The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-29
REASON FOR THANKS
GREAT RESOURCES OF COUNTRY
 ARE GROWING.
Il. Every Field of Labor There is Great PrO4ress and America
 Leads Every
 Country.

Baltimore. Nov. 2S.--(Special. )--As reasons for thankfulness in the coun- try, The Manufacturers Record sets forth in this weeks issue the foiiow- ing:
 saTake coal as the cornerstone of material advancement, since itsi is the motive power of the worlds industrial activities Without coal Great Brit ain and Germany would never have at- tained their marvellous wealth nor reached their commanding position m the worlds affairs. But Great Brit ain has about 12.000 square miles of coal area, and Germahy 1900. All Europe has only 50,0o0 square miles. of which more than one-half is in Rus sia. In the United States we have s50,0o0 square miles of coal, or just seven times as much as all Europe; and by virtue of the greater thickness of the veins we probably have twenty times as much coal,
 Of iron ore, as the foundation next to coal, on which the worlds civflt- xation rests, since the measure of nations progress is marked by its ad- yancement in the use of iron and steel in railroad construction and industrial activities, we have over 12.00o, o,000.000 tons. with a possibility of other great discoveries yet to be made. It is safe to say t at so far as the scientists know, the United States not only has more iron ore than all of Europe. but, so far as their knowledge now goes. more iron ore than the rest of the world.
 Next to iron and steel in the value of finished output Is cotton goods. It was only a few years ago when the value of the manufactured cotton of the world exceeded the value of the worlds iron and steel production. Of raw cot ton, the foundation of this vast indus try whose progress is somewhat com mensurate with the marvellous expan- sion in iron and steel. the United States has a monopoly of so per cent. of the worlds production, and so Tar as human foresight can see there IS not for the next fifty years the slight est danger of any serious competition. For this one crop alone. of which Eu- rope must of necessity draw It's sup ply from us, we have to call upon the worlds gold which must annually be paid by Europe to the extent or about s450,oeo, 900 to s500,o00,000. r.
 But while studying the vastness of our coal supply and it's influence for the .upbuilding of the country we should not forget the latent power in our rivers, which to large extent up to the present time has gone to waste as they have run their courses Idly from the mountains to the sea. In the South alone there Is available for util- ization on our rivers and streams pos sibly 5,000,000 horse power. or this possibly one-tenth, or 500,000 horse power, has been or is being harnessed for electrical work. How vast is the available water-power of the entire country it would be difficult to esti mate but certainly it Is within reason to say that the aggregate is greater than the total horsepower now used by all the manufacturing interests of the country. This in itself is source of wealth almost beyond the ability of figures to express. We have nearly pne-half of the worlds railroad mile- age, and yet so great is the demand for Increased transportation facilities that 1t is easily seen that we must double Inc 225,000 miles which we now have If our railroads would keep pace with the advance of the business interests of .hc country.
 Though it may be some years before the doubling of our railroads can be accomplished we can see that within the very near future at least $5,000, 00O.- COG must be expended to bring the rail- road facilities of the country up to the present needs.
 These things. however. comprise but a comparatively small part of the foun- dation for material prosperity. We control a very large part of the petrol cum output of the world. We produce ga large proportion of the worlds cop per. The development of Portland ce ment from 335,000 barrels in 1890 to about 5o.O00.0O0 barrels at present is one of the wonders of the business world. and there are limitless resources in this country for an extension of ce- matchmaking to rival the development of iron and steel. We have a country capable not only of feeding itself but of supplying hundreds of millions of bushels of corn and wheat. millions of dollars worth of provisions and other foodstuffs to the less favored people of other lands. The value of our agricul- tural products for 1907 will be over