The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-02-01
american Trade
Bound 10 Expand

II
- Philadelphia on Tuesd1y ,vCtiiiS
u Postmaster General Charles EN-
ory Smith delivered an address
upon THE Philippines" which was In
,erprctcd as having official Significance.
Mr.. Smiths address was statement or
the conditions and forces which have
within the last forty years placed the
United States at the head of all the ma
tions of the earth In agricultural and
industrial products, and OF the events
which NJ Il bound raised this nation In
the estima Son of the world from ,hird
rate power to the very first AS clim-
AK to that portion OF his address he
spoke of the prompt and fun acceptance
Of cur governments demand for an
open door TO China for our products,
which had been refused 20 England. lie
regarded the Philippines as the gateway
to China, the abandonment of which
would lessen our influence with Euro
rean nations. lie said
.-.o:--
THE United States has reached a
turning point in its history. The coming
historian will date Il new era from the
Spanish war and the changes immedi-
atcly growing out of II. That war was
coincident with the elimination Of u ma
terial development which is unparalleled
In the annals of time. The first ana
paramount obligation connected with
of It. 1t was purely and solely war
of humanity. The moral sentiment and
conviction which impelled us to take up
arms must rule the settlements Of the
war, and ] do not hesitate to say that
they have guided the president In every
step he has taken. A government less
honorable and scrupulous would have
retained the power which events gave IT
over Cuba, but in our case the pledge
of independence is respected and the will
| of the Cuban people will be decisive.
That surely meets the moral standard.
In the Philippines there was no altcrna-
tive but the assumption of American
control. The acceptance of that respon-
sibility was the dictate of moral duty.
-:o:-
But when we have met the highC st
requirement of that standard there is
no code of ethics and no rule of states
manshp which demands that we shall
not consider the commercial aspects Il
is the obligation of the government first
of all to be right; it is also its obliga-
tion TO promote the advantage and well
fare Of its own people and when the
two fully coincide and harmonic, when
the moral mandate and the material i'll
terest completely blend. it is doubly
| strong and fortunate. Such is our
present position. Our country stands
preeminent among the Industrial pow
ers Of the world. The American policy
which. with only a single briet break,
has been steadily pursued during forty
years since Abraham Lincoln became
president, has broLght us to Il position
| Of manufacturing supremacy which is
unrivaled and unapproached. We first
made cd our second Declaration of In
| dcncndenCc--a declaration of complete
| industrial independence. We Iuilt up
our own FORCES and factories ana mas.
| tered cur own markets. And then.
when we had fully possessed ourselves Of
| our own domain, we We're ready to go out
| into the markets of the world.
'Our growth is the wonder of man.
kind. In 1870 the value of our manu-
| factures was $500 0OO,o00; in 1889 it was
nearly Sl2,00omN,G0O. The amazing ad-
vance can best he realized by compari-
son. In 1870 the manufactures of the
| United States Just about cqualed those
| of Great Britain; in 1899 they were two
and a half times as great as the tora,
volume of British manufactures and
| equaled those of Great Britain Germany
| anl France put together. The increa SC
| In the annual American product within,
| thirty years has been double the COM
| bined increase of those three great IA
| tons Of Europe. In other words. If you
| match the United States against Great
| our manufactures arc now equal to all
| theirs, and are growing twice as fast
| We are manufacturing nearly two-thirds
as much as all Europe, with its 10000, ,Opl
people, and more than one-third of all
that is manufactured In the world. II
| you take the whole range of indus
| tries, including agriculture. mining, trans
| portation and even commerce, wherein
alone we are behird, the proportions
stand about the same. The aggregate
| value of American industries is more
than double that of Great Britain, three
| times that of France and two and q hall
| times that of Germany. IT Is one-h alf
that of all Euprope combined. with
this enormous industrial expansion the
| national wealth Of the United States
| grows proportionateiy In 1860 our ag-
| gregate wealth was but little more than
half that of Great Britain, less than halt
| that of France, and only about half that
| Of the nations that made up the German
Empire Now it is a third greater than
Great Britains, double Germany's and
nearly double that of France. Within
forty years the United States has gained
over G100o millions In wealth, while Great
Britain. France and Germany together
have gained less than G0,o00 millions. Oui
present annual gain H. about 1000 mil
| lions. and every working day sees the
United States over 100000 better of
than 1t was the day before"
| --:O:--
Mr.. Smith outlined the particular fac
tors in Americas marvellous industrial
development. saying that whereas tifteer
years ago the United States made only
half as much pig iron as Great Britain
| wenow make more thar 80 per cent. NOR,
| than either Great Britain or Germany
and more than one-thrd of all the irol
made in the world; that We make half 81
| much steel as all other nations put to
! g'ther; that in our practically ineXhaus
| tible, unused resources of iron ore an,
coal, we possess the elements of future
supremacy; that our prcdominance viii
| become as signal in textiles as in metals
as Is already indicated in the develop
| mcnt OF the cotton mills of the South
He emphasized the superiority Of Ameri
can genius and invention and adaptabil
ity, which, he said, in 1895. gave TO tn,
American operative IA productive pOwc
four times ls great AS that of th'
European operative lie referred to
further advantage In the fact that th
United States is the one country tina
sCpplies its OWN food and raw material
The one great nation that sells NOR
than It buys, the one world power tina
is completely independent in its re
sources and wholly self-sustaining. NV
are great both in land and industry h
continued. "Our agriculture and manu-
features work together for the commo
Welfare, a century ago Malthus point
ed out the irresistible strength of such
combination. He said: According I
general PRINCIPLES, 1t will finally answe
to most landed nations both to manu-
facture for themselves and to conduc
their own commerce. That raw cotto
should be shipped in America, carrie
some thousands of miles to anothe
| COuntry, there to be manufactured an