The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-04-16

NEW YORK, April 1.-The Sun says,
editorially: In the year 1852 William
III. Seward, from his place in the Sen
ate, made this remarkable prophecy
touching the foreign relations of the
United States: "Henceforth European
commerce, European politics, Euro.
pean thought and European activity,
although actually gaining force, and
European connections, although actu-
ally becoming more intimate, will
nevertheless relatively sink in inn
portapce, while the Pacific ocean, its
shores, its islands and the vast region
beyond will become the chief theater
Of events in the worlds great here
after"
The boldness of this prediction may
be appreciated better on recalling
what the Pacific shores and regions
then were. What Europe was, with
its prodigious commerce, its railway
systems, its telegraphs and its produc-
tions, and how its enormous activities
were supplemented on this side of the
Atlantic, we all know. But in 1850
there was in this country not a single
telegraph line west of the Mississippi,
not more than eighty miles of rail-
road. Not until 1867 was there regu-
lar steamship service between San
Francisco and Asia. California had,
indeed, Just been added TO our Union
in 1852, but it was like collection of
mining camps with coast emporiums,
n haA a nf Tn-
tween it and the Missouri stretched
wilderness. China had but recently
been forced to open a few ports, and
Japan was still a sealed mystery.
The Pacific islands were left mostly to
savages and adventurous missionaries,
or were calling stations for whalers
and traders.
The extraordinary changes that
have occurred in this scene during
the last two score years have prompt
ed L. a. Thurston, who as Minister
from Hawaii, has recently fallen un-
der the disfaVOr of Messrs. Cleveland |
and Gresham, to some timely obser- |
vations in the pages of the North AM |
erican Review. Even more than |
statesmen like Webster, Marcy and |
Seward saw looming in the distance is |
now at hand. Japan is in march with |
modern nations; Australia is "the |
century," and Alaska is United States |
territory, while Hawaii, then known |
mostly as the place where Captain |
Cook was killed, is republic, prepar- |
ing herself to enter our Union.
The pOpuIotion of the United States !
west of the Rocky Mountains is today |
over 100000, or nearly that of the |
thirteen colonies when the Declara
ton was signed. The lumber, grain |
and fruit of the Pacific States go all |
over the world. California alone |
the United States in 1898, and, accord
ing to Mr.. ThurstOn, stands third in
the list Of railroad ownership, proper
toned to population, while Rhode |
Island, Massachusetts, and New York
stand first, second and fourth.
In the ten years ended in 1894, while
the ships of the Atlantic and Gulf |
States decreased 710 in number and
135, 900 in tonnage, those of the Pacific !
Coast increased 400 in number and
121 900 in tonnage.
And what of the islands of the Pa
cific? Mr.. Thurston says: England,
Germany, France and Spain have
seized most of them. Spain took pos
session of the Philippine and LadrOne
islands in the sixteenth century. Eng
land appropriated Australia and New
Zealand over 100 years ago, and in
1912 France raised her flag over the
Marquesas group, and in 1858 added
New Caledonia and the Loyalty
group to her possessions. In 1874 the
$50 islands of the Fiji group were
gathered beneath England's stan
dard. In 1850 France annexed the
Paumotu and Society groups, contain
ing thirty-six Inhabited islands. In
1881 England annexed ROtumah. In
1885 Spain took possession of the Caro-
line islands, and Germany took the
Marshall, the Solomon and the Ad-
miralty groups, aud England, Ger
many and Holland partitioned New
Guinea between themselves. This
island is 1900 miles long, 400 miles
wide, and contains over 100000 square
miles, England again appeared on
the scene in 1883, aud gathered in the
Gilbert, Ellice, Enderbury and Union
groups, containing twenty-siX inhsb-
tied islands aud thirteen single isl
ands. In 1889, 1891 and 1892 England
took Suwaroh, Coral, Gardner and
Danger islands, thus eXhausting the
unappropriated territory of the Pa
cific.n
The Hawaiian group has thus far
been preserved from European
clutches. Manila alone has a foreign
trade of S45, 5,OO0,OO a year. Hawaii