Jim you quoted a phrase from Wiki which said "Until that time, many U.S. players considered the Western Open as one of golf's majors" and then said "this gives my exact reasoning".
You need to decide what you do and do not believe.
I have no reason to believe that the field strength during the period you quoted was not worthy of the event being a major. Are you not going to give Hogan a amjor for his Open Championship win in 1953??? American golf and its players have long been ranked too highly anyway.
Shane you are right, though it was impossible for anyone reading what I said to understand that I meant Wiki's statement on the British reflected my thinking, and not on the Western. My mistake. I don't have an opinion about the Western, and was surprised to see Wiki say that, though a bit less so after reading the same thing a while back here in GCA.com.
It's not real clear to me what was and was not a "major" in earlier years. I feel pretty comfortable with the current lineup. Maybe that's because from the time I was a kid, those were the four majors. The whole thing seems a bit arbitrary to me.
I obviously disagree with you about the quality of the fields at the British, but also doubt either of us is going to change the other's mind. I think I would NOT count Hogan's victory there as a major, or Snead's.