KANSAS. 



319 



efforts by the Baron de Hirsch Fund in connection 

 with its New Jersey settlements. The first con- 

 vention of the National Conference of Jewish 

 Charities in Chicago (June 11) marked a distinct 

 step forward in the history of Jewish benevolence. 

 The death of the Rev. Dr. Isaac M. Wise led to 

 a general movement to establish a memorial fund 

 for the Hebrew Union College, and about $100,000 

 was received or promised out of the half a million 

 desired. Among the new institutions opened were 

 the dispensary of the Chicago United Hebrew 

 Charities, the Philadelphia Young Women's Home, 

 the Lucien Moss Home for Incurables, the New 

 York Young Men's Hebrew Association building, 

 and the Brooklyn Hebrew Educational Institute. 

 The literary movement included the first volume of 

 Lazarus's Ethics of Judaism (Jewish Publication 

 Society), a Heft of Jastrae's Talmudic Dictionary, 



a volume of Rodkinson's Talmud in English, a 

 specimen of the Mexican Inquisition documents, 

 by the Jewish Historical Society, and the co-opera- 

 tion of our scholars in the production of a Jewish 

 encyclopaedia, the first volume of which is almost 

 ready for publication. 



New life is exhibited by the B'nai B'rith, which 

 took upon itself with success the distribution of 

 Roumanian immigrants and is establishing lodges 

 among the Russian newcomers, besides pushing its 

 work abroad in Germany and the Orient and con- 

 sidering the advisability of entering France. Two 

 synagogues in San Francisco and one in Cleveland 

 celebrated their fiftieth anniversaries. President 

 McKinley visited the Nathan Barnert Memorial 

 Temple, in Paterson, N. J., during service on the 

 seventh night of Passover. Dr. Jacob H. Hollander 

 was appointed treasurer of Porto Rico. 



K 



KANSAS, a Western State, admitted to the 

 Union Jan. 29, 1861; area, 82,080 square miles. 

 The population, according to each decennial cen- 

 sus, was 107,206 in 1860; 364,399 in 1870; 096,096 

 in 1880; and 1,427,096 in 1890. By the State cen- 

 sus of 1895 it was 1,334,688; by the Federal census 

 of 1900 it was 1,470,495. Capital, Topeka. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1900: Governor, William E. Stanley; 

 Lieutenant Governor, Harry E. Richter ; Secretary 

 of State, George A. Clark; Treasurer, Frank 

 Grimes; Auditor, George E. Cole; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, A. A. Godard; Superintendent of Education, 

 Frank Nelson; Commissioner of Agriculture, F. D. 

 Coburn; Adjutant General, S. M. Fox; Superin- 

 tendent of Insurance, W. V. Church ; Oil Inspector, 

 S. O. Spencer; Grain Inspector, A. E. McKenzie; 

 State Printer, W. Y. Morgan; Board of Charities, 

 John Hannan, G. W. Kanavel, Reuben Vincent, 

 Grant Hornaday, Edwin Snyder; Bank Commis- 

 sioner, J. W. Breidenthal; Labor Commissioner, 

 W. L. A. Johnson. All the elected officers are 

 Republicans. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Frank Doster, Populist; Associate Justices, W. A. 

 Johnston and W. R. Smith, Republicans. 



Population. According to the Federal census 

 of 1900, the population of Kansas was 1,469,496. 

 In 1890 it was 1,427,096; therefore the gain for 

 the decade was 42,400, an increase of 3 per cent., 

 while that of the total population of the United 

 States was 21 per cent. This small percentage is 

 in great measure due to the fact that between 

 1890 and 1900 many thousands of people removed 

 from Kansas to settle the neighboring Territory 

 of Oklahoma. For several years after 1890 the 

 population of Kansas declined, but the census of 

 1900 shows that the tide has turned. In 1900 the 

 State had 111 cities and towns with 1,000 or more 

 inhabitants, against 109 in 1899 and 103 in 1898. 



Finances. The amount of money in the State 

 treasury, Jan. 15, was $1,014,890.63. 'The Auditor's 

 report of Aug. 9 showed the aggregate credit bal- 

 ances of the State funds to be $866,452.03. 



The Auditor's compilation of the tax reports 

 was completed in April, and showed that the taxes 

 for all purposes in the State for 1899 amounted 

 to $15,497,307.86. divided as follow: State tax. 

 $1.811,114.75; school district, $4,147,538 ; township, 

 $1.601,660.68; county, $3,718,222.64; city, $2,014,- 

 793.95; railroad, $2,203,977.84. The assessors' re- 

 turns for 1900 show an increase in valuation of 

 property in the State of about $13,500,000. On 

 this basis, owing to the high levy fixed by the 

 last Legislature, about $80,000 more of taxes would 



have been collected than the necessities of the 

 State government required. It was impossible to 

 reduce the levy, but the State Board of Equaliza- 

 tion reduced the valuation as returned by the 

 assessors $11,675,044. The total valuation as re- 

 turned by the board for 1900 is $328,936,054, an 

 increase over 1899 of $1,770,524. The total State 

 tax levied in 1900 was $1,807,898, an increase over 

 1899 of $8,489. 



The February apportionment of the State school 

 fund among the counties involved the distribution 

 of $226,858.50, being 45 cents per capita, and an 

 increase of 4 cents per capita over the August 

 apportionment of 1899. 



In the three years from July 1, 1897, to July 1, 

 1900, the counties of Kansas reduced their bonded 

 debts in the aggregate $2,928,371, reductions being 

 made in 95 counties and increases in only 10. 



The Auditor's statement in June showed the 

 total amount of municipal bonds of the State re- 

 funded during the two previous years to have 

 been $6,232,233.44. The settlements included 

 county, township, city, and school bonds. More 

 than $500,000 of bonds in addition were paid off. 

 The Auditor's list embraces 89 of the 105 counties. 

 The tax accounts of Harper County have been 

 checked up, with a saving to the State of $6,103.43. 



The twelfth biennial report of the Treasurer, 

 covering the period from June 30, 1898, to June 

 30, 1900, shows a reduction during that period in 

 delinquent taxes due the State from $164,831.58 

 to $75,815.34. The Treasurer informs the Governor 

 of a considerable amount of bonds in the treasury 

 upon which no interest has been paid for several 

 years, and which were mostly imposed upon honest 

 settlers by professional boomers, who immediately 

 left the State. " When the temporary inflation 

 subsided, the bonded municipalities were left with 

 property greatly depreciated and, in many in- 

 stances, almost depopulated. This, cavises great 

 hardship to the worthy people who are endeavor- 

 ing to establish homes in those localities, and 

 prevents the settlement and development of the 

 bonded Territories." 



Although the Attorney-General had held that 

 the Quantrell raid scrip could be turned into the 

 treasury in payment of State taxes, the Treasurer 

 decided not to receive the scrip in such payment, 

 basing his decision on the Titus law (chap. 247, 

 Laws of 1899). 



For the period of nine months ending with 

 March, 1900, the net income to the State from 

 the oil-inspection department was $10,334.61. 



In April the Governor was officially advised that 



