Evening star., 1902-08-12
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Becoming Conservative in
Politics. and Business.
NEW LEADERS WANTED
ALL ARE FoK PRESIDENT RoosE-
'svELT.
81 E.s
Think, However, He Should Have Put
the Screws ON and Passed Cuban
Reciprocity Bill.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

special correspondence of The Evening Star
CHICAGO, August o. 1902.
Inc mississippi valley west is becoming
intensely conservative both in politics and
In business. It Is necessary to distinguish
somewhat from the west, as 1t Is under
STOOD on the Atlantic coast, and the ur-
oerstanolng OF the same term on the Pa
CHIC On the other side OF the Rockies they
now count Illinois and Wisconsin as be-
longing 10 the east A compromise is the
Mlssissippf valley west as I heard it
called recently
While this conservatism is noticeable
there Is also to be seen the confident feel
ing that the dominating influence political
~ Is In this region. A machine politician
OIL great influence was talking about the
presiaentlal nomination 1T doesn't make
any diHerence,' he said, whether Platt
and quay mean it or not when they prom
ised New York and Pennsylvania to Roose-
settles it,"
tIdue ana industrial matters. At lunch at
Ihe Union League Club the other day |
heard half dozen western financiers speak
Sharply OF the recklessness Of eastern finan-
ciers. trust companies and reorganiZations
were thefr theme. They shook their heads
ana SAID that If collapse did come it
Wouiu De through the zeal and greed of
eastern syndicates in pushing legitimate
enterprise beyond its bounds.
A Financier's Statement.
Yet these western financiers are not
afraid of the immediate prospect The
mead OF one of the ultra-conservative banks
told me that he had been watching the
crops with grave anxiety for weeks, but
now felt that the danger of crisis was
Tha coll hn
salo, usually comes in midsummer. Some
OF us nave felt that this would be the par
llcuiar midsummer when we should be
ready to hang out the danger signal but
we won't have to do it. The farmer is
gong TO be as prosperous this fall as at
any time during the last five years Tha,
means that legitimate enterprises can go
ahead and get the money they need. We
nave doubled our capital stock in this hank
cnleny to accommodate our own customers
Ihose OF them who a few years ago would
esoo ee ent,tied na to- to borrow 100000 want
safe In letting them have it."
Another Illustration of the vests grow
ing confidence in Itself was given me last
@ week IN ST. Louis railway contra ctor
VINO was building lines through the south
west, said that two years ago he came to
st Louis to promote "a little project"
which required $3,OooDoO He had no idea
OF getung the monty there but wanted
help in bringing 1t to the attention of ca St
ern capitalists. The St. Louis capitalists.
when satisfied that he had a good thing
quietly advanced the money, and since
then nave financed propositions involving
s1O,000,000 But in ST Louis. as in Chi.
cago, there Is distrust Of too much push
ing by eastern financial concerns / heard
the same talk of. recklessness that I had
heard in Chicago.
These commercial and financial condI
tions have their natural bearing on poll
tics. Though no one cares to stop for half
an hours chat on that subject, they are all
reflected In the conservatism which is
shown.
No Clear Idea of Next Issue.
In two weeks trip 1 have found no one
who had a clear idea of what the next
Issue will be. Anti-imperialism, in SO far
as 1t means attack on what has been
done in the Philippines. or what is going
to be done. certainly Is dead. The people
OF the west are content with the situation,
however. Several democratic politician
told me that six months ago they thought
they could make something out of that
topic. but now their chief concern is to
hold in check their own campaign orators
who do not grasp the trend Of public senti-
ment.
Trusts have more vitality, yet It is diff
cult to see Just where clear political issue
Is going to be drawn. The farmers are not
having their usual quarrel with the rail-
road companies. 1t may be that the rail-
roads have grown wiser and are now CIV
q
what is his own by conceding fair freight
rates. He Is not now IN a mood to find
fault with anybody. He is getting high
prices for everything.
Doubts might arise whether labor is get
ting its share. but these doubts. too, are
dssipated in the midst Of conditions which
give work at good wages to everybody who
wants 1t. In spite OF the high price of liv-
content as the farmer. The superintendent
of cotton mill few miles out Of Chicago
told me that for the last eighteen months
they had been unable to get all the labor
they needed and were still looking around
for good factory hands. He said to his
own knowledge this was true OF the other
manufacturing companies, and he believed
1t was universal
In the midst of such widespread prosperi-
ty It Is not surprising that no industrial
issue at present has much force in politics,
vet 1t would be most unwise to assume that
on this account no issue can be raised. The
feeling as / have found 1t, and this feeling
Is quite general, Is one OF vague apprehen-
sion lest in the future the trusts prove
Themselves too powerful and too concentrat-
ed for the good OF the country. The first
lean year, when the drought causes the
crops to fail, or when overproduction or
falling Off in export trade cuts down the
wages of the men in the workshops, then
the trusts Will be live issue. It Is the
fear Of the future rather than the dread OF
the present that keeps this vague feeling of
apprehension alive,
One Source Of the Presidents Strength.
One source of President RooseyeIt's
strength with the masses, aside from his
rough rider personality. appears to be ap-
proval of his action In beginning legal pro-
ceedings to determine what the powers of
the general government are In the view of
the courts in regulatag the railway and
other combina tions oIo mergers. Whether
these proceedings succeed or not, the act
that they have been begun helps to satisfy
lowed to become too powerful without test
ing the power OF the government to curb
and regulate theHa.s ad
In the search for political issues I have
growing idea that while there are no dis
tinct party issues conditions within the re-
publican party should give some forebod-
ings to It's reactionarye leaders. The west.
the Mississippi valley sWest. Is not going to
rrust tha deunocraticL party. That is ns,,ito