Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-05-05
SAM To
Be KING Of
COMMERCE
EDITOR OF TRUTH SAYS NOR
GANISM AND AMERICANISM
HAVE TAKEN COMMERCE
FROM ENGLAND'S CONTROL.

NEW YORK; May Henry Labour-
chere. in this weeks Truth, under the
heading of 'Morganeering and the Nor
al" tells the British nation, says Herald
dispatch from London, that its supremacy
in trade and commerce is not only threat
ened. but doomed. and that II VIII take
all the best efforts of which the empire is
capable to prevent a retrograde movement n.
which, II II begins, will increase year oy
year.
ITO the hal observer it Is trifie
amusing Itch the perturbation OF
John Bull 'lf-fae march Of American cap
italists. For a generation or two past the
gospel of salvation of mankind by the
agency Of British capital has been preach
ed with sincere conviction. Whether 1t was
a dying nation in Europe or Asia, rack
ETY. republic IN South America, an unre-
claimed region of Africa, peopled by IDOL
aters and cannibals. or even poverty
stricken British colony, the means OF re-
generation were always the same-let
British capital and British enterprise ex-
plot the patient thoroughly, and there
will be an end to all his diseases, political,
economic and social.
For fifty years we preached this gospel
and acted up to It religiously. Now comes
a little turning Of tables.
with a much larger population and Inn
measurably greater natural resources.
the United States offers a field for the &C
emulation of greater wealth than we
can ever aspire to.
Americans, in their turn. now aspire
TO regenerate the world by American capt.
tai and American enterprise. They prac-
tice upon the doctrine which we so long
applied to the rest Of mankind. Lastly
for the present-they lay sacriligious
hands on the shipping by means of which
Britannia rules the waves
mo wonder John Bull is In comic
state of CONSERVATION. Instead Of the ex-
ploiter he is becoming the exploited.
For about twenty years We have been
beset with a craze of acquiring in the most
out-of-the-way parts Of the world new
openings for British capital and new mar
kets for British goods. The craze has col
ored all our national thoughts and policy.
while we have been pursuing this
phantom what has the foreigner been do
ing? He, too, seeks an opening abroad for
his surplus capital and foreign market
for his surplus goods. And where does he
first find them? In England.
while we seek to extend the area of our
commerce and our investments by acquir-
ing control of countries which have no
population, or of people who have no
wants, the manufacturers and investors
of Germany and America find in this
country the finest opening in the world.
While we sink millions on the construction
Of railways through the African conti-
nent. which cannot yield a return within
the life Of the present generation, or per-
haps the next, the American capitalist
discovers a remuneratlve investment for
his millions in improving the means Of To-
comotion in London.
while we spend countless millions in
annexing vast tracts in Asia and Africa
and maintaining armies to defend them,
with the view Of supplying penniless
population with goods from Manchester
and Birmingham, our German and Ameri-
can competitors supplant us In our own
country.
Individual fools have, often enough,
dropped the substance to grasp fits shadow,
but never before has a whole nation de-
| liberately committed itself to this folly.
"Our supremacy in trade and commerce
is not only threatened, but doomed
yet. by utilizing to the best advantage
our resources In raw material, capital and
labor, we can hold our own, even If we
are forced to see Germany and America
increase their output faster than we can.
II IS only by the stupidity Of squanderlng
our capital In foreign countries, overlook
| ing the opportunity Of employment at
home. that foreign capital can supplant
| British in any home industry.
| But at the present crisis of our econom-
| ic history, what are the objects which
/ chiefly occupy our minds? The regenera-
/ ton OF South Africa by the Introduction
/ into that accursed land OF British capital
and labor. the expansion OF our army at
| the expense of the labor market, squan-
i dering time. money and energy on the
| empty ostentation of the coronation cere-
mony. which will suspend industry, dislo-
cate trade and divert public thought from
matters Of pressing and vital Importance.
"At the moment while we are thus en-
gagged Mr.. Morgan and his colleagues de-
scend upon us. seeking what they may
devour.
Almost within an hour Of the kings
| feast come forth the fingers of a mans
hand and write upon the wall. 1t needs
no prophet in this case to interpret the
writing. II is easy to read the warning,
and not difficult to accept and act upon It..
shall we attend to it at once, or shall
we finish our wine and think about the
| Modes and Persians after the dinner?"