The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-02-02
Some OF his Views on the New
sie alseiao West. aai'a .lod o 81 4
HIS IDEA OF THE MoRMoNs.
They Have Some Virtues-The Ed
munds Bill Criticized-The Des-
us tiny of California fihi
Leland STANFORD Intsrviemed J..

Aoienu otSHtoru interviewed.
CINCINNATI, February Ia local
paper has long and interesting inter
view with Leland Stanford under the
Washington date, in which facts about
the Pacific Railways and the Pacific
slope are discussed. In answer to a
question as to whether the building of
several railroads to the Pacific Ocean
affected the Central Pacific passen-
ger and general ans-continental bus
mess, the Governor said: Yes,
very much, indeed; business across the
continent does not give US much con-
Germ. The Central Pacific has become
a California railroad in the main. For
some little while we did pretty much
the whole business across the country.
All was subject, however, to the COM
petition OF the steamship route by Pan
anna. Now there ara to the Pacific
Ocean, the Southern Pacific, Atlantic q
Pacific, Northern Pacific and Canadian
Pacific. These are at least four other
railroads dividing the business. The
Atlantic & Pacific has its agents in San
Francisco soliciting through business
on the same terms with ourselves. You
take train to or from California and
you will be. apt to find good many
empty seats, where some years ago
trains ran evenly full" -
The reporter asked: '"'Mr. Stanford,
what is your idea of the Mormon ques-
tion?' -
The Mormons have served useful
purpose in this country, and they have
their virtues. II have talked with
John Taylor, their president, and some
of their leading men, and l told them
that theywould have to get rid of polyg-
amy; that it was against the prejudices
of our people and their example, and
we were all persuaded that one wife
was all that one man could afford to
supports. and yet, while l sympathized
for their frugality and hardships, they
must stop this practice, lest some in
Jury overtake them. The Edmunds
bill bears hard upon families which
have existed in the past Here is a
Mormon with two or three families and
he must goto Jail If he lives in polyg-
amy, whereas public opinion of his
own community considers him a
coward if he abandons either of his
families. L do not think they are
making polygamouss marriages out
there and there should have been con-
sideration made for the old families
already established; but this matter
becomes largest at a distance. In my
opinion, polygamy viii die out if left to
natural causes"
Governor, is the destiny of San
Francisco and California as apparent
now as it seemed to you twenty years
ago? 2" 1..i
II think it is. San Francisco has about
300, 600 inhabitants. That is an exceed
ingly large city for the. time, the
Americans have possessed it. Califor-
MAS growth has been steady and COM
pared to most other places remarkable.
The agriculture of the country is COM
ing forward and the soil much surpasses
the best in the old States. The mining
development of the State is not as
sporific as it was, but it is very large.
The gold yield aggregates well. / have
owned some mines and IN one OF them
we make profitable thing when we get
81 of metal out of ton OF the quartz.
Indeed, quartz mining is prob
ably in better condition in
California than it has been for good
while.r The great interest of the new
west, excepting California and Utah,
is, first the mines and next cattle. Now
in California we probably find more
than 125, 900 persons engaged in agricul-
ture, and that is larger proportion
than anywhere west of the Rocky
Mountains, possibly excepting Utah
Hence, the mining interest is important
to be supported. That is why upon the
silver question am for the continued
coinage of silver. There is no sufficient
reason in good morals or political
economy to discontinue it at the
expense of the industry engaged
in it. Suppose We had been
coming $25, 000, 900 of silver per annum
for years before our civil war, and it
had been discussed among our people;
do you suppose that there would have
been such depreciation Of currency as
happened with paperP Il might have.
been disparaged somewhat, bat as a
large proportion of the world has always
used 1T and always will, the depreciait
ton Would have been comparatively
small. In the Pacific States we main
currency during the D war; 1but if
tie silver at the expense of gold
public tradition would haye repudiated
US. We manufactured in the rest of
the country paper and put the govern
ment stamp on it, and il sunk in value
until it was not worth half the promise
on It's face. If silver was deprecated
20 per cent. it still should have a much
greater buying power than the green
backs gave u.s. Therefore, I say that if
you coin silver and let it remain among
the people of your country, as it gener-
ally will, you are provided ii the time
of panic or battle with money that will
not depreciate beyond certain point.
= Should there not be more grains put
in our silver coins, if they seem to,have
deprecated 81.
Yes, there ought to be enough more
grains put in to diminish the tendency
Of exchanges to make profit by buy
ing silver at one price and putting 1t on
the people at another
{ Referring to naval matters. Crawford
said: There is a single vessel on the
Pacific Ocean, Esnleralda, belong
ing to- Chill, which could stand
outside of San Francisco at Seal
Rock; and force the City to
be surrendered. 1t seems to NE to be
most unwise for our people to lay them
selves open to such contingencies, when
very small amounts of money would
supply US with ships to protect these