The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1882-10-26
OUR GREAT COUNTRY.
An Enelishman's Impression Of the west
Mr.. John Psndsr, N. p, Upon us Nag
ni6oeut Extent and Great Future

II.
ni6osnt Extent and Great Future
Mr.. John Fender, OF London, MEMBER oi
the English parliament, is known us 'he ia!
Gould of England. He is largely interes'eo
in teIegraphs, and is travelling IN TINS couh-
try to inspect the workings OF the western
Union telegraph. Last week be was IN the
citv I'm company with the Hon. Abram ,.
hewitt, and it was in this connection 'nat
an Enquirer reporter made his acquaintance
just returned from trip through the terri
tories. he was enthusiastic concerning them.
He said during the conversation;
az cannot describe the impression your
country makes upon me. The magnificent
future that is before you in that great 90
main which you have hardly more 'hah
touched upon is beyond the reach oil mag
ination, and the greatness OF your future
impresses me deeply. Europe must continue
to be for long time the nursery Oh men,
and America the food producer oil the "oriu'
A great tide OF immigration pours into TINS
country. / am told, but you have room ior
more than can come in many years. And tlen
the war they are all blended into one people
The Norwegian. aud the German, and men
of all nations, learn to speak the Ehghsn
language. and their defendants speak no
other. and they learn to think English ideas.
The English language is the universal IAN
ruage. Australia and the other Enghsh
colonies are settling fast, and there the Eng
lish language is predominant, but they are
further away. America is right at our doors.
1t is gratifying to know that the cordiaii's
between England and America grows
stronger every year. America and England
are sure to be the ruling nations OF the
globe.
zone thing that strikes me is that land is
the cheapest thing in America. It's strange
TINT the far West is settling faster than the
more central parts. When you take INTO
account the distance from the markets, iand
is dearer along the Northern Pacific than II
is i'm Missouri. 1t is astonishing to see how
fast land is taken up there. Your narrow
guage system OF railroads in the west was
surprise to be. l could not sufficiently adj
mire the pluck and energy that bulit tnose
roads. Why, saw railroads building where
1 could not imagine how the surveys were
made, the country was so precipitous ana
seemingly impracticabe- Your American
engineers are men of great courage, inteii-
gence and fertility of resource. They ap-
pear to be educated by the very diihcuites
which they encounter. Then, too, these
roads find business awaiting them as fast as
they are built. The railroad development
all over the country is q credit TO the enter
prise of American capitalists. You must
remember, though, that there is British cap
ital in them, too. | think it is well placed.
Your roads are built rapidly, but though
there is no money wasted in them, they are
well and solidly built.
81 am told there is abundance OF land not
vet cultivated in your most settled states.
So long as so much energy is required to de-
yelop the country wages will remain high.
The time will come when you can raise no
more food than your own population can
consume. and you will find many problems
meeting you that can be put off now. hope
that America will always be prosperous, as
she is now. / wish it from the bottom OF
my heart.
81 hope, too, that these problems will be
solved before the size of your population
renders them more difficult than they would
be now. / think there are many defects in
your system of government. There Is no
other government that 4 know OF that runs
itself, as your government does. The coun-
try seems to run itself almost without gov
eminent. But there are some bad features.
/ am afraid the country may get into the
hand. of bad men. Mr.. Hewitt tells me
that when you have change of parties IN
this country all the officers of the govern
ment are changed down 70 the least post
master. That must disturb the country very
much. Now, in England, you know our
public servants are permanent, We nave
our permanent secretary for every depart
ment of government, and the prime minister
may be changed in twenty-four hours and
not disturb the affairs of government to any
extent"
MIR. Fender seems delighted with the COM
fort and magnifcence of American hotels
Speaking of the office of the Grand hotel, he
looked around with admiration, and, alter
asking the population of the city, remarked
that in none of the smaller cities Of England
Manchester, Liverpool or Leeds, could any
thing so fine be seen. Their hotels might De
rs comfortable in the private apartments
but such magnificent rooms for the reception
and entertainment OF guests could nowhere
be seen. He thought Americans Travelled
more than any other people. As to modes
Of travelling, he would not concede that the
American were the best. For himself, he
liked TO travel in American cars because he
wanted to move around, ''but we English
are more exclusive than you are, you know
He thought Americans should travel In bo-
rope more, and become acquainted win
England On the other hand he believed 1t
would be a benefit to them if more English
men travelled in this country. ~ am COM
ing back again. Imay not return next yeaf
but / am coming back TO see more OF your
wonderful country. Englishmen do not
know enough of America, but then notice
that few Americans have an adequate idea
Of the extent and greatness OF their own