Part 24

At the first election (Nov. 1854), held for a delegate to Congress, some 1700 armed Missourians invaded Kansas and stuffed the ballot boxes; and this intimidation and fraud was practised on a much larger scale in the election of a Territorial legislature in March 1855. The resultant legislature (at Pawnee, later at Shawnee Mission) adopted the laws of Missouri almost _en bloc_, made it a felony to utter a word against slavery, made extreme pro-slavery views a qualification for office, declared death the penalty for aiding a slave to escape, and in general repudiated liberty for its opponents. The radical free-state men thereupon began the importation of rifles. All criticism of this is inconsequent; "fighting gear" was notoriously the only effective asset of Missourians in Kansas, every Southern band in Kansas was militarily organized and armed, and the free-state men armed only under necessity. Furthermore, a free-state "government" was set up, the "bogus" legislature at Shawnee being "repudiated." Perfecting their organization in a series of popular conventions, they adopted (Dec. 1855) the Topeka Constitution--which declared the exclusion of negroes from Kansas--elected state officials, and sent a contestant delegate to Congress. The Topeka "government" was simply a craftily impressive organization, a standing protest. It met now and then, and directed sentiment, being twice dispersed by United States troops; but it passed no laws, and did nothing that conflicted with the Territorial government countenanced by Congress. On the other hand, the laws of the "bogus" legislature were generally ignored by the free-state partisans, except in cases (e.g. the service of a writ) where that was impossible without apparent actual rebellion against the authority of the legislature, and therefore of Congress.

Meanwhile the "border war" began. During the (almost bloodless) "Wakarusa War" Lawrence was threatened by an armed force from Missouri, but was saved by the intervention of Governor Shannon. Up to this time the initiative and the bulk of outrages lay assuredly heavily on the pro-slavery side; hereafter they became increasingly common and more evenly divided. In May 1856 another Missouri force entered Lawrence without resistance, destroyed its printing offices, wrecked buildings and pillaged generally. This was the day before the assault on Charles Sumner (q.v.) in the Senate of the United States. These two outrages fired Northern passion and determination. In Kansas they were a stimulus to the most radical elements. Immediately after the sack of Lawrence, John Brown and a small band murdered and mutilated five pro-slavery men, on Pottawatomie Creek; a horrible deed, showing a new spirit on the free-state side, and of ghastly consequence--for it contributed powerfully to widen further the licence of highway robbery, pillage and arson, the ruin of homes, the driving off of settlers, marauding expeditions, attacks on towns, outrages in short of every kind, that made the following months a welter of lawlessness and crime, until Governor Geary--by putting himself above all partisanship, repudiating Missouri, and using Federal troops--put an end to them late in 1856. (In the isolated south-eastern counties they continued through 1856-1858, mainly to the advantage of the "jay-hawkers" of free-state Kansas and to the terror of Missouri.)

The struggle now passed into another phase, in which questions of state predominate. But something may be remarked in passing of the leaders in the period of turbulence. John Brown wished to deal a blow against slavery, but did nothing to aid any conservative political organization to that end. James H. Lane was another radical, and always favoured force. He was a political adventurer, an enthusiastic, energetic, ambitious, ill-balanced man, shrewd and magnetic. He assuredly did much for the free-state cause; meek politics were not alone sufficient in those years in Kansas. The leader of the conservative free-soilers was Charles Robinson (1818-1894). He was born in Massachusetts, studied medicine at the Berkshire Medical School, and had had political experience in California, whither he had gone in 1849, and where in 1850-1852 he was a member of the legislature and a successful anti-slavery leader. In 1854 he had come to Kansas as an agent of the Emigrant Aid Company. He was the author of the Topeka government idea, or at least was its moving spirit, serving throughout as the "governor" under it; though averse to force, he would use it if necessary, and was first in command in the "Wakarusa War." His partisans say that he saved Kansas, and regard Lane as a fomenter of trouble who accomplished nothing. Andrew H. Reeder (1807-1864), who showed himself a pro-slavery sympathizer as first Territorial governor, was removed from office for favouring the free-state party; he became a leader in the free-state cause. Every governor who followed him was forced by the logic of events and truth tacitly to acknowledge that right lay with the free-state party. Reeder and Shannon fled the Territory in fear of assassination by the pro-slavery party, with which at first they had had most sympathy. Among the pro-slavery leaders David Rice Atchison (1807-1886), United States Senator in 1843-1855, accompanied both expeditions against Lawrence; but he urged moderation, as always, at the end of what was a legitimate result of his radical agitation.

