The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-12
William Allen Cooper
BY SAVOYARp.

that all-too-rare public character-a
man with opinions which he will not
surrender.
Henry Allen CJoper was born in
Wisconsin in 1880, and after a coll
legiate course in the Northwestern
university, he studied law and was
graduated from a law school in Chi
cago, after which he entered upon the
practice al Racine, his present home
He was three times elected district at
torney, after which he was state SEN
ator, and in 1892 he was returned to
the Fifty-third congress as a RepubIi-
can. and has been seven times re-elect-
ed. He was the first and only chair
man of the committee on insular af-
fairs, council made necessary when
we bought some millions of Orientals
to civiliZe and fetch up in the way
that they should go.
Cooper distinguished himself his first
session. Though a minority member.
Republican in d Democratic con-
gress, it is scarce too much to say that
Cooper's speech against the funding
bill asked by the Pacific railroads was
more potential for the defeat of that
measure than any other. He was a
pioneer of the noble guild of octopus
voted empires of land and millions of
cash loans to the Pacific railroads. that
were constructed on the credit mobilier
plan, Jay Gould got possession of them
and made money out of them: but
when Thurman and Edmunds chased
the octopus, Gould withdrew, and the
roads were acquired by that Boston
set who caused Wall street to stand
aghast in admiration and envy. With
the earnings they constructed parallel
/ lines and diverted traffic to these lat
! ter. Now they were before congress to
extend the government loan for eighty
years at per cent. That was the
! thing Cooper did so much to defeat
Since then the government has col
| lected the entire debt.
| But the roads swore 1t was ruin
alton. Yet they paid all those millions
into the treasury without financial en-
! barrassment and their properties are
among the most valuable of Mr. Harri-
mans entire holdings
| In 1896 the Republican national con
! vention was guilty of the stupendou.
/ folly of preferring William McKinley
| to Thomas b. Reed as the candidat,
| for president, and we had as seouenc,
the far from glorious war with Spain
/ anu the sequence OF Lnal was our &C
| QUESTION of the Philippine archipelago
another superlative folly that the Re
| publican party has the impudence I,
| lay on Almighty God. Cooper addeC
| UNNECESSARILY to his reputation as
| forensic debater by his speech on tn,
Philippine question. Hoar of Massachu
sets and Carmack of Tennessee haC
| opposed the governments policy il
speeches In the Senate that rank Will
! the finest specimens of parliamentar,
eloquence in our history. and Coope
gave US the other side.
Nobody in congress has ever pretend
ed to give the one tenable reason 70
the presence of the American flag il
! the orient-the British alliance and tn
| federation of the English-speaking PEG
pies. That would insure the peace an,
| security of all who speak our tongu
and make for the tranquility of tn
/ world But here is the Republics
party, that was born TO free the negrc
going half way around the world (
ensIave millions of orientals. 1t claim