The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-23


United States when we remember that
our total coal area covers 2OOOO square
miles, and that, even when we limit u
to the quantity of coal which enters into
the manufacture Of iron, 1t stil! reaches
the stupendous figures of more than 7O,VOO
square miles, or 1900 square miles more
than the entire al en- OF England! Our
coal production has rapidly advanced, un-
I'll We now mine as much as Great Britain
and nearly one-third of all that Is mined
In the world. Great Britain exports
100000 tons, or one-fifth OF her entire
product while we consume o practica,iy ac ta,g AZ
our illimitable fields are opened and for.
eign fields are reduced, our capability OF
supplying the world will become more
and more marked. Even now we are
famine In Europe. and OF the great de-
mand for American coal.
The facts as to iron ore are much the
same. Great Britain used about 1s,00oO00
tons In 1898, but she had to import one
third of 1t. or 6. 900, 900 tons. On the other
hand, the United States produced 1900, 900
tons. and used all of 1t within her own
borders. In the lake regions we have
q wealth Of ore beds which are practically
inexhausttble, and which. with our bound.
less coal fields, assure our increasing and
enduring supremacy as an Indus industrial fha
Same lead in textiles. But though we
began fifty years ago with valued pro-
duct only one-seventh Of Great Britain :,
only one:f1fth Of Frances and only one:
half Of Germany's. we have now caught
up to Great Britain, and nearly equal
France and Germany combined. Our
rredominance will become as sigma! IN
this field as in metals. English author
tiles point out the fact that there Is q
serious depreciation in cotton mills at
Manchester; that no new capital enters
the trade. and that employment is de-
cfeasing. But in South Carolina alone
twenty-six new cotton mills have been
established within the past year, many
more being doubled in capacity. while In
the whole South 100000 spindles have
been set up. standing for an investment
Nor does American superiority end
here When England was rising to her
industrial leadership. she had tho ad-
vantage of new mechanical forces. The
for a quarter Of century under the
blight Of the Napoleonic wars. While
thus free II m all competitive rivalry
England, through the skill of her Watts
and Arkwrighs and StevensOns. applied
new mechanical power to the productive
processes. and became the unchallenged
workshop of the world. 1t was estimat-
ed at that time that one pair of hands In
England, with these efficient agencies.
had the productive energy and value Of
ten pairs of hands on the continent. The
United States has similar, though less
signal. advantage now. American genius
and invention and adaptability have given
our industries a completeness and perfec-
tion OF mechanical equipment which
A single broad fact demonstrates the SUI
periority. In Europe 1900, coo operatives
and artisans were employed In 1875 In
producing the annual aggregate Of Of man%. ma n6n
| factured articles valued at $1,000. 600. GOO
or $3.50 apiece. In the United States al
the same time 6.00O, 900 operatives produced
goods worth $4,000 100000. or about $l,6st
apiece. or more than four times as much
as an operative in Europe.
This superior equipment and producing
power man for man, explains why WI
can pay higher wages and still compete
with the nations of the Old World or
their own ground, and in their own mar.
kets. 1t is the secret of the comfort OF
American labor. the key Of American ci.'
terprise, and the talisman of American
expansion. 1t explains why, within a
| few months, American shops have placed
| u goodly number Of locomotives on Eng
lish railways. 1t explains why We are
sending American machinery to Sheffield
and Birmingham. and why our. rails are
found in Manchuria and Siberia; in In
dia and Africa. The antiquity which en-
shrines the Pyramids looks down through
forty centuries on the American electric
road that carries troops Of visitors t.
their base. and the mystery of the silen
| Sphynx must now wellnigh yield its Sc
cret In wonder at the new riddle Of thu
youngest civilization and people peace
fully Invading and conquering the oldest
The British government needed a grea
steel bridge, nearly a quarter of mi!'
long across the Athara for Kitchener. ant
needed 1t at once; the British manufac
turers required seven months to build 1t
American constructors asked sever
weeks. and Philadelphia sent the bridge
This superior alertness, adaptability ant
equipment distinguish general American
enterprise. 1t has a plant which beat
it's product.
And even all these striking facts do no
tell the whole story of American advan
tage. England is dependent on the out
side world for her food supply and he
raw material. In less degree the sam
thing Is true of France and Germany
The United States, on the other hand, i
and raw material, the one great natiol
that sells more than 1t buys, the one worl
power that is completely independent AM
| wholly self-sustaining. We have see'
manufactures has been phenomenal: tina
its industrial product is now equal t
that of the three great Industrial ma
tions of Europe combined: that 1t Is one
half the product Of all the rest of tn
world put together, and is growing twlc
as fast; that we are immeasurably ahea
Of all rivals In raw materials and re
sources for future development, and that
eel them In producing power man 70
man. Since 1870, while our population hi.
doubled, our n anufactures have quad
rupled. Our producing capacity is up t
and beyond the measure OF our consun
ing ability and is increasing faster. Wha
then, are We to do? Are We to restriC
production? Are we to run mill and fac
tory on reduced time. with the neces
sary sequences of lower wages, smalle
profits and wide discomfort? Or are W
to provide for this enormous and expand
ing output by supplementtng our ow
vast but unequal measure of consumptio
with new outlets and new markets!
Our pathway is determined by our RI
qurements. Commercial development
the inevitable necessity Of our agricu
tural and manufacturing supremacy. Th
demands of cur industrial position con
pei us to enter npoi Ommercial expar
sion. With our surprising power of pro
duction, with our farms and forges an
factories turning out more than We ca
consume, with our matchless inventis
and mechanical genius steadily increa!
ing our paoductive energy. with ,ou
wealth Of yet untouched resources whic
in the lead Of all nations, we have onl
one Of two courses before us. Either v
must halt our growth. limit our produ'
tion, bank our fires and stop our spil
, dies reduce our labor and restrict OF
. capital, with all the hardship that tn
| involves, or else we must find broad'
markets and expanded consumption. L
; you tell me there Is cost and possib
, difficulty in this extension abroad? 81
Is there not greater cost and loss In
. paralyzing restriction at home? Do yo
| tell me there are risks and perpleXiti,
] in this policy of commercial expansion
: But are there not greater and graver pc
! plexities and dangers, which may on
, be suggested, in a policy of Industrial col
traction?
Let us fully realize the mighty facts
> our national situation. Had there been !