The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-22
THE PROSPEROUS WEST.


Washington Letter in Boston Transcript
The Washington correspondents who have
recently returned from "the irrigation trip
through the West. bring back glowing ac-
counts Of the prosperous conditions which
prevail in that section. After making all
due allowance for the booming tenden-
cies Of the Western people, one may feel
sure that the present outlook is remark
ably bright. and that the recent depres-
sion in the stock market has not reflected
real conditions in the heart of the Repub-
lie.
1T is doubtful If the people Of the East"
said one of the party to-day, have any
conception of what is going west of the
Mississippi. In five weeks journey
through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah,
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Indian Ter
ritory, l heard not one dissenting voice
from the universal acclaim of prosperity.
l talked with men in all walks in life from
the farm hand to the bank president Tray
cling men said they could not get goods
to their customers fast enough. Farmers
said crops were bountiful, and prices all
that could be wished. Railroad men said
their only trouble was to handle the enor-
nous volume of traffic. Manufacturers said
their only difficulty was in getting the adj
| ditions to their plants completed so they
could catch up with their orders. The
warehouse men had no more room in their
elevators; the bankers had vaults filled wi tn
deposits and a ready demand for money;
contractors and builders had work in sight
for year ahead: even the cattle in the
fields and the horses IN the streets looked
sleek. The mortgage on the farm has been
paid off, and the farmer has money to loan.
Industrials are making money and railroads
are paying dividends. The earth has been
! prolific; buying, selling, carrying, building,
developing, all are going forward with a
hum of industry that can almost be heard.
| Confidence is strong and faith in the future
| is firm.
Talk about Wall street makes the West
ern man laugh. A banker and a cattle
shipper remarked that there was a time,
not many years ago. when situation like
| the present one in New York would have
| shaken the industrial West to it's founda-
! lions. But now the values in which Wall
| street deals seem largely remote and apart
| from the real business of the country.
| Western activities and money are at home.
| Their business is real. Their crops are in
sight Their money is in the bank, or in
vested in local industries. farms. cattle
voirs and business blocks. These values
| do not shrink in a day, and not mat
| tiers of sentiment or speculation.
Nothing short of disastrous crop failure
can check the present prosperity. The
/ farmer now is not in the condition of 1893
when he was carrying heavy mortgage
and had to borrow from month to month
and year TO year to harvest and move his
/ crops. To-day ne is intrenched behind a
| farm which is paid for, and a bank account
! which is ample, to say nothing of the wheat
| in his barns and the cattle I'm his fields
| The farmer Is prepared to stand off the
! wolf a long siege, and so long as he Is
| prosperous the rest of the country will dc
very well. 1t is the farm, and not Wall
| street, which supports the country.
There is almost the same unanimity in
| the West in politics. Everything west OF
the Mississippi river, until one gets south
into Indian Territory and Texas is FOL
| Roosevelt. Sentiment is unanimous as
10 be almost m0notonous. IL there Is any
| Democratic party there il is like the re-
mains of prehistoric anifnals-merely sug.
gestive OF something which ceased to be q
for the West. Present conditions are goos
enough. The West is counting no changes
nor discussing politics or remedies. The
1 discovered in Missouri, and IL was the din
ner which Booker t. Washington took a
the White House.
Even the Bryan following is a negligi
| BILE quantity. / did not find as much BryaI
sentiment as 1 expected. The issues which
| brought him to the front, and the condition.
which gave weight TO his appeal 10 discon
tent. are swallowed up in the Overwhelming
flood of prosperity. The chances for
Democratic victory are attenuated anc
4 even the attempt OF the gold bugs TO recap
ture the party does not arouse the ranl
and file TO resistance. IL viii take new
issues, new conditions, and new leaders {,
divide the solid Republicanism Of til,
! West