The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-03-11
THE EAST AND WEST.
It is a Condition, Not ., Theory
that COnfronts Us.
LIVING ON BORROWED MONEY
There is No Conflict Between the East and the
West-The Situation
Outlined

Senator j. ]. ingalls,, of Kansas, in re.
cent newspaper article took occasion to al
Jude to state of enmity and conflict of in
terest which, he says, exists between the
east and west. With all due respect to the
distinguished gentleman and humility or
the part Of the writer the latter would like
to call attention to a view of the case
slightly different from that apparently heli
by the soon-to be ex-senator
AS to the Farmers Alliahce-which be
evidently thinks may exist as factor il
national politics for longer period thar
perhaps a couple of years-the widely di-
vergent aims and purposes of the several
branches in different localities and thai
universal element in human nature, selfish
ness, give abundant assurance that, like the
knights OF Labor and other ponderous class
organizations, it will fall apart of its OWL
weight, shortly after it enjoys its first taste
of power
The region embraced between the Mis-
slssippl river and the Pacific has during the
last twenty years, developed faster than
any section of any country in the history
OF nations. Cities have spring, almost by
magic, into existence. Kansas City,
Omaha, Minneapolis, ST Paul, Wichita,
Denver, Los Angeles, Tacoma, Seattle and
Salt Lake city has each in turn excited the
wonder OF almost the whole world while
countless smaller towns have doomed and
absorbed millions upon millions of money.
Railroads have gridiroued this section, and
In one way and another an incalcucable
amount on wealth has been expended.
But has it been expended altogether in
the right direction! Certainly all this de-
velopment and improvement has been very
hne so long as it was going forward. So
lar as the west is concerned the condition
has been precisly similar to the flush times
during the war, when the nation plunged
into debt of billions of dollars, and When
every lota OF prosperity was draft drawn
on the future and bearing interest
so long as money flowed west in an in
creasing stream from the eastern states and
from Europe, so long the west Toasted
on the plums that it was buying on credit
and which must all be paid for by and by.
There is but one source of the prodution of
actual wealth in the west and that is, in one
way or another, from the ground No one
will assert that the material advancement
OF the west, that is, the development of its
agriculture, its cattle and sheep interests,
and It's mines, have kept anything like pace
with the building of its cities, it's railroads,
It's public improvements and general eXpen-
ditures of like character
The vast increase of wealth, so Wanted
by westerners in general, has been almost
altogether, or at any rate in large part, a
fancled enhancement in the values of prop
erty which existed before, and that en-
hancement has been caused solely by the
placing upon it, or in its neighborhood, of
hnllilnpS and imnPnunmnntc mold for VIII III,
eastern money.
In very little may it be said to be sound
development, or an increase of actual wealth
produced in the west.
AS type of the results Of such boom,
Kansas furnishes a good illustration, and
she probably is in worse condition to-day
than any Of the other western states, with
the possible exception of Iowa.
When the Corbin banking company, many
years ago, began loaning in Kansas, from
Upper cent. to Is per cent. could easily be
realized on farm loans. The farmer then,
his land worth say SIS per acre, got loan
of one-third the value of his property and
as time went on he realized perhaps enough
from the farm to live upon and pay his
interest, but the maturity of his loan found
him without funds to meet it. What did
he do! Suffer foreclosure? Oh! no. His
land on account of the ''boom," had In
creased in value to $50 an acre, so he got a
new loan at one third the new valuation
and everything went smoothly till that
mortgage became due. But that time of
course came at last and found hInf without
money to meet his obligation. His land at
this time, although 1t had produced no
more than a bare living for himself ane
family, had increased in fancied worth so
that he could easily secure new loan at a
valuation OF $50 to the acre, with which he
settled the old debt and tloated along, hop
ing that something, he hardly knew what.
would traDSplre to help him at his next
time of need.
This was very good while it lasted and
the money sent from the east was scattered
about pretty freely, but what did it mean /?
1t meant that Kansas was living on Dor
rowed money and the debt was increasing
to enormous proportions. Land cannot
however, go on doubling in value forever
as the Kansans have found to their surprise
and sorrow. Settling day has come ana
the mortgage ridden tillers of the soil are
casting about in desperation for some means
OF renewing themselves of the incubus
which is crowdlng them under water.
This is an old story. 1t has been told be-
fore and why will not the people take to
heart the lesson that it teaches? To a
greater or less degree it has been, in one
way or another, the case with nearly all
western states and territories and is still
continuing. They have gone on and are
going OF. piling up debt in city and country
with verS small thought of the future, but
1t is beginning to be seen that, for some
reason or other, things are not as they
should be and remedy, through silver les
islation, is sought.
The true remedy and the only remedy con
sists of doing few things that nave been
slightly neglected
Mr.. ingalls,, in his paper on the conflict
between east and west suggests in vague
sort OF way that there is an antipathy and
hatred between the two sections and as
usual lays the cause at the doors of the
millionaire. He apparently feels hurt be-
cause the east in the course of two hundred
and fifty years of substantial progress
shrewd management and rigid economy.
has amassed greater weasah than the west
in fifty years of growth, pretty well di
luted with boom and bombast, has sue
ceeded in accommodating
1t Is we'll to speak the truth and look
these matters in the face The trouble Ia
that the west has developed too fast in one
direction and two slowly in another and
generally speaking, westerners have over.
the future.
Three or four years ago it was deemed
economy for the Kansas farmer to mort
gage his property whether his actual ne
CessitieS demanded it or not 1t was plaus
IDLY shown that money borrowed at per
cent could be made to earn from * per
cent to 20 per cent, and he could pocket
the difference. But settling time has come
and now the poor fools who were deluded
into plastering their homes with mortgages
find that they have overstepped the mark:
ruin stares them in the face, and in des
peration, born of their Town unconfessed
folly, they turn to reputation for way
out of what appears to be no thoroughfare.
and charge their ultimate condition to a
scarcity of money.
There is plenty of money to-day locked
up in New York, Boston and the other
money centres, but the trouble is that they
have, and with ample reason, lost conf,
dence in a large part of the west. They