Mexico Missouri message., 1900-01-04

" CT all tnc earln III fTccuOnl nome,
From sea to sea its flowers bloom.
We study the globe held by the
Muse of Astronomy We look
back over the dissoIving scenes of
the worlds map during the last
100 years. We see in Asia. II vast.
unknown world - Russia fighting
wandering tribes on the North.
and England Staying IlindooStan
princes on the SOUTH Tartary
and Siberia uutravcr~ablc by civil
zrd man, and now that whole
region traverscd by dozen Rus
sian railways, and the mighty
Empire Of the White Car. -
containing So millions Of square
miles, populated by l2G million
souls, vast area stretching from
Bchring Sea to the Baltic. We
see England just beginning to
plant her civilizing standard
abroad. Now we see the great
Kingdom of Great Britain with IL
girdlc Of power around the world,
zone of territory 50 vast, that, in
truth THE sun sets ON the English
hag.' We see Africa, an UNI
known region, Il great, dark con
tincnt. stretching from Cape Col
ony to ten degrees North Lati-
tudo. AS Dean Swift says. we see
the early
"Gcographcrs making Africa's map,
BY placing savage pictures in the gaps
And over uninhabitablc downs
Placing elephants for want of towns"
But now we see Germany owning
900, 900 square miles in Africa;
Belgium ruling SO, 900 square
miles: Great Britain holding >,
jl4, 900 square miles; Portugal
managing 73j, 600 square miles;
France controlling 3,2SS 600
square miles; lilly still claiming
Ahyssinia; aud tine rest of the
continent divided up into some
half dozou other political and trib-
al divisions.
We see the great 'Ottommn,
Empire" previous to the Congress
of Berlin. 1878, holding in inn
mediate possession tributary prin-
cipaliticS and protcctolHtc,, an
area of 2,l9G, 600 square miles in
portions of Europe, Asia, and
Africa; but now we see the five
divisions, -SerVia, Roumanla,
Bulgaria, Montenegro aud Greece
independent of the Sultan. Dur
ing the century large areas have
changed names and political rulers
by absorption and uniiication,
thru the pcrsiStcncy of Victor
Emmanuel, the diplomacy Of Ca
your, and the heroic devotion of
Garibuldi, the map of Italy was
changed, and now shows an IN
dependent Kingdom of 96 provin-
crs, with Rome as its capital.
Looking again at the map we
see during the century Bismmk
welded with blood and iron the
North and South German Coufcd-
crutions of the Rhine; wruug from
France the province Of Alsa'c,
part of Lorraine. and consolidated
26 different states, consisting of
duchics, grand duchcs, kingdoms,
principaliticS, one Imperial territory
and three free towns into one politi-
cal organization, the German En-
pirc, now comprising 100000
square miles and populated by
nearly 30, 900 900 souls. When we
sean the map OF the islands of the
seas, we find that during the cen
fury there has been the same shift
ing changes in the Geography and
IlistoIY-great land groups-arch-
ipclagoes have either been primar-
lily claimed or have changed own
erS. Germany now claims Kaiser
Wilhelm Land, BiSmark Archipcl-
cgocS, Marshall ArchipclegocS and
part Of the Solomon Island; Por-
tugal now claims Goa and Daman;
England has reformed the inhabi-
untS of New Zealand and the
Fiji Islands from the habit of
roasting and eating missionaries.
and built mp and developed, from
the beginning Of Convict Settle
mrnts, the great progressive Con-
tincut of Australia. The century