The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-09-24
FINANCIAL
INTERESTS FOR
ROOSEVELT

Ig.- =-E ##Ha
The large convention Of bankers
from all parts OF the country which
has been in session III New York City
has emphasized one fact more than ii
could have been done in any other way
namely, that the financial interests OF
the country are almost unanimous for
the election of Theodore Roosevelt and
the continuance of 2 Republican adj
ministration. Columns of interviews
have been printed with these bankers.
and whether from the commercial cit
les of the East or from the agricultu-
| raj towns of the West, whether from
| the North or from the South, nine out
of every ten ia been in V of
standing pat on our present policies
and principles. Ii is very natural that
the bankers as we'll as other CONNER
cial professional men should each
take a pride in their own section of the
country. and Yet perhaps with more
enthusiasm coming from the great
West than from the conservative men
of the East. In this connection b
expression of Mr.. ]. X. Wilson. presi-
dent Of the San Francisco National
Bank. will be most interesting Speak
ing OF the conditions of California in
particular, and of the great West in
general. Mr.. Wilson prefaces his re
marks with the following:
while the East has its feast,
And the South q full mouth.
And the North may bring forth.
Yet the West is the best"
Mr.. Wilson then had the following
to say concerning the one great need
that is now apparent in our Western
countries.
The West abounds in everything
Except people This deficit is causing
no anxiety. The population is increas-
ing more rapidly than in the remain
der Of the country. There was a gain
OF nearly l per cent. in the nine States
and Territories known as the West
between 1880 and 1900. against a gain
of a little over 20 per cen in the re-
mainder OF the country. There are no
available figures Of gain since 1900.
but there are good reasons for believ-
ing hat the increase for the past four
years has been proportionately greater
than it was in the previous ten
This is no new cry. For years it
has seemed as if it was almost i'm
possible. particularly during the sea-
son OF crop gathering to obtain sufIi-
Gent labor to properly conduct our
great harvests. Three dollars a day
and keep is DC unusUal price TO be of.
fered the capable man, with employ
for several months during the
summe and autumn OF each year. But
this great cry of the West for help is
also being echoed now in the South,
an increased demand for intel
ligenr labor is constantly being made
because of the growing manufacturing
interests in the several States and be-
cause of the increase in values of ag-
products.
The fact of h matter is that it is
the wage Garner in all parts of the
country who is reaping the greatest
benefit from our present prosperity.
1t is not SO much a rapid increase
in wages is it is more full employ
and lesser hours of labor. which
gives to the wage Garner fully two
lours u day more for comfort and do
4iSsN- \ AAtSll I. Az NE1FS 4
lalf a century ago. It is not more
han about twenty years ago that one
If Il greatest divincs. Henry Ward
3eecher, in supporting for President
Grover Cleveland, said that Z dol
ar a day was enough for amy laboring
nan TO earn and spend. And yet the
lverage wages received by our social
ID labOring mar to-day viii average
considerable owe 50 q day. while So
day for even unskilled labor is not
exceptional. Our skilled iaborers are
as high as ST and 50 a day,
many of them only working eight
II nine hours at that. This enables
laboring men not only 10 enjoy
necessities Of life, but also acquire
omfortS and c~onveniences not known
generation ago. These men are able
O their own homes. 10 educate
heir children and to live far better
han was dreamed OF by our fathers.
such is the b~cneficent result OF d pro-
ective tariff, which enables our peo-
lie to do their own work and TO
cap the rewards OF their labor to be
~:Xpended among our own people
to accumulate each year a pur-