New-York tribune., 1886-04-25
THE GREAT REPUBLIC.
WONDERFUL RECORD OF PROGRESS.


choice and long residence an intensity of love ana
admiration which as he believes. the native oil tue
United States can neither feel nor uuderstaiu' Ho
has realized in his personal experience no" '''' %
the difference in the conditions OF lie IN ,no po"
country and the old. how fully we nave so'Ve" 'no
ancient problems of human rights ana du'ie' =" 'n0
settlement of which European nations are sio".
feeling their way how brilliant has oeeh tne res"''
of cur experiment in equality. and now serious arc
the obstacles hich privilege and class goVerhheh'
elsewhere place in the path of social progress.
Nobodv can appreciate the blessings of equality so
wall ,s tho man WHO has tried living and working
under both monarchy and republic. 1t is greatly
70 Mr. Carnegies credit that he retains strong
afecti IN for the country of his birth and great
respcrt for the splendid qualities OF the Brl1ish
peorle He detcsts their political sYstcm but no
admires them and his first object in writing TINS
book is TO show thcm how much moro surely ana
rapidly national prosperity and individual happl-
ness can bc attained through republican lnst''u-
,;ous than undcr the classrule which still presses
upon nearly every people of the Old World.
g copd object of The book is to enforce upon Amer
leans more lively sense of their own advantages.
II cannot be said that as q community we are
inclined TO make too modest an estimate OF our
achievements; nevertheless it Will do US no harn
10 be reminded how much of our material pros
perity is direct sult Of our political system ana
Mr. Carnegie adds that OF the facts he has 70
st forth will astonsn Americans themselves
This is certainly true.
The book may be described rs a fervent exhb-
tion of statistics 1t expansion and JuStihca-
ton OF the text which forms the FIRST sentence OF
the frs. chapter: The old nations OF the earth
creep On at snails pace; the Republic thunders
mast with the rush of the express" We recall 40
work in which the material progress, the rate OF
dcy eiopment and the bOundesS variety OF resources
of the United States are displayed more completely,
none IN which the comparison with otEer
countries is drawn more effectively, and none IN
which n moro brilliant use is made OF hgnre5- Mr
Carnegie takes the dry summaries vi the census
and with few striking illustrations he turns them
into wonder-tales. He is concerned rather with
practical results than with social and political
theories: but he points ont briefly some of the
great causes which have enabled tue Republic 10
utilize its vast natural resources 50 much more
completely and rapidly than other nations. FIRST
is matter of race. 1t is the GROWING mercy OF
Providence to this continent that the American
people are essentially British In 1910, that is Just
before the tide of immigration set in strong the
white population of the United States was
1lO0n OOO almost entirely of British origin; and
Mr. Carnegie presents an interesting calculation
that at the date of the last sOl the white
nopulstion was stn four-ffths British nearly five
sixths the immigration other than British
amounting with its natural increase to no more
than : 5G6 900 ont of a total of 42,727.0Oo white
inhabitants The fraction which is not British IS
principally German. The loose notion so often OK
pressed that the Americans are fast becoming
highly mixed population with traits OF many races
and the character of none. is nniounGed We
have all the stability vIgor enterprise, daring and
scf-ccn.roi Of the original stock. together with
yivacity and pliablty quite our own: As for the
allegation that the Americans-Or the American
race as Nh Carnegie chooses to call them-aie
falling be5lnd the others IN natural fecundity, our
author disnisses that as fiction The ratio OF
increase in the native population. from 1870 to
1850 was 31I4 per cent, and that of the total pop
rlation about the same. This is far greater thar
the rate Of increase in any European country.
The second great cause of our rapid development
g the honor in which labor is universally held in
tbe limited states. Although leisuIe-class seems
IL he forming itself IN our large cities 1t can hardly
be looked upon a permanent class, and the habtS
and traditions of the republic are all opposed to
hereditary idleness. The great fortunes are soon
divided aud absorbed. The miilionaires are nearly
all hard workers; and it is popularly considered
djscrcdtablc to man to have nothing TO do. This
is the direct result OF the republican system OF
eouality Under a government OF privilege, the
l,borer is always an inferior and the nonors of the
State are reserved for those who 10 nothing to earn
them A third cause of our prosperity is the
universal d illusion of education and this again is
direct consequence of our form of government. III
which the State, calling all citizens without dis
tinc.on t. an equal share in the control OF pu9lic
affairs is bound to equip them all lmpartlally Tor
that high duty The United States is the only
conntry in the orld which spends more for schools
than for military and naval armamcnts. Ii spends
about $4,000 00j for education and $l7,ooo,0Uo
for war 1t spends for education nearly three
(.raof three times mucD
as Germany, and six times as much as France.
Mr. Carnegie takes up the catalogue of our
nractical achievements in detail surveying the
growth of our cities and towns. the astonishing
i,nproyement in the conditions OF life, the
prospects OF religion the absence OF pauperIsm !;
and TO each of the leading depart is OF industry
he deyotes a special chapter. The proportion OF
workers to the total population in 1850 was "a p
ner cent an increase over 1870, which is probably
accounted for 10y the larger number OF occupations
now Omen TO women The most important industry
is agriculture which employs 7,75O,oOO persons
The manufacturers about half as many and
personal and professional services "a hetero-
ceneous category which includes both domestic
service and the learned profcssiOns-employ about
a 900 900 OF rather more than the manufactures
Trade and transportation follow with l,SoooOo
In the value of the agricultural product America is
the foremost country Of the world, Russia being
the secoud and Germany the third The tendency
contrary 10 a very common belief is toward
smaller rather than larger farms. and three-fourths
Of the farms are cultivated by their owners. The
increase in the grain crop between 1850 and 1880
WAS more than three-fold. that of wheat being
especially marked. alt is doubtful whether any
agricultural growth was ever so rapid as that OF
wheat IN this country during the past thirty
wears" Tie most valuable of American crops,
however. is neither wheat, nor maze, nor cotton,
5ut Lay The livestock numerous enough to
rive every family in the United States EOrse, a
cow four pigs and three sheep. Mr. Carnegie
makes the picturesque calculation that were the
livestock upon Uncle Sans estate ranged live
al tod fo "A aCe