The copper era., 1901-01-10
BUILDING A NATION.
The United States Has Doubled in Population Fourteen Times in
 the Nineteenth Century.

NEW YORK, January 3.-In the mid
 de Of the first week. of the first year of
 the twentieth century, it may be per
 missible 10 turn attention to the past
 hundred years Of development which
 has made the United States the most
 notable success in the worlds history
 of natiou-bulding.
 We began the century with j.3oN.O .OoO
 population, we close it with 76.3pO,0 900;
 showing an increase of 7l GOO OJO. or at
 the rate Of 1I.30 per cent.
 The European population has, on the
 average. risen Co 2i times that Of lsoO,
 whilst that of our own country has ex- banded III times Our territorial area
 has risen from LOIS. OOO,OU0 acres to 2,405. O0O, ,OO0-au increase of 136 per cent.
 Tine great glory Of this territory lies in the rapidity with which it has been converted into the weslthiest and most fertile nation on the face Of tho globe. l. started its career by bravely win ming it's liberties and organizing them into a republic which has continuously consolidated its strength aud steadily developed into the wi-est and most
 pacific form Of government the world
 has yet witnessed. The nation has
 been built by its own music, integrity
 and industrial genius. and is the pro duct of the finest races of mankind
 Thanks to Providence, the maguitic- encc of our success must bc largely credited to the unsurpassed richness of our territorial heritage. In varieties of soil and climate, in richness of min cral deposits, in forest resources, in magnificeuce Of river ard lake, and in our varieties and limiilcss sources of underground wealth We have l9med bases Of industry unequallcd elsewhere on the surface of the globe. But 10 have cultivated these resources with such intelligence aud energy a-, within one century, Co have created out of them the richest commonwealth in history-that is an achievement so Uu- prcccdented that We may boast over it ! with just and patriotic pride.
 The foreign trade of the country. in ! the first year of the century amounted ! to SlG2. .OOO. .Ou0: in I90O, it had risen to l 2,244. .OOO, ,OoO-showing an average of l &, 2,OS2, ,0OO, coo; or at the rate of ,2S5 per cent. Our present commerce exceeds ! by Sl45, OOO. coo the foreign trade of com bined Europe ia IS40 From the latter year to 1897, European commerce in- creased S9, ,96S, ,0OO, ,0Oo, or at the average rate of 415 per cehl: which k but little over one-third the rate of progress realized in our own trade within the whole century. For the last forty years, however, we have pursued q Policy of restricting our imports by very high tariffs; which has had the effect of materially keeping down the volume of our foreign commerce..
 The concurrence Of immense deposits of iron ore in convenient contjguity with our coal fields has now placed us in advance Of both England and Ger many in respect to both the quantity oG product and lowncss ot cost Of both iron and steel. lS9a. our product of pig iron was l3. .62O, 900 tons; that of Great Britain in 1898 was s, 36l ,0O0 tons; whilst in the same year, that of Germany was 7,233, 000 tons; the output of the United States is now 36 per cent of the worlds whole product. Our position in the : copper trade now ranks foremost among the producing nations. lG lSl0, We stood lowest among the manufacturing { countries; in lSSS, We had risen to the control or 10 per cent of the total pro ductiou; and now we contribute GO per cent of the whole supply.
 Equally, we rank foremost among the ( nations in respect to agriculture. In 1920. the area of land under crops n [ the world (outsidc of Nsja) Was 409,- coo, GOO acres, of which 20, ,O00, coo acres, ' or 1.5 per cent, was in the United States. In jSy0, the crop area had ( reached S50.00OO00 acres; of which ( 220, ,O00, ,000 acres, OF 36 per cent. Was ; situated in this country. These facts q illustrate the extent to which the ( world has become dependent upon the | United States for iis food products. q The country which leads in tho worlds a supplies of grain, cotton and iron is t destined to direct the commercial for .unes of the world. So in respect to 'ailroad transportation, We have sur | passed all other natious. Combined |" Europe has now l53,O0O miles of road, u while the United States can boast l' coco miles, The mileage of the en- U ire world is now about l3S, 600 miles, u f which 43 per cent is located in this u ountry.