In June 1857 delegates were elected to a constitutional convention. The election Act did not provide for any popular vote upon the constitution they should form, and was passed over Governor John W. Geary's veto. A census, miserably deficient (largely owing to free-state abstention and obstruction), was the basis of apportionment of delegates. The free-state party demanded a popular vote on the constitution. On the justice of this Governor Robert J. Walker and President Buchanan were at first unequivocally agreed, and the governor promised fairplay. Nevertheless only pro-slavery men voted, and the convention was thus pro-slavery. The document it framed is known as the Lecompton Constitution. Before the convention met, the free-state party, abandoning its policy of political inaction, captured the Territorial legislature. On the constitutional convention rested, then, all hope of saving Kansas for slavery; and that would be impossible if they should submit their handiwork to the people. The convention declared slave property to be "before and higher than any constitutional sanction" and forbade amendments affecting it; but it provided for a popular vote on the alternatives, the "constitution with slavery" or the "constitution with no slavery." If the latter should be adopted, slavery should cease "except" that the right to property in slaves in the Territory should not be interfered with. The free-state men regarded this as including the right to property in offspring of slaves, and therefore as pure fraud. Governor Walker stood firmly against this iniquitous scheme; he saw that slavery was, otherwise, doomed, but he thought Kansas could be saved to the Democratic party though lost to slavery. But President Buchanan, under Southern influence, repudiated his former assurances. There is reason to believe that the whole scheme was originated at Washington, and though Buchanan was not privy to it before the event, yet he adopted it. He abandoned Walker, who left Kansas; and he dismissed Acting-Governor Frederick P. Stanton for convoking the (now free-state) legislature. This body promptly ordered a vote on the third alternative, "Against the Constitution."

The free-state men ignored the alternatives set by the Lecompton Convention; but they participated nevertheless in the provisional election for officers under the Lecompton government, capturing all offices, and then, the same day, voted overwhelmingly against the constitution (Jan. 4, 1858).

Nevertheless, Buchanan, against the urgent counsel of Governor Denver, urged on Congress (Feb. 2) the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution. He was opposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the leader of the Northern Democracy. The Senate upheld the President; the House of Representatives voted down his policy; and finally both houses accepted the English Bill, by which Kansas was virtually offered some millions of acres of public lands if she should accept the Lecompton Constitution.[4] On the 21st of August 1858, by a vote of 11,300 to 1788, Kansas resisted this temptation. The plan of the Administration thus effectually miscarried, and its final result was a profound split in the Democratic party.

The free-state men framed an excellent anti-slavery constitution at Leavenworth in March-April 1858, but the origins of the convention were illegal and their work was still-born. On the 29th of July 1859 still another constitution was therefore framed at Wyandotte, and on the 4th of October it was ratified by the people. Meanwhile the Topeka "government" disappeared, and also, with its single purpose equally served, the free-state party, most of it (once largely Democratic) passing into the Republican party, now first organized in the Territory. On the 29th of January 1861 Kansas was admitted to the Union under the Wyandotte Constitution. The United States Census of 1860 gave her a population of 107,204 inhabitants. The struggle in Kansas, the first physical national struggle over slavery, was of paramount importance in the breaking up of the Whig party, the firm establishment of an uncompromisingly anti-slavery party, the sectionalization of the Democracy, and the general preparation of the country for the Civil War.

