Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1869-11-26
rnE FUTURE or rENNs4LvAsIA.

1t has been calculated that If the whcie
republic we're peopled as densely as Massa-
chusetts is at the present time, it would
have 6l8, ,o00, 900 inhabitants, an aggregate
far transccnding even the vast multitades Of
China, and making the greatest empire of
ancient or modern times This would DC at
the rate of an average of one hundred and
seventy three persons to the square mile,
which is by no means large. In the State
of New York the average is about ninety
four to the square mile According to the
estimation, made loag ago, Of population
of 100, O00, 900 in the year 1900, the average
would only be twentY-eight persons to the
square mile
There can be no doubt that all these re-
suits viii be reached in due time, and we
quote them in support Of our assertion that
Pennsylvania can aud viii, in time, sustain
with ease, popslation Of thirty million of
souls, to all Of whom Philadelphia will be
natural metropolis. Hence there is really
no ezaggertion in our estimates of the fu-
ture Of this city or State, and all that seems
to be needed is ths4 as regards the State,
we should 60 ahead to open up and improve
its boundless resources Of iron, coal, petro-
leum, salt, marble, lime, limestone, turpen-
tine, &c, to put the forests that clothe our
mountains to their true uses for lumber and
bark for tanning to multiply industries to
stimulate wool growing and woolen manu-
factures; to convert our hamlets iuto vii
lagos, our villages into towns, our towns
into cities, and onr cities into places Of
wealth aud power The railroad is our civil
lizing agency, and with the railroad our
progress must go hand in hand in every cor
ner of the Commonwealth
Free traders have reproached us with our
devotion to coal and iron; let us show them
in earnest what coal and iron can do. They
know already somewhat on that head, but
not tithe Of what they may and should be
made to see. Iron is necessity the wide
world over. The cannon of the conquerer,
the ship of the merchant, the plow Of the
farmer, the machinery of industry, all alike
ere of this mighty agent that lies Undecided
so richly all over Pennsylvania, and the
possession Of which gave strength to the
national cause in the civil war Sixty per
cent of all the iron made in the United
States is produced in Pennsylvania. They
are hunting everywhere for rival mines to
build up some formidable competitor against
us. Let US all put our shoulders to the
wheel and show them that it is not so easy
to bend the old Keystone State. Seventeen
millions Of tons Of coal are produced annual
ly from our soil, and we supply alike tie
valley of the Mississippi and the seaboard
and the lake region. They are stimulating
competition against US, threatening to re-
peal the protective duty in order to invite
foreign coal, an1, in fact, seem to be all aim
ing to bring us low in the dust. But we
are not of the stuff to bend to such storm.
The field is ours Let us hold it by main
| strength. Let us open more mines, produce
more coal, build more steam coal transports,
and defy rivalry. a great deal has been
said about railroad monopoies, yet il is
chiefly by the indomitable energies of the
great railway corporations that SO many
branch and tributary lines have been built
and have proved profitable; that more re-
gions have been opened toindustry and trade,
and that the treasures of the mines, long
neglected, have been brought to light and
use. These companies are still doing their
mighty work, and if they retain confidence
they will cheerfully toll on. Phil ~ Amer-
lcr,l