The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-27


meanings. To the popular mind, it usually
signifies our recent acquisitions of terri
tory. and the rapid spread of our political
influence as the result Of the war with
Spain. To the economist these conse-
Quences are of much less Importance than
the Industrial expansion which has been
going on with ever increasing force and
momentum for number Of years, and, at
last, eliminated in our sudden invasion of
European markets with manufactured
goods. Political expansion, from the
economic standpoint, is merely the out
growth of conditions which compelled us
to look abroad for the means of disposing
of our surplus product. The statesman
considers expansion from the point of view
of it's possible effect upon our form Of gov
eminent, our political institutions. The So
biologist seeks to analyze it In its bearings
upon the national character and habits.
Substantially all of them agree in the con-
clusion that the United States has become
a dominating power in the world, and that
this fact may involve momentous conse-
quences, not only for ourselves, but, per-
haps, for the whole human race.
That such a conclusion is not egotistical
on our part is abundantly borne out by the
European publicists and newspaper writer's
TO the same effect. The United States con-
sulate reports, during the past four or five
years, fairly bristle with complaints from
European sources Of the increasing pinch of
American competition in Great Britain and
on the continent with goods manufactured
on the spot. A writer in a recent number
Of the London Telegraph. for example, says
81
level of average prosperity that the world
has ever SEEM and that our commercial
strength sis more invulnerable at home
and more irresistible abroad than that Of
any other nation"
HOW EXPANSION CAME.
The position thus conceded to us has
been reached with so little conscious effort
that many Of us in danger of assuming
that the movement will go on automati-
oally, without risk of stoppage 1t had its
origin and gathered all its force, strangely
enough, from our intense preoccupation
with our own affairs. That is to say. with
out concerning ourselves about foreign
trade, or even dreaming that we would
some day be exporting manufactured goods
on scale of rapidly increasing magnitude,
we dedicated ourselves to the great task
Of building up our industries with an eye
only to the home market and with the
avowed object of supplanting every posi-
bic line of imported goods. The result was
that these industries developed gradually a
volume of product far in excess of the
home demand, and in order to dispose of
the surplus it became necessary to seek
new sources of consumption abroad.
The result was phenomenal; it took our
selves, not less than foreigners, almost
wholly by surprise. 1t was found that we
had mastered economics OF production I'M
known to Europeans, and that the inventive
genius of our people had provided us with
host of labor-saving machines and imple-
ments and tools of all sorts which con-
trasted most strikingly with the clumsier
and more less Anticipated output of
European workshops. Not ony this, but
in a great variety of goods, including even
cotton and silks, it was discovered that we
were manufacturing a more durable article
and often one of greater taste and finish
In spite of hostile tariffs, our goods have
made their way all over Europe, and the
stamp American commends them every
where.
1t is but natural that some of us should
argue, in view Of such sweeping success
change in our tariff relations with other
countries, and but little If any effort TO
manufacture especially for foreign mar
kets, that We have nothing to do but go
forward on the same lines, and that it
might even be dangerous to seek to improve
upon the present conditions of foreign
trade. This idea finds strong encourag e-
ment among those of our protected indus
frfn .rI,fo
competition of imported goods. There is
much larger element which, while not ac-
lively hostile to a more liberal policy, are
imbued with a somewhat vague but anxious
feeling that any attempt to modify our
tariff system might result in a general
breaking down of the high tariff policy. and
consequent injury to the whole fabric of
our domestic industry
THE OTHER SIDE.
Upon the other hand, many eminent men
long looked upon as champions of protec-
ton, including a number of large manu-
facturers. are more and more inclining to
the view that we cannot hope to go on sell
ing our goods TO foreigners without taking
n prOportionate share of theirs in return.
At first, the foreigner. surprised and at
tracted by the superiority of our wares and
10 his daily wants, was stampeded so to
speak. into buying them, but in a little
while. especially in the older industrial
countries, economists. manufacturers. ex-
porters began TO be alarmed at the growth
in the importation of American articles
and the formidable prospect that their own
industries must suffer by reason of the
greatly diminished consumption of their
product. Naturally, they at once began to
cast about them for means of checking this
inundation. The European governments
were urged to enact restrictive measures OF
various kinds. The manufacturers set to
work TO introduce American economics in
improved machinery and methods Of man
agement into their factories. and TO imi-
tate American goods. In Great Britain the
trades unions were urged to relax the rules
which were found to curtail production and
make ii more expensive
Up 10 this time none of these remedies
has produced any appreciable results, but
the general attitude of Europe has become
sufficiently menacing to give the more
thoughtful of us pause. "Only a broad
II ~