Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-10
OUR FINANCIAL STRENGTH.

urticie ior to-inorroW sun 10 on America
Financial Strength" 1t Is as follows:
The festivities attending the Columbus
celebration will probably absorb public at
tention the greater part OF this week, to the
exclusion OF everything except absolutely
necessary business. Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday Will be devoted to parades
orations. fireworks and shows of variou.
kinus. Thursday and Friday will be needed
for rest and recuperation. while Saturday is
n legal half holiday, any way. The direct
cost of the amusement will be very great
but its indirect cost in loss of time to the
participants and their personal expenses
will be far greater.
If men lived for the making of, money
alone, and nothing more, should deprecate
this suspension Of their efforts, but mas
much as money is only O means to an end,
and spending it quite as important as get
| ting 1t, cannot f1nd fault with them for
giving up even whole week to enjoying
themselves in the way they propose to.
| Besides, no expenditure, however great,
which may be made in celebrating the dis.
covery OF America, will bear any appreci-
| achievement to the world. Historians,
essayists and orators usually exhaust them
selves in eKtollng the sagacty, enterprise
| and perseverance of Columbus, and do not
say that he fails to deserve all the praise
| bestowed upon him. But, to my mind. his
greatness Is only comparative. What he
did any one of his cotemptoraries might
| and should have done i. they had not oil
been as stupid as owls
What Was for a Long Time Know.
For centuries it had been known that the
earth was a globe. Its dimensions had been
| approx imately computed by the Greek as.
tronomer, Eratosthenes, $50 years before
| the Christian era. The area OF the know
| portion of its surface showed conclusively
that vast region remained to be explored.
The westward voyage from the coast Of
Spain was no more hazardous than the
northward voyages which the ancient
Ph9nicians made continually from the
Straits of Gibraltar to the British Isles
without even the help of the mariners COM
pass.
to Columbus, and that nobody before him
had undertaken to do what he did demon
strates the torpidity, in his time, of the
human intellect. He was merely among the
nrst to catch the inspiration of the new era
which had been ushered In by the invention
Of printing, and which has since eliminated
in the numerous applications of steam and
electricity characteristic Of the present
epoch. How bIunderingly he CROPPED his
way, and how imperfectly lie cOmprenended
the immensity of, his exploit is matter OF
record. He thought he had merely found
only new road to q familiar country,
whereas he had stumbled upon hitherto
unsupported continent, and increased by
one-half the accessible sur. ace of the earth.
Value That Defes Computation.
Considered in this aspect alone, the fnan-
cial value of America defies computation.
Here were presented suddenly to the eyes
of Europe, as upon the lifting of a curtain,
millions, not OF acres, but of square miles, of
fertile and well-watered land, rich mines
and endless quantities OF game and fish. At
nrst. indeed, the little accumulations of
gold and silver which the unskillful labor of
the aboriyines had in the course OF ages ex-
tracted from the earth, monopoiized the at
after these had all been gathered up and
carried away across the ocean that the
more permanent and remunerative riches
OF the land received the attentioi they de-
served. Nevertheless, even the small supply
OF the precious metals thus procured was
immense in comparison with that which
Europe already possessed, and the subse-
quent additions to it, resulting from a more
thorough and efficient working OF the mines
by modern science and modern enterprise,
have been, as we know. the most extensive
in the history of the world.
The exaggerated reports of the importance
of these metallic treasures awaiting the
grasp of the hardy adventurer served, no
doubt, to stimulate the exploration of
America much more powerfully than did its
soberer and moro lasting merits. In the
search for gold and silver the Spaniards, de-
tered by no hardships, pushed across to the
America. They were followed on the water
by the English, most Of whom, 1 am Sorry
to say, were pirates rather than peaceful
seamen, and who robbed in their turn the
robbers of the natives. Between the two
the number of European ships multiplied
amazingly.
Former Naval Strength of Spain.
Columbus had difficulty in procuring
from spain three small vessels with which
to prosecute his voyage OF discovery. A
century later the same country sent out
from its harbors the great Armada, mon
of-war destined for the conquest Of England.
The expedition miscarried, as we know, but
that it was made at all demonstrates the
naval strength of Spain, while that of Eng
land was eqally demonstrated by her sue
cessful resistance. The ships and sailors
thus brought into existence found occupa-
tion later in the carrying of emigrants and
the planting OH these shores of the Euro
pean stock from which our present popula-
tion is descended, and when we look at the
vast multitudes which cover both North and
South America and reflect that 400 years ago
the region they now occupy was nearly an
uninhaDited wilderness the magnitude OF
the work of which the discovery OF the
country was the commencement over
whelms ms.
While America has thus been to Europe a
treasure house to be plundered and a nur-
sery in which to rear numerous offspring,
it has returned millionfod the invest |
ments made upon its territory Not to |
speak of the macs OF gold and silver which |
I
general stocks, it has. in the humble potato |
a one added an article of enormous value |
to the supply of human food, besides an
nually raising mill ons of bushels Of Indian
corn and exporting it abroad. Tobacco, |
though it may be reckoned rather luxury |
than q necessity, is another product exclu-
sively of American origin. and to it the peo-
pie not only OF Europe, but of the whole of
ASIA are indebted tor narcotic which, |
however detrimental it may be to their !
health, contributes immensely to their ell.
joyment. Cotton, too, which originated in
Asia, has become a characteristically Amer
lean crop. while our petroleum has abund-
antly supplied the market with a now and
cheap material for the production OF arti-
fetal light
The Work of Nature, Not Art. -,..
These things, however, are rather the
work of nature tnan of art. They were but
fruits of the earth, which demanded only
to come into use, and If Amer
Ca had contributed nothing else to the
worlds wealth its discovery would be enti-
tied to be called onlya lucky accident But
20 this natural wealth its people, particularly
hose OF the United States, have added that
created by an inventiveness unparalleled in
previous times. The cotton gin has made
mat staple available for use andgiven to nn-
numbered millions cheap and comfortable
An American first applied steam
10 the propulsion of vessels anu started the
series OF improvements In water transport
ltion of which the monster steamers now
reversing the Atlantic Ocean are the latest
.esult. Another American invented the
,lectric telegraph, another the telephone,
mother the electric liSh., and it the rail-
.oad was received by us from England, we
lave made improvements on II. and on
,ars and engines, which render it almost
,ur own.
OF the numerous less important inven-
ions distinctively American, which in
.rease the prOductiveneSS of labor and the |
,omfort of daily life. It would be q waste of
ime RI s,eok The " hole world recoyniZeS |