Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/428

KANSAS. operation in January, 1861. An amendment may be proposed in either House, and must receive a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each, and then be submitted to the electors of the State and be approved by a majority of the electors voting. Not more than three propositions to amend can be submitted at the same election, and they must be voted upon separately. If demanded by two-thirds of the members elected to each House, the question of calling a constitutional convention must be voted on by the people at the next general election, and if approved by a majority of the electors voting, the Legislature shall provide for the convening of such a convention. A residence of six months in the State and thirty days in the township or ward is required for the exercise of the ballot. Legislative.—The Constitution places a maximum limit of 125 to the number of Representatives, and of 40 to the number of Senators. The former are elected for two and the latter for four years. Each county has at least one Representative. Members of both Houses receive $3 per day of actual service at the sessions of the Legislature, and mileage in addition; but the per diem receipts cannot exceed $150 for a regular session, or $90 for a special session. The Governor's veto may be overcome by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each House. A bill becomes a law if not returned within three days, the Legislature meets on the second Tuesday of January of odd years. The House impeaches and the Senate acts as the court for the trial of impeachments. Executive.—A Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney-General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction are elected for terms of two years. The Lieutenant-Governor, president of the Senate pro tempore, and Speaker of the House, are in line of succession to the Governorship in case of vacancy. The Governor may call extraordinary sessions of the Legislature, and he exercises the usual pardoning power. Judicial.—The Supreme Court consists of seven elected justices, who serve for terms of six years and are privileged to sit separately in two divisions. A district judge is elected for a term of four years in each of five judicial districts, and a clerk of the district court is elected for two years in each county. A judge of probate court is elected in each county every two years. Not less than two justices of the peace are elected in each township for terms of two years. The capital of the State is Topeka. Local Government.—Counties cannot be created or modified so as to have less than 432 square miles, and the county-seat cannot be changed without the consent of a majority of the electors. Such county officers as the Legislature shall provide for hold office two years, except the county commissioners, whose term of office is three years. The township officers, except justices of the peace, hold office one year. Township elections are held on the first Tuesday of April. Kansas has eight Representatives in the Lower House of Congress.

. From 1861 to 1871 a large public debt was created, due to the extraordinary war expenses and also to the difficulty of collecting taxes. In 1865 the debt was $517,000, and in 1870, $1,403,000. In the latter year a movement for reduction of expenditures and increase of taxation began, and the financial condition was improved. Since 1880 the policy of the State has been to purchase its bonds for the various permanent funds and so reduce its net indebtedness. In 1890 the total bonded debt was $803,000, out of which only $256,000 was held by private parties, the rest being represented in the various State funds. In 1900 there were no bonds held against the State. In 1873 for the first time there was a balance in the Treasury. Even in the last decade of the nineteenth century (1897-1900) the disbursements often overran the receipts. The budget is considerable and is growing. The warrants against the State Treasury are stamped and form a 7 per cent. interest-bearing floating debt, but due to the good credit of the State circulate at par.

At the end of the fiscal year 1901 the debt of the State was $632,000, all of which was held by the school fund. The receipts of the Treasury were $3,693,945, of which almost 50 per cent. was derived from a general property tax, 5¼ mills, and 40 per cent. represented the income of the various school and university funds, derived from interest on bonds, sale and rent of public lands, etc. The disbursements were $3,627,000, of which 50 per cent. was for general purposes, and 50 per cent. for school purposes.

. The population by decades is as follows: 1860, 107,206; 1870, 364,399; 1880, 996,096; 1890, 1,427,096; 1900, 1,470,495. In the last decade of the century the State fell from 19 to 22 in rank. The gain in that decade amounted to only 2 per cent., as compared with 20.7 per cent. for the United States. The State contributed largely to the settlement of the adjoining Territory of Oklahoma and also to the Indian Territory, and this is not a little responsible for the smallness of the increase. The largest absolute gain was made in the decade 1870-80. In 1880-90 there was also a heavy gain—the result of the enormous ‘boom’ which visited the trans-Missouri region in the latter half of the decade, in consequence of which there was a great influx of population and capital for investment. Kansas being centrally situated and one of the last of the Mississippi Valley States to be settled, the population is more representative of every part of the country than of most of the other Western States, this condition being especially accentuated in the early period of settlement, owing to the slavery struggle—both the North and the South having attempted to secure control of the field. Kansas contrasts with the other Mississippi Valley States farther north also in the smallness of the foreign-born population, which amounted in 1900 to only 126,685. Owing to its aridity, the western third of the State is very sparsely inhabited. For the whole of the State there is an average of 18 inhabitants to the square mile. There are no large centres of population, and the percentage of urban population is consequently small. In 1900 the 25 places which exceeded 4000 in population contained 19.2 of the total population. However, the increase made in the last decade of the century was wholly urban. Cities.—The following was the population of the largest cities for the year 1900: Kansas City, Kan., 51,418; Topeka, 33,608; Wichita, 24,671; Leavenworth, 20,735: Atchison, 15,722.

. The Methodists are the largest religious body in the State, having more than twice the membership of any other Protestant denomination. Among the large number of other sects represented, the most important are the