The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-10-14
FUTURE WORLDS TRADE FOCUS.
The Centre Of Gravity 4. shifins west.
ward TO 81. Louis.

. ~ I IT .
The Centre Of Gravity IL Stirring west.
ward TO st. Lcuis.
There Is feature of the louisiana
Purchase Exposition which nobody
talks about. but which. says wrltet
In the Cosmopolitan. the far-sighted
business men of ST. Louis must appre'
ciate.
The centre Of gravity of the CONNER
cial world Is mt present shifting. AS
matter of fact. 1t has never been per
manently stable. The discovery OF m
all-sea route TO India. about the Cape
of Good Hope. ruined the Italian cities
by opening up cheaper route to the
Orient The Suez Canal caused an.
other shifting of the course OF the
worlds commerce. To-day supremacy
is slipping away from Great Britain,
and is passing into the hands OF the
United States and Germany. New
York is assuming commanding role
in the realm of finance. The Great
Lakes region is the centre OF the rich
est iron ore. copper. timber, coal, lime
stone and oil deposits known to the
world. And the Great Lake cities are
assuming n new Importance in indus
try. Chicago and st. Louis are ambi
tious to become seaport towns by way
o. deep waterway to the Gulf
through the Drainage Canal. the Iii
rois River and the Mississippi. The
Isthmian Canal will bring the Orient
and South America within an easy
radius of their trade. And these coun.
tries are taking an unparalleled inter
est in the fair.
Chicago focused the eyes Of the
world on that great metropolis in 1893
and made Il conscious force. 1t may
be that the st. Louis Exposition will
mark n turning in of the stream of
American industrial life. by which the
seaboard influences and advantages
will be brought into the very heart Of
the continent, and the West given
new outlet and larger communlca.
tion with the rest OF the world. Such
change would In time work revolu'
ton In the West. 1t would at least
modify the commanding position OF
the East. 1t would possibly cause a
shifting of American civilization coin
cident with the change in the centre
of our population.
And the Fair will do much to pro
mote juster estimate of the West
than the East now has. 1t will sug'
gest to the West sense of its own
power. of its economic. industrial and
social sufficiency; and to America. too.
1t will be an object lesson of the posi-
ton which has come to us since the
Spanish American War. with our en-
larged social. industrial and political
relationships and responsibilities to the
rest of mankind.
The backbone - the power and
strength of America-lies in the lands
that are washed by the tributaries
that feed the great "Father of Wa
ters." While the sons of other flags
are serving military apprenticeship,
the sons of Oklahoma are planting
corn, and the sons of Dakota are seed.
ing harvest of wheat. The Missis
sippi Valley has, in Il century, grown
from wilderness to the worlds great.
est garden of peace and plenty. 1t
now proffers hope and help to the bur
dened people of continent that
thought it worthless. 1t was sold by
Il monarch to build a greater army.
1t was bought by Democrat to make
home for an industrial republic. The
Fair will stand before the world as the
great object of all of this.