The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-08-12


| ships going up and coming down through those
seas against the monsoons to heat at dlsadvan-
| tage, while an exploration would probably dis
close eddes and currents which would allow
| OF straight courses where now no one dares
pursue them. Clements Strait and the Caramata
| Passage are filed with the same dangers.
Again the great outlet from the emma sea INTO
| the Pacific ocean by the Bahee, and adjacent
passages between the islands Of LucOnia and
the coasts of China and Formosa, need to he sur
veyed, although the islands are generally well
| designated on the maps. Then proceeding
northwardly, a regard to the safety OF the
| whaleman demands that the islands between
the coasts of China and Japan, and from them
to the Loo Choo islands, and so on to the Rus
sian possessions and along them eastwardly to
| Bhering Straits, should be surveyed The last
attempt to perform that duty was made by
| small Russian fleet which was captured and
| destroyed while its officers and crew were I'M
prisoned by the japanese. Lastly, as we add
vance eastwardly in the very track pursued by
| our whalers and China men, we encounter
| islands. and many shoals imperfectly defined,
and especially the Bonin islands; while pru-
dence requires a careful reconnaissance also of
the Fox islands which, although lying some
what northwardly of the passage might, if well
known, afford shelter in case of inclement
weather This reconnaissance in a temperate
latitude is demanded by the merchants, under
writer's, and nayigators in all our Atlantic as
well rs in our two principal Pacific ports, and
the argument for it rests on the same fOunda-
ton with that which supports the proposition
for the more northwardly exploration Your
mails and passengers of Il certain class will be
carried between San Francisco and Shanghai
in steamships. Nevertheless without such u
survey as this bill proposes, you cannot eStab-
fish a coaling station on the way, although the
voyage exceeds seven thousand miles. VIII
you leave this survey and its benefits to Eng
land
Sir, have you looked recently at the China
trade! Ii reaches already seven millions in
value annually. Have you watched the Cali
fornia trade It's export Of bullion alone al
ready exceeds fifty millions of dollars annu-
ally and as yet the mineral development of
that State has only begun The settlement Of
the Pacific coast is in state of sheer infancy.
There is speaking relatively, neither capital
nor labor there adequate to exhibit the forces
of industry that might be employed in that
wonderful region. Nor is California yet conye-
nenty accessible The railway across Panama
s not yet completed. The passage through
Nicaragua is not perfect; that which leads
through Tehuantepec is not begun nor have
we yet extended, even so far as to the MiSSiS-
sippi the most important and necessary one Of
them all, the railroad across our own country
to San Francisco. The emigrant to the At
iantc coast arrives speedily and chcaply from
whatever quarter Of the world while he who
would seek the Pacific shore, encounters char
ges and delays which few can sustain. Never
theless the commercial social political move
| ments OF the world are now in the direction Of
California. Separated AZ it is from by for
egn lands, or more impossible mountains we
are establishing there a custom-hOuse a mint
a dry dock, Indian agencies, and ordinary and
extraordinary tribunals of Justice Without
waiting Tor perfect or safe channels Il strong
and steady stream OF emigration flows thither
from every State and every district eastward
of the Rocky Mountains Similar torrents of
emigration are pouring into California and
Australia from the South American States,
| from Europe, and from Asia This movement
is not Il sudden, or accidental or irregular or
cOnvulsve one but it is one for which men
and Nature have been preparing through near
four hundred years During all that time mer-
chants and princes have been seeking how they
could reach cheaply and expeditously, Ca
thay,' China, "the East that intercourse
and commerce might be established between
| its ancient nations and the newer ones of the
West. To these objects Da CANA, Columbus,
Americas, Cabot Hudson, and other naviga-
| tors devoted their talents their labOrs, and
their lives. Even the discovery of this CONT
nent and it's islands and the organization of
society and government upon them grand and
| important rs these events have been, were but
conditional, preliminary and ancillary to the
| Al
mation--the reunion of the two civilizations,
which having parted on the plains of Asia four
thousand years ago, and having travelled ever
afterwards in opposite directions around the
world, now meet again ON the coasts and islands
of the Pacific ocean Certainly, no mere hui
man event of equal dignity and Importance has
ever occurred upon the earth 1t will he fol-
lowed by the equalization Of the condition of
society and the restoration of the unity of the
human family. We see plainly enough why
this event could not have come before, and why
it has come now. A certain amount of human
freedom, II certain amount of human intelli-
gencc a certain extent of human control over
the physical Obstacles to such reunion were
necessary. All the conditions have happened
and c0ucurred Liberty has developed under
improved forms of government and science
has subjected Nature III Western Europe and in
America. Navigation, improved by steam, en-
ablcs men to outStrlp the winds and intelligence
| conveyed by electricity excels in velocity the
| light, With these iayoring circumstances there
| has come also IL sudden abundance of gold
that largely relieves labor from its long sub
| lection to realized capital Sir, this movement
isno deluolon. 1t will no more stop than the
emigration from Europe to our own Atlantic
shores has stopped, or can stop, while labor is
worth there twenty cents and here fifty cents
II day. Emigration from China cannot stop
while labor is worth in California five dollars
n day, and in the West Indies ten dollars
month, and yet is worth in China only five dol
lars for that period. Accordingly, we have
seen sixtyscven ships filled, in three months of
the present year, with 1900 emigrants in the
ports of Hong Kong, Macao, and Whampoa,
and afterwards discharge them ON the shores
of California, and Of Cuba and other islands of
the West Indies
Sir have you considered the basis of this
movement, that this continent and Australia
are capable of sustaining, and need for their de
yelopment, five hundred millions, while their
population is confined to fifty millions, and yet
that Asia has two hundred millions of excess
As for those who doubt that this great move
ment will quicken activity and create wealth
| and power III California and Oregon, | leave
them to consider what changes the move
| ments, similar in nature but inferior in force
and slower in effect have produced already
ON the Atlantic coast of America As to those
who cannot see how this movement will I'M
| prove the condition of Asia leave them to re-
fleet upon the Improvements in the condition
of Europe since the discovery and colonization
Of America Who does not see, then, that
every year hereafter, European commerce
European politics, European thoughts and
European activity although actually gaining
/ It.A, Il