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Show BANANAS ON PIKE'S PEAK 231 formidable foe, and the Upper Basin senators gathered to stiffen their lines as he began to speak. They inter- rupted Douglas repeatedly, but he replied to their argu- ments calmly and politely, showing no rancor at the ob- vious attempt being made to disrupt the continuity of his address. An able economist, Douglas riddled the claims of the proponents with sharp thrusts. That he was making an attack which had no hope of success, he well under- stood, but that did not deter him nor decrease the thoroughness with which he tore into the provisions of the bill, the financial structure of the project, and the philosophy of the Upper Basin senators. Out of a remark by Douglas, evolved a catch phrase that was to be printed and heard throughout the United States. In talking about Congress appropriating $1.6 billion to bring a boom economy to the area of the crsp, he declared that the northern tier of states 'could also be benefitted if Congress appropriated over $1.6 billion with which to erect hot-houses in which to grow bananas. . ." He added: 285 "Think of the employment which would be created in those regions if Congress decided, as a public project, to grow bananas in the winter-time, and thus alleviate the shortage of fruit. Prosperity would bloom throughout the northern area. But some- one else would have to pay the bill." "Bananas on Pike's Peak," was the heading used by the New York Times.286 Within a few days the phrase was in universal usage. Douglas did not hesitate to charge that the smooth path of the crsp was the result of senators "rolling each other's logs." 286 O'Mahoney accused him of "indulging in a little castigation." |
