The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-21
AMERICANISM DOES 1T.

| time. it is only fair to say that Amer
canism is the active agency in foster
! ing that progress It is American push,
| American enterprise, American admin.
vance that is manifest on every hand.
When the word went all over the Union
on the night OF ,he municipal election
in this city in November, 1905, that the
American party had wrested thc gov
ernment Of this city from ecclesiastical
bigotry and progress crushing mossback-
ism. the eyes Of the enterprising people
all over the country turned to Sait
LIKE. People saw in this city a splcn-
did opportunity 20 locate, TO bring IN
their money. 10 develop and increase the
Importance OF the city, and to forward
it in its splendid metropolitan career.
Accordingly, the rush began, and 1t
has continued ever since. With the
triumph Of the American party in the
municipal election of 1907 the conf
dence of the country in the release of
lDf tllN AlbN lUf VI -
clesiasticism was confirmed. and the
rush came on stronger than ever. Popu-
lation flowed in by thousands, aud
capital by ten thousands. The result
is an unprecedented growth of the city
in popuIa ton, in wealth, in push, in am.
bition. and in accomplishment.
In order to realize that II is Ameri.
canism that has done all this, one has
but 10 think for one moment whether
anything OF this kind could have been
possible under the old PARALYSIS of &c
clesiasticsl control. where no public i'm.
proycmcnts were going on. where every
thing was held at q standstill, where
the efficacy Of sewers and Of sani.
tatiou were questioned. and where no
one was willing TO improve his prop
erty because the city did nothing IN
the way OF bcttcrmcnts or improve
ments. Think, in this connection, Of
the solid eight, four Republican aud
four " Democratic councilmcn, all dc.
voted churchmen. under the orders Of
the pricstly rulers. holding everything
at standstill here for the two years
Of the last term Of the Republican ad-
ministration of Ezra Thompson prior 10
the organization Of the American party.
Think Of that sort of thing. union of
supposed political antagonists, but
church brethren, made and carried out,
paralvzing all effort for progress for
two years. simply al the dictation of
the priests and to the defeat Of all
efforts of the administration. which had
nominally eleven councilmcn at its back
but. as a matter Of fact. had but seven
counciImen when it came TO the test.
And so it was always under church rule
whenever there was an effort towards
progress and growth. Every resident
OF the city can recall of his own mem
ory the drcary round of failure TO
get on with any public work OF to ad.
vance the city in any way. And so
every one knows that such a splendid
advance as is now manifest under
American administration would have
been an iridcscent dream, absolutely
impossible of accomplishment, and
would have been denounced as imprac-
tical theorizing by those then in con
troll
But with the advent of the American
administration, public improvements
took on magnificent proportions the
streets were paved, sidewalks built, the
sewer system perfected. and the city
IS made a delight 10 the eye and a JOY
10 every resident Building proceeds
at rate never before dreamed Of. and
the magnificcnce of some Of the build
ngs is only equsled by the extent Of
building generally, and especially Of
places of residence. These places take
on all forms Of modern civilized life,
of conveniences. Of luxury, Of comfort
able accessories. such as even kings in
! past generations were not able TO pro
cure for themselves,
The building activity has naturally
made building rivalry The Newhouse
, blocks on South Main street have slim
ulated building activity in other parts
of the city. The trend Of the business
| center naturally gravitates 10 where the
best and newest buildings are located.
! Therefore, the center Of gravity of bus.
| mess has tended 10 shift south on Main
street by reason Of the Ncwhouse build.
ings, the Judge building, the Federal
building. and other structures IN that
! locality. The owners Of property north
on Main street naturally take notice
and begin TO improve i'll order TO make
a counterba aance to the great advances
on South Main street And so when
Mr.. Newhouse puts his big hotel pro
iect in form. gets il incorpora ted, and
work actually begun, the church takes
up its long-discussed and always de
ferred project Of putting up a big struc
ture on the northeast corner OF Main
and South Temple streets. the old
Deseret News Office and tithng yard.
Desultory talk has been had for good
many years Of putting up great build