UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (KANSAS.) 



T31 



ork. The matter of seeing that the law is 

 beyed is in the hands of the State Labor Com- 

 issioner. In 1902 he enforced recognition of 

 he law by taking. 9 cases into court the same 

 umber as last year. In 55 cases the law was 

 forced without litigation; about one-fourth of 

 e number that were settled in this manner in 

 he previous year ; but the number of men affect- 

 d by the decisions was about 5,000, against one- 

 fth that number in the previous year. Several 

 ses this year involved large numbers of men. 

 several instances the State Labor Commis- 

 ioner acted as a mediator in disputes arising be- 

 ,ween workmen and employers, and affected 

 micable settlements. The year was marked by 

 great increase in the strength and extension 

 f labor-unions, the number growing from 337 

 398, the new unions and the increases in the 

 Id ones making the total number of members 

 reater by 17,000. 



Antiliquor Work. Mrs. Carrie Nation, the 

 atic Kansas woman who in 1901 began a spec- 

 cular campaign against saloons in Kansas, 

 mashing several bars herself, after being re- 

 eased from jail in Topeka in the early part of 

 he year, set out on a lecturing tour, and ap- 

 ared in the Eastern States. She returned to 

 'opeka in November, and the day after her ar- 

 ival created a disturbance on the street and 

 as promptly placed in jail, in default of pay- 

 ent of the fine imposed, whereupon she returned 

 :o her old plan of writing letters to newspapers, 

 enouncing officials, from President Roosevelt 

 own to the police judge of Topeka, for what she 

 rmed their complicity in the liquor traffic, 

 fter eleyen days in jail she was released, where- 

 :pon she immediately began to hold meetings 

 gain, and to work on the organization of a new 

 lolitical party, its object being the suppression 

 if the liquor traffic. 



An investigation following the November elec- 

 ions, made by the State Temperance Union, re- 

 vealed that in 36 out of 82 counties reporting 

 the enforcement of the prohibitory law was an 

 issue in the campaign, while in 40 it was not. 

 Announcement was made by the union that an 

 aggressive campaign would be entered into for 

 the purpose of winning the spring municipal 

 elections. 



More than ordinary interest was manifested in 

 the situation with regard to the prohibitory law 

 during the year, partly because of the fact that 

 in Topeka, always the head and center of the 

 work for prohibition, a Democrat was seated as 

 mayor after a contest case had been carried to 

 the Supreme Court, and open saloons were al- 

 lowsd to run in the capital city on payment of 

 a monthly " fine " a plan followed in practically 

 all the larger towns of the State and in many of 

 e smaller ones, but which was new to Topeka. 

 Legal Decisions. In the case of The Atchison, 

 'opeka and Santa Fe Railway Company vs. The 

 Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway Com- 

 pany (not yet reported) the Supreme Court held 

 that " one railway corporation may, under the 

 jeneral statutes of eminent domain, condemn for 

 is right of way real estate belonging to an- 

 >ther corporation not in actual and necessary 

 se for railway purposes." 



In the Consolidated Electric Light and Power 

 'ompany vs. Daniel Healy (not yet reported) 

 e court said in its syllabus : " It is the law of 

 is State that one who maintains on his prem- 

 es what is called an " attractive nuisance," that 

 a place which, though patently dangerous to 

 ose of ordinary knowledge and prudence, is so 

 ticing to others excusably lacking in intelli- 



gence and caution as to induce them to venture 

 to it, is liable for resulting injuries to the latter; 

 and the- same rule applies to one who maintains 

 on his own premises a dangerous instrumentality 

 not in itself attractive, but placed in such im- 

 mediate proximity to an attractive situation on 

 the premises of another as to form with it a 

 dangerous whole, notwithstanding the attractive 

 situation on the other premises may not be of 

 itself dangerous." 



Rural Free Delivery. At the beginning of 

 the year, 359 rural free-delivery routes were in 

 operation in the State, the carriers' monthly 

 wages amounting to $15,387.66. By the end of 

 the year there were in operation 652 routes, the 

 December payment of carriers' wages being $33,- 

 000. There were pending 417 applications for new 

 routes, and 84 reports were awaiting the action 

 of the department in December. 



Political. State elections are held in Kansas 

 in the even-numbered years. Six tickets were 

 placed in the field in 1902: Republican, Demo- 

 cratic, Prohibition, Socialist, and Populist. The 

 Democratic forces represented the old-line Demo- 

 crats and the great majority of the old Populist 

 party. For the first time in Kansas these two 

 organizations went into the campaign under a 

 single ticket heading on the Australian ballot. 

 This was made necessary by the passage of a 

 law by the Legislature of 1901 prohibiting the 

 name of any candidate from appearing under 

 more than one ticket heading on the ballot. It 

 had been the practise for the Democrats and 

 Populists to nominate the same candidates, run- 

 ning them under both " Populist " and " Demo- 

 cratic " headings. Both parties held their con- 

 ventions as usual, but by agreement there was 

 a division of offices, and it was decided to call 

 the fusion forces " Democrats." This action 

 marked the death of the once dominant Popu- 

 list party in Kansas. The original Democrats 

 met in convention at Wichita, on May 22, and 

 nominated their portion of the ticket as follows: 

 For Justice of the Supreme Court, two-year 

 term, John C. Cannon; six-year term, J. D. 

 McCleverty; Governor, W. H. Craddock; Secre- 

 tary of State, Claude Duval; Auditor, J. M. 

 Lewis; Superintendent of Instruction, William 

 Sense. Mr. Sense withdrew and his place was 

 taken by William Stryker. The Democrats 

 passed resolutions in which they reaffirmed faith 

 in the national platform of 1900; denounced 

 trusts, and declared the Republican party was 

 responsible for them; denounced the Republican 

 Legislature for passing the ballot law making it 

 impossible for a candidate to have his name in 

 more than one place on the ballot; favored re- 

 form in the tax laws of the State, and such 

 changes in the law as would reach trusts and 

 monopolies and give to municipalities the right 

 to determine as to methods of taxation respect- 

 ing local matters; declared for the ownership 

 and operation of all public-service functions by 

 and in the control of the people; declared in 

 favor of electing a Legislature free from " rail- 

 road domination " ; declared in favor of legisla- 

 tion prohibiting railroad passes; approved the 

 position taken by the Democratic members of 

 Congress with respect to the duty of the United 

 States toward the Philippines; condemned the 

 " official action and hypocrisy " of the Republican 

 administration for " cowardly dodging " on the 

 Kansas prohibitory question; declared in favor 

 of resubmitting the prohibitory amendment to 

 a vote of the people. 



On June 24 the Populist wing of the party met 

 in Topeka and completed the ticket by nomina- 