Drought and famine came in 1860, and then upon the impoverished state came the strain of the Civil War. Nevertheless Kansas furnished proportionally a very large quota of men to the Union armies. Military operations within her own borders were largely confined to a guerrilla warfare, carrying on the bitter neighbourhood strife between Kansas and Missouri. The Confederate officers began by repressing predatory plundering from Missouri; but after James H. Lane, with an undisciplined brigade, had crossed the border, sacking, burning and killing in his progress, Missouri "bushrangers" retaliated in kind. Freebooters trained in Territorial licence had a free hand on both sides. Kansas bands were long the more successful. But William C. Quantrell, after sacking various small Kansas towns along the Missouri river (1862-63), in August 1863 took Lawrence (q.v.) and put it mercilessly to fire and sword--the most ghastly episode in border history. In the autumn of 1864 the Confederate general, Sterling Price, aiming to enter Kansas from Missouri but defeated by General Pleasanton's cavalry, retreated southward, zig-zagging on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas line. This ended for Kansas the border raids and the war. Lane was probably the first United States officer to enlist negroes as soldiers. Many of them (and Indians too) fought bravely for the state. Indian raids and wars troubled the state from 1864 to 1878. The tribes domiciled in Kansas were rapidly moved to Indian Territory after 1868.

After the Civil War the Republicans held uninterrupted supremacy in national elections, and almost as complete control in the state government, until 1892. From about 1870 onward, however, elements of reform and of discontent were embodied in a succession of radical parties of protest. Prohibition arose thus, was accepted by the Republicans, and passed into the constitution. Woman suffrage became a vital political issue. Much legislation has been passed to control the railways. General control of the media of commerce, economic co-operation, tax reform, banking reforms, legislation against monopolies, disposal of state lands, legislation in aid of the farmer and labourer, have been issues of one party or another. The movement of the Patrons of Industry (1874), growing into the Grange, Farmers' Alliance, and finally into the People's (Populist) party (see FARMERS' MOVEMENT), was perhaps of greatest importance. In conjunction with the Democrats the Populists controlled the State government in 1892-1894 and 1896-1898. These two parties decidedly outnumbered the Republicans at the polls from 1890-1898, but they could win only by fusion. In 1892-1893, when the Populists elected the governor and the Senate, and the Republicans (as the courts eventually determined) the House of Representatives, political passion was so high as to threaten armed conflicts in the capital. The Australian ballot was introduced in 1893. In the decade following 1880, struggles in the western counties for the location of county seats (the bitterest local political fights known in western states) repeatedly led to bloodshed and the interference of state militia.

TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS[5]

Andrew H. Reeder July 7, 1854-Aug. 16, '55 Wilson Shannon Sept. 7, 1855-Aug. 18, '56 John W. Geary Sept. 9, 1856-Mar. 12, '57 Robert J. Walker May 27, 1857-Nov. 16, '57 James W. Denver May 12, 1858-Oct. 10, '58 Samuel Medary Dec. 18, 1858-Dec. 17, '60

_Acting Governors_[6]

Aggregate Daniel Woodson 5 times (164 days) Apr. 17, 1855-Apr. 16, '57 Frederick P. Stanton 2 " ( 78 " ) Apr. 16, 1857-Dec. 21, '57 James W. Denver 1 " ( 23 " ) Dec. 21, 1857-May 12, '58 Hugh S. Walsh 4(5?) " (177 " ) July 3, 1858-June 16, '60 George M. Beebe 2 " (131 " ) Sept. 11, 1860-Feb. 9, '61

STATE GOVERNORS

Charles Robinson Republican 1861-1863 Thomas Carney " 1863-1865 Samuel J. Crawford " 1865-1869 N. Green (to fill vacancy) " 1869 (3 months) James M. Harvey " 1869-1873 Thomas A. Osborn " 1873-1877 George T. Anthony " 1877-1879 John P. St John " 1879-1883 George W. Glick Democrat 1883-1885 John A. Martin Republican 1885-1889 Lyman U. Humphrey " 1889-1893 Lorenzo D. Lewelling Populist 1893-1895 Edmund N. Morrill Republican 1895-1897 John W. Leedy Democrat-Populist 1897-1899 W. E. Stanley Republican 1899-1903 Willis J. Bailey " 1903-1905 Edward W. Hoch " 1905-1909 Walter R. Stubbs " 1909-

