The Washington herald., 1921-05-19

Is MYTHICAL PERIL.
The menace Of Mormonism In the
West Is purely . mythical peril, ex-
isting only in the minds OF certain
bigots and Others" declared Gov.
d. W. Davis, Of Idaho. at the Will
lard yesterday. Gov. Davis is In
Washington along with the guberna-
tofial chiefs Of thirteen other ex-
treme Western States who are seek
ing to obtain Congressional sup
Fort for a consistent and set policy
Of Federal reclamation and irriga-
tion work in the West.
The Mormons are an asset and
not liability" the governor con-
tinued. 1T is not true that polyg-
amy is practiced by them at pres
| ent"
The Western executive believes
that the West is somewhat slower
in recupersting from the financial
depression than the East. The
greatest need of the West is cheaper
freight rates, he said.
BELIEVES RAILROAD
RATES TOO HIGH.
The railroads themselves proba-
bly, realize by now that the rates In
many cases have been placed at too
high a mark. An empty box car 10
as bad for the railroad as It is for
the public and there are hundreds
Of them lining the tracks. There is
a point above which the public can
not and will not buy the services the
railroads have to sell. I do not
| doubt that Congress and the In
| terstate Commerce Commission will
take some action along this line.
The governor also wants the West
IOrotected by a tariff. Asked whether
he favored a tariff on industrial
commodities as well he declared that
tn esituation was not quite the same
with respect to those articles, as
labor here could produce many of
such articles of such a nature as
cheaply as abroad.
Does Horace Greeley's advice
Go West and grow up with the
country" still hold good; does the
West offer any superior opportunities
today?" was asked.
RESOURCES IN WEST
ARE STILL UNTAPPED.
"As true today as It ever was"
replied Gov. Davis. There Is plenty
of unused land out in the West and
land Is the source OF all wealth.
There are mines of riches there yet
untapped for the man of energy and
enterprise. Despite the rapid growth
of the section CT the country which ]
in part represent, it will be many
years before the right kind of man
will fail to find opportunity there.
Idaho has fine agricultural land,
great mines and cAttle lands"
rhe governor maint aimed that the
average individual OF a Western
State measured man to man with his
Eastern fellow citizen surpasses the
latter. The governor bases his gen.
eralization upon the theory proven
bially expressed in home keeping
youths have homely wits"
He explained that II was the more
enterprising scions of Eastern fam
lilies who pioneered out to the West.
The man who possesses the courage
to leave the satisfaction of home
surroundings and break out for him.
self in untried parts shows by that
very act that he is of superior met
tie. he said.
THE average fastener has an en-
tirely false conception of the West
and the Westerner." declared Gov
Davis He visualizes him along
the wild and woody lines whereas
he is as modern aud cultured a man
as there is on the continent"
DECLARES WESTERN
SCHOOLS RANK HIGH.
How about the schools in the
West. the governor was ased
They are of the best. We are
willing to submit them at any time
to a test and comparison with your
schools Of the East"
The governor refused to comment
on the plan proposed of dividing the
State of Idaho into two States, be-
yond declaring that the duty of ad-
mittlng a new State devolved upon
Congress that that Representatives
from the East would not be likely
to Ienact a law increasing the rep
resentation of the West.
Has the Nonpartisan League and
similar organizations which have
becomsquite rampant throughout the
West made any increase in Idaho?"
Gov. Davis was asked.
They have quite a following" the
governor said. but the State at the
last election went overwhelmingly
Republican and that tells something
about political conditions there"