The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1889-06-19

One Is the Location of tho Speaker Whom
He Uses the ExpressIon The Ideal, the
Real and the 'wId wooily"-An Inci-
dent In Buena vIsta's Early Days.
When Horace Greeley said SEQ west
young man, go westl" he should have ex-
planned how far west he meant. He should
have said whether he meant west of Chicago
or merely west Of New York, for 1.-THE west"
Is merely relative term, and place that in
some localities is spoken of as ''the west, in
other portions of America is mentioned as
''back east I"
In Boston and New York even Chicago is
thought of and spoken Of as ''the vest while
In Colorado every small town in Indiana
every hamlet in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas or
Wisconsin Is mentioned as back east.
So the terms "out vest and back east"
are, after all, merely relative and mean only
50 much or so little of the real east or west as
may enter into the conception of certain
localities Nevertheless there are distinctive
sectional characteristics belonging to each
There Is an ideal west, real west, cultured
west. and, alas and alack-a-day, "too, too
utterly wild, woolly west!
THE IDEAL AND REAL
The ideal west is ''the land of the free and
the home OF the brave.n 1t is redeemed, re-
generated and disenthralled from the "out-
worm creeds Of materialistic and often
corrupt civilization. 1t is not afraid TO say
that its soul Is its own lest it Should lose a
dime or risk the loss of dollar. 1t has no
exaggerated ideas in regard to the value of
money. 1t has "old fashioned" notions Of
propriety and has no foolish affectations
fondly supposed to be $50 English, you
knaow." 1t has strength without brutality,
dignity without pomposity, sympathy with
out 'sgush," and discriminating hospitality
that never fails to render shonor to whom
honor is DUE The ideal west has liberty
without license, conformity without servility,
ambition without small trickery, and mag
nificent enterprise that means devotion to
noble uses
This is the ideal west and it is fair as the
moon, bright as the sun. and to all forms Of
''genteel ignorance" it Is indeed terrible as an
army with banners, for it has "frankncss
In saying what others only think
The real west differs from the ideal and is
open to the same objection advanced by Mr..
Howells' young lady who refused her lover
because he was "too much of mixture. u
The real west Is like a merchants "job lot,
where twenty-five cents will buy an article
worth fifty cents or one worth only ten cents,
according to tho discrimination OF the buyer.
There is a modified west where certain land
marks enable one to fesl that he has got out
OF the wilderness of utter chaos Reasonable
concessions to long established and widely nc
copied customs take away the ''strangel-ln-u-
strange-landn feeling incident to the totally
unaccustomed and one Is given "leavc to be-
that discloses in a very short time the nature
and extent of his possibilities and limitations.
The cultured west Is the ideal west and is
perhaps dream Of Utopia, since it has both
vigor and elegance, both law and liberty,
power without tyranny, and an independ-
ence whose most eager and joyous manifesto
ton Is to succor the weak and comfort the
faint hearted and lend hand to help every
beneficent influence