The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1901-10-22
FUTURE OF THE PACIFIC COAST,
Able Paper Read At Meeting Of Bank.
ers' Association.

Mr.. P. G. Kaufman of Tacoma,
Wash, read a paper on "The Finan-
cial Future of the Pacific Coast" lie
said in part:
ut is admitted by, all who give the
subject the slightest investigation,
that in the struggle for commercial
supremacy the United States, by rea-
son of her great resources, the fertil-
ity of her soil and the vast extent of
her territory, is destined to take a
pre-eminent place.
"The twentieth century opens for
the United States with it's industrial
machinery adjusted to the production
of wealth on a scale Of unprecedented
magnitude. The nations of Europe
and the world at large are constantly
becoming more and more dependent
upon us not only for raw materials,
but also for manufactured products;
and it may be confidently asserted
that because of our central position
between the Atlantic and Pacific sea
boards, because of our excellent
transportation facilities, our varied
and inexhaustible and the
steadily increasing dependence of
the world upon us for the necessities
and even many of the luxuries Of life,
the United States is destined to be
the greatest commercial power of the
commercial age, the twentieth cen
fury. Our great transcontinental
railroads are fully awake to the sit
uation and are charging their facili-
ties to handle the great commerce
of the future in the construction of
immense warehouses and docks and
the establishment of great steamship
lines, operated in close connection
and under their direct supervision.
ITO obtain this prominence the
United States must enter this field
of commercial activity through her
Pacific coast.
with Hawaii, the key to the com
merce of the Pacific, and the Philip
pines, the gateway to the Orient,
both in our hands, fate or a kind
Providence has given us two most
important and valuable aids for the
attainment of this glorious goal.
"The question of the wisdom of
49, ,o1;o1y ~ ovroroioo hos honr cot
tied forever. 1t is no longer even a
debatable one Our flag has been
raised in the Philippines, and, thank
God, it is there to stay.
"It takes no prophet to state that
if, the people of the United States will
but awaken to a full realization of
the grandeur of their destiny and the
greatness of their opportunities, they
will settle down to a development OF
the commerce of the Orient that will
ere many years re-establish our mer-
chant marine, cover the Pacific with
our white winged birds of commerce,
establish on the Pacific coast CONNER
cial emporiums that will rival any in
the world and pour into III treasures
the riches of Golconda.
ct seems to me that the most i'm
portant step that should be taken by
congress, to enable the United States
to attain all the advantages arising
out of a constantly expanding COM
merce, is to enact the necessary leg
islation authorizing the establish
ment of international banks with
headquarters in New York and
branches in all the leading CONNER
cial cities of the globe.
"That there is room for abundant
profit is evidenced by the fact that
fully 80 per cent Of the banking bust
ness between the United States and
the Orient and South American coun-
tries is done through London bankers
and the average commission on this
is three-quarters Of one per cent,
which is made by these London
houses with scarcely a penny of ex-
penditure. Even the government OF
the United States now does it's bust
ness in our new possessions in the
Orient through the great English in
situations, the Hong Kong and Shang-
hal banks and the chartered bank OF
India, Australia and China.
"The foreign banks of South Amer
lea and the Orient do not encourage
American trade, but, either from pat
riotic motives or for other reasons,
favor European nations to the disad-
vantage of the United States, and the
results are seriously felt in our high
er mercantile circles.
SIT is not enough to say that Il
foreign export trade is increasing re-
CARELESS of poor banking facilities. 1t
4, n ~,oro ovoc+ cfotorno ont Of ayictinp