As the new year dawned, the Hub continued to play down the severity of the economic storm. Early in January of 1894, editor Brown noted, the county poor committee had found but forty-three families in destitute circumstances in Kearney. "No more than usual at this time of year," he observed. However, to assist the county poor committee, the Hub opened a room to receive donations of clothing and made an appeal, to the local stores to donate "remnants, out of style, unsaleable goods." The stores quickly made it known their stocks were low because of "stringency in money affairs," and people were buying the cheaper goods, leaving little as a surplus. In the meantime, the W.C.T.U. continued the weekly distribution day and, at meetings in mid-January, the county supervisors approved expenditures by the poor committee of $841.98. The supervisors estimated that the poor committee would need a budget of $6,000 in the coming year.
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Apparently the conviction was growing that the several relief activities in Kearney should be coordinated to make them more effective. The Kearney city council decided in January to meet with representatives of private charitable groups to see what could be done toward this end. A seven member Board of Associated Charities was organized the 29th of January with Charles Collard, head of the county poor committee as president and Ed B. Finch the secretary- treasurer. The other five members were: Mrs. Dr. Hull, Mrs. C. T. Weldin, Mrs. W. T. Scott, Mrs. Robert LaFontaine and G. H. Cutting of the city council. Plans were also initiated to raise funds for the Board by producing the play, H.M.S. Pinafore. The Knights of Pythias contributed to the cause by canceling their 30th Anniversary celebration and donating the money saved to the poor.
Operating from a room in the basement of the Hamilton Loan and Trust Company building, the Board adopted a "straight forward and business-like procedure" for looking after "the health and comfort of the poor." A record was to be kept of all donations and disbursements and a list made of all the needy families in Kearney. Applicants for aid were to give their name, occupation, and the size and condition of the family. A follow-up investigation would then be made to verify the claim. No able-bodied man who refused available work was to receive any assistance. Distribution day would continue to be Thursday. The W.C.T.U. was seemingly providing soup for destitute ladies on that day, using ingredients donated by the local bakers and butchers.
Fifty-eight families were assisted by the Board of Charities in their first week of activity and a "conglomerated mass of humanity seldom seen in this part of the country" gathered on the first distribution Thursday in February. The members of the Board were soon overwhelmed by work and sought volunteers so that the city might be divided into districts in which to gather supplies and carry out investigations of applicants for aid. A further appeal was made to the generosity of the public to help care for the "poor and destitute." Two performances of H.M.S. Pinafore at the Opera House late in February gave the Board a boost by raising $250 for charity.
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| James O'Kane. City Councilman
active in developing relief programs. |
Dredge enlarging the Kearney Canal. |
Kearney's unemployed might have to accept relief, but, as able-bodied men they preferred work to charity. There was no certainty in their minds that spring would bring a demand for labor and an end to the need for temporary relief measures. Labor supported proposals for a program of public works quickly undertaken. Such an answer, however, ran counter to the feeling that public expenditures should be reduced when business activity and private income was on the decline. The new city council in April of 1894 would echo this refrain. On the other hand, local business and working men could agree that something had to be done to stimulate the local economy and to restore sound growth. Chastened by the collapse of Kearney's boom earlier and the current national depression, Kearneyites sought stability and renewed confidence rather than glowing promises of rapid, untrammeled expansion. The boomer spirit had fallen on hard times.
Early in February the laboring men took the initiative at a meeting so well attended that it had to be moved from the Bricklayer's Hall to the Journal Hall. A lengthy discussion ended with the adoption of resolutions calling upon the city council to order an election upon whether or not to bond the city for the installation of a storm sewer and paving on Central Avenue between 18th and 28th streets.
An alternative solution was offered by the editor of the Hub. Brown, recalling the elaborate process bonding entailed, proposed the planting of trees in the city. A state law permitted cities to levy a fee of one to five dollars upon property owners for trees planted by the city. There would be no need for bonds, he said, nor a tax increase, and men could be put to work quickly. A day later the editor expanded his idea by suggesting that a small bond issue be submitted to the public to bring irrigation water to the city from the Kearney canal. Rhapsodic phrases in support of his "shade and water" scheme spilled from his pen, describing the benefits to trees, lawns, gardens, orchards, cows, pigs and poultry.
Yet another proposal was made at this time. A petition circulated the 9th of February called upon the mayor and city council to order an election so that voters might consider a city bond issue of $60,000 to aid the George W. Frank Improvement Company to deepen 'and widen the Kearney canal. For its part, the company would provide the city with irrigation water for its principal streets and thirty arc lights for a period of twenty years. Most, if not all, of the labor on the project was to be drawn from Kearney and Buffalo County. When this proposal was developed or by whom is not known, the Franks denied knowledge of the "alleged petition." It is difficult to believe that the petition was not "inspired" by interested parties. Too, George W. Frank later said they had wished to improve the canal themselves, but, when the panic of 1893 struck, were not able to finance it. No doubt they saw in the present circumstances a chance to realize their object.
