KANSAS. 



463 



ernor remarks : " Grave complaints are made, 

 from many sources, concerning our laws re- 

 lating to divorce, which, it is believed, estab- 

 lish such grounds for separation as inevitably 

 tend to make the marriage contract one care- 

 lessly assumed because easily abrogated. At 

 a single term of the district court, in one coun- 

 ty, fourteen divorce cases, all brought within 

 three months, were on the docket. The most 

 common ground for these suits is ' abandon- 

 ment for one year,' and, between parties who 

 for any cause desire to obtain a divorce, collu- 

 sion upon this ground is easy, and the neces- 

 sary proof readily furnished. It is believed 

 that citizens of other States are taking advan- 

 tage of this loose provision of our laws, and 

 coming here for the sole purpose of obtaining 

 a divorce." 



Militia. The Kansas National Guard has 

 been fully organized under the provisions of 

 the militia law of 1885. It is composed of four 

 regiments and one battery, comprising an 

 effective force of 2,020 officers and men. The 

 enrollment of volunteer soldiers of the Union 

 array, now residing in the State, has been 

 completed, and the names of nearly 100,000 

 soldiers, arranged in alphabetical order, and 

 by States and regiments, are now recorded in 

 the books of the Adjutant-General's office. 



Coal, The output of the mines for 1884 was 

 27,500,000 bushels; that for 1885 aggregated 

 30,001,427 bushels; and that for 1886 will 

 probably exceed 35,000,000 bushels. 



Prohibition. The Governor refers to the sub- 

 ject of prohibition in the following terms: 



Three general elections have been held, in Kansas, 

 since the adoption of the prohibition amendment to 

 the Constitution. At each of these elections the peo- 

 ple have reaffirmed their decision against the manu- 

 facture or sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, 

 by electing Legislatures pledged to the support of the 

 amendment. At the election in November last this 

 question was a paramount issue, and again, by an 

 emphatic majority, the sovereign verdict of the peo- 

 ple was pronounced against the saloon. No Fair- 

 minded citizen can, no law-respecting citizen will, re- 

 fuse to respect this judgment. It is your duty, gen- 

 tlemen of the Legislature, to see that laws are enacted 

 which will give practical effect to the decision of the 

 people on this question. I stated, in my message a 

 year agOj that while the law of 1885 embodied some 

 detects, its general results had been very favorable. 

 I have seen no occasion to reverse this judgment. A 

 great reform has certainly been accomplished in Kan- 

 sas. Intemperance is steadily and surely decreasing. 

 In thousands of homes where want and wretched- 

 ness and suffering were once familiar guests, plenty, 

 happiness, and contentment now abide. Thousands 

 of wives and children are better clothed and fed than 

 they were when the saloons absorbed all the earnings 

 of husbands and fathers. The marvelous material 

 growth of the State during the past six years has been 

 accompanied by an equally marvelous moral progress ; 

 and it can be fairly and truthfully asserted that in no 

 portion of the civilized world can a million and a half 

 of people be found who are more temperate than are 

 the people of Kansas. 



That intoxicating liquors are sold, as a beverage, 

 anywhere within the limits of Kansas, is not because 

 of faults in our laws touching this question. Those 

 laws, defective as they are in some features, are ample 

 enough in their directions, restrictions, and penalties 



to punish every person who either sells or buys liquors 

 for unlawful purposes. There .is not a town, city, or 

 neighborhood in the State in which an illegal traffic 

 in liquors can be carried on for a single week if the 

 local officers discharge the duties, plainly enjoined 

 upon them by law, with zeal and fidelity. Provide 

 the necessary laws to compel local officers to discharge 

 their sworn duties, and to remove them when they 

 neglect or refuse to do so, and there will be no need 

 to make many other changes in our statutes. On the 

 other hand, no matter wnat amendments are made, 

 nor what provisions are added to the present law, they 

 will be ineffectual so long as the municipal authorities 

 of cities or counties can nullify or disregard them with- 

 out fear of removal or punishment. 



The public sentiment of Kansas is overwhelmingly 

 against the liquor-traffic. Thousands of men who. 

 a few years ago, opposed prohibition, or doubted 

 whether it was the best method of dealing with the 

 liquor-traffic, have seen and frankly acknowledge 

 its beneficent results and its practical success. The 

 temptations with which the open saloon allured the 

 youth of the land to disgrace and destruction ; the 

 appetite for liquor, bred and nurtured within its walls 

 by the treating custom ; the vice, crime, poverty, suf- 

 fering, and sorrow of which it is always the fruitful 

 source all these evil results of the open saloon have 

 been abolished in nearly every town and city of Kan- 

 sas. There is not an observing man in the State who 

 does not know that a great reform has been accom- 

 plished in Kansas by prohibition. There is not a 

 truthful man in the State who will not frankly ac- 

 knowledge this fact, no matter what his opinions 

 touching the policy of prohibition may have been. 



Railroads. Fully 1,250 miles of road have, in 

 the past two years, been completed, and since 

 Jan. 1, 1886, not less than 1,100 miles have 

 been finished. Many of the old lines have 

 also been generally and substantially improved. 

 In January, 1885, thirty-one of the counties of 

 Kansas, as then defined, had not a mile of rail- 

 way within their borders. To-day all except 

 fourteen of the one hundred counties are trav- 

 ersed by one or more lines of railway, and 

 within six months at least seven additional 

 counties will be provided with railroad facili- 

 ties. There are, at present, 6,060 miles of rail- 

 way in operation in the State. 



The Railroad Commissioners of Kansas have 

 been able, without friction or serious difficulty, 

 not only to amicably adjust a very large num- 

 ber of controversies, but to bring about large 

 and important reductions in freight rates. Dur- 

 ing the year ended June 30, 1883, the gross re- 

 ceipts, from freights, of all railroads reporting 

 to the commissioners, amounted to $45,135,- 

 331.64. During the year ended June 30, 1886, 

 the freight traffic over the same roads exceeded 

 that of 1883 fully 3,379,351 tons, or 26 per cent. 

 This largely increased tonnage was, however, 

 transported over the same railroads, for the 

 year ending June 30, 1886, at a total charge of 

 $41,132,234.05, or $4,003,097.59 less than the 

 amount collected on the lesser tonnage of 1883. 

 The reduction of freight rates effected by the 

 commissioners, during the past three years, 

 has been fully 26 per cent. 



Political. The Democratic State Convention 

 met at Leavenworth on August 4, and nomi- 

 nated the following ticket: For Governor, 

 Thomas Moonlight ; Lieutenant Governor, S,, 



