Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-19

! Japan and the Discovery !
\ Of America. !
! By a Special Contributor. e


History has been define as a record of
| past events. and, unfortunately, many
men who have claimed to write history
have taken this definition literally. If
| history is nothing more han such a
record. it is as dry as a basket Of chips
and as useless as a list of foreign words
| apart from their definitions. The chief
value of history consists in the relations
that events bear to one another. and
particularly in a consideration Of the
causes which ave produced the great
adjustments of the ages.
Such relations and such causes are as
complicated as is human nature and as
fascinating as they are complicated.
Whatever the genius of the Individual.
his work is efficient, only as he is mould
ed by the spirit of his age. n by the
needs of the race. This observation is
particularly true respecting the discov-
cry of America. The motives that in
spired the minds of Columbus and of
Isabella are of some Importance, but they
are as nothing compared with their ac-
tons as expressions of the spirit Of the
age in which they lived, n as attempts
to satisfy the hardly recognized longings
of the people.
Fundamentally, the discovery Of Amer
lea was dictated neither by religious nor
by scientific considerations. The desire
of Columbus to endow a new crusade.
the interest of Isabella in the conversion
of the world, or the scientific attain
ments of the Italians, may have been
active though minor elements in the
particular expedition that first gave
knowledge of the West Indies. But the
fundamental influence without which Co
lumbus never would have sailed, and
without which the Jews would never
have risked their money On the security
of Isabella's Jewels, but the existence of
which made the discovery of America
by somebody at that time a necessity
and a certainty. was purely commercial.
From the lays of Alexander the Great,
and no one knows how many years be-
fore. an active trade had existed in the
spices, the silks and the precious metals
of India and China. Long trains Of
camels laden with the wealth of the
Orient had traversed the deserts Of
Arabia n of what is now Turkey, and
had supplied the wants Of the mobiles
and ladies of Europe. The breaking
down Of the feudal system had increased
the number of purchasers by giving the
common people an opportunity to ac-
quire wealth and a desire to share in
the luxuries of life. But while the num-
Der of purchasers was enlarged, the
markets We're closed. Europe had been
supplied with eastern products, mainly
through the ports of Alexandria and
Constantinople. When the Saracens ac-
CURED northern Africa the port of Alex
andria was closed, except at certain and
irregular times. In the middle of the
fifteenth century Constantinople was
| captured by the Turks and no reliable
place Of exchange remained.
At this time the Italians We're the car
riers of the world, having had control
of the commerce between both Alexan-
dria and Constantinople. Now their
fleets were idle. Had an italian dis
covered. and Italian power secured, the
Hope the discovery of America might
nave been postponed. But this achieve
ment was made by Portugal, and Italian
commerce must find a vent or die. That
Spain reaped the benefit is not important
here. What is important, is that the
need was apparent in Italy, and every
possible method of recovering their in
jured prestige was considered by the
Italians.
But enough for this part Of our sub
ject. The main object of this paper is
to call attention to the part that Japan