The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-23
WoLC0TT DEFENDS THE WEST
RESENTS THE INSINUATION THAT
SUVERITES ARE CRANKS.

tremcs-AliEnmcntO of the West ana
south Against the East IA New FeR-
ture of SectiOnRItsm.
New York, Dec 22-The ninety-second
festival of the New England Society of the
City of New York was held at Delmonico's
tonight, 400 members Of the society and
their friends, including many distin-
guished men, We're present.
The tables were devoid of decorations,
except for the miniature pyramids Of yell
low doughnuts and rosy red Baldwin ap-
of Delmonico's were thronged with New
Englanders, representing every one of the
states so designated.
An hour was spent in social intercourse,
and although the dinner was set for $50,
it was o'clock when the guests seated
themselves at the tables.
Among those who sat at the guest of
honor table were: ]. Pierrepont Morgan,
Joseph II. Choate, Gen. Wesley Merritt,
James Whitcomb Riley, Richard Oluey,
Senator Edward o. Wolcott, Rev. DR.. Ly
man Abbott, Gov. Frank s. Black, Sena-
ator George F. Hoar, Prof. Charles L. FL
lott, Gen. Nelson A. Miles and Mayor
William l.. Strong.
The dinner was made up of good old
New England dishes, and during it's dis
cussion a quartette, assisted by the great
er portion of those present, sang popular
airs.
The speeches began at 10 o'clock. and
Rev. DIR. Lyman Abbott responded to the
toast "Forefathers' Day"
After Dr. Abbott, Gov. Black was intro
duced and responded to the toast The
State of New York"
Senator Edward O.oNolcott of Colorado
received hearty applause when he arose
to respond to the toast The East and the
West"
Senator George f. Hoar OF Massachu-
sets responded to the toast THE Bradford
Manuscript and It's Gracious Return"
Mr.. Wolcott began with humorous ref
erence to the political resignation with
which the exiles from New England bore
their banishments; then spoke of an al
legged desire of the Canadian government
to acquire the state of Maine and portions
of New Hampshire and Vermont in ex
change for territory in Western Canada.
Serious thought on the subject of possi-
Bile cession of part of New England, Mr..
Wolcott said, brought a retaliation of
what it would mean to this people to face
of a hair the contour Of these states or
the sacrifice of a chip of its native granite,
however, barren"
He continued: mot only does this SEN
timent pervade the land, but we seem at
times to be developing an inclination to in
vite some other country to differ with us
i'm order that we may demonstrate our
united aggressiveness.
In certain directions our domestic diff
ferences are crystalizing and not disinte-
grating. For more than a generation we
have waited for the day when parties
would divide solely on national questions.
and when the old sectional issues growing
out Of the war and the race problem
would be buried. The time came. The
parties met on broad, economic question,
and, To- we emerged from the contest
threatened with another bitter sectional
division. The far west largely the child
of the east ana pulsing with its blood,
joins hands with the south The new
alignment Is not only debtor against cred
itor class against class but in land per-
vaded with equal devotion to what it's
people believe the truest welfare of the
whole country great majorities in one
section face equally great majorities in
another.
1.-THE west is not decadent; its views are
of men virile, Industrious and genuine.
and their beliefs are honest They would
scorn any sort of evasion Of an obigati ton.
They are patriotic men. There is i'm the
whole far west hardly a northerner born
who was old enough to go 10 the war
whom you Will not see on Decoration day
wearing proudly the badge of his old
corps. They are Americans; to a propor-
ton greater, far greater than in the east,
native born American citizens. The views
they cherish are held with practical una
nimity.
so universal a feeling as that which
pervades the great west cannot be all
wrong. You cannot dispose of a conyic-
tion held by millions Of intelligent people
by calling ii a craze, and some day you
may find 1t worth your while to look for
the truth where II b. usually hidden
somewhere between extremes
Somehow It is not really recognized in
the west that ability to reOrganize a west
ern railroad and swell It's stock and se-
curities several millions every time il Is
foreclosed necessarily indicates an equal
aDlNty to determine the Wisest economic
policy for the farmer who lives along the
right of way And men who would no
more dream Of entrusting their banker
win the duty of formulating their finan-
cial views than they would Of entrusting
the man Of whom they bought a shotgun
with the command of the armies of their
country, are naturally inclined to fear that
in this part OF the moral vineyard there
is a tendency to assume that the possess
sion oI great wealth means necessarily the
possession OF great wisdom.
1T is only a few years ago that New
England was uncommon proud of that
west which her sons had so largely peopled
and her resources, lavishly Vcntured. had
done so much TO develop. Perhaps, they
are only supersensitive westerners who
fancy they see in certain quarters a sub
tie change, an inclination to criticisc. an
inability to find much to commend and a
tendency to look still further to the east
ward for methods and ideals fit TO follow
1 hope it Is all a mistake. Contentment
cannot come to this land by sections. and
1t can never come except under conditions
which bear equally on the whole people.
Only the other day a cabinet officer came
over here to enlighten one Of your great
commercial bodies and with a gifted Chi
cago imagination quoted Walt
Whitman, told you how our
fathers, when George the Third was king.
dashed the cup from their lips, a prece-
dent, am glad to see, has not been fol-
lowed at this dinner and talked about
Obstruction at Washington, having refer
ence 10 the Senate. It Is a rather new use
of the term to call man who does not
vote as you want him an obstructlonist
and in the last hundred years the balance