The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-30
THE LOUISIANA PURCHAsE.

April 30, 1893. April 30, 1903. To the Editor of the Journal and Courier:
 To-day representatives of great na- tional powers of the world are gather ing at St. Louis in recognition of the greatest real estate transaction ever re- corded in history with peaceful deliv- erance, without smoke of cannon, gleaming of bayonet, blare of trumpet or shadow of soldier uniform. This great empire of acres passed from France, warlike nation, to the sover- eighty Of this republic in quiet, peace ful ways under the prophetic wisdom and guidance of Jefferson one hundred years ago to-day, and the worlds con- vention at St. Louis opens with dedi- catory services at the gateway entrance to this great purchase which will be an eye-opener to our progressive achieve ments
 Much crude information exists among the people of the United States in re- gard to this great territorial acquisition to this nation under the administra- tions of Jefferson. Many suppose that the Louisiana Purchase covered simply the territorial boundaries of Louisiana as they exist in it's State sovereignty, whereas, in fact, it covered a territory larger than the thirteen original States of the Union, at cost of less than two cents for each one hundred acres of land covered by the grant. It gave us q solid country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the great fresh water lakes on the north to the salt seas on the south, removing the anchorage of the French nation from our borders, giving us possession of all their lands and mineral deposits, control of the Mississippi river and it's tributaries an unbroken coast line from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. And, strange as it may seem, Jefferson was denounced for squandering the na- tion's money for wild desert lands, fit only for Indians and the roaming of wild beasts.
 Out of this purchase, at a cost of six teen millions of dollars, we have al- ready admitted fifteen great States into the Union, each State representing many times in value the entire cost of ! the purchase. Other territory covered by the grant is yet to be baptized into | the sisterhood of States under our flag, which has synnbolized the nations pow CT for a hundred years upon the seas, and in midnight whirlwinds upon the \ land. Each admitted State gravitates to the national policy of Jefferson as the planets revolve about the sun. l The value of the Louisiana Purchase | l. 1NA fhn breadth of it's acres, it's mineral depos- | it's, great as they are in allsdepartments l of wealth. Its agricultural resources stagger figures in magnitude of results, Its mineral deposits have paid back to the government one thousand-fold more 4 than it's original cost, and are now sup I plying the national treasury with more than two hundred millions year.
 A million happy homes blossom upon its soil supplying nations of the earth with bountiful harvests, Its political life blood pulsates through the chan lnels of our national activities, marking an epoch of great results in the coun- Itry.
 These States carved out of the Loui- siana Purchase are powerful elements in the channels of our national life, af-
 fecting, if not shaping, the destiny Of
 the republic. They are germs of State hood civilization that struck deep root
 in American soil one hundred years ago
 when Jefferson watered the plant, ano
 It's vigorous growth survives the life oi
 his being and emphasizes the being oi
 his life in progressed achievements 1T
 territorial grandeur, government in
 spired for the liberty of the citizen, ant
 security of his person under our flag wherever it floats.
 Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln three as great men in the line or then activities as the nation ever produced Washington, leader of armies; Jeffer son. founder of the republic; Lincoln lits preserver.
 National monuments: Washington . towering into cloud regions secured much by one hundred begging platform lectures by Edward Everett, withou change of text or variation of panto mime gesture as practiced before tn mirror of self-adulation. Lincoln' monument, erected by spontaneous Of ferings of a loving, devoted, patriots
 people to his memory. Jefferson has n } national monument outside of eonsciou l Iduty well performed to the nation an'