The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-02-16

east at this time Is in reality h out
I growth OF commercial competition It
Is a question Of markets and market
places. A writer recently said: There
Is no fxedneSs in commercial sup-eni-
ICY It has come AID gone from one
nation to another. Commercial neces-
sity has replaced the old lust of empire,
and is the key to the avidity Of nations
dividing commercial territory. The
lines of commercial progress are rapid
ly shifting from the Atlantic ID the
Pacific. Ii is in the as, where civili-
cation had it's birth, thai the final
struggle for commercial supremacy
is defined to occur. The very name of
your society the American-Asiatc
Association, is an evidence Of the in
telligent appreciation OF our business
men, and an indication Of a
cial movement and spirit that will dot
the broad Pacific with ships and over
lap the fringeS Of Asia The place of
the United States in this great contest
for commercial supremacy depends on
the Intelligent acceptance by our mer-
chants and manufacturers OF the op-
~portunitieS of the our.
The battle of Manila changed his
tory in a night and projected the
United States into the circle Of h
great powers and into This conflict in
the asst. Mr.. Gladstone, who knew all
the forces ait work there, said: The
United States will be most victorious,
with England following, in the worlds
industrial conflict now present and TO
come He saw with prophetic vision
the results of our war with Spain and
the impending commercial ascendency
Of the United States.
Prior to the acquisition Of the ISL
lands the open Oor policy was secur-
ed 20 us only by treaty rights. These
were entirely dependent upon the ca
price and ever changing interests of
the nations struggling for commercial
supremacy. The final ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Of the Chinese empire has been their
ultimate With this accom-
plished and their spheres Of influence
fixed. the exclusion Of our trade would
speedily follow.
The great race between the nations
Of this century IS TO dispose of their
surplus productions. Russia has made
an adrOit advance by rail into China
70 forestall a large measure of supply
at her seaports- Germany, in the inter-
eSts of her trade, has forced him TO
~relinquish rich provinces, and England,
France, Italy and Japan have acquir-
ed w~ell-deVelOped spheres of m
ciaI influence. Thus new Europe con-
frOnted US in an endeavor ITO thwart
our advantages in transportation and
trade when the battle of Manila oc-
Cured. This halted the great powers
in their greedy conflict, and today,
with a foothold III h Philippines, we
hold the key to the door.
THE loss OF our CnInesa trade would
be a calamity TO the American farmer
and manufactures. Dur productive ca
pacity enables us ITO supply in most
lines the wants ofdOuble our popula-
ton. Without outside markets for the
distribution of our surplus products
prices must fail, mills shut down and
labor be thrown out of employment. 1t
seems TO me that our best interests
will be conserved by the maintenance
of the integrity of the Chinese empire,
and in this effort self interest makes
England and Japan our allies. Can the
United States afford to neglect her
present opportunity in the east? Shall
we go backward for the first time in
our history? No! Our country has new
er faltered before great tasks, nor had
recorded in her past history the word
failure. The United States will prove
true to her destiny; she will play we'll
her part in the future civilization OF
the world and the control of Ommerce.
No county on the face Of the earth has
such vast ~recOurceS, such an 1ngenl-
Gus, intelligent, energetic and progress
sive population. No nation has such
a command of the great forces hat
now control the wOrld-steam, cleo
tricity and machinery. With all these
advantages, can we afford TO ignomin-
iously Withdraw from this conflict in
the east? Why should WE give up this
vantage-grOund and fail to use the
golden opportunities placed in our path
by a beneficent Providence?
THE south is peculiarly interested in
our Asiatic markets. From the Orient
comes a continually-increasing demand
for raw and manufactured cotton. The
outlet there for our surplus products
seems almost limitless. In China today
the most popular cotton products come
from southern mills. Southern manu-
facturers have not yet cached more
than One-thirtieth of the population Of
Northern China. 1t is not unreaSona-
BILE to say that when the entire field
is covered it will more than require
double the capacity Of our mills to sup
ply the demand. This market presents
the astonishing condition of demand
ing both raw and manufactured cotton
from the same section. 1t is of ines
timatable Importance to the entire
south that this trade should be devel-
oped, held and protected. With mill
ions of capital invested in southern
factories, dependent, as they are, upon
the markets of the Orient, the repre-
sentative from the south who opposes