The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-06-08
AN HONEST TRIBUTE.


AN HONEST TRIBUTE.
Tho British statistician, Michael G. Mui.
hall, Explains In Figures tho Greatness
of tho United States and Its Enormous
Possibilities.
From the Washington Post.
The people OF the United States are
more accustomed to abuse than ilattery
at the hands OF foreign writers. They
have ceased to care much for the for
mer, and are, or ought to be, Indifferent
to the latter. What they have a right
| to expect is an honest effort to tell the
truth. and they are glad to note an in
creasing tendency in that direction.
Michael G. Mulhall is one of consider
| able number of prominent and capable
| English writers who have studied
America and the Americans without
prejudice and written of them truth
fully. In the North American Review
| for June Mr.. Mulhall has a paper on
the Power and Wealth Of the United
States" which Is filled with interesting
facts and just conclusions. In his open
ing sentence he says; 'If we take o
| survey Of mankind in ancient or
modern times as regards the physical,
mechanical. and intellectual force of
nations we find nothing th compare
with the United States in this present
year of 1885," and a little further on
he adds: 1.-THE physical and mechani-
| cal power which has enabled a COM
muri'y OF woodcutters and farmers to
become N less than 100 years the great
est nation in the world IS the aggre-
gate of the strong arms of men and
| women, aided by horse power. macbn-
cry, ana steam power, applied to the
useful arts and sciences of everyday
| life"
Expressed Sta'isticaIiy.
Mr.. Mulhall is a statistician. and In
that character he has an enviable repu-
t. ton for thoroughness ard reliability.
He calculates on The basis that the
average working power Of an able
bodied male adult Is 200 foo tons daily,
| that Of horse 3.00c tons. and of steam
horse power 1000 tons, ard elbows that
the working power OF narb inhabitant
in this country has Increased from an
| average of 446 foot tons daily In 1920 to
1.9a0 toot tons in 1895, or more than
auadrupled. Chen We have q compari-
son OF the working power Of the people
Of the United States with that of Euro
peaG countries: In the United States,
1910 foot tons oaily per 'nhabitant; in
Great Britain, 1.a7a foot tons. IN France,
| $40 foot tons, and in Germany, 902 foot
tons per inhabitant The average pro-
duc'lve energy Of each person in the
United Stptes, as measured In grain
END meat. is $50 bushels ct grain and
1,230 pounds of meat, while in Great
Britain the same average productive
energy per inhahitant is '1a bushels of
grair and 1 ,096 pounds of meat, and in
| Germany rs bushels Of grain and $50
pounds of meat. An ordinary farm
hs nd in the United StateS raises as
much grain as three in England. four
in France. and FIVE in Germany.
That tna American people are not de-
generating from a nation OF workers to
a ration Of idlers, Mr., Mu,hal' thinks. is
proved by the fact that in 1860 the num-
ber of urban and rural workers was
placed at 15,026,000, and in 1880, thirty
years after. when the population had
, almost exactly doubled the workers
had increased to 32,12C.Oo0 or more than
twice as many. But the great change
that has taken place in that time in the
methods of production and In wages is
evidenced in the fact that the annual
accumu]ations per worker in cities has
increased from $44.7O in 1860 to $3.50 in
1890. while in the country they have
fallen from $1O5 in 1860 to $47.3O in 1890.
Our intellectual Supremacy.
But the most gratifying results nf Mr..
Mulh alrs researches have to do, not
with the material but with the intel
lectual progress of the United States.
AS compared with other countries the
United States spends $2.4O per inhab-
liant for school purposes. Great Britain
$1.30, France so cents, and Germany so
cents, and the yearly letters per inha H.
liant In this country are more than
double the average number written in
Great Britain. France and Germany.
These are not all the cheering con-
clusion5 found in Mr.. Muihalrs great
statistical reservoir. He refers to the
41000.0OO instructed citizens in the
United States, the average wealth of
S1,0s9 per capita, not including public
lands, the money spent in building rail-
roads, averaging $1.0O0,oOO day for
twenty years past, the money invested
In houses in the same time, averaging
an annual investment of $12 per inhab-
liant, and the daily accumulation of
wealth. averaging s7,0O0,O ,OO0--these
facts, Mr.. Mulhall concludes, "tell us
wonderful country has sprung up be-
yond the Atlantic in single century,
and furnish scathing commentary on
the books written by English travellers
only fifty years ago. Englishmen of to-
day have more correct views and re-
gard with honest pride andykindly good
will the descendants of the pilgrim fa-
theirs, while the rest OF mankind marks
with wonder and admiration the on
ward march of the great Republic"
A Good Appetite
Always accompanies good health, and an
absence OF appetite is an indication of
something wrong. The loss of a rational
desire for food Is soon followed by lack of
strength, for when the supply of fuel Is
cut Off the fire burns low. The system
gets into low state, and Is liable to se-
vere attacks of disease. The universal
testimony given by those who have used
Hoods Sarsaparilla, as to It's great merits
In restoring and sharpening the appetite,
In promoting healthy action OF the digest
I've organs. and as purifier of the blood,
constitutes the strongest accommodation
that can be urged for any medicine. Those
who have never used Hoods sarsaparlla
should surely do SO this season.
a Selfish Point Of View.
From the Detroit Free Press. ~ t;ats