The evening times., 1898-09-17
THE NEXT CENTURY.
New Doors Open for Our Capital and
Manufacturers.


The necessity of new markets for this
country's products is a common theme.
A forecast of the twentieth century is
made by the Iron Age. which says:
THE successes of Americans in the
metal and machinery lines go far TO JUS
tify the feeling which is apparent that in
this respect we can hold our own in the
competition of the whole world. But
America as producing country, in order
to attain supremacy in important lines,
is realizing that it must assume an act
i've position in developing an export
trade, and not merely a passive one, as in
the case of marketing our surplus wheat.
which foreigners come and buy when
they need it, and which they let alone
at other times. The grain trade today is
much the same as when the patriarch ia
cob sent his sons down into Egypt 10
buy corn because there was a lack at
home. AS for modern mechanical ap-
pliances. which first come into use among
an especially progressive people. thence
spreading gradually all around the
world, success in supplying them attends
those who go to work in earnest. first
to make the advantages of a given ar
tic'e known in new quarters. and tnen to
bring it into actual use.
There are reports now of electric rail-
ways projected in Bangkok on the same
scale, almost, as in any American city
of equal size; but this does noJ mean
that the Siamese have been coming TO
Europe or the United States to insist
upon buying installations for this pur-
pose. Then we have seen the rivalry
III Ias,H
in the matter of railway concessions in
China. whose people have neither the in
dustrial skill 10 build railways nor the
peculiar genius required 10 finance them
successfully. II is not enough for Ameri-
ca to be able TO supply any mechanical
equipment which any country in the
world may call for they must be ready
to go abroad and suggest occasions for
the introduction of such equipment. They
must be prepared. further, 10 compete
with tae mechanical skill and financial re-
sources of other countries. in order TO Sc
cure work for our shops and factories.
Not only this, but there must BE- readi-
ness 10 invest capital abroad in many
cases. in order 10 give new undertakings
a safe footing and prepare the way for
their becoming profitable, especially il a
demand for American supplies is involved
For in the end il will become appreciated
that there is no more reason why the
investment of American capital should be
restricted 10 home enterprises than thai
American factories should be operated ex-
clusiveiy for hOme trade.
THE fact is that foreign trade tends
to make us forget geographical lines and
to consider the worlds markets as a
whole 1t is still more so with inventiO1.
1t is evident that the benefits of inyen-
tions are TO be universal. AlEeady no
civilized country can claim a monopoly
OF skill in any line, or of advantage from
any great discovery. such as those relat-
ing to steam, electricity or mechanics.
The economic development reached in
the United States and parts of Europe is
destined to extend to the rest of the
world. though its growth sometimes may
be less rapid than il, has been here, and
some countries may be long in reaching
a degree Of advancement conformabIe
with cur own Progressive undertakings
may exist for time mainly for alien in
terests, as in the case of the Congo rail-
way which the BelSians have built for
the purpose of extending their trade into
Central Africa, and is. therefore no
measure OF the development of the people
who live along its route. But none the
less will this railway help TO unity in
dustrial and commercial conditions for
henceforth the work Of the COngOleSe
rubber gatherer, who thus gains a mar
ket, will have a bearing upon the prices
of all rubber goods. whether in Berlin
or Bombay. Every item of real develop
ment is similarly far reaching in it's
effects, rendering the problem of inter
national trade wonderfully complex and
worthy of the attention of the ablest
minds. If Americans, therefore conliue
their investments at home. they must
find themselves excluded from sharing
much of the worlds progress''