The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-12-07

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bers of those who are taking Horace
Greeley's advice, the future of the
Puget Sound country could not but
be brilliant. But there are other feat
ures of promise concerning which
only the far-seeing man of business
is cognizant. / believe fifty years of
the twentieth century will witness the
building of a great metropolis Sec
ond New York, a second Boston, upon
this Mediterranean of America. /
want to tell you why think 80.
The commercial greatness of the
Pacific Coast is only a question of
time. Ever since the Crusades re-
vealed the advantages of interna
tional trade, and commerce by land
and sea became "a great factor in the
development of modern life, the trend
of commercial enterprise has been
steadily westward. From Corinth,
once the commercial center of the
world, along the shores of the Medi-
terranean, began that movement
westward which will never cease until
the Occident has met the Orient and
an around -the-world equilibrium has
been established. 1t is inevitable that
this must be. Inevitable that the
commercial center of the worlds busi-
ness will be where Occident and Ori
ent meet and great balance of trade
can be established. On the Pacific
coast of our country mingle the wa
ters which bathe Oriental and Occi-
dental shores. There the great sup
plies and demands of the East meet
the supplies and demands of the
West. There the rails and sails meet
which unite the world by one great
commercial belt To the far-seeing
man who will free himself from all
local prides and territorial ambitions
and cast his eye forward half cen
tury to speculate upon the great
changes in the worlds business which
are sure to develop, there is only one
conclusion: Commerce will continue
to move forward and westward until
she has reached and met the eastward
flowing trade of Oriental lands, and
there will be built the worlds great
est city. Mere fancy, do you say7
Remember, time was when the astute
New Englander cast his eye toward
the Berkshire Hills and expressed it
as his opinion that civilization would
never reach west of the Connecticut
River. Time was when New York
looked with pity upon the misguided
enterprise which sought to build a
great city at the head of Navigation
on Lake Michigan. But the westward
movement of the worlds business has
gone steadily on, and while there has
been no check in the growth of the
old centers of trade there has been a
prophetic development of commercial
interests upon the Western frontier.
Back from the Pacific Coast lie the
limitless resources OF the greatest ma
ton on earth. In front of it and
across the placid waters of the Paci-
fic lies the greatest market of the
modern world. Countless millions
of people just awakening to the needs
and luxuries of civilization are to be
supplied by the products of our
western genius and energy. And it
is as certain as was ever the building
of Boston, New York or Chicago
that upon the western coast of the
last new country to be exploited by
man, great city must rise, born of
the marriage of the East and the
West.
And the geographical location of
this new metropolis is not hard tode-
termine. Already there is to be traced
the outline of a great commercial
belt which is to grid the earth. Along
the line of least resistance and we'll
up in the northern hemisphere where
in nature calls forth mans greatest
enterprise and genius, GIBBS and flows
the mighty commerce of land and
sea. A thousand vessels plow the
deep, and hundreds of railroad trains
hasten across the continent, freighted
with the worlds supplies and de-
mands. London, Boston, New York
Chicago, Yokohama and Shanghai.
lie directly in the line of this shortest
highway around the world. And
where this line cuts the Pacific Coast,
where the trails meet the sails,"
there Commerce will build her next
great city.
Following this commercial belt
across our country, we find not alone
surprising evidence that the laws
which move trade, and build great
cities at strategic points, are natures