The sun., 1900-10-23
A CEhTURY'S GROWTH
OF THE COUNTRY.
History of National Expansion
from Jefferson's Time.
The Life % the Nation, Like That of an
Individual, Depends Upon Its Ability
to Develop and Grow.


who reads the daily papers, said to his
father who is student of politics:
Father, what is the meaning of i'm
perialism' as used in the Democratic
platforms and by Democratic speakers,
particularly Mr.. Bryan; and what do
you mean by expansion
The father answered: "My boy, impe-
rialism,' correctly defined, means per
tanning to an empire The use Of it, as
they intend it to apply by the party you
speak of, is pure demagogy-a clap
trap effort TO catch votes in the coming
election. These men have erected an air
castle and are peltins it with words. But
few of the men Of brains who use this
term, as applied to the conditions in this
country, believe it to be true or correct
They have a mistaken idea that they
can scare the American people By pro-
claiming against a bugaboo Of their own
creation. In this they are mistaken. The
American voter is quick to detect hum-
bug and is not easily scared even at the
threat of real evils. 1t is possible that
some Of those men really believe what
they say on this subject If they DO
they are in the unfortunate position Of
those of whom it is said. they believe
a lie to be damned, for these men will
be politically damned at the election III
November. Outside of these parties
there are some declaring against 'impt-
rialisin' who are msed by diseased inn
aginations and who, while being honest.
are simply foolish
We'll, father, what do you mean by
expansion
Il use the word in its ordinary sense,
my boy, which is the enlargement of sur
face
Yes, l understand that, but this is a
political term us used now. Does ii mean
the enlargement of the surface Of the
country"
Certainly. and but for expansion this
country would have been very small in
deed"
when did it begin to expand? Who
was the first cxpansionist?'
Look at the map Of the United States
and you will see that the colonies of
Great Britain which rcvoltcd in LIT
were Massachusetts. which included
Maine; New Hampshire, Connecticut,
Rhode Island. New York, which with
New Hampshire included Vermont; New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary.
land, Virginia, which included Kentucky
| North Carolina, which claimed Tennes.
| see: South Carolina and Georgia. All
/ these colonies, with the outlying terri
! tories claimed by them, had only 4S2. .3G1
| square miles, with population Of about
! 100000. just before the Revolution
George Washington, then colonel Of
| Virginia militia, was the first expansion,
ist. He aided in driving the French Out
Of Fort Dnquesnc, whore pittsburg now
| stands; helped in anneXing TO Virginia
all the territory which now comprises
the States Of Ohio. Indiana Illinois
Michigan and Wisconsin. There were
no white inhabitants save a few Frcncl
on the lakes and ii illinois. These
States cover 2S3.3G1 square miles, about
three-ffths Of the area Of the colonies
At the taking Of the census Of 1890, tel
years ago, they had a population Of IL,
All SIG and wealth valued at 15,041,
G35.522 Washington's expansion proyel
70 be very valuable one"
Who was the next cxpansionist, ane
WHht ulu ne 40
Thomas Jefferson was the next. Ii
April, 1Sl3, he purchased the territor,
Of Louisiana from France Look at tha
large map. All the States and territorie.
which you see west Of the MiSsissipp
river to that irregular line which extend,
from the Gulf Of Mexico to the Cana
dian border near the Pacific ocean, wcr,
included in this purchase. Al the tim,
the purchase was made it was declared
valueless, and jefferson was denounced
rs bitterly By the opposition at that tim,
as Mckinley is now-in fact, more bit
terly. In 1910, the first census after In,
purchase, the entire civilized population
was 1I.iO1. The area Of this purchaS,
was gT4,SI3 square miles, more than
double that Of the Original colonies. an,
comprised what. is row the States d
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri. Iowa
Minnesota, North ail South Dakota, Ne
hraska. Kansas part Of Colorado. nearI,
all Of Wyoming, nearly all Of Montana
the Indian Territory and the Territory q
Oklahoma. In 1880 the population d
these States was 12Od3. .S9S and thei
wealth was S11 595, 30. $40. eleven I'm
ion five hundred and nincty-fiyc million
three hundred and fifty two thousan,
five hundred and forty dollars. Thes
States in 1898 furnished over one-hal
the wheat and nearly one-half the corr
crop of the country, ana this year viii
do still better. They have nearly ono
third Of the total railway mileage an,
are great producers Of cattle, sheer
hogs and horses. And yet their produe
tive capacity is in its infancy. Whe
) irrigation is established, as it soon vii
he, the products Of these States will Ii
doubled or tripled. And there IS one al
vantage Of this purchase that can neye
be estimated in money, which is the cor
troll Of the Mississippi river. jefferson
purchase has turned out to be il good on,
notwithstanding the bitter opposition /
its consummation."
ITO be continued.)