While not dispensing with his own pet project, M. A. Brown immediately jumped on the new band wagon. The working men, too, having had little luck with their plan, gave the whole of their attention to the canal project at a meeting the 13th of February. The only question in their mind appeared to be about the manner of implementing the new scheme and not whether this was the right course to take. Both Augustus Frank II and George W. Frank, Sr. addressed the workmen. George Frank was certain "this movement would restore confidence in our water power" and launch Kearney on a new wave of prosperity. The Kearney Board of Trade gave its approval to the canal bonds and recommended that, if possible, the canal be extended "to a point north of the city as originally intended." The agitation in support of the canal development emphasized the benefits to be derived in terms of men employed, a business revival, increased property values, and the stimulus to manufacturing to result from a dependable water power system. The city would pull itself out of the "slough of depression", the Hub declared.
We will not trace here the difficult path the canal bond proposal traveled to win approval. There was much general concern about protecting the city's interests and assuring work for Kearney and Buffalo County labor. The city council, recalling its unfortunate experience with the bonds for the Kearney and Black Hills railroad, refused to be rushed into precipitate action. Nonetheless, presented with the resolutions from the Kearney workmen and a petition to hold the election containing seven hundred sixty-nine signatures, the council adopted two ordinances. The first called for an election the lst of April upon a $60,000 bond issue for canal improvement and the second, a separate $15,000 bond issue for city improvement bonds "to aid in the completion of the sewerage and water supply system."
Workmen, fearing that they could not remain in Kearney "unless some way is at once provided to furnish labor for those in need of it," must have become increasingly concerned as the weeks went by. We can only surmise that hope for better times and continued relief activities kept the wolf away from the door. The Board of Associated Charities won the approval of the Hub, which said "more work has been done and much better results realized than ever before." Still, it was expected their activities would cease when spring came "and people find work." There are no reports in the Hub of distress among the farmers of the county as there will be a year hence, nor does the state government indicate any concern at conditions at this time.
Just before the April election the Hub urged supporters of the two bond issues to get out and vote, even though there appeared to be little opposition to the proposals. In a special appeal for the city improvement bonds, Brown declared they "will provide almost immediate employment for laboring men which is the great consideration at present. The editor's judgment proved correct. The official canvass of the vote showed the canal bonds winning by a margin of 1,096 to 118 and the city improvement bonds were approved, 914 to 184.
The distribution center was
located in the Hamilton Loan
and Trust Company buildingSuccess at the polls was not to result in scores of men in the city and county going to work. Weeks went by with no progress being made and the news, when it came, was bad. The third week in May the city improvement bonds were ruled invalid, proper procedures not having been followed in preparing for the election. The canal bonds, for their part, were delayed by the state auditor, who would not register them until a new contract was drawn between the city and the canal company. With this obstacle out of the way, some work was begun on the canal, although the bonds had not yet been offered for sale. About 250 men sought employment the 21st of May, with 20 to 25 given jobs. Work would continue throughout the summer despite the fact it was September before the bonds were sold.
Almost immediately there were complaints that non-local men were being employed on the project and that local single men were hired, while married men with families languished jobless. Too, it was charged that politics dictated the hiring of some individuals. Men from other counties, hearing of the work, were coming to Kearney and efforts were made to inform them that local labor came first. It was even rumored that some of the Coxey industrials in Denver were heading toward the city. The first week in June it was reported that "over sixty men and twenty teams" were employed on the canal.
Direct evidence of the demand for relief or what, if anything, was done to meet it during the summer months is lacking. There is reason to believe that conditions were such that the number of persons in need declined only slightly. General economic conditions in the nation, the state and county worsened in these months. The expenditures of the county poor committee remained at a high level and city officials, when called upon to provide supplies to several western industrial "armies" that passed through the area, grumbled they had barely enough resources to take care of their own people. Indeed, with the near total crop failure brought on by the drought and hot winds of 1894, the situation facing the people of Buffalo County and Nebraska was certain to be much more severe than that during the winter past. Destitution, want and despair would be their sure companions in the winter of 1894-1895.
The main sources consulted were: the Kearney Daily Hub, the Kearney Times; Minutes of the Buffalo County Board of Supervisors, the Kearney City Council, and the W.C.T.U.; the Laws of Nebraska for 1891 and 1895; Messages of the Governor for 1891, 1893 and 1895; Reports of the Nebraska State Relief Commission for 1891-1892 and 1895; S. C. Bassett, History of Buffalo County, Vol. 1; and Hattie Plum Williams, "Historical Outline of Public Welfare in Nebraska," Nebraska Blue Book, 1938.
Proofed read 10-03
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