a graduated income tax; a strict enforcement of the laws prohibiting the importation of foreign labor under the contract system; ownership by the people of all means of transportation and communication; the election of all officers of the national government by a direct vote of the people; the repeal of all laws that bear unequally on capital and labor; the amendment of the tariff laws so that all import duties on articles that enter into American manufactures should be removed, and that duties be levied on articles of luxury, but not high enough to prevent their importation; the education of the masses by a well regulated system of free schools; no renewal of patents at the expiration of the period for which they were originally granted.
A resolution was also adopted by the national wheel pledging the members to support no man for Congress “of any political party, who will not pledge himself in writing to use all his influence for the formation of these demands into laws.”
At a meeting of the national wheel at Meridian, Miss., in Dec., 1888, it was recommended that the organization unite with the Farmers' Alliance. A joint meeting of delegates belonging to the two organizations was held at Birmingham, Ala., May 15, 1889, and the two orders were consolidated on Sept. 24, following.
Agriculture.—In a general sense agriculture in Kansas was commenced in 1825, when the government by a treaty made with the Kansas Indians agreed to supply them with cattle, hogs and agricultural implements, but literally history of agriculture begins with the Quiviran Indians who were tilling the soil more than two centuries earlier, when Don Juan de Onate (q. v.) tarried with them on his journey from New Mexico.
John B. Dunbar, in an article on “The White Man's Foot in Kansas,” speaks of the pleasant effect the country of the Quivirans had upon Onate. As contrasted with the arid regions of New Mexico and northern Mexico it seemed to him a veritable land of promise, “The frequent streams, the wide prairies, pleasantly diversified with gently rolling hills and admirably adapted to cultivation, the rich soil, spontaneously afforded a variegated growth of grass, flowering plants, and native fruits, nuts, Indian potatoes, etc., that added much to the attractiveness of the entire region.” The Quivirans, “in cultivating the soil, worshipped the planet, Venus, known as Hopirikuts, the Great Star, recognized by them as the patron of agriculture, as did in later days their descendants, the Pawnees. Sometimes, after planting their corn patches to secure a good crop, they offered the captive girl as a sacrifice to Hopirikuts. As time passed many of the tribe came to look upon this usage with disfavor, and finally, in 1819, by the interference of Pitalesharu, a young brave of well known character as a man of recognized prowess as war chief, the usage was finally discontinued.”
It is not said that the Kansas Indians received their suggestion of husbandry from the remote Quivirans but they were the next farmers
