El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-26
WASHINGTON, D. c.. Aug. 20
~ IL. aaa .-n,1nI sassinn nF the

the leading commercial VI . anna I4O4AS
OF the world. and during the nearly
quarter OF a century of its existence
has been one of the great Factors IN
the unparalleled development Of the
great region lying west of the Father
of Waters.
promises to be one of the most notable
in its history. The matters which VIII
come up for consideration are among
the foremost questions of the day First
among these will be the See America
First movement The west claims
that it can match any scenery that any
other country in the world has TO OF
fer, and then have something to spare,
and when it has a runnerup like the
east there IS no reason why any Amer
lean needs cross the Atlantic or the
Pacific to see things that are oeauu-
full, magnificent and sublime.
Scenic Wonder.
There are the snOwcapped mountains
that rival in grandeur the HlmalayaS
and the Andes There are lakes as
beautiful as those of Switzerland, VAL
leys more charming than that OF the
Nile, forests more wonderful than those
Of Germany, glaciers more magnifi-
cent than those of the Alps, water
falls, canyons, geysers,.f landscapes.
farming scenes, people, that can equal
or surpass anything the world has to
offer. The TranSmiSSiSSippi CONNER
cial congress feels that patriotism
should impel every traveller to &
about the beauties and charms of his
the rest of the world.
President Hill. of the Great North
ern, son of the =. Underworking en-
pire builder of the northwest, will ad-
dress the congress upon the subject Of
Seeing America First The congress
feels that it is time for this move
ment to be given an impetus Every
year tens of thousands Of Americans
are travelling abroad. guiding there
golden stream of wealth mounting far
into the hundreds of millions of dol
10 Dc h = = -
beggarly few of the 10000 wonders
of their own country That money
spent at home, contend the See Amert-
ca firsters" would give them more
pleasure, and at the same time would
quicken every wheel of industry here.
If people and Institutions are what the
traveller wants to see, surely VIe peo-
pie OF Italy cannot be more different
from those of New York than are the
indians of the western plains, the Eng
lish peasant more different from the
sturdy New Highlander than the natives
of southern New Mexico and Arizona
Good Roads Crusade.
Another problem that will be con-
sidered by the congress is that of
good roads. Gradually the protest
against the national mud tax is gath
ering force, and if the Celt Lake meet
ing does not prove the Boston Tea par
ty of the bad road tax, II VIII not be
because those in attendance are not
awake to its evils and to the blessings
OF its abolition.
the attention of the west boosters. Last
year senator Aldrich and other leaders
in this movement addressed the Kansas
City congress, and this year an insist
ent demand will be made that congress
do something TO remedy the hundred
and one evils of the present currency
system Inc WesIerners aI"ays nave
taken a deep interest in the currency
question. from the time that free sill
Yer threatened to be the rock upon
which congress should break to pieces
TlrrN eNE cd g fol a
danger. and its differences Of opinion
on currency questions never nave
threatened its existence since 1896.
World peace may get an impetus
through the salt Lake City meeting
David Starr Jordan, of Leland Stan
ford university, one of the leaders OF
the Carnegie peace fOundatio Will be
heard from, and he will try to demon
strate how deeply the transmisSissippi
region is interested in universal peace
He feels that the Panama canal ought
to unite the world in a military sense
as well as in a commercial sense. and
Will ask the congress to join hands
with the foundation in a great alto
Eether' in behalf of international arol-
Immigration Problems.
immigration viii be another subject
to be considered. The west needs more
people and needs them badly. II wants
to add to its already large incoming
tide of humanity so that it may rap
idly approximate the east in density
times as many people per square mile
in the region east of the father OF wa
tiers as there are west of it II the
transmississippi region were as dense
" populated as the region east OF me
big river it would be supporting a
population nearly as large as that OF
the entire new world and almost as
great as is at present possessed by All
three of the continents of the south
ern hemisphere. Were the transmiSSls-
sippi region as densely populated as
no 2
latiOn nearly as large as that OF the
entire world outside of Europe and
Asia. Although much of the west IS
mountainous and never can be popuIat-
ed it is plain that the west still has
room for a few people. and can accom-
modate all Corners, present and pros
Reclamation Work.
Reclamation and transportation will
be subjects considered by the con-
Eress, and inland waterways will share
It's attention. The Forthcoming com
pIetion Of the Panama canal makes the
question of inland waterways of the
deepest interest to the people OF the
great Mississippi valley. Not until Chi
cago, Kansas City. St Louis, Minneap-
oils and St. Paul have connection with
deepwater will the maximum posi-
bilities of the big isthmian waterway
be developed. When the Missouri river
IS made to bear its burden of COM
merce millions of dollars in freight
charges will be saved, and the central
velopment. The Transmississippi con-
gress wants to capitalize on the Pan
anna canal. and il sees how this may
be done by uniting the eastern slope
of the country it represents with the
western slope. through the Panama ca
nal. and thus overcoming the barrier Of
the continental divide. The congress
feels that the west is going TO get
big slice of the prosperity the Panama
canal is bound to bring to the United
States, and wants it to be in a position
10 receive it.
History of Achievements.
The history of this great commercial
organization covering a greater area
than is covered by any other like or
ganization in the world, is one of sue
cessiYe achievements. Its existence
practically began as the Deep Harbor
convention. held in Topeka. Kansas, in
1883. The west was without a single
good harbor, and in that year decided
to try to secure one. The Topeka con-
vention decided that Galveston, Tex,
was the place for this harbor. and i'm
mediately all forces united to secure
il at that place. Later. in 1891. an
other convention met at Galveston. and
adjourned to Denver, where the Trans
mississippi Commercial congress was
born in the summer of that year
During the early years of its exist
ence it turned its attention to irriga-
ton. and the magnificent results
achieved by the national reclamation