The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1908-07-16
achievement, that suIly every noble

achievement, that sully every noble
cause.
Were [ to repeat here common
theorem. Were l. to tell you that a
perpendicular dropped to a horizontal
completed the formation Of ninety
degree angle, the opposing gentleman
would Immediately begin to suppose
the result if the perpendicular were
left Oblique and horizontal crooked.
1t matters not what would have hap
pened if that triumvirate of 1892 had
filed mid-ocean graves, if the Cabot
travels had never commenced, if Bal
boa had never sighted the Pacific.
No man can prophesy with correctness
or propriety the effects of such hypo-
thetical miscarriages. do not wish
to detract from the extraordinary
spirit, courage and intelligence of our
great forbears whose genius impelled
them to great deeds of discovery and
conquest. but I do wish to say that
the vessels which carried them, in
their immortal efforts, ceased entirely
to be of Importance when our land
was reached. They bore these discov-
erers here, and there their credit ends.
They neither made nor destroyed the
lands they touched. We may thank
kind fate that this broad continent,
which our pioneers beheId, had initia-
tive and resource enough to regenerate
itself. And thru the blotted pages of
our history l can find no real benefit
accredited to the shipping contingent.
| Wherever ships aud sea commerce has
entered into our history there has been
strife and sorrow. and death. The only
real accomplishments of our sea traffic
up to 1880 was to infest our country
with slavery and serfdom, to dump
Ava~GskI
undesirables, to bring the implements
of war and troops for our subjectioD.
Whatever semblance foreign commerce
We had in early days was source of
evil, not benefit. 1t never augmented
our growth. 1t nearly always retarded
it. 1t was the primary causes of the
hated navigation acts, that cursed our
fathers very homes. 1 have devoted
some time to this phase of the matter
in question further on. will therefore
ask you to keep in mind these remarks
for consideration of what is to come.
The only inquiry now left to us in
this beginning is consideration of
what the term railroad implies. Web
ster in his simplest, homliest, yet most
direct sense defines the meaning of
this word to be "a road with iron rails,
for wheeled vehicles to run on" These
general qualifications seem to be held
by most authorities, competent to
judge, ample and sufficient for true
definition 1t therefore is with truth
and safety that I embrace in this discus
sion; first, tramway systems, which
include what is commonly termed a
"street car system," 2ndly, elevated
roads, and 3rdly, subways. The last,
the greatest, the grandest and most
prolific OF all that shall embrace are
the steam railway systems, that har-
ness our country into perfect unite,
that extend their dominion to every
household door.
| It shall be my endeavor to so illus
trate the vast and vital importance of
steam railways, with their endless
trackage aud enormous equlpage, to
so dwell upon their mighty contribu-
tion to the realization of mans hope,
to- so picture the magic blessing which
they have bestowed on ardy civiliza-
tion, that the truth of lat say shall
be obvious, and that It's memory shall
remain with you permanently, to
shame with scorn the recital of such
| QuixotIc doctrines as my opponent
now processes.
1t is with much relief that I turn
from q distastefui criticism of the
affirming argument to an impartial,
unprejudiced rSvlew Of those features
in our country's history, which are
obviously relevant to our discussion.
4 Mr.. O. p. Austen, Chief of the Bu-
reau of Statistics affiliated with our
Federal Commerce and Labor depart
ment, complies q statement showing
the area of the United States exclusive
/ of its insular and detached possession,
to be 827.B00 square miles in 1900, as
VS.. 3O25, 600 square miles in 1904. /