AUTHORITIES.--Consult for physiographic descriptions general works on the United States, exploration, surveys, &c., also paper by George I. Adams in American Geographical Society, _Bulletin_ 34 (1902), pp. 89-104. On climate see U.S. Department of Agriculture, _Kansas Climate and Crop Service_ (monthly, since 1887). On soil and agriculture, see _Biennial Reports_ (Topeka, 1877 seq.) of the State Board of Agriculture; _Experiment Station Bulletin_ of the Kansas Agricultural College (Manhattan); and statistics in the United States _Statistical Abstract_ (annual, Washington), and Federal Census reports. On manufactures see Federal Census reports; Kansas Bureau of Labor and Industry, _Annual Report_ (1885 seq.); Kansas Inspector of Coal Mines, _Annual Report_ (1887 seq.). On administration consult the _State of Kansas Blue Book_ (Topeka, periodical), and reports of the various state officers (Treasurer, annual, then biennial since 1877-1878; Board of Trustees of State Charities and Corrections, biennial, 1877-1878 seq.; State Board of Health, founded 1885, annual, then biennial reports since 1901-1902; Bureau of Labor Statistics, founded 1885, annual reports; Irrigation Commission, organized 1895, annual reports, &c.). On taxation see _Report and Bill of the State Tax Commission, created_ 1901 (Topeka, 1901). On the history of the state, see A. T. Andreas, _History of Kansas_ (Chicago, 1883; compiled mainly by J. C. Hebbard); D. W. Wilder's _Annals of Kansas_ (Topeka, 1875 and later), indispensable for reference; L. W. Spring's _Kansas_ (Boston, 1885, in the American Commonwealth Series); Charles Robinson, _The Kansas Conflict_ (New York, 1892); Eli Thayer, _The Kansas Crusade_ (New York, 1889); the _Proceedings of the Kansas State Historical Society_ (Topeka, 1891 seq.), full of the most valuable material; W. E. Connelley, _Kansas Territorial Governors_ (Topeka, 1900); W. E. Miller, _The Peopling of Kansas_ (Columbus, O., 1906), a doctoral dissertation of Columbia University; and for the controversy touching John Brown, G. W. Brown's _The Truth at Last, Reminiscences of Old John Brown_ (Rockford, Ill., 1880), and W. E. Connelley, _An Appeal to the Record ... Refuting ... Things Written for ... Charles Robinson and G. W. Brown_ (Topeka, 1903). W. C. Webb's _Republican Election Methods in Kansas, General Election of 1892, and Legislative Investigations_ (Topeka, 1893) may also be mentioned.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For the thirty years 1877-1906 the mean rainfall for ten-year periods was: at Dodge, 22.8 in., 18.4 in. and 22.7 in.; and at Lawrence, 35.1 in., 39.2 in. and 36.7 in. for the first, second and third periods respectively.

[2] All subsequent figures in this paragraph for manufactures in 1900 are given for establishments under the "factory system" only, so as to be comparable with statistics for 1905, which do not include minor establishments.

[3] According to the state census Kansas had in 1905 a total population of 1,544,968; nearly 28% lived in cities of 2500 or more inhabitants; 13 cities had more than 10,000 inhabitants: Kansas City (67,614). Topeka (37,641), Wichita (31,110), Leavenworth (20,934), Atchison (18,159), Pittsburg (15,012), Coffeyville (13,196), Fort Scott (12,248), Parsons (11,720), Lawrence (11,708), Hutchinson (11,215), Independence (11,206), and Iola (10,287). Other cities of above 5000 inhabitants each were: Chanute (9704), Emporia (8974), Winfield (7845), Salina (7829), Ottawa (7727), Arkansas City (7634), Newton (6601), Galena (6449), Argentine (6053), Junction City (5264) and Cherryvale (5089).

