. 



National Guard. Under the provisions of an 

 act passed at the last session, the Kansas Na- 

 tional Guard, comprising four regiments of 

 eight companies each, has been organized, uni- 

 formed, supplied with camp and garrison equi- 

 page, and armed with breech-loading rifles of 

 the latest and best pattern. 



Temperance Legislation. On this subject the 

 Governor says : " The general working of tl 

 amended prohibitory law of last winter has 

 been favorable. Organized opposition is fast 

 disappearing, and the general and popular feel- 

 ing is decidedly in favor of obedience to the 

 Constitution as amended. Not only the S 

 preme Court, but all the Judges of the District 

 Courts of the State, and the Judge of the 

 United States Court for this Circuit, are in 

 favor of allowing the people of Kansas to regu- 

 late their own domestic affairs in their own 

 way. On Jan. 1, 1885, saloons were open in 

 twenty or thirty towns and cities. A year 

 later the open saloon had been banished from 



