The Portland daily press., 1900-08-30


delivered at South Berwick on Tuesday
night, an abstract Of which was printed
IN Wednesdays PRESS. Mr.. e. G.
SWEET spoke, in part, as follows:
Z. G. SwETT's SPEECH.
We are living in the commercial age of
the world. OF all the material interests
of the nations OF the earth, the CONNER
c1aI interest is the most important. Up
TO 1870 our domestic affairs largely COM
manded our attention to the exclusion of
outside matters. Until the successful
termination OF our Civil War, 1t was not
certainly determined whether the United
States was a nation or q c0nfederacy of
independent states. The triumph OF the
Union arms settled that question finally
and from that period we date the most
wonderful chapter of progress in the
world S history.
For time our farmers, miners ana
manufacturers looked upon the s'home
market as their bounded universe, and
it was wisely protected and reserved for
their developments; but our farms and
mines. our mills and factories have ex-
banded and multiplied beyond the in
crease of our population. until our pro-
ducts are largely IN excess Of our re-
quiremenEs and we must have an out
side market for our surplus or shut down
some portion of our mines and factories
and allow some portion OF our agricul-
tural districts to lie waste. No Intelligent
American will deliberate for a moment
over such an alternative. We had enough
of closed mines and factories, of western
farmers burning corn for fuel and men
seeking employment during the Cleve-
land administration, to last the country
for a generation at least.
England, Germany, Russia, France and
other European nations, long ago realized
the necessity of an Eastern commerce
and for years a struggle has been in
progress among them for the great mar
kets of China and the Orient. BY geo
graphical position, by general similarity
of climate, by nearness and By the extent
and nature of our products, the people of
the United States should be the gre atest
benehciaries Of this development. In
race and habits China strongly re-
sembles Japan, that wonderful empire
opened to the commerce of the world by
our own Commodore Perry as recently
as 1854; and whose rapid progress III ma
terial pursuits has been the marvel of the
world. China with ten times the pOpu-
lation and thirty times the area of Japan
viii as much excel her in development,
What we needed in the United States,
was an awakening of sentiment that
should make Asia and the Orient a real
thing to the American manufacturer,
miner, farmer and mechanic, that is to
say. something in which he had an i'm
mediate interest, and as In Perry's VIC
tory at Yokohoma in 1854 1T came in the
flash and echoed across the Pacific in the
report of Dewey's guns at Manila.
Profitable commerce depends largely
upon time, distance and facility of
transportation. This is the era Of steam
and electricity. The old sailing ships
passed away with the stage cOach but
while Europe had long looked with spec
ulat1ve eyes TO the commerce OF China
and the Orient, it was not until the
opening OF the Suez canal that profitable
trade by steamships between Europe and
China was possible, for the reason that
steamers must carry coal for the entire
voyage around the Continent of Africa,
leaving little or no space for freight
earning cargo The opening of the Suaz
acnaI, shortened the voyage by more than
ten thousand miles and afforded seve raj
opportunities for re-coaling. thus permit
ting space or freight earning cargo.
The distance by way of the Suez canal
from Londo n or Liverpool to HOngkong
and Manila is something more than ten
thousand miles. The direct distance
from San Francisco to Hongkong and
Manila is about six Thousand miles, or
four thousand miles In our favor. The
distance from London to Shanghai by
way of Suez canal, is more than eleven
thousand miles. The direct distance from
San Francisco to Shanghai is $3.50 miles,
nearly 5000 miles in our favor or about
one half.
The distance from London to the prin-
cipaI Japanese port of Yokohama, by way
of Suez canal Is nearly ~, 600 miles
The direct distance from San Francisco
to Yokohama lis 4564 miles, a difference
of more than 1000 miles in our favor.
II we make the comparison between the
continental ports OF Antwerp and Am
sterdam, or the great German ports OF
Hamburg and Bremen, our advantage Is
even greater.
The quickest time now possible for
mails from London, Paris, Berlin, Wen
ma and other European capitals to Shang
hal and the East, by the SueZ route in
thirty two days. But the quickest route
for malls from European capitals to
Japan, China and the East Is not now
by the Suez route, but across the Allan
tic ocean to New York, across the
American continent to San Francisco
and thence across the Pacific ocean. Lon
don malls average to reach New York is
seven days; New York malls reach San
Francisco in four days and three hours
and seventeen knot steamers cross from
Shanghai in sixteen days, making
total OF twenty -seven days and three
hours or a saving Of five days over the
Suez route.
Now just incidentally what nation do
you suppose has the largest and fastest
line OF steamers on the Pacific ocean to-
dayp Why that wonderful little empire
OF Japan. A steamer like the st, Paul
of the trans Atlantic American line could
cross from San Francisco to Shanghai in
about ten days, as against about fifty to
sixty days from London, Liverpool,
and Bremen.
Now when we consider the fact that
China alone contains over AGO. 900, 600 OF
people and that In that section bordering
upon and readily accessible from the
are 500, 600, O0O or more than
halt the POPULATION OF the earth, we be-
gin to real lie the Importance OF this mat
ter to every merchant, manufacturers