[4] The English Bill was not a bribe to the degree that it has usually been considered to be, inasmuch as it "reduced the grant of land demanded by the Lecompton Ordinance from 23,500,000 acres to 3,500,000 acres, and offered only the normal cession to new states." But this grant of 3,500,000 acres was conditioned on the acceptance of the Lecompton Constitution, and Congress made no promise of any grant if that Constitution were not adopted. The bill was introduced by William Hayden English (1822-1896), a Democratic representative in Congress in 1853-1861 (see Frank H. Hodder, "Some Aspects of the English Bill for the Admission of Kansas," in _Annual Report of the American Historical Association_ for the Year 1906, i. 201-210).

[5] Terms of actual service in Kansas, not period of commissions. The appointment was for four years. Reeder was removed, all the others resigned.

[6] Secretaries of the Territory who served as governors in the interims of gubernatorial terms or when the governor was absent from the Territory. In the case of H. S. Walsh several dates cannot be fixed with exactness.

KANSAS CITY, a city and the county-seat of Wyandotte county, Kansas, U.S.A., on the W. bank of the Missouri River, at the mouth of the Kansas, altitude about 800 ft. It is separated from its greater neighbour, Kansas City, Missouri, only by the state line, and is the largest city in the state. Pop. (1890), 38,315; (1900), 51,418, of whom 6,377 were foreign-born and 6509 were negroes; (1910 census) 82,331. It is served by the Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Chicago Great Western railways, and by electric lines connecting with Leavenworth and with Kansas City, Missouri. There are several bridges across the Kansas river. The city covers the low, level bottom-land at the junction of the two rivers, and spreads over the surrounding highlands to the W., the principal residential district. Its plan is regular. The first effective steps toward a city park and boulevard system were taken in 1907, when a board of park commissioners, consisting of three members, was appointed by the mayor. The city has been divided into the South Park District and the North Park District, and at the close of 1908 there were 10 m. of boulevards and parks aggregating 160 acres. A massive steel and concrete toll viaduct, about 1(3/4) m. in length, extends from the bluffs of Kansas City, Kan., across the Kansas valley to the bluffs of Kansas City, Mo., and is used by pedestrians, vehicles and street cars. There is a fine public library building given by Andrew Carnegie. The charities of the city are co-ordinated through the associated charities. Among charitable state-aided institutions are the St Margaret's hospital (Roman Catholic), Bethany hospital (Methodist), a children's home (1893), and, for negroes, the Douglass hospital training school for nurses (1898)--the last the largest private charity of the state. The medical department of the Kansas state university, the other departments of which are in Lawrence, is in Kansas City; and among the other educational institutions of the city are the Western university and industrial school (a co-educational school for negroes), the Kansas City Baptist theological seminary (1902), and the Kansas City university (Methodist Protestant, 1896), which had 454 students in 1908-1909 and comprises Mather college (for liberal arts), Wilson high school (preparatory), a school of elocution and oratory (in Kansas City, Mo.), a Normal School, Kansas City Hahnemann Medical College (in Kansas City, Mo.), and a school of theology. The city is the seat of the Kansas (State) school for the blind. Kansas City is one of the largest cities in the country without a drinking saloon. Industrially the city is important for its stockyards and its meat-packing interests. With the exception of Chicago, it is the largest livestock market in the United States. The product-value of the city's factories in 1905 was $96,473,050; 93.5% consisting of the product of the wholesale slaughtering and meat-packing houses. Especially in the South-west markets Kansas City has an advantage over Chicago, St Louis, and other large packing centres (except St Joseph), not only in freights, but in its situation among the "corn and beef" states; it shares also the extraordinary railway facilities of Kansas City, Missouri. There are various important manufactures, such as soap and candles, subsidiary to the packing industry; and the city has large flour mills, railway and machine shops, and foundries. A large cotton-mill, producing coarse fabrics, was opened in 1907. Natural gas derived from the Kansas fields became available for lighting and heating, and crude oil for fuel, in 1906.