The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-02-20
London of that day was small town
would have seemed incredible.

would have seemed incredible.
He could not but have been amazed
by the territorial growth Of the country
as revealed in his dream, for among otl-
er things he would have seen that ell
France could be put down within the
area of the largest state Of the Union Of
tho future and leave sufficient vacant
space from which to lay out country
as large as Turkey in Europe. Yet the
figures of such dream would have been
more than true. fer tho area OF Texas is
2G5. $50 square miles, that Of France
2o4, 0os and that Of Turkey in Europe
bat CT, 200, so that even after taking
France end Turkey FROM tho Lone Star
States territory strip Of land 10 ,liles
wide and As IS miles long would be
LETT over.
Possibly That would bayc been the
most startling Of all the features Of the
dream to him, Tor France occupied 10
doubt very prominent place i'll all his
thoughts by reason Of its friendly atti
tudo to the new power THIS side the sees,
but it would have been really of less
import than the fact that tie distance
from tho IS yet nnfonnsied capital CT tho
new republic to the most remote state
thereof Was nearly third as much
again as the distance between London
and st. Petersburg. And yet that again
is true, and the traveller who should jour-
ney as far eastward from Paris-then, as
now, the capital Of Francois from
Washington, tho capital Of the United
States, to Tacoma, would pass through
Rome. once the cnrst al Of tho greatest en-
pire Of paganisn., to Constantinople, the
ancient capital Of the Byzantine empire,
Oh through Turkey, in Europe, into Per-
sin and to Teheran, its capital, and still
more startling comparisons Of distances
might be made it Alaska, tho morgan
lied arctic possessions Of the republic,
were to 10 taken into consideration.
Washington's dream would have
shown him, moreover, that in the years
to come his country was to lead all 9th
ers III tho production Of wheat; Of sill
yer; Of all but one, the then whatsoever
ed giant island, Australia, in the output
of gold; was to be second to Great Brit
ain only in the mining Of coal, was to
be exceeded in foreign commerce only
| by Great Britain and Germany, and was
to possess larger internal commerce
! and better facilities for internal COM
munication than any other nation in the
world. He would have seen, too, that
his country was to be uniformly suc-
cessful III whatever wars it became ill.,
volved In with foreign powers, and that
it was to be wrenched and torn by tie
most stupe'ldous civil strife the world
has ever behold; that, principally ow-
ing to its existence and development, a
new problem III tho affairs CT govern
ment-the labor question--was to arise,
and that ths differences between kings
and potentates were sometimes insignifi-
cant by the side Of the contee is between
employers md employees.
In place Of the few schools, the scat
tered writer's, who treated almost OK
clusively Of politics, and the almost non
existent artist classes, he would have be-
held vast universities equal in most re-
spects to the most venerable old world
institutions Of learning and excelling
them in some regards, a literary class
larger in proportion to population than
anywhere else OIL earth, especially il
those in active journalism be included,
and great, enthusiastic and successful
following Of every so called artistic call.
ing in tho world.
| Many things would have puzzled him
immensely. no doubt. The problems OIL
today, from their very magnitude, il
from no ether cause, wonld probably
have seemed quite as difficult as those
which confronted hi.n at Valley Forge,
perhaps more SO. There would have
been many apparent crudities. The tcle
graph, the railroad, the telephone, the
photograph, the trolley Car, the new
woman, the municipal boss, the MOI
headed football player, the pretty type
writer, tho bisyciist OF both sexes-al
these would have amazed him not les:
perhaps than the polyglot speech Of tb'
vast population and the vastly differen
costumes and customs Of the people.
/. D. MARSHALL