THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.

crown. The history of those early struggles was most ably written by the wife of our first state governor, Mrs. Charles Robinson. Vivid are the pictures she presents of the midnight ride, the attacks of the Indians, wolves, and of fell famine; the burning of the prairies with perhaps the little shanty itself, and most of the earthly belongings of its occupants. These things, and many greater than these, which brave women experienced without flinching, or yielding their purpose to make Kansas free, show the fortitude and heroic spirit of the pioneer Kansas woman. When “ home they brought her warrior dead, she nor swooned nor uttered sigh.” Silently, quietly, she took up the duty that came nearest to her, caring for the home, nursing the sick, scrap­ing lint and making bandages, yet in the midst of all cares, at all times, she gave the impetus which kept brave men from wavering.

Thus, when Kansas became a state, the strong sentiment which possessed each soul was that of patriotism and freedom. These were the principles which the first Kansas teachers, who were also women, sought to instill into the minds of their pupils.

Is it remarkable that Kansas children, born of such mothers, and instructed by such teachers, should feel that they live for a purpose, and .that their mission is to promote in every way possible, the welfare of Kansas and mankind?

After the war the influx of immigration added great numbers to the already accli­mated New Englander, and brought the hospitable, genial-hearted Southerner, the energetic New Yorker, and the staunch, sturdy people from the North and West. These additions to our population had the effect of making the state thoroughly cosmopol­itan.

We entertain every difference of opinion and belief. We are orthodox and hetero­dox, suffragists and anti-suffragists, temperance and anti-temperance, Christians, agnostics, and theosophists.

The result of all this comingling of forces is to rub down the rough edges of eccen­tricities and pet hobbies, and to teach a wholesome respect for the opinion of other people, and to give a capacity to perceive that they may be right and we ourselves be wrong. This process is now going on.

The church apd missionary associations are largely the work of women, and the fact that today there are about three thousand church organizations in Kansas, and over two hundred and fifty thousand church members, shows how zealous and devoted has been the labor in that direction.

The number of moral and social reforms and charitable institutions which these same women have established—non-sectarian in character—proves how little there is of religious bigotry and intolerance, and gives the secret of the marvelous growth of the churches in our progressive state; for the motto under which the women work is: “ In things essential, unity; things doubtful, liberty; and in all things, charity.”

The temperance workers feel that their labors are nearly ended since the prohibi­tion amendment has been added to the constitution, and prohibition has become a law.

Women who came into all the dangers and privations of a new territory came to help make Kansas not only a free state, but a free woman’s state. These were aided by the best talent of the East, wdio canvassed the territory, that when Kansas should become a state the same privileges shouldbe accorded to women as to men in the laws which were to govern both. Though they were unsuccessful, their efforts have given us the most favorable laws regarding the rights and property of women of any state in the Union, except perhaps Wyoming.

The Woman’s Club is a living, breathing, influencing institution in Kansas. Else­where it is a great power, but with us it is an inspiration. There are reasons for this. Kansas is yet young—only thirty-two years old—and, although making rapid strides in many directions, she is as yet almost destitute of the fine art galleries, vast libraries and opportunities for intellectual research which are only acquired by wealth and age. Some years ago when the Chautauqua movement was started it was seized upon by Kansas women as a vital opportunity which should not be lost. They became also