The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-09-17
THE EAST AND WEST.
Balance Of Power In Politics
and Commerce.
THE TWO SECTIONS COMPARED.

Gain OF the Transmississippi States
In Political Power and Their
Growth In Industrial Influence.
balance of the Two Great Geo
graphical Sections and Its Meaning.
There are twenty states and four ter
ritorles west of the Mississippi river.
not including Alaska and Hawaii
They contain 65 per cent Of our area
on this continent. says the worlds
Work for September. This area holds
81 per cent Of our population. whose
representatives cast A. per eeBt Of the
votes in the senate and 80 per cent Of
the votes in the house. Ii has % per
cent Of tie property value Of az the
states as assessed Tor TAXATION
Eighteen per cent Of the capital Ia
vested in honle manufactures Is with
il this territory ana L produces a
value 20 per cent ee the manufactured
products it tae whole COUNTRY - 80
ditIon to this the west produces s. pee
cent 81 the tosal agricultural products
Of the United States from FARMS REPRE-
sentlng 81 per eear az ras letal sagAt
values.
Growth has been 50 rapid taar il9 Es3
decades II has eanse,1 tie eeBtee 81
population Is move fr0rl 0Als u las1.
ana, the center ef farm Tasass sren1
eastern Indiana t. Western tsE1aQss am
the center Of farming aral eranl aass
ern Illinois to central Missouri Twen
~ years ago the center q sne sEane-
featuring industry was IA weStsrn
Pennsylvania. Today i s ia central
Ohio. The center of the farm income
of the United States now rests on the
Mississippi river. and while land val-
ues have declined ia New England they
have increased-by more than leo per
cent in the west
| Politically the west has always had
an influence tlisproportionate 70 It's pop
uIation, because every state has two
senators and a member Of the house
regardless of population. Notwlth-
standing this misrepresentation t.
start with the growth OF the political
power Of the west has been very rapid
In 1880. when the senate had but sew
enty-six members. the west cast 81 per
cent of the total votes At the present
time, when the senate has ninety mem
bers, the west has IS per cent Of the
votes. No new senators can be added
from the eastern states. Should the
territories become states, as Trey will
In the natural order Of events. the
west will have practically as large a
senatorial vote as the east.
/ In the house the situation Is differ
ent, for the population governs repre-
sentation The gain OF western power
In the house seems slow. but il is fal
from being d negligible quantity III
1880 of the 325 members Of the house
"a per cent were from the west Iii thC
| present house, with its 1886 members
the west has 30 per cent The east i,
making great strides in population. and
for many years to come. possibly fol-
all time, the east Will retain control d
the house But the control Of the sen
ate by the west is probably a mere
| matter Of time
With only 81 per cent of the popula
ton the west may therefore be said Il
hold today an equal division Of politi
cal power with the east. The west
practically controls the senate; til,
east controls the house. No harm has
come to the east from this division Of
political power with the west, bu
much good. National politics has beer
broadened thereby, ana conservatism
has been Ieayened with energy unit
national policies present a healthy and
| vigorous character
The growth Of the west has hitherto
been based chiefly upon mining, agri
culture and stock raising. The output
OF minerals was never greater thun il
b now, nor We're prospects ever sureI
that 1t will Increase. The agricultural
product OF the west is half the product
Of the whole country, and the east
looks to II to supply the food defcien
cies Of q future time when denser pop
ulatiou win demand the products from
a greater area Even now the wesi
supplies the great surplus Of food
stuffs which enter into foreign trade
and constitute the bulk Of American
exports Colorado leads Ia the produc
ton Of minerals, yet her farms nov
produce an even greater total of values
than her mines. Twenty years ago irri
cation was tnconsiderable; today 5000,