The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-01-23
Industrial Progress Of the United
States.

States.
Consul Mason at Berlin has sent to
the State department at Washington a
leading article from Hamburg paper
of rank and Importance. The title of
the article is "The American Danger"
add is based upon the annual report of
the United States secretary of the
treasury. Subjoined are extracts
which will be interesting to every Am
erican:
THE statement in the annual re-
port of the Finance Minister of the
United States that the national revenue
have increased by S5S,0000, 900 and the
expenditures decreased by SLY 100000
merits serious attention. The United
States had only few years agoEto
struggle with no inconsiderable annual
deficits in the national revenues; it has
regularly sent abroad-principally to
England and Germany-a large part of
the interest on national bonds and a
considerable share of railway and in
dustrial securitiee; and has had to
make for more than ten years past a
yearly appropriation for the pensioners
of the war of the Rebellion larger than
the cost of the German army and navy.
The Union has had to meet more re-
Gently the heavy cost Of the war with
Spain, and its industries have to reckon
with considerably higher wages and
higher rates of interest than the Flu
ropean countries. In spite of all this,
the national budget of the United
States shows the favorable balance
which is announced in the annual re-
port of the treasury.
1.-THE reasons for this are made plain
by the report itself, from which may be
learned much more that is timely and
valuable. We see, for example, from
the table of exports and imports that
the United States exported during the
last fiscal year goods valued at 81 1894, )
493, 6S2, of which more than $780,
| 10000 was of domestic origin. In
these gigantic figures one must CON-
pare them with the export statistics of
| European countries to realize their full
significance. The item of manufact-
ured goods amounted to 81 "a per cent;
that is, ne arly full third of the whole
export.
"These figures mean more than they
alone say. They speak threatening
language: they say clearly and forcibly
that the United States, which ten years
ago exported more than 30 per cent. OF
agricultural products and less than q
fifth of manufactured goods, today
draws nearly third, more than IA per
cent more, of its entire export from the
product OF its factories. In other
words, the Union is marching with
gigantic strides toward conversion
from an agricultural to an industrial
nation.
"Similarly interesting also is the in
fuence of this development on export
trade. The Union came out of the
Civil War during the early Cos with
one of the heaviest national debts re-
corded in history. This debt WAS fol
the most part paid far earlier than the
world, or even the Americans, expect
ed, and it was paid mainly by the ex
port of agricultural products. When
about twenty years ago, the industries
of the United States began to revive
and under the protection of exorbitan
duties, developed and strengthened
they suffered in ali branches, Otter
seriously, for want of domestic capital
Things went so far that the United
States became financially wholly de
pendant upon Europe, the rates OF in
terest was practically dictated from
London.
"From the beginning of the pas
decade, series of different facts o