The sun., 1900-12-30
MARvELS OF THE CENTURY.
xAys yONDERYTL PRO0REss IN TINE
LAST DJ YEARS
Nearly Az the Temperate Rssssas es the "'oos
in the white Mans Hands '-Enten"on OF
Political Freedom Great benen" .o",
fesrsl by Many Inventions ana oy neo'o"
.',.. S.,.rh Law, Elucidated.

PolltlSal FTte0Om s's"s""
t,,v~> by Many Inventions and BY hedio@i
science Natural Laws Eiueids'ed'
copv-ien 1900, BY q. Torr
w,,,cver the future may bring. tho nine
,.snth century must be looked upon "a
.,.ntn, noint in the history Of the world In
material achievement II has surpassed every
century that preceded H. 1t has been an age
AZ scientific investigation and discovery
followed at once by practical Application
N the uses Of man; an age OF marvellous me-
chanical inventions. which have coinpf.eF
changed the habits as they have added I'M
nens.ly 20 : q overs OF mankind. an age
Of unparalleled expansion In territory ana
ipcr,ase In numbers for the white races
which have been the bearers OF civillzauoh'
The temperate regions OF the globe on the
American continent. In Australia ana Ne"
Zealand. in southern Africa. In northern
Asia, save only In the extreme East, are al
I'm the white mans hands. and all. too. In his
sole possession, for the sparse native popu-
lotIon has everyw here died aN ay at his ap-
proach He clone has the land on which
In multiply and develop. and science may yet
give him the power to master the climate
OF the tropical regions he has seized upon.
In this new conquest Of the world the first
aud most marked factor has been the growth
and DEVELOPMENT OF the United states OF
America. the spread Of their free insttu-
tons and the reaction OF these Oh the political
system OF western Europe The young
,onfederacy with its 5,ooO.OoO Inhabitants
between the AlleghHnies and the sea- shut
OF from the Gulf Of Mexico. and with the
Mississippi for its western boundary. has
become in a hundred years a compact nation
Of 5000, 900 souls, stretching from ocean 10
ocean, equal in strength and resources to
any European power. with every prospect
Of becoming within measurable tmo equal
TO all Europe combined The growth has
been rapid steady and unchecked, In the
bondage to absolute governments In "hi'h
the greater part OF Europe was held Tor hat
,,a ceptury IN. existence OF the Nneri
can Republic the sole example on peacetnl
government by a free people served to keep
Awe the hope Of liberty in the Old World.
AMERICAS INFLUENCE
The frame Of government devised 90 hold
together weak and disjointed colonies,
proved adequate for all the need, OF great
nation II became impossible TO keep out
the liberties demonstrated to be behehcial
and now all western Europe enjoys In sub
stance representative government, freedom
Of speech, freedom Of the press. equality
before the law, freedom to migrate. public
education, religious liberation. popular suf-
fraRe and the right Of every one to pursue
any suitable calling, regardless OF class or
sex None OF its hereditary rulers can re-
gard his POWER seriously as derived from
divine right, but must base IL on the will
OF the people and the observance Of con-
etltution. =
The century began with the destruction by
the United States Navy Of one historic sham
the power OF the Barbary pirates. whose mo-
lestations Europe was content to put up with
long after their power for harm was gone
II ends with the crushing by the same navy
Of another decrepit historic survival the
remnant Of span's colonial power In the
interval the political events OF lasting con-
sequence are few The purchase of Louis
lana In 1903. through the foresight Of Thomas
Jefferson. doubled the area OF the United
States tore down the western bounds to set
tlement and left the path open to the Pacific
Ocean The later purchases and cessions
from Spain and Mexico removed the barriers
to the Gulf and made certain the extension %
the Pacific the control Of which is secured by
the possession Of Hawaii and the Philippines.
When Spain's oppressed colonies shook of
the yoke and removed from the hemisphere
the second power that might prove dangerous
President Monroes declaration. that the
American continents thenceforth were not 10
be considered subjects for future colonization
non Interference with the AFFAIRS Of the United
States and to save South America from the
fate Of Africa The war Of 1872 with England
made clear the necessity OF home manufaCt-
ures and hastened the industrial DEVELOPMENT
Of the country The great Civil War put An
end to the causes Of dissension Of half cen
tury by deciding that the Union OF the states
Is ndissoluhle and abolishing black slavery
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclama-
tion. followed soon by Czar Alexander ii =
liberation Of the Russian serfs marks the end
Of slaveholding by white mon
cHSrRALIzATroS IN ErRoPR.
Europe saw the rapid extension and more
rapid fall OF Napoleon's empire The terror
inspired by him and by the Revolution from
which he sprana. led 10 n general repression
Of freedom by the governments OF the Con-
tinent from which France mana aged 10 escape
In 1870 but central Europe. not til well in
tho latter half of the century in spite Of the
momentary outbreak Of ists A new theory
of nationality, that those speaking the same
language should be Joined in one country
spranR up and was carried into effect by the
Union Of Italy into a new nation In ls6o The
same idea led 10 the absorption Of the smaller
States Of Germany into the new German
Empire under Pr,issia's hegemony. formed
after the defeat OF France in 1871. The iden
Ia AT work In the Slavic lands, ana has taken
new turn In the endeavor for common
action among the colonies Of Great Britain
and in Germany's desire to hold together
her former subjects who have emigrated
The formation Of the new German Empire
and Its rise to a Power Of the first rank has
been accompanied by an astonishing COM
merca and industrial development, II has
led. too, to the establishment Of compulsory
military service for all by the nations on the
Continent Germanys belated greed for
foreign colonies, like that of France. could
be Rraufed only in tropical lands Grcat
Britain had taken the pick Of the earth
The preeminence In commerce and the
start In manufactures which Great Britain
had nj the beginning Of the Napoleonic wars
she has retained throughout the century.
The change from wooden sailing vessels to
Iron steamships came when the United States.
her chief competitor. was busy with the Civil
War. and neither the British iron vessels
nor the steel vessels that have taken their
place have been caught M with With her
manufactures she has controlled the markets
Of the world. hut at the end ~ the century
she has eager rivals, who are fast overhaul