The Washington herald., 1908-06-05
WHEN AMERICA is GROWN
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

By FREDERI
The United States to-day is the wealth.
lest country on earth. II the American
people are one-ffth as industrious and
thrifty in the coming ninety years as
they have been in the past nine decades
they viii have gathered in this country as
much wealth as Is now possessed by the
whole world. The natural resources Of
the United States, its farms and forests
and its mines, have by no means reached
the acme OF their development. All
wealth must come from the bosom Of
the earth. created by the farmers pillow,
the miners pick. and the artisans con-
structive skill Once brought into exist
ence, that wealth may be multiplied as
Americans have multiplied it. by the ap-
plication Of business and scientific in
genuity.
A Washington economist has shown
that the entire wealth of the ancient
republic OF Athens was not enough TO
buy the New Willard Hotel at its present
valuation on the Washington real estate
market. Not even the swollen fortunes"
of our Rockefellers and Carnegies can be
taken as a measure OF the wealth of the
American people. 1t has been shown
that the American farmer earns enough
In seventeen days TO wipe out Standard
Oh; in seven weeks he makes enough to
buy out the steel trust. The farmers who
work under the Stars and Stripes have a
daily income Of S24.O00.0o0
The United States has suffered many
great misfortunes. The civil war was
more costly in blood and treasure than
any conflict Of modern history but in
the decade between 1860 and 1870 the
wealth of the country was increased by 81
per cent Since that time there have
been great panics and commercial depres-
sions. Yet the growth has continued
steadily without a break. and II the ratio
Of increase OF wealth that has obtained
since 1850 be maintained until the year
1000. the American people will possess
wealth ten times greater than the whole
world can now claim.
The pessimist who may interpose the
objection that the increasing population
will prevent tho indicated accretion is
already COMPOUNDED and routed by the
testimony Of history. II has been proved
IN every nation IN ChrIstendom that
wealth increases in proportion to the
destiny OF population up 10 the point
where the number Of inhabitants for each
square mile Is twice as great as neces-
sary to give the United States $50. 900. 600
people-the number predicted by the
statisticians for the census year 2O0O
There is no room for the pesslmist in
this country. Some Western cities VIII
not let a "knOckcr'' live among them
and they are typically American. Tint
the acknowledged hurt of the growing
pains caused by the present depression
Is reason for doubling a continuation OF
growth is secuted BIZ the figures, which
show that the civil war, the panic Of
1873. the panic OF 1888, and all other disas-
ters have been powerless TO stop thc
onward movement
The creators OF this great wealth have
not begun TO realize their full oppor-
tuni;y. Many OF them have more land
than they can till. Only a comparatively
few OF them have applied the science Of
modern agriculture to their work When
all the farmers adopt the methods now
IN use by the educated few this daily
income viii be swelled TO 800, 600, 900 a
year. and that without adding an acre
20 the ground now in cultivation.
The American balance sheet now shows
a wealth of SlO7. 900, little more than
1870 per capita. The rule that wealth
Increases with density Of population Is
strikingly illustrated in Europe The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland is the only country that excels
US In per capita wealth. the figure being
81. 40. Its population is 356 TO the square
mile. or more than twice what America
viii have when Ii reaches the 3S5 0o0. 900
mark France has 100 TO the square mile
as against the prediction OF Us I'm the
United states IN 20C0. and its per capita
wealth is 81 22S The same showing is
made by the several States In the Union
New Yorks per capita is s1.S7, or more
than $500 more than the general average
for the country. In the thinly populated
Western States, whose natural resources
are much greater than New YOrks the
wealth per capita is in some instances
only one-ffth as great.
As the population Of the country in
creases toward the mark set for ninety
years hence. the utilization Of resources
and the additional demand created for
products OF field and mine will be such
that the increase in wealth cannot fail
to keep pace. And keeping pace with the
enormous growth of population means
only one-twentieth as rapid creation OF
wealth as shown by the record since 1900
since Mckinley was elected the second
time, since what seems only yesterday.
The farmer and the miner could not
have done what they have ia this coun-
try II 1t had not been for the application
OF business genius TO their products. With
out the railroads, the coal mines Of the
interior would be useless. Without swift
express trains. the rich fruit and vege-
table gradens Of the South could not sell
their products. without the ice machine
tue great meat industry could not hve
and the cattle grower could not market
his herds. Without the organization Of
great buying and selling concerns, the
markets of the modern age could not ex-
IS; over night.
In the ninety years 10 come, there IS
10 doubt but that tho abuses Of personal
aud equal rights on tho part Of the great
business organizations will be prevented
end corrected. The evils OF the corpora
ton will be extinguished in the benefits
OF cooperation. The organizations will
not be abolished; they VIII be extended
70 include practically the whole people.
IL will not require ninety years for the
example Of the truck growers Of Eastern
Virginia, the beet growers of Iowa. the
fruit growers OF Southern California 70
demonstrate 70 all farmers the value
OF intelligent cooperation. The deeds
OF violence OF the Kentucky night
riders will be forgotten. but such or
CARNATIONS as the Tobacco Growers PRO-
tective Association will continue 10 exist.
The farmers OF the country will get their
weather predictions and their market quo