The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11

The building of the Panama Canal marks a milestone in the econmic pro- Eress of the world and will bring bless ings to all the peoples and nations of the world.
 The greatest blessings, however, are to come to the United States, while the South will be benefited beyond all oth- CT sections and Alabama will be bene- fitted more than any other State of the South.
 Fate was eminently consistent in re- serving the building of the Canal for the United States. and in decreeing that the man who will be known as the father of the canal movement should be the son of Alabama. the fearless, peerless Morgan.
 The canal has come only in the fu,i- ness of time, when the dominant white race is emerging from its long pe'ioo of militarism, and Is entering nap pier period of industrialism. Had IL come earlier, war and conquest, not peace and commerce, would have been the watch words of white men as they look over the canal towards the my riads of the Far Orient.
 Had 1t come before the Spanish war, the United States the first Of the great nations embodying the New Era, would not have been found an orientai power DreDaT6n tO Wokh oue ANS DS--~-- cent mission ' there. Had It come sooner. Alabama and the southern States would not have been prepared to gather up the great blessings which are to begin for the long chastened section, the new period of prosperity and greatness. The canal will modify the trade routes of the world and bring distant peoples into closer contact. from which in the light of history. we nn0 tn q and profound sociological changes While the changes will be felt on all the oceans, they will be greatest on the Pacific, where the peoples on the west coast of North and South America and the East cost of Asia will be brought from two thousand to ten thousand miles nearer to the worlds grea indus trial centres. In the resulting dis- >tance the United States. on the whole will enjoy an advantage ranging from fifth to more than one-half as com na rcd with nations in Europe. With our remarkable waterways and rail- way development, these advantages will be enjoyed not only by the Gulf seaboard. and the Atlantic Seaboard. hut by the great Mississippi Basin, and oven the great lake region.
 An American Ocean.
 Taking account of our marveiols natural advantages, and the inteln- gance and aptitude of our people. the world may as well concede the Pacih' to us as an American Ocean. Not that we shall expect any selfish privilege there. but that the great forces Of na- ture in the trend of events have mark ed commercial supremacy on the great est ocean to the peace-maker, the na- tion that represents all the warning na- lions of Europe coming together in re- conciliation in a common offspring.
 The West coast of South America has been the most isolated part of the white mans habit, at yet with bountlfui aree of about one million square miles, it has already population of about ten million people, and foreign commerce of more than one hundred and fifty million yearly. The great obstacle in the way of developent has been the elack of coal and iron, In which Mother Ma ture forgot these lands. though she made large compensation In agricul- tural endowment nitrate and Is open cious metals. When the canal Is open ed their Trans-Andean lands will sud- denly be brought almost as near to the sources of supply of coal and iron as are lands of Europe, less favored in other respects. A profound impulstQii will be felt which will cause a wave of immigration, and before this coun- try is half turned, we can look for a growth in foreign commerce to prob- ably seven or eight millions year. ly.
 During these developments, and in- deed for all time, these lands will de- mand from the outside, cotton, coal and iron.
 The development of the west coast of Central America and of Mexico in-