The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-31
Our Country Nigh
an RmpIer Growth


an HmpIer Growth
From a Speech by Hon. Charles Emory
Smith, Recently Delivered Before the
Manufacturers Association.
GPHE PAST half century in our coun.
try has beer the age OF internal
III upbuilding; We approach now the
III age of external activity. For httN
years and more the genius ana en-
crgy Of man have been unlocking the
occult and mysterious forces of nature
and applying them to the development
of the inherent resources and ombrNotlc
possessions of the nations. 1t has been
the era of steam and railroads ana elec-
tritity. Tho wonderful creations OF mat
fruitful period are the marvel of history.
IN the fifty years from 1910 tn 1890 the
population of Europe increased % per
cent, from 2i0, 900 600 to 3j0OO,Ob; but its
manufactures augmented 800 per ceht.'
from $500, 100000 Il year to SljWO, ,OO,wO. Z
Within the same time the population OF
the United States more than tripled,
from 11OOO,OO0 to G30O0,iii, but the mighty
tide of its manufactures expanded eight
cen fold, from 500, 900 to over @pO,-
100000. This advancing and amazing
power of production under modern appll-
ances has outstripped the widest dreams
Niagara. bridled the lightning. and, with
wizards wand touched the secret
| springs of the arcana of light ana energy
and force. 1t has multiplied wealth,
| comfort and luxury 1t has exalted the
| humanities and refined and bcautit!ed
| civilization itself. 4 greatly increased
| capacity of consumption has followed
this magical advance, but it has not kept
| pace with the magnified power of pro-
| duCtion, and the economic problem of
| the world today is the distribution of
| the surplus.
| rnder this stress the great nations of
| Europe are struggling for empire and
| trade. They are scanning the whole hor-
! izon for new fields of conquest. colony
| and commerce. They have seized Atrlcd.
! plucked most OF Asia, and today the
| eagles are lowering in the air with nut
! tCring wings and sharpened beaks over
| the gigantic but inert form of the most
| ancient of nations, eager for the paru-
! ton and punder Of china. Who doubts
! that their rude claws would already have
! fastened on Central and South America
| for their prey but for the protecting aegis
of the United States and the talismanic
! charm of the Monroe doctrinc?-a doc
! trine which draws around this continent
| a panoply as sacred and potent as "the
awful circle of the solemn church which
| RiCheicu drew around the ward of
| France. In thiS strenuous rivalry for en-
| larged commerce where is our great re-
| public to stand? Are we to stand with
folded hands and let the prizes slip?
! We cannot enter upon aggression and
conquest. We do not seek territorial
aggrandizement. But we shall not re-
nouncc the right of commercial aSpira-
ton, and we shall let the whole world
understand that we aim at the peaceful
trumphs of friendly intercourse and re-
| Ciprocal trade!
If We still lag behind in sonc Of the Gle
ments of commercial power, if our kccls
| do not yet plow every sea and our flag
| Is not yet unfurlcd IL every port, never
| thcless what grandeur of opportunity
| what majesty of destiny, what potential
| tiles of achievement bCckon US onward!
our position is supreme. Our country
lies midway between the east and the
west. Westward the course of empire
takes it's way" and in its progressive
march our republic-"Time'S noblest off,
spring'-stGnds at the eliminating point
| where the advancing tide of western
power meets the rcfluent wave of eastern
| Antiquity. 1t arches and dominates the
continent. It's eastern shore stretches over
three thousand miles along the Atlantic.
It's western shore-with its outpost, soon
to be, at fair lIawaii-faces the Pacific
and the Orient which are to be the the
ater of a new ad splendid commerce.
With the Isthmian canal constructed and
under our undisputed control, as it must
be. wedding the two oceans, practically
giving us a continuous coast line and cut
ting in half the commercial routes of the
western world we shall hold the key of
its rising trade and be the master force
in all its broad influence and policy.
with this commanding position and op-
|
present achievements? What are the elc-
mcntS of power with which We engage
In the worlds rivalry? The astonishing
story sounds like a rhapsody. Tile
American people grow one-ffth of the
worlds wheat. scven-eigkths of its cot
ton and nne-tcEths of it's corn. We con-
sumo one-third of it's wool and one
half of its metals We do two-fifths of
its mining in value and hold nearly one
fourth of its iron and one-thlrd of ITS
steel. We have ono-third more rail-
road mileage than all Europe. and with
only one-fifth of Europc'S population we
do four-fifthS as much railroad business.
We earn every year nearly as much as
| Great Britain. Germany, Austria ana
Italy put together. We manufacture one
third of all that comes from the teem-
ing workshops and factories of the whole
world, and in thirty years, so rapid is our
advance. the aggregate growth of our
that of England, aFrance and Germany
combined. Though the youngest Of all
nations, with a flag but little over Il cen
tury old we possess one-iifth OF all The
wealth of the world. In the treasures ot
our domain ana in the brain and Drawn
of our people we have boundless re-
sources of power and progress, and with
these magnificent strides who can meas
ure the sweep of our supremacy in an
other hundred years?
Our greatness heretofore mas been with
in ourselves. The field of foreign com
morce is the only material realm We
have yet to conquer. In our stupcndous
home development the time had not
come for the outward look. We had far
less need of ii than other nations. The
commerce of England represents more
than one-third of the value of her chief
occupations while the commerce of the
United States represents less than one
tenth of ours. our domestic exchanges
amount to nearly thirty times the whole
; volume of our foreign commerce, anu
they aggregate more than six times al