The herald., 1894-11-19
THE VOICE OF THE WEST.

to discuss the distinctive interests oil the
great west. and to give utterance to the
matured convictions of its people. The
place chosen for the meeting OF the
mississippi congress this year is
st. Louis. the most eastern in spirit as
we'll as in location of all the great cities
in tho territory included in the call.
The exact date fixed for the gathering is
the %: III OF November.
This congress has usually been held
during the winter or spring. that it's
utterances might 60 before the national
congress then ia session. Members of
the senate and the house are made ex-
ofiicio active memb bers OF the congress,
and special effort has usually been made
to secure large attendance OF these rep
resentatives of the people OF the states.
1t has developed, however, in the last
two congresses that this plan could not
be relied upon to work successfully, and
that very few memb bsrs of the national
congress could manage to attend the
trxnsmississipi gathering. The date has
therefore been moved forward several
months. At the St. Louis convention it
may be expected that large number of
senators and representatives of the west
ern states will be in attendance.
The prospect is that the coming con-
gross will be one OF the most important
gatherings ever held in the west. A
large number of prominent and active
hau Eod in fa
tion to be there, and some very enter
tanning discussion may be expected.
Meeting generally in the far west and
in the midst OF the mining section, the
| congress has been disposed during the
past three years to give most OF its time
10 the silver question.
The St. Louis congress, however. is
likely to devote itself to number OF
other matters OF transmississipp inter
est, giving to silver lis proper share OF
the time and no more.
There are two matters to come before
the congress, which are OF vital imports
ance to the people OF Los Angeles and
Southern California.
There is fair possibility, as the HER
AID has already stated to it's readers,
that the coming session of the national
congress will devote some attention to
the Nicaragus canal project. The
friends of the plan for the construction
Of this great work under government
control are hopeful that, as other i'm.
portant q uestions like the tariff and the
currency are for the time laid aside,
there will be opportunity for the con-
sideration OF this matter. which bears go
strongly on the commercial interests of
the whole country. On this subject the
transmississippi congress, speaking for
all the great west-for the wheat grow
ere OF Kansas and Nebraska stihed for
free markets, for the languishing mining
interests of Colorado, Montana and New
Mexico. for the orange and prune and
raisin growers of California, for the
lumber OF Washington, the sugar plant-
era of Louisiana, the farmers of Okla
homa Rnd the -four millers of Mime.
sofa. Speaking for all these. the trans
mississippi congress should give forth no
uncertain sound on the subject OF the
Nicaragua canal. We believe it may
be depended upon to do its
duty, or to make it clear to the
powers OF the government ct Washington
that the people Of the west are in earn
est upon this point-that this great i'm
provement is an absolute necessity to
heir development. " hile, at the same
time, it is an advantage and boon to
world.
There is, however, another mater on
which the congress may fail to take ac
tion unless its attention ia drawn to the
need for an expression of it's views, and
should the case be wrongly presented,
al it may be under the sinister influence
Of powerful and unscrupulous agency,
the congress may be led into a serious
and unfortunate error. We refer to the
question OF deep water harbor for Los
Angeles. 1t is truly a matter of gener al
trane mississippi interest. and would
appropriately come within the pufview
of the deliberations of this body. II
has received the attention of two of
these congresses slready-once at Car.
scn City, where halfway resolutions,
from which the business end had been
deity extracted by professional rail-
way lobbyist. were passed, and again
at San Francisco where an emphatic,
ringing declaration in favor OF San
Pedro as against any attempt to sell out
the peoples right to free harbor was
passed. The arm OF the Southern
Pacific is long and reaches quickly from
one side of the country to another. Let
every approach be guarded. The
friends OF free harbor should keep
their eyes on the transmississippi con-
gress, and ward off any attempt OF the
California monopoly to secure by blind.
folding the congress to the true issue.
the effective support OF that ir fl f1entiaI
body. Thus far it has been a telling
circumstance against the monopoly and
its scheme OF aggrandizng the people 9
rights, that it has been entirely with ont
.svNular expression in support of it's
C-dse. All attempts in that direction
made in this city and vicinity have been
thwarted, and the lobbyists Of the road,
even to Mr.. Huntington himself, are
left without a scintils OF evidence to
support their claim that the people
de 3ira the narhov OF Santa Mnpico Tf