The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1902-03-28
THE TRADE or THE ORIENT.
And Wha1 II Means for Minnesota and the
Whole Northwest.

Mr.. j. J. Hill was recently reported by
having said that the two mammoth ships
be operated IN successful competition
pad ca
navigation laws permitted better selec-
ton and control OF crews. The reason
Tor this ~ Is plain 10 &c
made the Hill methods'' Of organising
transportation famous q, one Of Of the
the simple principle that the bigger the
trainload the less the cost Of hauling 1t
Per ton per mile He has made q, en- MS ships
and that it win cost But little more to
operate them thus filled than smaller
ships carrying a fraction OF the tonnage
These ships will carry cargoes at much
lower freight rates than have heretofore
i IN the dev ao Of the Asistic trade
fleet Of similar ships. But to fiji even
massing at the Pacific ports where they
are to be loaded Of g. much larger volume
Of exports to Asia than has heretofore
Northern alone would not suf1lcs to sus-
tain them. These ships are a constitu-
ent part Of the arrangements whereby rely
and tss ssssems are to
operated in harmony. and subsidiary to
the same general end. The momentous
signifieance OF these arrangem ;s nG can
stood that their purpose is to make these
two great transcontinental railroads
th ehs6 1gay 96 %era sa
It 10 to carry out in the whole vast field
of intercontinental traffic, the same
principle Of Wh1ch RI Mr.
cargoes-.to so increase the tonnage
volume by concentration on this Northern
route as to reduce its cost by land and
commerce always flows along the lines OF
least resistance-turn into this cheaper
channel on the shorter lines Of latitude
1 I The fuii car load Is thus the unit
Of power In a gigantic scheme OF CONNER
cial concentration which will pour new
and Industrial energy into the six states
Which it has been recently sought to
array against it,.
The lawyers and politicians who have
been fretting and Tuning about the sup
posed effects of the so-called merger on
the grandeur and potential benefcience Of
the economic forces called into play by
this scheme, and which will insure much
greater REDUCTION Of Local ana trans con-
sequence Of an immensely increased
volume Of traffic than would otherwise be
possible.
Our local statesmen are not to be
blamed for the narrow local view they
have taken of this question: or for their
its worldwide relations. For but few
who have not studied the question have
any conception Of the enormous =, trade sls
grasp Of American enterprise. but which
for lack of an effective organization OF
our commercial power we have hereto
Great Britain. to appropriate: For the
seven years ending with and inclusive OF
1893 not an American steamship entered
we have done better. but the major part
of that traffic Is still borne in English
vessels. In the fifty-two years from ; ls4s
in their traffic with the Philippines over
STE, 900, 900 in trade balances against us.
or enough to have paid all the expenses
Of the n s9an the soods
carried to English or German ports and
transhipped to this country.
In twenty years the United States mas
London, Berlin and Paris over billion
trade balances. If this amount OF money
it would have bought out the steel trust
and the Northern Securities company at
their capitalized figures In the ten years veg
Of the trade Of HenEong, which nr T.
warehouse for all Gh1na vnde at darrisd
/ per cent Of the foreign trade Of China
or Of the port Of Hongkong The latest
accessible tables Of the treasury depart
Of our imports from Asia in 1885, $H.-
sna o Sa%' sS %SS OF i"s The PACING
from Atlantic ports and only sis, 7o0. 600 by
that Is per cent Of our, trans-Pacificc
the h Pacific f a. all but rather by the way
at Liverpool and Hamburg for. New York
Il, R 5ssy %ss sof'' o 5af9s St &Sas
Of this was Carried in American bottoms
Yet ene line Of steamshiggs IKE IKE that that
Manila, Shanghai. Hongkong, and other
Chinese and Japanese ports agents ,a FOR
themselves felt in the interest of our
manufacturers. The current Of CONNER
cial exchanges thus established between
grow and widen until it drew into its
swelling tide the tributary streams OF
every state in the Union and OF every
Of this great highway Of the Worlds com:
merce this broad and deep current will!
set in motion the wheels OF commercial
ana lnQuStrldl dCL1VllV. Dul ~ AS Hd!!uJ
in Minnesota, whose chief cities, standing
at the head of the great interior lines
OF water transit. are the terminal head.
quarters and gateways Of these great
systems Of transcontinental railway, that
its influence will be felt in making them
far greater marts Of trade than II they
depended on the narrower range OF trib,
utary country around them. 1t will! tend
to make them the emporia for the distri-
button of the products Of the Orient
through the Mississippi valley: It will
lift these cities and this state to q com
manding position among the interior
states and cities of the continent.
When the lawyers and politicians get
to thinking about this matter in its larg-
er relations they will probably come to
the conclusion that there Is something
besides a question Of local politics IN
this matter Of the so-called merger
that 1t does not mean. as they imagine.
the extinction of competition, but SUCH
a marshaling Of commercial forces and
such an organized concentration OF COM
mercial power as will enable this great
system Of transportation traversing the
northern belt Of the temperate zone,
which nature has marked as the chief
path of commerce throughout the world,
to enter into successful competition with
the rival systems which are endeavoring
to attract this great tide Of transmun-
dane commerce to more southern lati-
tud.s, and that, whatever technical OBJ
factions the lawyers may find or fancy