The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-10
..rHE WEST IN THE SADDLE, .

The Boston Herald says that the west
is in the saddle. The drift of recent
congressional legislation proves in an
unmistakable manner, it says, the ire
mendous political ascendency that the
west now possesses in our national af-
fairs When compared with that which
can be exercised by the east 1t thinks
that the proceedings of the eastern
members of congress. when questions
affecting their section have come up,
have not tended TO encourage in the
minds Of the dwellers in the west a
lively or profound regard for the dis
interestedness and public spirit of their
eastern fellow citizens. The Herald
believes the day is not so far distant
when the west, judging by the ad-
vances it has made in recent years, win
demand, and, possibly, succeed in OBJ
tanning, an export bounty upon agri-
cultural exports. 1t closes its article
as follows:
The senators and representative in
congress from the east would have op-
posed these western demands within
the party lines if they had had the
II. The west is in the saddle, and the
only means by which eastern Repub-
lean congressman could prevent GER
tain tariff monstrosities, which they
privately admit to exist, was by join
ing with the Democrats and defeating
the bill. This they had not the courage
10 do, and yet there are any number
Of Republicans in the New England
AID middle states who would much
have preferred this action to the silent
acquiescence in what they believe to
be a bad measure in itself, and all the
more bad because il is the precursor
Of worse measures in the future.
The vest has tasted blood. and those
in the west who have been taught TO
believe that il is the function of con-
gress, by direct interference, to make
the business of the country prosperous
are convinced that their time has come
TO secure for themselves, in one way or
another, those special favors which
they think have hitherto gone to the
east AID enabled it to build up its -
dustries at the expense of less favored
sections. As it is said TO be darkest
before the dawn, so it is 10y no means
improbable that the tariff law soon
to be enacted marks a turning point
in the economic as we'll as the political
history of our country; that hundreds
of thousands of eastern Republicans
who have hitherto been unqualified
supporters OF the cause of protection
will soon realize that whatever its
practical or even theoretic value may
be to certain classes of interests, the
application of the theory on national
scale, for the purpose of meeting the
demands of everyone, involves such a
great interference with business ard
such a tremendous loss that it is
better To fOreEO its advantages by
adopting the poilcy that congress st-an
simply raise money required for the
public expenditures and let each in
Civ.dual citizen make the most that
he can out CT the employment of his
time, energy and capital. It is by the
aCD-itlcn of some such policy as this.
end IN iihes way alone. that we shall
prevent IN the next few years the pas
sac Of laws Calling FOR the expenditure
bt the United States treasury and the
american people of hundreds of mil
lions Of dollars annually to make the
agricultural interests Of the west more
probable tt3ln they would be under
ordinary conditions.
N7heteve- the west may nave thought
&C the disintereseedness and cua5lic
spirit Of the cas- in the matter of high
tariff duties in the -ast, ii has corne to
the conclusion that that disinterested- /
rese always conceded with the direo.
interests Of the east, whether By coin
cidence CT design does not matter /
has discovered that while the cas-, fat
tened on q high tariff, made exclusively
in its interest, it lauguished 1t has also
discovered that fl was being MIXED for
the benefit Of the east. And now, hav-
ing the power, it is putting in practice
the preeepts that the east taughf it
we're bae another name for patriotism. I
# the west has tasted blood it first got |
ii from the fatted calf that was killed
for the benefit of the east. and if it is I
i. the saddle it was the east that se+ /
the pace. It was the east that created
the Frankenstein Of protection, and If /
now il is terrorized by ii, il has no one /
to blame but itself. The west being in
Ire saddle. even the east must admire (
its riding